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Lad was immense again yesterday. His rise is similar to Kane last season, where he just seems to get better and better each game. My player of the season so far.
One disgusting pass at the edge of our box that could've easily been his 'Bentaleb at Old Trafford' moment, but luckily it didn't amount to a goal for them. Otherwise he was sublime once again.
Quite like that we now have Alli, Dier, Bentaleb, Mason and Dembele that are all capable of doing a job and are not players that would frighten me with their prospects of surrender if picked.
Quite like that we now have Alli, Dier, Bentaleb, Mason and Dembele that are all capable of doing a job and are not players that would frighten me with their prospects of surrender if picked.
No doubt just look at recent seasons when we had to pick from dross at times like Paulinho, Stambouli, Capoue, Livermore
I suppose when you look at it like that, Alli, Dier, Bentaleb and Mason is a big upgrade. My only concern is other than Dier we don't have a player who is a proper DM. Even when Bentaleb last season was playing DM he often had to restrain himself a lot from attacking.
Wouldn't mind us having one more pop at Witsel in January. Having him and Dier would mean never having DM issues again.
Agreed not good but Lloris didn't do him any favours giving him the ball there with two bearing down on him
Hugos pass caused that for sure-coming for that cross when there was no need either and a few other distribution issues last night too, not Hugos best game for us-better last night than on sunday tho eh!
Cannot express how much man love I have for Dier, I've thought he was brilliant since West ham last year tbh and he has just walked in to that position and made it his.
First name on the team sheet.
Cannot express how much man love I have for Dier, I've thought he was brilliant since West ham last year tbh and he has just walked in to that position and made it his.
First name on the team sheet.
The same Stambouli who's getting regular games for a PSG team unbeaten in the league? The same Capoue who has played nearly every minute for a Watford team with the 5th best defensive record in the Premiership?
Just because some players didn't either get a chance, or maybe didn't replicate their best form for Spurs doesn't make them dross.
Livermore though... yeah.
Capoue is playing in a side that will be lucky to beat the drop, he has found his level. Stambouli only has 4 starts on the season hardly a regular. To your point maybe they didn't get a fair shake, but neither of them ever looked the part for us when they did get games. I think we are in a much stronger position in midfield at the moment wouldn't you agree?
Capoue started really well for us, then got injured, then somehow out of favour, and then played a match here and there. Maybe there was more to it behind the scenes but he really should have been given more of a chance.
Stambouli is a different case I guess. Never set the world alight but he didn't turn in any stinkers either (in the limited chances he got). What I liked about him is that he knew when to put in a tactical foul to stop opposition breaks - something most of the top teams do, but we've been almost 'too nice' to implement ourselves. Getting 7 games in less than 1/3 of a season for an impressive PSG team where the fans boo him simply because he's a Marseille fan is actually decent going IMO.
I'm not making the case that either are worldbeaters, but I absolutely stand by my point that they aren't "dross" as you described them. They're perfectly decent, Premiership quality players and it's a shame to see decent players described as dross just because they didn't work out at Spurs.
Dembele's work against Liverpool was enough that I'm not panicking if Dier needs a rest, but a specialist option may help.
Capoue - basically a French Huddleston. Nice passer, good shot on occasion and physically strong but not that mobile and put in quite a number of lazy performances so understandable given Poch's system why he failed.
Stambouli - nice and tidy footballer but again not the quickest.
Given the system we use and the nature of the English Premiership I can see why Poch didn't want them.
Here's some recent tweets from Watford fans about Capoue:
"masterclass from Capoue in midfield. A new sheriff in town!"
"Etienne Capoue is one the best to grace a #watfordfc shirt"
"How good is Capoue? He's a joy to watch"
"Capoue is by far the best player technically to pull on the yellow shirt!"
"I need a highlight video for Capoue today. Boss"
"So many thanks to Spurs for capoue for 5 million!"
"Spurs must have seriously mismanaged Capoue. The guy is absolute quality"
Like I said, he's a decent player. Maybe not (obviously) what Poch wanted but certainly a more than capable player who could probably have been utilized better. Am I gutted he's gone? Not really, I quite like our midfield now - but he's far from a bad player. The fact that he's an ever present DM in a Watford team favourites for relegation that somehow have only conceeded less than a goal a game kinda underlines that.
"masterclass from Capoue in midfield. A new sheriff in town!"
"Etienne Capoue is one the best to grace a #watfordfc shirt"
"How good is Capoue? He's a joy to watch"
"Capoue is by far the best player technically to pull on the yellow shirt!"
"I need a highlight video for Capoue today. Boss"
"So many thanks to Spurs for capoue for 5 million!"
"Spurs must have seriously mismanaged Capoue. The guy is absolute quality"
Like I said, he's a decent player. Maybe not (obviously) what Poch wanted but certainly a more than capable player who could probably have been utilized better. Am I gutted he's gone? Not really, I quite like our midfield now - but he's far from a bad player. The fact that he's an ever present DM in a Watford team favourites for relegation that somehow have only conceeded less than a goal a game kinda underlines that.
I`m still reserving judgement on Dier, there was a moment at Anderlecht where he seemed to give up, plus the one bad mistake last night.
He`s still young though i suppose, i was wrong about "son of tim"(Bentaleb).
He`s still young though i suppose, i was wrong about "son of tim"(Bentaleb).
To me it seems like he always knows the right place to be on the field. I said it in the gameday thread, but the fluidity of our backline/Dier is fantastic.
He's a solid player but it seems that he just didn't fit here. Not too sure what it was, his attitude, didn't fit the system, or what, but he's doing well at Watford so good for him. Would've been nice to get more money in hindsight but it seems to have worked out for all involved.
Poch gave Capoue PLENTY of chances. He was playing him even when he was absolutely dogshit. Distribution and technique weren't Capoues problem, it was his god awful positioning. Perhaps he's playing alongside players who are better positioned at Watford (I mean he was in front of Kaboul last season), but yeah I couldn't care less how he's doing at Watford. I cared how he was at Spurs and he was fucking shit.