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The increasing irony surrounding such a term is that as soon as the fuckers take the field they get measured against the first X1 players and it's "aarrrrrhhjgkjhdkjhd... Not good enough".
Seen Dier get a tonne of flack today; in a collectively poor performance what he do so badly as to get picked out?
Honestly, I swear for some, 'injured' equates to playing badly all year and somehow serves to compound their opinions on the player's ability (also see Lamela)....
Clicked on one or two Newsnow links and he is being trashed by some of our fans. I don't rate him at all but our squad is in rag order.
Dier is just fine when he’s given a limited role in front of the defense but if he’s serious about becoming a top class midfielder he needs to be more dynamic and more brave on the ball. Too often he receives the ball in our half and passes it backwards immediately rather than turning and looking forward. I’m not expecting him to become Dembele but he has to do more in possession, we spend way too much time passing it sideways in front of our penalty area because we are a bit timid in midfield.
Winks is our only CM who even comes close to replicating Dembele’s role, he likes to drive forward and play with his head up. Dier has to add some of this to his game.
Winks is our only CM who even comes close to replicating Dembele’s role, he likes to drive forward and play with his head up. Dier has to add some of this to his game.
I think it was less Dier playing really badly and more the fact that a lot of people find it hard to pick out any qualities that make him good enough to start.
That's kinda my point though..... Why cunt the bench players off for not being as good as the starters?
....Twisted as fuck logic!
(Btw... Hope you didn't think my rant was aimed at you. "Bench" in itself is a fair assessment.)
Sure I getcha, my point was that any implication that he could start seem to be pretty dead in the water these days.
Which really wasn't so much the case between 2015 - 17 say.
I think there's a difference between substitutes as a term and 'squad players'
Many subs are/near as good as starting players and can be there so serve different play styles against different opponents.
Dier often feels like he exists to plug a gap due to injuries and not much else.
This year's been a bad year for obv reasons... There's scope for him to bounce back, but that's about him (health & hard work). Then again, he's never truly been a first pick at CM anyway other than through necessity...
In which case, I think there are relatively few genuine "subs" at this level of the game without playing for a money-ball team
Classic definition of a utility player.
Nothing to be sniffed at; just ask James Milner.
Except he had an 89% pass completion rate today, only Eriksen touched the ball more (once more) but Eriksen pass completion rate was 77%!!! Only Snodgrass 96% (17 passes less) Son 94% (52 passes less!!) Sanchez 93% (14 fewer passes). Many of his passes were forwards don't have this to hand but saw with my own eyes which on many occasions broke the lines of West Ham. No one blocked and intercepted more. No one won more headers.
He and or Foyth were our best two players today.
Always been a fan of Dier but I don’t think he is the long term answer in our midfield.
A couple of things were obvious to me today.
1. He lacks speed of thought. Receive the ball, looks up, obvious pass it on, hesitates, releases the ball too late and the defender intercepts. Alli is also guilty of this.
2. He’s great in the tackle but when the ball is knocked around him he’s far to slow to react, he often follows the ball but just sees it played around him in small triangles.
These are traits of a player that spent most of his youth as a CB. He’s done a good job for us in midfield alongside good players like Dembele, but when asked to hold down the central area himself like today, he’s not going to be the answer.
That’s not to say we should sell him, but blimey we need some midfield reinforcement
A couple of things were obvious to me today.
1. He lacks speed of thought. Receive the ball, looks up, obvious pass it on, hesitates, releases the ball too late and the defender intercepts. Alli is also guilty of this.
2. He’s great in the tackle but when the ball is knocked around him he’s far to slow to react, he often follows the ball but just sees it played around him in small triangles.
These are traits of a player that spent most of his youth as a CB. He’s done a good job for us in midfield alongside good players like Dembele, but when asked to hold down the central area himself like today, he’s not going to be the answer.
That’s not to say we should sell him, but blimey we need some midfield reinforcement
That's the performance I observed too.... Thought maybe I was just pleased to see him back in the mix.
I was watching him more than any player on the field today as I wanted to see if he's fit, on form etc as I'm concerned going into the semi-final.
So many forward passes, I think he had one cut out from which West Ham counter attacked on but other than that he had a really encouraging game. I enjoyed it.
Out of interest, being as you think you know everything, how did a semi final CL team lose to a shit team like West Ham?
At home.
In the new Fortress ?
Even better than that.... Before we spend, let's get a fucking game plan.... How do we want to line-up, how many CMs and what qualities does each need. Only THEN let's hit the shops....
In attempting to diversify (formation & tactics), it seem to we have lost a lot of our identity over the last 2 seasons.... Probably a wise idea we re-focus a little before rebuilding the engine room otherwise we're likely to knock-on effects elsewhere in the squad.
Oooh, have I got a new 'friend'?????
Think I'll pass thanks......
You dated me with your xxx kisses Big Boy .