[Albion] Positives from Today (West Ham away)

[7dialssouthpaw]

Agree with this. With the ball at his feet, he's basically Ederson. His passing range and composure under pressure leave me breathless.

Added to that he's highly reliable, he doesn't make basic errors. This is a huge plus.

OK there are one or two, where a worldie save may have prevented a goal. Steele doesn't have much of a highlights reel, but actually, I'd just take a keeper who doesn't drop a simple catch for a Palace player to tap in, than one who will be brilliant one minute and terrible the next.

There's only one nagging doubt I still can't dispel. Is that a toupe?

Thought he'd modelled it on Cilla Black

 

[Krafty]

We are only three wins away from 40 points.

Would be nice to ensure survival before we continue our Europa League campaign - if we haven’t already!

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

We are only three wins away from 40 points.

Would be nice to ensure survival before we continue our Europa League campaign - if we haven’t already!

Not convinced Sheff Utd and Luton are chasing us down this year mate

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

What could he have done better? This slagging off of Steele is starting to piss me off, his skill set is perfect for De Zerbi ball yet some still don’t get it

Nothing got past him, even offside shots where the WHU player was unopposed

He may not be the best shot stopper in the PL but is there a keeper with better ball skills?

Giggity.

Only 2 shots were on target. They weren’t tough to face, even for him. He didn’t have anything of note to do, unlike Areola who was actually immense.

And Steele was poor against Spurs. Again. So one performance of not having much to do doesn’t make him immense, I’m sorry.

Of course we can agree to disagree, but I have serious concerns about anyone on a footballing forum who claims Steele’s performance was immense against WHU.

 

[Machiavelli]

Ward-Prowse was shit against us for the first time ever.

JPVH proved that he can run the defence on his own. Early in the season, he only looked good if he had a stronger defender (ie Dunk) alongside him, but he's grown in confidence so much, he never looked flustered, even once Webster went off.

I wish he'd score for us, I'd love to see his reaction.

Point of order: not for the first time; he did it for half an hour after Dunk was sent off against Forest.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Agree with this. With the ball at his feet, he's basically Ederson. His passing range and composure under pressure leave me breathless.

Added to that he's highly reliable, he doesn't make basic errors. This is a huge plus.

OK there are one or two, where a worldie save may have prevented a goal. Steele doesn't have much of a highlights reel, but actually, I'd just take a keeper who doesn't drop a simple catch for a Palace player to tap in, than one who will be brilliant one minute and terrible the next.

There's only one nagging doubt I still can't dispel. Is that a toupe?

Agree with this as a statement over most of his time under De Zerbi.
But lately the hoof upfield, or punt to the wing has started to become an acceptable option.
These are not high percentage passes and most have led to losing possession.

I understand that mixing it up is a sensible approach, but the longer range hoofs, have been way more prevalent over the past 2 or 3 games.
When Steele is sticking to his range and maintaining possession he is the best option for us.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Giggity.

Only 2 shots were on target. They weren’t tough to face, even for him. He didn’t have anything of note to do, unlike Areola who was actually immense.

And Steele was poor against Spurs. Again. So one performance of not having much to do doesn’t make him immense, I’m sorry.

Of course we can agree to disagree, but I have serious concerns about anyone on a footballing forum who claims Steele’s performance was immense against WHU.

Areola made 1 good save, the rest were shot at him.
He was not "immense" either.

IMO, Steele's save for the offside shot was better than Areola's against Lallana

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Yes, it's a horrible stadium, but Pudding Mill Lane is next to the stadium (0.4 miles) and Stratford Station (0.9miles) is a 15 minute walk away.
Unfortunately the authorities make Pudding Mill Lane unavailable to the away fans and to get back to Stratford Station they make them walk there via Basildon.
The transport links are actually decent.

I always travel via Pudding Mill Lane.
DLR is the best option for me as I can catch a bus from Lewisham to get home.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Agree with this as a statement over most of his time under De Zerbi.
But lately the hoof upfield, or punt to the wing has started to become an acceptable option.
These are not high percentage passes and most have led to losing possession.

I understand that mixing it up is a sensible approach, but the longer range hoofs, have been way more prevalent over the past 2 or 3 games.
When Steele is sticking to his range and maintaining possession he is the best option for us.

I don't think any of these are hoofs upfield any more than the ball to Mitoma (preceeding his lob) at home to Brentford last season were. He's responding to a high press by passing to Pedro to try to get us 2 on 2. Against a Spurs type team it's an obvious ploy.

I actually think it's only some iffy hold up play and some overly robust defending that has stopped that being an effective weapon

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I always travel via Pudding Mill Lane.
DLR is the best option for me as I can catch a bus from Lewisham to get home.

It's a horrible thought that the 'best option' for anyone ever involves going to Lewisham.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I don't think any of these are hoofs upfield any more than the ball to Mitoma (preceeding his lob) at home to Brentford last season were. He's responding to a high press by passing to Pedro to try to get us 2 on 2. Against a Spurs type team it's an obvious ploy.

I actually think it's only some iffy hold up play and some overly robust defending that has stopped that being an effective weapon

It's definitely more of a 50/50 ball than we are used to seeing.
Personally I think they are under-hit attempts at a ball over the top.
We saw a fewof them working effectively against Spurs, but there were also a lot which ended up being contested by the frontman and centre-back.