[Albion] The undropable Dale Stephens

[Sue1983]

I know I’ve given Dale a bit of stick on here recently but have to say the guy had a good game yesterday. Probably one of our better players.

Snappy passes in possession, some good probing runs and hardly gave the ball away. He did his job yesterday unfortunately most the rest of the team didn’t.

This.

 

[London Irish]

Not for me, still off the pace, players go past him with ease and drag him all over the pitch

 

[dazzer6666]

I mean if we want to stay up this season - not talking about next.

The midfield is too ponderous with him in the central. Mooy isnt pacey but he likes to break forward and get the attacks going. He is wasted on the right and Alzate can do a good job there.The formation I suggested moves Trossard forward and into the middle as he doesnt seem to support Bernardo that well. Trossard would be more dangerous in a more attacking/central role and Solly March would be a great offensive and defensive support to Bernardo.

I thought most of our good stuff on Saturday came from Bernardo and Trossard combining, especially in the first half.

 

[Icy Gull]

Not for me, still off the pace, players go past him with ease and drag him all over the pitch

Why single Stephens out, you could be talking about any of our midfielders.

 

[London Irish]

Why single Stephens out, you could be talking about any of our midfielders.

Propper had a decent game. Mooy was off colour but is a tremendous talent who just saves his bad games for Villa. Even Alzate looked ok when moved centre. Stephens stands out as the achilles heel of the midfield and this is almost certainly his last season as a regular starter, like Murray and Duffy the slower players are being eased out

 

[Icy Gull]

Propper had a decent game. Mooy was off colour but is a tremendous talent who just saves his bad games for Villa. Even Alzate looked ok when moved centre. Stephens stands out as the achilles heel of the midfield and this is almost certainly his last season as a regular starter, like Murray and Duffy the slower players are being eased out

You don’t think Stephens was one of the better players on Saturday then?

I am hoping he scores a worldy soon, be interested to see how you run that down

 

[London Irish]

You don’t think Stephens was one of the better players on Saturday then?

I am hoping he scores a worldy soon, be interested to see how you run that down

I mean Skalak literally did that and many thought he deserved a place in the squad in the back of that despite his lack of pace and technique.

It baffles me you want Potter’s fast attacking football and a player of limited mobility directing it. Potter is the first Albion manager to drop Stephens so we’ll see

 

[rippleman]

Twice he went to intercept a ball at pace, missed it and left a big hole where he should have been. I'm not a fan of his I'll admit. Would have Biss any day of the week.

 

[Icy Gull]

I mean Skalak literally did that and many thought he deserved a place in the squad in the back of that despite his lack of pace and technique.

It baffles me you want Potter’s fast attacking football and a player of limited mobility directing it. Potter is the first Albion manager to drop Stephens so we’ll see

We do need a few hard men in the side imo. Other lower league teams are bullying us now. Yes we need to replace a few players IF we stay up but we need players like Stephens whilst we see this season out imo. He has been woefully out of form since his suspension until Saturday though, I agree.

Full blown Potterball is a way off imo

 

[London Irish]

Twice he went to intercept a ball at pace, missed it and left a big hole where he should have been. I'm not a fan of his I'll admit. Would have Biss any day of the week.

And remember that time in the first half Propper ran near half the pitch to dispossess Grealish? Imagine if that was Stephens

 

[Mellotron]

I mean Skalak literally did that and many thought he deserved a place in the squad in the back of that despite his lack of pace and technique.

Bit of a rewriting of history there. Around the time Skalak scored that beauty, it was in the period where he was our main assist threat for a year or so (the stats back this up). I also agree he was slow but lack of technique?! Probably his best quality!

He had a bloody lovely cross on him, his one for Murray's header in the 5-0 demolition of Norwich was the best I've ever seen live at a game, it was world class.

Yes he went downhill towards the end and we did outgrow him but for the initial season and a half with ushe was well worth his place in the squad, if not starting line up.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Twice he went to intercept a ball at pace, missed it and left a big hole where he should have been. I'm not a fan of his I'll admit. Would have Biss any day of the week.

I can't argue with your first sentence, but I would suggest Biss has a greater range of ways to lose the ball in critical positions than Stephens.

 

[Icy Gull]

I can't argue with your first sentence, but I would suggest Biss has a greater range of ways to lose the ball in critical positions than Stephens.

Exactly this, I am a big fan of Bissouma but he is a liabilty far more often than Stephens is at the moment. He is still a luxury player imo

 

[London Irish]

We do need a few hard men in the side imo. Other lower league teams are bullying us now. Yes we need to replace a few players IF we stay up but we need players like Stephens whilst we see this season out imo. He has been woefully out of form since his suspension until Saturday though, I agree.

Full blown Potterball is a way off imo

I saw no evidence of Stephens' capacity to withstand bullying in the Sheffield game. Physical teams actually also rely on pace at this level to mug off opponents.

 

[Machiavelli]

And remember that time in the first half Propper ran near half the pitch to dispossess Grealish? Imagine if that was Stephens

And the passage at the end of the game when Hourihane brought him down. There is a school of thought that Propper is slower than Stephens. I don't subscribe to it.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I saw no evidence of Stephens' capacity to withstand bullying in the Sheffield game. Physical teams actually also rely on pace at this level to mug off opponents.

A game when the whole team failed to perform...yeh nice choice

 

[Weststander]

Bit of a rewriting of history there. Around the time Skalak scored that beauty, it was in the period where he was our main assist threat for a year or so (the stats back this up). I also agree he was slow but lack of technique?! Probably his best quality!

He had a bloody lovely cross on him, his one for Murray's header in the 5-0 demolition of Norwich was the best I've ever seen live at a game, it was world class.

Yes he went downhill towards the end and we did outgrow him but for the initial season and a half with ushe was well worth his place in the squad, if not starting line up.

Can I revise that a bit, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Initially Skalak’s crosses and corners were incredible, pin pointed to oncoming attacking players.

But then it seemed that every set of opponents closed down his crossing and marked better, negating his strength. Lacking pace, he couldn’t make any impact on matches.

 

[Weststander]

I saw no evidence of Stephens' capacity to withstand bullying in the Sheffield game. Physical teams actually also rely on pace at this level to mug off opponents.

Sheffield Utd like Burnley are an entire outfield team of physical players, several big units, with aggression to get amongst opponents. As Leicester found out to their cost in the second half yesterday.

To counter that, you either need a brilliant footballing team such as ManC to run rings round them, or have a few aggressive big units in your own team. We have quite a few small and/or subtle technicians, making it incredibly hard to play Burnley and Sheff Utd.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Mooy was off colour but is a tremendous talent who just saves his bad games for Villa.

That’s okay then. With a bit of luck, the four points he’s GIFTED then won’t send us down.

 

[zefarelly]

Exactly this, I am a big fan of Bissouma but he is a liabilty far more often than Stephens is at the moment. He is still a luxury player imo

I think I agree with that, I see Stephens as a sweeper type defensive midfielder with Propper and Bissouma ahead. Then 3 up front, or as part of a diamond 4 in a more attacking formation. Not a park the bus player!