UPDATED: Dale Stephens SIGNS 3.5 Year Deal

[Bold Seagull]

I think he's a great player, and he offers so much more than just his ability to kick a ball around. Arguably a Brighton legend, and yet so many don't rate him. It feels like they want him to be something he's not and then get annoyed at that

It’s a condition called Barnesism.

 

[keaton]

I like Stephens but he was awful at times last season. Fulham away, Muff and Cardiff home and there were others BUT I believe he was playing under instructions. Massive few months coming up for Dale I think, if the team change style and he can or can’t then we’ll know.

I don't think any part of his instructions for last season involved- stupid, nasty tackles; switching off and leaving your man on the edge of the area with no pressure and ignoring simple balls and then slowly turning straight into trouble. I like Stephens but he was shocking for a lot of last season

 

[Silverhatch]

Mooy is here to challenge both Propper and Stephens.

Don’t care how ‘undervalued’ Stephens is or how much ‘class’ Propper has .... for the second half of last season they were both shocking.

The amount of times our central midfield is bossed by other sides has to change.... and both Stephens and Propper need to step up if they want to remain Premier League players.

This is the case. But really Propper WAS pants from Feb onwards. Stephens, for all the shit going on around him, at least continued to show for the ball, never hid, and got bloody stuck in. It's been done to death but CH should have dropped Propper and got the King back in.Stephens is a Pros player because he does the shit stuff well.The only way we will ever Boss the midfield is with a change in playing style (regardless of personnel). Xavi and ****ing Iniesta could've been our midfield two last year but even they'd have struggled when playing in such a rigid formation.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Stephens, still must be one of the first 2/3 names on the team sheet.

 

[Hugo Rune]

CH should have dropped Propper and got the King back in.....Xavi and ****ing Iniesta could've been our midfield two last year but even they'd have struggled when playing in such a rigid formation.

It was it was clear that CH didn’t trust the King to stay rooted in front of the back four like Stephens & Pröpper did. You can see that in the substitutions where the King would often come on in the number 10 position.

Looking back, we were playing with two DMs in a 4-4-1-1. That really is ultra defensive. I’m sure that Potter will want his midfielders doing more box-2-box work rather than keeping a back three company in our own half. As others have said, Stephens & Pröpper should hopefully have a little more license to attack, we’ll then see how they do because Mooy & Bissouma will hopefully provide plenty of competition for their places if they can’t provide the sort of attacking threat that we desperately need.

 

[bluenitsuj]

I would rate Stephens above Propper and believe Propper will struggle for games this year. Stephens. Mooy and Bissouma when fit should be above him, in my opinion.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Stephens, still must be one of the first 2/3 names on the team sheet.

And if he is, under a new manager with a fresh vision, then many are simply going to have to reflect they are wrong.

If he’s out of the team and used far less, then GP will share some of the views. Time will tell.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Like every player, Stephens gets a fresh, clean slate under Potter.

He was utterly dire in our dismal, downward almost-relegation spiral in the 2nd half of last season. Too many reports of Booze Brotherhood did him no favours either.

But... there was previously a player in there that Potter can encourage to come back. And I've every hope he will.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

As was shown on the Mooy thread, he plays a lot further forward than Stephens ever has. His heat map is more like a Propper/Gross hybrid.

Anyhow, what will be interesting is whether a new manager also uses Stephens as the midfield general. Potter arguably has more options than Hughton had, if Stephens is still playing regularly, then those not rating him may need to wonder if 2 top flight managers know more than them.

The 3-4-3 formation needs two ball-playing midfielders in the middle who can tackle, pass and keep positional discipline. There are now 3 experienced players we have who can do that - Propper, Stephens and Mooy. The heat maps may be different from last season, but that's because they played for different teams in different systems. Of course their heat maps will be different

 

[dazzer6666]

The 3-4-3 formation needs two ball-playing midfielders in the middle who can tackle, pass and keep positional discipline. There are now 3 experienced players we have who can do that - Propper, Stephens and Mooy. The heat maps may be different from last season, but that's because they played for different teams in different systems. Of course their heat maps will be different

This...........it shouldn't be too difficult to understand. Also Stephens & Propper have had no serious competition for their places over the last two seasons (club aim of having cover for every position has been a bit lacking there), that has now been fixed. I'm not going to slag him off because he's been absolutely pivotal in us going up and staying up, but he's going to need to step up a level to keep his place (as are others - probably only Ryan, Dunk and Duffy that are 'safe' for the time being) now there is serious competition - which is a good thing. They'll all be asked to a different job than they were last season as we change formation, so will be interesting to see who comes out better. With GP's tactical fluidity, it's also quite likely Stephens will get some games, or parts of games, where he is told to sit in front of the back 3.

 

[Simster]

People online love to overcomplicate the game. Heatmaps and opta stats don't always tell a story - football has never lent itself well to stats. And that is such a typically tedious post from verbal-diarrhea specialist Stat Bore calling people "special" for considering Mooy as competition for Stephens with absolutely no basis for explaining himself. Full of shit as always.

It's quite simple - Potter wants genuine competition in midfield. He'll mix and match according to form of our players, the formation he wants to play, and the threats/weaknesses presented by the opposition. [MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION] is absolutely right - Stephens and Propper have not had compeition for the best part of 2 seasons, and Mooy addresses that issue. As for Stephens, I've always liked him. Very competitive and contrary to what some people seem to suggest, he does get it forward when possible and is not particularly slow either - it's just that with a lack of pace and movement up front, he often doesn't have many options. That said, he does go through phases of poor form.

 

[Stat Brother]

Even though they play in the same position and have very similar playing statistics? Of course he's here to challenge Stephens you weapon

We'll see soon enough.

 

[Simster]

We'll see soon enough.

Thanks f*ck you posted that - we'd never have known.

I guess it's much easier to post than explaining why anyone who thinks one central midfielder provides competition for another central midfielder is "a bit special".

 

[Bold Seagull]

The 3-4-3 formation needs two ball-playing midfielders in the middle who can tackle, pass and keep positional discipline. There are now 3 experienced players we have who can do that - Propper, Stephens and Mooy. The heat maps may be different from last season, but that's because they played for different teams in different systems. Of course their heat maps will be different

I agree, they weren't my heatmaps, but he's played under 2 different managers at H'Field in 2 different leagues and has been a more forward looking midfielder than Stephens has been. I agree he's here to challenge any of the midfield we have from Stephens to Gross. We know that Propper, as he has been doing recently for Holland, can drop into that holding midfield role as well, so there is a lot more flexibility than Hughton had because I think Mooy is a big upgrade on Kayal.

We seem convinced it will be 3-4-3, but Potter I don't think will stick with a rigid plan. Wouldn't be that surprised to see a 4-4-1-1 tomorrow. Getting excited about how this is going to pan out.

 

[Bold Seagull]

People online love to overcomplicate the game. Heatmaps and opta stats don't always tell a story - football has never lent itself well to stats. And that is such a typically tedious post from verbal-diarrhea specialist Stat Bore calling people "special" for considering Mooy as competition for Stephens with absolutely no basis for explaining himself. Full of shit as always.

It's quite simple - Potter wants genuine competition in midfield. He'll mix and match according to form of our players, the formation he wants to play, and the threats/weaknesses presented by the opposition. [MENTION=27279]dazzer6666[/MENTION] is absolutely right - Stephens and Propper have not had compeition for the best part of 2 seasons, and Mooy addresses that issue. As for Stephens, I've always liked him. Very competitive and contrary to what some people seem to suggest, he does get it forward when possible and is not particularly slow either - it's just that with a lack of pace and movement up front, he often doesn't have many options. That said, he does go through phases of poor form.

[MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] is most likely correct though - Mooy won't come in for Stephens role in the team, i.e. the more defensive minded central midfield player, or holding player. Stephens may lose his place of course, but the likely result of that is Propper dropping into Stephens role, and Mooy playing the more attacking role.

I don't think Mooy has come in to play a defensive central midfield role - do you, which is what I believe SB meant?

 

[Stat Brother]

Thanks f*ck you posted that - we'd never have known.

I guess it's much easier to post than explaining why anyone who thinks one central midfielder provides competition for another central midfielder is "a bit special".

Because it's already been explained.

Mooy plays considerably further up the pitch than Stephens.
He spends more time in the opposition's half than his own.

That doesn't sound like a direct replacement for Stephens to me.

 

[Simster]

Because it's already been explained.

Mooy plays considerably further up the pitch than Stephens.
He spends more time in the opposition's half than his own.

That doesn't sound like a direct replacement for Stephens to me.

Jesus Christ - it's clear you're confusing Dale Stephens with Maty Ryan. Either that or we'll have to explain:

Nobody said he was a direct replacement for Stephens, but clearly he's now got competition for a place in the starting XI. If Potter can only find 2 spaces in CM, he now has 3 to choose from. Previously, Propper and Stephens were a shoo in. The rest of it is just noise.

 

[Stat Brother]

Jesus Christ - it's clear you're confusing Dale Stephens with Maty Ryan. Either that or we'll have to explain:

Nobody said he was a direct replacement for Stephens, but clearly he's now got competition for a place in the starting XI. If Potter can only find 2 spaces in CM, he now has 3 to choose from. Previously, Propper and Stephens were a shoo in. The rest of it is just noise.

I'm not.
They have.
I agree.

 

[Marshy]

anyway have I missed something have we extended Dale's deal ?

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

anyway have I missed something have we extended Dale's deal ?

No. Like Pröpper he has 2 years left on his contract.