[Albion] What's happened to Adam Webster.

[HastingsSeagull]

Dunk and Van Hecke are clearly top 10 PL CBs (greedy 6, Newcastle, Villa, WestHam strike me as 9 ‘big’ clubs). Igor looks like he’s slightly better overall than Webster and importantly suits our style much better which is why some of you will want to shout at me for that statement. But I agree suiting us moves him even further levels ahead in effect.

That said who is gonna be better than Webster and accept being 4th choice (5th sometimes when Veltman not needed wide) with the prospect of someone from an amazing academy also leapfrogging him? He’s ideal for the role as long as he’s happy in it.

 

[Stat Brother]

Anyone (of whom there are plenty) expecting less of the performance than we actually got were always going to be disappointed, I'd say that was as close to textbook AW as we're going to get.

He's plenty good enough for top flight football, unfortunately that's not here right now, as proven by JPVH's showing.

I'm just pleased he was able to knock the wind out of some of his detractors, for now.

 

[Barnet Seagull]

Very good last night. Watched him closely and he seemed to manage risk better, quicker to release under pressure and didn't bait the press to the level he has tried to previously.
This was a performance we usually get only after a run of games. Good to see him as sharp after a lay off.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

He's the next BHAFC player to be written off by a certain section of NSC, before coming back into the starting 11 and playing a crucial role in a game before the end of the season.

LOLz

Webster comes back in and helps record the first clean of the season, away to an in-form team

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Very good last night. Watched him closely and he seemed to manage risk better, quicker to release under pressure and didn't bait the press to the level he has tried to previously.
This was a performance we usually get only after a run of games. Good to see him as sharp after a lay off.

Agreed, good observation. He seemed to almost play within himself which is to be expected in the first game back after a long injury but in this case, I also think it helped him. I'm a Webster fan but I would say his biggest fault is sometimes that he almost tries too hard - to force a pass, a run forward or a tackle and it can leave us exposed.

 

[Badger Boy]

I think to praise Webster for last night completely ignores the dreadful lack of ambition from West Ham. We kept a clean sheet with Jason Steele in goal and Adam Webster at CB, it shows how unserious West Ham were about trying to win the game. They were terrified of us and that meant we could protect our weakest links with real ease. Both played their parts in a good result but it changes nothing for me - both are well below the standard of our players around them and are on borrowed time.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

So last night. No judgements can be made about Webster. He was clearly very rusty and maybe shouldn't have played. I don't want to think about how much we injected him up to get him on the pitch.

Also, Adam Webster fit and in top form is easily competitive with Van Hecke and Igor and he would have a chance of international honours.

The problem is, how many days have we had like that in the time he's been with us? These niggly injuries, the little 4 -6 weeks out with some sort of strain have blighted his time with us. The accusation of needing a run of games to get his form back is fair in my opinion.

I'd personally like the see him here with us next season, but to have any chance of getting above 4th choice, he has to get himself fit. Properly fit.

What he has in his favour is that he plays in one of the few positions where there's no young player hammering on the door. Turns, Atom, Kavanagh? I don't see them displacing Webby in the pecking order this season or next.

Webby is only 28 remember. He could still have many years at the top level. It's just the injuries.

 

[Springal]

I think to praise Webster for last night completely ignores the dreadful lack of ambition from West Ham. We kept a clean sheet with Jason Steele in goal and Adam Webster at CB, it shows how unserious West Ham were about trying to win the game. They were terrified of us and that meant we could protect our weakest links with real ease. Both played their parts in a good result but it changes nothing for me - both are well below the standard of our players around them and are on borrowed time.

Ridiculous post

 

[JBizzle]

I think to praise Webster for last night completely ignores the dreadful lack of ambition from West Ham. We kept a clean sheet with Jason Steele in goal and Adam Webster at CB, it shows how unserious West Ham were about trying to win the game. They were terrified of us and that meant we could protect our weakest links with real ease. Both played their parts in a good result but it changes nothing for me - both are well below the standard of our players around them and are on borrowed time.

Teams that lack ambition have scored against us every time they've played us this season in the Premier League except last night (and West Ham created good chances despite that perceived lack of ambition).

Fulham, Everton, Sheffield United, Burnley, Brentford, Palace, Bournemouth ALL scored against us, often taking the lead against the run of play in a rare counter attack and every one of those teams was set up to play for a draw from minute one. Even West Ham (H), they showed no outward ambition but had three shots on the counter and scored all three.

Whether you or anyone else likes it or not, that defence with Webster and Steele in it is still the only defence to not concede in the Premier League. Praise where it's due.

 

[Stat Brother]

I think to praise Webster for last night completely ignores the dreadful lack of ambition from West Ham. We kept a clean sheet with Jason Steele in goal and Adam Webster at CB, it shows how unserious West Ham were about trying to win the game. They were terrified of us and that meant we could protect our weakest links with real ease. Both played their parts in a good result but it changes nothing for me - both are well below the standard of our players around them and are on borrowed time.

Moyes isn't an arrogant idiot, he knew not to play us at our game.
He set them up well:-

- Let Albion have the ball.
- Don't get sucked in.
- Funnel them into the middle, give them the width.
- Hit them hard and quick on any turnovers
- Get the ball to Bowen as quickly as possible.

"JP stop Bowen"
"ok boss, piece of piss".

JP is pretty much the reason you think they had a lack of ambition.

 

[Marshy]

Webby was great last night.

It was handy he didnt have to do a lot and we could get 70 mins out of him.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Webby was great last night.

It was handy he didnt have to do a lot and we could get 70 mins out of him.

Did he go off injured after 74 minutes or was that just to protect him on his come back?

 

[BLOCK F]

Did he go off injured after 74 minutes or was that just to protect him on his come back?

I understand it was cramp.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Think it was said after the match he had cramp in both legs !

After one of my teams had folded, I was asked to help out a mates team one Sunday morning. I'd had no pre-season, not played since the previous April and, as someone who played centre back, they asked me to fill in at left back.

I did okay but with 10 minutes to go, I jumped for a header and got cramp in the calf muscles on both legs while in the air. Needless to say, the landing was incredibly painful and I crumpled to the ground in agony so Webster has my sympathy there.

 

[ewe2]

A class centre back.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Superb performance from Webster and lasting as long as he did, before we reverted to a back three of JPVH, Pervis and Hinch that we'd obviously been working on all week.

Couldn't have imagined saying that a few weeks back

 

[Deportivo Seagull]

I don’t think there has been any issue with Webster’s ability. He is a very good premier league CB. His problems/issues are that he picks up injuries and that when he returns from injuries, he tends to need a run of games to get up to speed and during the run of games is prone to costly mistakes. I think that this is a confidence issue rather than ability. If he could stay injury free then imho he’s behind Dunk and JPvH but on par with Igor.

 

[Badger Boy]

Moyes isn't an arrogant idiot, he knew not to play us at our game.
He set them up well:-

- Let Albion have the ball.
- Don't get sucked in.
- Funnel them into the middle, give them the width.
- Hit them hard and quick on any turnovers
- Get the ball to Bowen as quickly as possible.

"JP stop Bowen"
"ok boss, piece of piss".

JP is pretty much the reason you think they had a lack of ambition.

He was very fortunate that our finishing was poor last night otherwise he'd have been getting an absolute smack in the press - which would have been greatly justified. I'm very fortunate I don't have to watch West Ham again for a while.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I don’t think there has been any issue with Webster’s ability. He is a very good premier league CB. His problems/issues are that he picks up injuries and that when he returns from injuries, he tends to need a run of games to get up to speed and during the run of games is prone to costly mistakes. I think that this is a confidence issue rather than ability. If he could stay injury free then imho he’s behind Dunk and JPvH but on par with Igor.

Seems to me that Webster is slowly but surely slipping down the pecking order, in the same way that Big Shane did. Suddenly they're a bit-part player. Next stop Fulham?

 

[Machiavelli]

I don’t think there has been any issue with Webster’s ability. He is a very good premier league CB. His problems/issues are that he picks up injuries and that when he returns from injuries, he tends to need a run of games to get up to speed and during the run of games is prone to costly mistakes. I think that this is a confidence issue rather than ability. If he could stay injury free then imho he’s behind Dunk and JPvH but on par with Igor.

This is an oft-repeated canard on NSC, which didn't exactly stack up last night.
I'll say it again, as one of Webster's biggest cheerleaders on here, he's not adjusted to DeZerbiball as well as just about everyone else in the squad. The reason for this is because his passing isn't quite up to the exacting standard required by RDZ. He has all the other attributes (yet makes the odd stark mistake) but, unfortunately for Webster, has fallen down the pecking order due to the remarkable emergence and consolidation of JPvH and Igor's seamless transition to PL football.