Like the first minute!
Unfortunately it’s one of those things that once you notice his laziness in tracking back and his inadequate defending , you can’t stop noticing it.
It really is a huge weakness in his game.
Like the first minute!
Unfortunately it’s one of those things that once you notice his laziness in tracking back and his inadequate defending , you can’t stop noticing it.
It really is a huge weakness in his game.
Unfortunately it’s one of those things that once you notice his laziness in tracking back and his inadequate defending , you can’t stop noticing it.
It really is a huge weakness in his game.
Made all the worse by the fact it's not actually his job.
Quite why he had the audacity to be an integral part in our goal, boss the midfield and repeatedly get the team going forward is beyond me.
His role is clearly defending along with Ryan, Webster, Dunk, Duffy, Burn & Stephens.
He’s playing as a central midfielder. Hendrick is also a central midfielder and Propper’s man. Of course it’s his job
Do you not think that if Propper started putting more effort into tracking back and closing down players, it might take away his cool, composed on the ball influence?
Surely Stephens is the running, closing down players, blocking passes and shots, lunging into tackles sort of midfielder? Why the need for 2? I like the blend of having a classy Pirlo styled midfielder in Propper playing alongside a nitty gritty styled midfielder in Stephens.
If both were chasing and tracking back non stop, we'd never have any shape in the middle
God forbid he every leaps in the air in a headed battle. Good grief
Was today the very very best example of Stephens:-
'Oh shite I've given the ball away, so now need to make a recovering tackle'?
He flatters to deceive, always will. He is lucky that he is a darling of players and manager and pundits. Of course they know better than us, but if you watch him week in week out you quickly seem his limitations. Not his fault, of course, he is an outstanding Championship CM and a good honest pro, a Premier league no.4/6 though he is not.
It was a hell of a tackle though.
Ryan 5 Poor kicking at times, nowhere on the goal but otherwise an easy game.
Duffy 6 Won his fair share of aerial duels as you'd expect, but our least composed defender in possession.
Dunk 7 Marshalled the defence well, played some great passes but also some rubbish ones as well.
Webster 9 Unbelievable. Composed, strong, skillful and adaptable. Magnificent signing.
Burn 7 He was fantastic, but totally out of his depth when getting forward. Surprisingly good performance.
March 6 A few good moments when playing right wing back, and fair to him for adapting and getting the assist.
Stephens 8 Like a whole new player under Potter - winning tackles, playing forward passes - very good performance.
Pröpper 8 Covered so much ground, played some lovely passes and got involved all over the pitch. No blame for the goal.
Gross 7 Magnificent second half when he was playing in the number 10 role, he looked like the Gross of two years ago.
Maupay 6 Great finish for the goal, but overall he wasn't brilliant. Some blind runs, some poor touches, not enough overall for me.
Murray 5 Advantage [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] based on that performance, but what was he doing playing on the left?! Mental tactics.
Subs
Mooy N/A Not on long enough to rate, but barely an impact.
Connolly N/A Sadly, he didn't take the one chance he had, on his left foot. Shame but not the easiest chance to take.
Bong N/A Mooy AND Bong thrown on - not my favourite use of substitutes.
Overall, I thought we were by far the better team after we switched to a back 4, but a draw wasn't the biggest catastrophe we've seen at the Amex for a while. Frustrating result, again, against Burnley, again.
The problem with Murray is that he doesnt do a lot other then score. When he has a bad day like today - and I'd caveat that by saying he has days like Wolves last year where he has one shot and scores - he looks average at best.
Jury's out on letting Andone go for me.
Ryan - 6 - distribution was fairly good - not sure if he could have done better with goal unless I see a replay, which I don’t want to.
Webster - 8 - classy and seemed to play CB then RB - versatile.
Dunk - 8 standard class - couple of good balls, couple of not so.
Duffy - 7 - not as comfortable on the ball as he others but still had a decent game
March - 7 - not a RWB and struggles defensively. Some great crosses though and looked much more comfortable further forward.
Burn - 7 -Painfully out of position all game - LWB then Lb but handled it well and had a decent game
Proper - 9 MOM - Oozes class under Potter and drives forward
Stephens 7.5 - Decent game - made up for his mistake by smashing J-****-R
Gross - 8 - Some nice touches and intricate balls. Better than recently.
Murray - 6 - Nothing seemed to go for him but did at least get in the right positions and worked hard.
Maupay 7 - great finish and some neat play. Still don’t feel I’ve seen enough of him to make a definitive opinion on him yet though - strangely.