He's a bit mercurial and always will be, but I love his commitment, effort and heart. What stands out for me in the CL semi final isn't the talent - more sheer guts.
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That’s because he gets swarmed by the opposition. Think he did a good job of winning us fouls up the pitch yesterday, and offered enough to keep them honest at the back so they couldn’t camp fully in our half. He’s frustrating as hell because I don’t rate him one game and then he’s one of our best the next.
True enough- he certainly does like a sideways run to the middle. Would be really nice if he could look up for a pass at some point. That’s why I can’t decide if he’s great or...er...not great.I believe he gets swarmed because defenders know they can knick the ball from him easily. He doesn’t shield the ball well. Plus......he always seems to gravitate to the center of the pitch, where of course he‘s going to get swarmed. Rather see him on the wing more in space where his pace would help.
We deliberately sat off them mate, this was the game plan, not to engage. Liverpool made more tackles than us and they had 70% of the ball!!!Alli won 5/12 ground duels yesterday. Good by his standards.
Moura won 10/18. Now that's what I call work-rate. And he is a fucking midget. So the rest have no excuses.
Winks won 3/5.
Eriksen won 1/3. (Football is a non-contact sport in Denmark, you know).
Son won 3/6.
Aurier won 1/3. Unusually low numbers for him.
Lamela won 4/12. Only played for 25 mins.
GLC won 1/4. Played for 25 mins.
We won 45 duels and they won 59.We deliberately sat off them mate, this was the game plan, not to engage. Liverpool made more tackles than us and they had 70% of the ball!!!
All that said Lucas work rate in this game was a pleasure to witness. Just wish we had a more suitable gameplan with our counter-attacks rather than hopefull hoofs upfield. (I've no issue at all with counter-attacking football, it's thrilling to watch when there's an actual plan in place to execute it).
And they had just shy of 70% of the ball!!! As I said these stats reflect how we set up to play rather than on the individuals' doing/not doing something.We won 45 duels and they won 59.
I confess that I get really pissed with him some games, but he never gives up when things don't go his way. That's the kind of player we need.He's a bit mercurial and always will be, but I love his commitment, effort and heart. What stands out for me in the CL semi final isn't the talent - more sheer guts.
I would not go as far as to say that. Numbers like that are typical of Eriksen, for example. Now I am not saying that all of those duels were defensive duels. It seems to me that they are a combination of attacking and defensive duels. We had 60% possession against Southampton but Eriksen was only involved in 3 ground duels, of which he won 2. We had 59% possession against Norwich and he contested 3 ground duels, of which he only won 1. Very low figures for a CM.And they had just shy of 70% of the ball!!! As I said these stats reflect how we set up to play rather than on the individuals' doing/not doing something.
Sorry, wasn't aware the numbers posted were specifically re Eriksen, I've kinda joined the party late. I agree on your take on his specifics though.I would not go as far as to say that. Numbers like that are typical of Eriksen, for example. Now I am not saying that all of those duels were defensive duels. It seems to me that they are a combination of attacking and defensive duels. We had 60% possession against Southampton but Eriksen was only involved in 3 ground duels, of which he won 2. We had 59% possession against Norwich and he contested 3 ground duels, of which he only won 1. Very low figures for a CM.
Depending on the phase of play, yes we didn't get in Liverpool's faces a lot of the time. But that is not to say that it was our intention not to press/avoid physical contact for 90 mins.
For those having a pop at Moura, was his hat trick in the CL semi a fluke?
Yes.
I don't think he'll ever hit such heights for us again.
I'll be forever grateful for that, but it was like winning a lottery. Brilliant moment and much joy but can't expect it to become norm.
For those having a pop at Moura, was his hat trick in the CL semi a fluke?
Bewildered you think you can fluke a hat trick in a CL semi final.
Bewildered you think you can fluke a hat trick in a CL semi final.
oh my lord... he worked hard, and I respect him for that, but gosh how inefficient was his performance today. Whenever he had to move ball forward, his brain just ran into error. No vision, no ideas.
We need more than one flash of brilliance in every 5th game (and being absolutely useless in building attacks all other time) from player who is constantly starting matches. His overall contribution is just not good enough. Within last 6 games he has played 465 minutes, scored 0 assisted 0 and as he does not help to create attacks either, his only contribution has been tracking back. Absolutely not good enough.
There are more pressing issues in the squad right now, but I would be happy if we'd sell him in summer. Guess some of the brilliant moments might fool some desperate sides in England (Everton, West Ham, Crystal Palace) and they'd be up to pay like 40 mil or smth. So we could use it to buy someone who is more complete footballer. But coming summer will be last chance, after that he'll get totally found out and we'll have player in our books who has low value and who is not contributing enough.
Yes.
I don't think he'll ever hit such heights for us again.
I'll be forever grateful for that, but it was like winning a lottery. Brilliant moment and much joy but can't expect it to become norm.
In my opinion there is no debate needed on Moura unless you believe he should start every game and if we want a team able to challenge for the title.
He ain't good enough to start in more than a third of games in a title winning team unless you have a season like Leicester had. What I mean by that is everyone played to 8.5 to 10 out of 10 every single week and those who stepped in did as well. Even then we had better players than they did.
Moura is a great squad member but he does not do enough of what he needs for us. Son does but is having an average season but has it in him to be a title winning team player.
If our ambition is top 4 then I am still unsure Moura can be a regular but less of an issue.