Lots of players take time to find their feet. Especially strikers. Henry is one example of many. You can see Adams has the right stuff about him if you watch the games.
Can’t help but feel hat was pretty embarrassing for Ralph. Whatever his problem with Bertrand he made another poor decision to play cedric and Danso out of position. Let’s hope that spells the end of trying to confuse our opponents by playing wingers as left backs and left backs as right backs etc. we were lucky in the first half last week and this week he got spanked for the same ploy. Bertrand was our captain and is still one of the best in the squad. That showed when he played. That was another poor game for vestergaard and hojberg sadly. Hope PEH can find his way into the playmaker of last year again. Boof will be player of the year at this rate.
Great game for the neutral. Bournemouth deserved the win for taking their chances whilst we didn’t. One shot on target in the first half is simply not good enough for a home side. For long periods we played the better football - esp in second half when Bournemouth were quite poor but they rode their luck and probably deservedly so. Adams so needs a goal. Works so hard
His place in the team is pretty much untouchable though. Our squad is now so thin in that area of the pitch, that PEH has no real competition for his place. Nothing to keep him on his toes. Yet again, as has been the case for over three years now, we have transferred a player out (Lemina in this case) without replacing them. Doing the former is fine, but only if adequately doing the latter too.
Which is why I don't hold it against him, one little bit. So much for signing a new CB, only to then play him at LB and then RB. He might be the next Virgil, or he might be the next Stephens. Either way, the kid needs to be played in his actual position to show us what he can (or can't) do. Cedric was nothing special in the first half. But when he got the chance to play in his correct position, he become one of our best on the pitch.
I assumed for most of pre-season, given he was getting minutes etc, that Harry Reed was effectively going to be the Lemina replacement - but then he got shafted out last minute as well so we are left with just PEH, JWP & Romeu. Certainly not ideal.
For our next trick, Romeu is going to start in goal, with JWP partnering Bednarek up front. Bertrand still on the bench.
PS. So much love for that JWP penalty. Rickie would have been proud. Thank heavens Ings wasn't yet on the pitch.
Yeah. Reed also out on loan. Agree he might not be top 6 quality but young and capable in the championship he has proven to be. Armstrong is available, he should have got 30 today as Jwp was never going to score. PEH isn’t awful, he’s just lost his pivotal position and settled into a holding role too much, wonder if the captaincy is taking away from his personal game, acting as Marshall out there. Just thinking out loud. With yosh and danso now In the squad we could have a settled back four and drop vestergaard and probably see better results.
I probably haven’t got anything to add that hasn’t already been said. Romeu was a beast. Cedric was surprisingly good...when he was moved into his correct position. Boufal and Redmond looked dangerous and exciting second half. We need Hojbjerg to start performing ASAP. JWP was better in the second half (despite wayward shooting) but neither of these two have come close to their all action performances of last season, and considering we are still calamitous at the back and profligate upfront, we really need our midfield to be working! Ralph needs to stop being a weirdo and play a RB at RB and LB at LB. It’s never sounded like it might work when the team sheets come out, nor has it looked like it might work during the games. We have been lucky up until now and managed to pick up points IN SPITE of this. We looked so much more balanced in the second half when we made the maverick move of actually playing Bertrand and moving Cedric across to his position. Maybe then Danso can get a chance in his actual position too. A CB pairing of Danso and Bednarek has got to be worth a go (flanked by Bertrand and Valery please). A word for Bournemouth too, their game plan was perfect and executed very well. They were incredibly clinical and defended very well too. Some excellent counterattacking, helped by our terrible defending. They probably deserved their win, but a draw wouldn’t have been an unfair result either imo. Reckon they might make themselves a trophy for that win.
Agreed with this bit particularly The more games I see, the more Vestergaard scares me. It’s the immobility.
I called it after his first game for us. Others were raving about him, but I couldn't see it. Sure he has potential, but no way would I be starting him at the moment. F*ck, a back four of Valery/Cedric - Bednarek - Yoshida - Bertrand, with Rom and Hoj in front, would be actually half-decent.
I can’t give him any stick as he hasn’t played in his position, bar 20 minutes yesterday. I’d still like to see how he plays as a starting CB, but first I’d be playing Yoshi and Bednarek in the 4 you named, if we play 4. I also wonder if he and ralph had words during the first half. I saw him gesticulating but couldn’t see who it was towards.