WBA Post Match Thread

[reynard]

Great result  and after a terrible few days for me this has given me a real boost.

 

But it is just 3 points and the next 3 games have to be won too if we are going to make top 4.

[AyewJoking]

Fantastic first half - GAME OVER

 

Second half was boring, first half really raised my expectations we were gonna score another 3 but whatever, big 3 points and west brom didn't deserve to be on the same pitch.

 

The tielemans pass for the first goal gave me the best feeling I've had all week

[Grebfromgrebland]

Over the last 2 games our opponents haven't been able to lay a glove on us.

 

There's a steely determination around us for the run in you can see we're not going to 'let it slip'.

[foxfanazer]

2 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Over the last 2 games our opponents haven't been able to lay a glove on us.

 

There's a steely determination around us for the run in you can see we're not going to 'let it slip'.

Soyuncu makes all the difference for me. His determination to win the ball is huge

[Fox seen in Norwich]

7 hours ago, Hoopla10 said:

WH and Chelsea play each other next, right? So we'd be at least 6 clear. If Chelsea win then it'd be 7. We still have to win them though and have the hardest run out to the end of the season. It's entirely in our hands but I'm glad BR is taking no prisoners. 

Of 5th yes. But I said 4th

[Guest ttfn]

Mainland-Niles played 90 minutes in central midfield for them last night and completed 7 passes.

[Guest Danny Clender]

"In the first half I wasn't happy at all" 

That quote from Brendan is complete X-Factor gold, reminiscent of Simon Cowell when a singer has just given their best performance of the season and he says "I mean...it was ok" just for effect.

 

That said, in terms of where we are in the season, he's absolutely correct.

If we take those first half slips and slops into the next 6 games and they don't come off as forgiving, we don't make the Top 4. 

It's a focus statement for his players because this is the most pressure he's had since being at the club.

To me, it all feels a little different in terms of 'what if we don't make the top 4?' Our chance is far stronger now and wouldn't be as easily excused this time around, FA Cup or not.

Managing his players attitudes and concentration is his biggest job now, and on the overall evidence of last night, he's continuing to do a grand job. 

 

Castagne did stand out, he showed us what we've been missing from that right / wing back role. 

Vardy was sensational, he was buzzing, he wants another Champions League, which gives me the most confidence of us getting it. 

Tielemans and that pass and everything else he showed is just incredible.

 

Obviously, Evans was the stand out defender last night, but I really enjoyed Soyuncu's performance.

His deep attacking runs are controlled now and look far more convincing, his passing ability is super crisp and his confidence is outstanding. 

We all know he's a Top 4 / Champions League player and his level makes us look so credible to get this top 4 spot nailed. 

 

[st albans fox]

11 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Soyuncu makes all the difference for me. His determination to win the ball is huge

Been so clear - aggressive front foot defending from all three players. Both cags and wes brought the ball out last night which upsets the opposition completely 

[Dan Gliballs]

35 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Mainland-Niles played 90 minutes in central midfield for them last night and completed 7 passes.

Offshore-Niles didn’t do too much to shout about either.

[adam95581]

32 minutes ago, Danny Clender said:

"In the first half I wasn't happy at all" 

That quote from Brendan is complete X-Factor gold, reminiscent of Simon Cowell when a singer has just given their best performance of the season and he says "I mean...it was ok" just for effect.

 

That said, in terms of where we are in the season, he's absolutely correct.

If we take those first half slips and slops into the next 6 games and they don't come off as forgiving, we don't make the Top 4. 

It's a focus statement for his players because this is the most pressure he's had since being at the club.

To me, it all feels a little different in terms of 'what if we don't make the top 4?' Our chance is far stronger now and wouldn't be as easily excused this time around, FA Cup or not.

Managing his players attitudes and concentration is his biggest job now, and on the overall evidence of last night, he's continuing to do a grand job. 

 

Castagne did stand out, he showed us what we've been missing from that right / wing back role. 

Vardy was sensational, he was buzzing, he wants another Champions League, which gives me the most confidence of us getting it. 

Tielemans and that pass and everything else he showed is just incredible.

 

Obviously, Evans was the stand out defender last night, but I really enjoyed Soyuncu's performance.

His deep attacking runs are controlled now and look far more convincing, his passing ability is super crisp and his confidence is outstanding. 

We all know he's a Top 4 / Champions League player and his level makes us look so credible to get this top 4 spot nailed. 

 

Fofana takes the spotlight off Soyuncu. If we didn’t have little Wes, everyone would quite rightly be talking about Cags being worthy of a ‘big club’

[LanguedocFox]

54 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

Soyuncu makes all the difference for me. His determination to win the ball is huge

Totally agree. His anticipation of danger and his clean tackling are fantastic, but I also love his runs out of defence. One of these days he’s going to top it off with a wonder goal: be brilliant if it happened at Wembley on 15 May.

[foxfanazer]

12 minutes ago, LanguedocFox said:

Totally agree. His anticipation of danger and his clean tackling are fantastic, but I also love his runs out of defence. One of these days he’s going to top it off with a wonder goal: be brilliant if it happened at Wembley on 15 May.

That goal Kompany scored against us but instead it's Cags in the cup final 

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

Brendan knows what's he doing with those comments. Zero complacency between now and the end of the season. Lots of grit and determination.

 

Thought we started beautifully last night - we were sloppy on the ball at times but we were energetic and positive. More of the same on Monday please.

[Strokes]

2 more wins and we could be home and dry.

West Ham play Chelsea at the weekend, so it’s a chance to increase our lead over either or both. Liverpool play Man U next weekend which could again put us out of reach of them if they fail to win and we beat Southampton.

Then we can focus on the cup final 🤞

[David Hankey]

Wow, high praise from Big Sam who declared "You can see why Leicester are where they are in the league and why they are in the FA Cup Final". "They are as good as the top boys". Well said Allardyce, recognition indeed!!

[Rusko187]

1 hour ago, Danny Clender said:

Castagne did stand out, he showed us what we've been missing from that right / wing back role. 

 

 

I thought so too, for me he doesn't offer that on the left and before yesterdays game, I had no issues with our fullbacks. Do we need to recruit a LB in case JJ can't pick up his form when he returns?

[Guest Danny Clender]

1 minute ago, Rusko187 said:

I thought so too, for me he doesn't offer that on the left and before yesterdays game, I had no issues with our fullbacks. Do we need to recruit a LB in case JJ can't pick up his form when he returns?

 

You're on the right wavelength.

[StriderHiryu]

21 minutes ago, Danny Clender said:

 

You're on the right wavelength.

We've been interested in Ryan Betrand, who I think will come in to do the Fuchs role, IE a squad player with experience. Rodgers worked with him in the Chelsea youth team and on loan at Reading I think. We don't need a first team player, but someone that can do the job, as Fuchs showed earlier in the season.

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

20 minutes ago, Danny Clender said:

 

You're on the right wavelength.

Bertrand or Van Aanholt I reckon. Someone experienced to cover JJ and we don't need to break the bank for this position. I thought Thomas played well but I do think he'd benefit from 6 months of playing regularly in the championship. He looks like he's already bulked up a bit this year. 

 

I think the criticism at Thomas is massively unfair. His positional sense and close control is excellent. He does play the safe option a little too much at the moment however I'm not sure if that's a deliberate ploy to free up Castagne on the other side.

[honeybradger]

4 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Bertrand or Van Aanholt I reckon. Someone experienced to cover JJ and we don't need to break the bank for this position. I thought Thomas played well but I do think he'd benefit from 6 months of playing regularly in the championship. He looks like he's already bulked up a bit this year. 

 

I think the criticism at Thomas is massively unfair. His positional sense and close control is excellent. He does play the safe option a little too much at the moment however I'm not sure if that's a deliberate ploy to free up Castagne on the other side.

What criticism of thomas is there? I thought he played well, had some good linkup with vardy and was/is a much better option than ricardo/castagne on the left. Huge talent, im not sure bertrand would be any better and van aanholt is a donkey, so why would we send thomas to the championship for experience when he would be our best option and playing regularly in the prem.

[fuchsntf]

11 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Bertrand or Van Aanholt I reckon. Someone experienced to cover JJ and we don't need to break the bank for this position. I thought Thomas played well but I do think he'd benefit from 6 months of playing regularly in the championship. He looks like he's already bulked up a bit this year. 

 

I think the criticism at Thomas is massively unfair. His positional sense and close control is excellent. He does play the safe option a little too much at the moment however I'm not sure if that's a deliberate ploy to free up Castagne on the other side.

Hes 19....in his first Full season of team/Bench....very little Team Practice because of Covid & compressed season...

 

There is no pre-Judgement or analyse..That has any point....

Sometimes he has a crack of driving forward & demanding the ball.....so hes got it in him..

Edited 23 April 2021 by fuchsntf

[LanguedocFox]

1 hour ago, foxfanazer said:

That goal Kompany scored against us but instead it's Cags in the cup final 

Yeah!!!

[Guest Chocolate Teapot]

12 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

What criticism of thomas is there? I thought he played well, had some good linkup with vardy and was/is a much better option than ricardo/castagne on the left. Huge talent, im not sure bertrand would be any better and van aanholt is a donkey, so why would we send thomas to the championship for experience when he would be our best option and playing regularly in the prem.

 

10 minutes ago, fuchsntf said:

Hes 19....in his first Full season of team/Bench....very little Team Practice because of Covid & compressed season...

 

There is no pre-Judgement or analyse..That has any point....

Sometimes he has a crack of driving forward & demanding the ball.....so hes got it in him..

Go in the luke thomas thread. Two posters have criticised him for being negative and not developing his game. Absolute nonsense.

 

Personally I'm not sure hes ready to play week in week out in the prem. You cannot afford any mistakes at this level and the championship might accelerate his development. Its no criticism of him, I think he's a big talent. Personally think Bertrand for a year would be a sensible option, I don't think luke is at his level yet. In two years I think we'll have a serious pl player on our hands and it's just about setting him up for that.

[Guest Danny Clender]

27 minutes ago, Chocolate Teapot said:

Bertrand or Van Aanholt I reckon. Someone experienced to cover JJ and we don't need to break the bank for this position. I thought Thomas played well but I do think he'd benefit from 6 months of playing regularly in the championship. He looks like he's already bulked up a bit this year. 

 

I think the criticism at Thomas is massively unfair. His positional sense and close control is excellent. He does play the safe option a little too much at the moment however I'm not sure if that's a deliberate ploy to free up Castagne on the other side.

I'm not the best of scouts,  but I'm sure if we have a sound selection of options if we do choose to go down that route.

I've heard of the two players you've said, which makes me think they won't be bought by us .

 

I've not seen any criticism of Thomas, but I'll take your word and agree it is unfair.

He's just taken a rapid shuttle through to the starting 11, even quicker than JJ's progression via Luton, so criticism seems a little harsh at this moment in time, perhaps I'll continue to ignore that and let him develop. 

[jayfox26]

2 hours ago, ttfn said:

Mainland-Niles played 90 minutes in central midfield for them last night and completed 7 passes.

Touched the ball at least 7 more times that Matheus Pereira then? Genuinely didn't know he was playing till he was subbed.