T.G
Well-known member
Stephens was one of our best players early in the season. Had a poor last couple of game, but there is no doubt he is a decent premier league player.
[Albion] The undropable Dale Stephens
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Stephens was one of our best players early in the season. Had a poor last couple of game, but there is no doubt he is a decent premier league player.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
A sudden realisation came to me yesterday!
Yes, I know Stephens has been well below his best recently but with his willingness to scrap and get stuck in I believe he could be a big part in us being able to stay up this season. When we play pretty one touch football and go toe to toe with the better teams he can look a big agricultural and lacking in the finer skills. However he is one of the few players we have who does not get bullied or pushed off the ball.
After watching him yesterday, when he had a good game, I am convinced that he is likely to play a big part in our upcoming games against teams around us. The pretty football is going to have to take a back seat in the games against Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham and we are going to have to dig in and show character and not let ourselves be bullied. We have come up short in games where other teams are physical and the teams around us will all have a game plan to close us down and resort to thuggery if the the ref lets them get away with it. Too many have let the opposition foul and niggle us recently and we have not been competing with the same intensity.
Battling is what is going to keep us up and I hope GP has these tactics in his armoury, if he doesn’t I think we have a good chance of going down.
I reckon we are going to need both Stephens and Duffy’s hard man contributions over the next few games. The pretty stuff can wait until we are safe or next season imo.
Yes, I am changing tack on what I’ve said all season and I’ll now accept a few unattractive ground out victories or draws without being entertained
I believe Stephens form will have a big part to play in whether we stay up or not. I overheard a conversation after the game that replacing Stephens was the most important thing is this transfer window. I couldn’t agree less!
Yes, I know Stephens has been well below his best recently but with his willingness to scrap and get stuck in I believe he could be a big part in us being able to stay up this season. When we play pretty one touch football and go toe to toe with the better teams he can look a big agricultural and lacking in the finer skills. However he is one of the few players we have who does not get bullied or pushed off the ball.
After watching him yesterday, when he had a good game, I am convinced that he is likely to play a big part in our upcoming games against teams around us. The pretty football is going to have to take a back seat in the games against Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham and we are going to have to dig in and show character and not let ourselves be bullied. We have come up short in games where other teams are physical and the teams around us will all have a game plan to close us down and resort to thuggery if the the ref lets them get away with it. Too many have let the opposition foul and niggle us recently and we have not been competing with the same intensity.
Battling is what is going to keep us up and I hope GP has these tactics in his armoury, if he doesn’t I think we have a good chance of going down.
I reckon we are going to need both Stephens and Duffy’s hard man contributions over the next few games. The pretty stuff can wait until we are safe or next season imo.
Yes, I am changing tack on what I’ve said all season and I’ll now accept a few unattractive ground out victories or draws without being entertained
I believe Stephens form will have a big part to play in whether we stay up or not. I overheard a conversation after the game that replacing Stephens was the most important thing is this transfer window. I couldn’t agree less!
HalfaSeatOn
Well-known member
A sudden realisation came to me yesterday!
Yes, I know Stephens has been well below his best recently but with his willingness to scrap and get stuck in I believe he could be a big part in us being able to stay up this season. When we play pretty one touch football and go toe to toe with the better teams he can look a big agricultural and lacking in the finer skills. However he is one of the few players we have who does not get bullied or pushed off the ball.
After watching him yesterday, when he had a good game, I am convinced that he is likely to play a big part in our upcoming games against teams around us. The pretty football is going to have to take a back seat in the games against Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham and we are going to have to dig in and show character and not let ourselves be bullied. We have come up short in games where other teams are physical and the teams around us will all have a game plan to close us down and resort to thuggery if the the ref lets them get away with it. Too many have let the opposition foul and niggle us recently and we have not been competing with the same intensity.
Battling is what is going to keep us up and I hope GP has these tactics in his armoury, if he doesn’t I think we have a good chance of going down.
I reckon we are going to need both Stephens and Duffy’s hard man contributions over the next few games. The pretty stuff can wait until we are safe or next season imo.
Yes, I am changing tack on what I’ve said all season and I’ll now accept a few unattractive ground out victories or draws without being entertained
I believe Stephens form will have a big part to play in whether we stay up or not. I overheard a conversation after the game that replacing Stephens was the most important thing is this transfer window. I couldn’t agree less!
Yep. The key players to get us over the line are going to be the likes of Stephens, Duffy, Murray. I like Potters approach but in the forthcoming relegation battle, his niceties will have to be put more to one side.
blockhseagull
Well-known member
The conversation regarding Stephens will run and run because in all honesty BOTH sides of the argument are correct to a point.
Stephens is an important part of the side, he does a lot of the things our other midfielders cant or won’t do.
However.
If we want to be a side with aspirations to be above the bottom 6 of this division we need a player who does what Stephens does only better and offers more to the side.
Stephens is an important part of the side, he does a lot of the things our other midfielders cant or won’t do.
However.
If we want to be a side with aspirations to be above the bottom 6 of this division we need a player who does what Stephens does only better and offers more to the side.
I couldn’t disagree more. The players who are going to be the ones to get us out of trouble are the genuine premier league class players like Propper, Alzate, Mooy and Maupay. We need to play football and win games. They need better quality support around them.
The reason we’re in this difficulty is because out squad is not strong enough yet and we have to rely still on players who are not quite good enough for us now like Stephens, Duffy and Murray(purely down to age).
We relied on those three amongst others in the second half of last season playing appalling, negative football, not trying to actually win games and scraped a point here and there. The only reason we stayed up is we’d picked up a few wins earlier in the season and there were three other dreadful sides. We need more wins in the second half of the season this time as the sides down the bottom are better and we will need more points to stay up. If we repeat what we did last January - May, we are down.
Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
I get what you are suggesting and long term you are spot on but you don’t get out of relegation battles playing pretty football unless you have the players to do it. We are a few (not too many) short and if TB backs buying in quality players in January, assuming we can even get them then we might get away with carrying on with the current style, which I would love. However I don’t think we will get the players in and we are going to have to battle to stay up.
I am still loving this season over last but it could go downhill in the same way again....
HalfaSeatOn
Well-known member
True but it's getting the right mix. Potter hasn't found it yet.
It’s up to Potter how much of a part Stephens plays.
If he keeps up the form of yesterday (and the 1st half of the season) we really have nothing to worry about.
If he plays like he did in the second half of last season (and Potter keeps picking him) we are down, down, down. No doubt about it.
I want Smug Eddie humiliated (and possibly sacked) on Tuesday - a big performance by Dale is essential to wiping that smug grin off his silly face!
Lower West Stander
Well-known member
You make fair points but I, in turn, disagree with you.
I don’t think the players you mention are good enough to get us out of trouble. I’m not saying we should go back to last seasons ways but we do need a mix which requires some steel. All the players you mention are more lightweight creatives and we are going to need more than that to stay up.
There was a situation towards the end of the game yesterday where Alzate and Mings both went for a 50/50 ball right in front of me. Alzate totally bottled it. We need a Duffy type to give him an earful and tell him to get stuck in.
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LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Aye I remember that incident between Alzate and Mings .......Stephens had a good game yesterday but probably won’t get the credit he deserves by those who are a tad blinkered
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.
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.
If we are to stay up I dont believe Stephens should start. He can be a tidy footballer but we need some impetus and drive from the middle.
Mooy has to play in the centrally so he can drive forward. Propper can knit things together in a more defensive role. Alzate on the right of midfield rather than left back.
March on the left would give more of an attacking threat from the wing and he is defensively strong . Trossard can support Maupay in a more central role.
Montoya Dunk Webster Bernardo
Alzate Mooy Propper March
Trossard
Maupay
Mooy has to play in the centrally so he can drive forward. Propper can knit things together in a more defensive role. Alzate on the right of midfield rather than left back.
March on the left would give more of an attacking threat from the wing and he is defensively strong . Trossard can support Maupay in a more central role.
Montoya Dunk Webster Bernardo
Alzate Mooy Propper March
Trossard
Maupay
Seasider78
Well-known member
- Nov 14, 2004
- 6,011
Had a really good game yesterday back to how he was playing before his suspension which is a relief
Neville's Breakfast
Well-known member
As did Webster. It’s lucky that the fans aren’t in charge of picking the team.
Weststander
Well-known member
IF we stay up, we could say the same about many first teamers.
Propper, Gross, Montoya, Webster, Burn all have stinkers, make costly possession gaffs, some have virtually no pace, some games pass them by (you wouldn’t know they’re playing).
WHEN we upgrade on Stephens, others will also be on their way out or finding themselves benchwarmers.
The club won’t stand still, the stated aim to not be in perennial relegation dogfights.
Webster did have a better game, in fact his first decent one in some time.
Needs to play at that level all the time.
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Weststander
Well-known member
A sudden realisation came to me yesterday!
Yes, I know Stephens has been well below his best recently but with his willingness to scrap and get stuck in I believe he could be a big part in us being able to stay up this season. When we play pretty one touch football and go toe to toe with the better teams he can look a big agricultural and lacking in the finer skills. However he is one of the few players we have who does not get bullied or pushed off the ball.
After watching him yesterday, when he had a good game, I am convinced that he is likely to play a big part in our upcoming games against teams around us. The pretty football is going to have to take a back seat in the games against Bournemouth, Watford and West Ham and we are going to have to dig in and show character and not let ourselves be bullied. We have come up short in games where other teams are physical and the teams around us will all have a game plan to close us down and resort to thuggery if the the ref lets them get away with it. Too many have let the opposition foul and niggle us recently and we have not been competing with the same intensity.
Battling is what is going to keep us up and I hope GP has these tactics in his armoury, if he doesn’t I think we have a good chance of going down.
I reckon we are going to need both Stephens and Duffy’s hard man contributions over the next few games. The pretty stuff can wait until we are safe or next season imo.
Yes, I am changing tack on what I’ve said all season and I’ll now accept a few unattractive ground out victories or draws without being entertained
I believe Stephens form will have a big part to play in whether we stay up or not. I overheard a conversation after the game that replacing Stephens was the most important thing is this transfer window. I couldn’t agree less!
I’ve said that NSC for years, every team needs a powerful battler or two, with bite. The likes of Stephens and Duffy give us that.
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.
Weststander
Well-known member
Except that the wide open spaces between Webster and Dunk, who are both prone to positional misjudgements anyway, need to be protected by at least one mobile sitter with bite in the tackle and muscle.
Secondly, a midfield and forward line of lightweight technicians of our standard, would get bullied out of most PL games. We’d be relegated in short time. A few football principles have stood the test of time, one being that every team needs to win the centre midfield battle to have a chance of winning most games.