Lillehamring

There is nothing to back this up, the stats suggest otherwise

That's not the question here though - doyle will be first choice because what he provides is more important to enzo than what justin provides.

But we can't say that for certain - doyle played when we were still getting used to the system, when we were more vulnerable as a team. When doyle was playing people were still screaming about vestergaard being in the team, worried that he was the weakest link. The last five games Doyle played (or four league games) we conceded 1 goal, to southampton - which granted he contributed to, but then so did Justin. Doesn't take away the fact that for the rest of those games, we defended superbly. Justin was at fault (partly) for the sheffield goal, so hardly an argument for better defensive solidity.

That really was only in the Hull game - his 'dribbled past' stats for 90 mins is 0.8, the same as Justin and less than winks, ricardo and hamza.

Doyle had one mediocre game against Hull and it's been magnified into him being a liability. He wasn't struggling at all, he was our most attacking CB and defensively he had some great stats: Of players that have played a full game, he ranks highest for tackles per 90 (3.3), crosses blocked per 90, 4th (behind albrighton, marcal and praet - so effectively 1st) for passes blocked, 3nd on tackles+interception rate And as for his errors, well, he's level more or less with winks, and below mads and ricardo- 0.13 errors per 90. hardly anything. His shot creating actions per 90 is 2.67 (better than ricardo and way ahead of justin's 1.08) And let's not overlook the fact that when he was playing the system was brand new, it was very shaky at times generally. For all the criticism that we are too slow and negative, doyle could be the key to flipping this.

Not sure that's true - most of his appearances have been on the left, and it was playing there that he got his england call up. I'm not sure I can see him going to any team in the top half of the prem - not unless he can add a bit more to his game.

Perhaps you shouldn't be in this thread

We haven't been unwilling to counter attack, by and large we've simply been starved of opportunities to do so by teams endlessly sitting deep - and when we have had the chance, it's been with mixed success. Even today, the goals weren't from counter attacks - a penalty, a route 1 hoof, the third goal was something of a counter but even then they had 6 players back, and winning the ball with a high press. The most obvious counter attack, we føkked up.

Exactly and that's why it's a more dynamic way of playing - you're going forwards and backwards constantly. The alternatives (rodgers' way) is to pass along the line, so whilst you aren't necessarily going backwards, equally you're not going forwards. Playing this W shape (3 defenders/ 2 midfielders) means that when the spaces appear the progress is already facing up the pitch. Playing laterally across the back means you have to start moving the ball in a completely new direction to go forwards. It's subtle, but it changes the entire dynamic. Not to mention the numerous other advantages gained from creating boxes (again, better then a single line).

The only realistic future for Justin is as a back up - he's not got the right attributes to keep doyle out, can't pass well enough to challenge for the vestergaard or inverted FB role, and isn't as good as faes. And he's on a massively long contract. If he's smart, and the club are smart, he'll move on next summer - better for him if he does.

FWIW - If we use OPTA ratings as a yardstick, Vardy's best showing (7.8) was the blackburn game, where he scored, hit the woodwork had a key pass, chipped in with a couple of interceptions. that said, he only had 29 touches of the ball and these 2 shots. He played 76 minutes. Nacho's best game was Stoke (7.65) - 43 touches, a goal, 2 key passes, but just one shot. 77 minutes Today Daka played 62 minutes, registered 29 touches, 2 shots, 1 goal, an assist, a key pass, an interception, a clearance, and a rating of 8.14. Despite hardly having played all season. I think your argument stands.

Course he will - maybe not for 90 minutes straight off, but Doyle is one of Enzo's players, he knows him and knows what he's capable of. Doyle provides an angle of attack that we don't have right now and is probably our most progressive defensive player.

It's not a particularly high bar.

their xG was a little over 1 - they had one good chance, the rest was all pretty weak, most of their shots were from outside the area. I think you have to credit our keeper and defence for the quality of their response when we did lose possession, our recovery was as key as plymouth's shooting-

Unlike nacho - at least he looked like he knew what he was supposed to be doing.

It's not entirely impossible to believe that this is the way he's coached them to play but the first real opportunity they've had to do so. The holding of possession nobody really believed that this was his masterplan, that he didn't have a more direct element to his system - did they?

Who is AH?

Funny thing perspective - for me it was the opposite: we seemed suddenly nervous and uncertain.

You seem to be pushing for some unattainable standard. Yes we could have done better with some chances, but all teams waste chances. Today we scored 4 goals that were all very different, and had enough to composure to hold on for a clean sheet even with a massive number of changes to the squad. We all get that there are some underlying problems remaining, but today the positive play outweighed the negative by some distance.

To be fair though, there won't be many games where the opponent is pushed forward as much as plymouth were, especially not at home.

Not many teams have played as high a line as plymouth did today - there was acres of space, and we attacked it relentlessly.

Player quality seems to be about the only subjective variable - i mean, is it based on their OPTA ranking or their transfer value? - either way it's a bit vague.

Then i've no idea why you should have made that comment and got all your stats wrong?

Please be careful when referencing xG and talking about the volume of chances: it is about probability not quantity - a player can take a penalty and have an xG of 0.76 or he can take 7 shots with a ten percent chance of scoring each and have an xG of 0.7 Armstrong has had 54 shots (4.5 shots per goal), nacho and vardy have had 49 (4.45 shots per goal) - actually almost identical conversion rate. Szmodics has a goal every 4.85 shots Clarke is 5.6