[Albion] Mats Wieffer SINGS on 5 year contract

[Lifelong Supporter]

He is an international player having played for Holland 10 times. He wins the ball well and will set up a number of breakaways and goal chances for us. It is his distribution that is patchy and he seems to be struggling to come to terms with the pace of the PL. which is understandable. He has not been helped by team members in the last couple of games being well short of their best.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Watched the first half. He was good. Lots of interceptions

Just watched highlights in the second. It was his pressuring that led to a chance we SHOULD have scored and then his pressing that won the ball and saw the shot from Ferguson before Adingra scores.

He's not being asked to play your usual DM role. He's very much being asked to press high and appears very good at that. He also intercepted the ball for our 2nd goal at the weekend.

He dared to make a bad mistake at the weekend, which would have been forgotten about if wolves hadn't scored, and now that's tainted him for many which is odd.

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

agreed

Look at the highlights, very very poor defending and when he lost the ball no effort to regain the ball, he actually seemed to be strolling around in the background and then bends over holding his knees in disappointment when the ball hits the net, very poor.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt and obviously give him time to improve and integrate into not only the Premier League intensity but a new squad and new manager also finding his feet. We obviously bought him for a reason and the analytical checking before we move for a player is seldom wrong, so there is a very good player to emerge given time.

Yes for the their final goal after 90 minutes. I think, am hoping, that is due to a need to become match fit. Perhaps he should have been substituted earlier, like Baleba seems, to be around the hour mark.

 

[Deadly Danson]

Pretty fair summary from Naylor for those who can view.

 

[Insel affe]

Pretty fair summary from Naylor for those who can view.

unfortunately that fair analysis, will not prevent those with their pitchforks firmly aimed at Wieffer down, they need a scapegoat.

 

[Gabbiano]

I thought he did fine, not spectacular. I missed the third goal, so can't comment on that.

He'll struggle to recover fan opinion. That was such a jarring incident v Wolves and he's been blamed despite about 4 or 5 players being also at fault.

I still think there's a player there, he's showed it for the Netherlands and Feyenoord. As a defensive midfielder he's probably not going to drop a sparkling display where he scores a Hattrick. He will need a consistent run of solid performances to slowly swing the fans back.

To get that, he needs to displace Baleba, that's the challenge.

 

[Seasider78]

Takes a while to adapt to this league where if your first touch is not the best your second is a tackle and the quality of attackers means you are visibly punished for your errors. The same was true of Caicedo, Macallister and Baleba and they were all given time and patience from the fans we just need to show the same with Mats and he will come good

 

[BevBHA]

Takes a while to adapt to this league where if your first touch is not the best your second is a tackle and the quality of attackers means you are visibly punished for your errors. The same was true of Caicedo, Macallister and Baleba and they were all given time and patience from the fans we just need to show the same with Mats and he will come good

That’s what’s more worrying though, all three of the other players you mentioned had good physical attributes like pace / power / strength etc. We’ve brought Weiffer in for his ability to dictate a game, like a Michael Carrick I suppose. We know he doesn’t have the physical attributes, the trouble is at the moment he also looks shocking technically.

 

[Washie]

Who scored has rated him a 7.4.

 

[tstanbur]

Takes a while to adapt to this league where if your first touch is not the best your second is a tackle and the quality of attackers means you are visibly punished for your errors. The same was true of Caicedo, Macallister and Baleba and they were all given time and patience from the fans we just need to show the same with Mats and he will come good

Agree about MacAllister and Baleba but Caicedo was consistently top class from his first appearance and every game after.

Saw elsewhere that Gross took a fair few games to impress which is a good point too. The difference is he cost peanuts and in a much poorer team so the expectations were much lower.

Hopefully Wieffer can get somewhere near the levels of all of the above.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

He’s also following in the foot steps of a number of recent predecessors in his position who all looked out-of-sorts initially but improved greatly.

Agreed.

But how many of them cost £25 million, were in their mid-twenties, had Champions League and Europa League experience, two seasons of regular football in one of the top European leagues, and a number of appearances for a strong national team?

I think it’s fair to expect initial higher standards from Wieffer than we did with Bissouma, Caicedo, Macallister, Gilmour and Baleba.

 

[Weststander]

I thought he did fine, not spectacular. I missed the third goal, so can't comment on that.

He'll struggle to recover fan opinion. That was such a jarring incident v Wolves and he's been blamed despite about 4 or 5 players being also at fault.

I still think there's a player there, he's showed it for the Netherlands and Feyenoord. As a defensive midfielder he's probably not going to drop a sparkling display where he scores a Hattrick. He will need a consistent run of solid performances to slowly swing the fans back.

To get that, he needs to displace Baleba, that's the challenge.

Wasn’t the FH football at St Pauli set up with two Baleba//Wieffer type Cm’ers, working in tamdem?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Agreed.

But how many of them cost £25 million, were in their mid-twenties, had Champions League and Europa League experience, two seasons of regular football in one of the top European leagues, and a number of appearances for a strong national team?

I think it’s fair to expect initial higher standards from Wieffer than we did with Bissouma, Caicedo, Macallister, Gilmour and Baleba.

I see your point and agree there is added expectation , but I still think it’s too early to make a judgement imho. Moving to a foreign country, new colleagues, new league which is arguably the most physical in the world etc is tough and people adapt and adjust at different speeds. He now has the added burden/pressure of the Wolves howler to deal with.

I can empathise as I did similar when I moved to Germany. As a man-bag and man-purse gent with sophsticated ways I found it easy to adapt to my new European surroundings ....others do not fair so well.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Nothing to do with pitchforks, I just don't think the level he's showing is nearly good enough.

 

[Biscuit]

I thought he played reasonably well—not spectacular, but solid.

He’s got a tough road ahead in winning back fan support; that incident against Wolves was a shock. Still, I believe he’s got potential—he’s shown it for Feyenoord. Ultimately, he's a defensive midfielder, he's not necessarily going to catch the eye - but a few solid performances to gradually regain his, and fan confidence would be massive for him.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I thought he played reasonably well—not spectacular, but solid.

He’s got a tough road ahead in winning back fan support; that incident against Wolves was a shock. Still, I believe he’s got potential—he’s shown it for Feyenoord. Ultimately, he's a defensive midfielder, he's not necessarily going to catch the eye - but a few solid performances to gradually regain his, and fan confidence would be massive for him.

He’s a tough road winning manager support first and foremost. Fan criticism is a bit irrelevant if the manager isn’t picking him.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

He’s got a tough road ahead in winning back fan support; that incident against Wolves was a shock.

Which is mental....one player, one mistake (and let's be honest: the defence didn't cover themselves in glory for that Wolves goal either but nobody seems to flag that up)...anybody who gives him abuse or suggests he needs to redeem himself really needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

We gave the ball away countless times during that second half...you can't just call out the one that resulted in a goal. Bart screwed up for a goal against somebody recently but doesn't seem to have got nearly so much stick. This has all been utterly bizarre, and based entirely upon the sheer frustration we felt at not winning a game that we should have sewed up easily before that point.

 

[boik]

Agreed.

But how many of them cost £25 million, were in their mid-twenties, had Champions League and Europa League experience, two seasons of regular football in one of the top European leagues, and a number of appearances for a strong national team?

I think it’s fair to expect initial higher standards from Wieffer than we did with Bissouma, Caicedo, Macallister, Gilmour and Baleba.

I think you'll find that the price we pay reflects our expectations of where they might get to, not where they are now. He's not up to standard yet, but he does show glimpses. People are using the price to beat him with. Same with Minteh to some degree but he is not so exposed as a winger. Rutter has the advantage that he is already up to speed with the English game.

 

[Biscuit]

Which is mental....one player, one mistake (and let's be honest: the defence didn't cover themselves in glory for that Wolves goal either but nobody seems to flag that up)...anybody who gives him abuse or suggests he needs to redeem himself really needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

We gave the ball away countless times during that second half...you can't just call out the one that resulted in a goal. Bart screwed up for a goal against somebody recently but doesn't seem to have got nearly so much stick. This has all been utterly bizarre, and based entirely upon the sheer frustration we felt at not winning a game that we should have sewed up easily before that point.

FWIW I quite agree, but I'm right, aren't I? He wasn't solely at fault, it was a mistake, it happens. But some of the stuff I've seen written about him online by "fans" is mind boggling.

 

[GJN1]

I thought he did fine, not spectacular. I missed the third goal, so can't comment on that.

Best not seek it out then. So poor.