Well if he wasn't doing enough to get in the team then why would he be on the bench? Surely Silva would only want players on the bench that he could use?
Couldn’t agree more. Stats are all-to-often used by media/pundits as a way of avoiding deeper analysis, for whatever reason. Sometimes they do tell the story: when Man C have 27 shots and 78% possession, you can be fairly certain of what the pattern of the game was. But sometimes it’s not so clear-cut. Anyone who actually watched the game on Tuesday will know how we controlled the game in the 2nd half. I don’t think Gomes had a single thing to do between our equaliser and Maguire’s chance in the 85th minute.
I often wonder how exactly these shots on/off target are counted. For example the first half stats for Southampton during our very comfortable 2-0 win there were 0 shots on goal, but I could have sworn Gomes made a save during that half. Even if it was too comfortable and expected to register as a shot on target (but then how do you draw the line between a save that's meaningful and one that isn't?) it should have still counted as a shot on goal given that's where it was heading. Anyone here who can enlighten me?
Against Bristol City (With half of our winning team against Bournemouth!) he looked slow compared to what we were trying to play. He grew in the 2nd half but was subbed off before he could potentially contribute properly but it was clear he needed time to adapt, which he got. Hughes I think was well managed but Zeegelaar, Okaka and Wague based on their efforts have been managed poorly.
Yes I think most are agreed on Hughes. Okaka though is slow and unfit compared to Deeney although he is creating a threat when on the pitch but he does not meet the profile that Silva wants. Zeegelaar & Wague probably came late in the window and were well behind in terms of fitness, tactics and of course challenging for a first team place. They may also have had to adjust to the physicality of British football. All other options were certainly ahead of them at the start of September and we were playing well. Can't see that they were even challenging for a place till November. I think Silva has managed all as best he could and the players overall support him. Only DejeDejee and Okaka have a bone to pick at all.
Have to agree with your take on the game. Even though Lester were the better team in the first half the stats were pretty even at the interval. Second half we did not exactly control the game but we were still the better side. I think a deeper analysis would show that we are both fairly similar sides. As currently set up we are both pretty direct and not overly cautious like many sides outside the top six. A game in reality that could have gone either way is probably a fair assessment - Just happy we dug in for the 3 points.
Are you sure about this? He was playing alongside Capoue, Watson, Deeney and Amrabat that night - the players that slow the game down the most out of all of our squad and all have terrible movement off the ball. Are you still sure that Hughes was the problem? Were those other players all zipping the ball around with gay abandon and then moves were breaking down when it got to Hughes? If you re-watch the highlights, you'll see that Hughes was involved in every positive piece of play whilst he was on the pitch and directed a fantastic one touch passing move for Capoue's goal. Ok he didn't play brilliantly that night, but who did? I just don't buy this idea that Hughes needed all this extra coaching from Silva - if people remember it was exactly what Mazzarri said about Doucouré (who was also underwhelming in a League Cup game and then not given a chance until injuries hit). Anyone who has a passing knowledge of the Championship or watched the u21 Euros could see that Hughes has a good footballing brain and technique, same as anyone that saw Doucoure play on loan at Granada could see what a good footballer he was. Neither coach suddenly made them better players, they've just said that as a way of justifying why they gave them little game time whilst picking others that were under-performing ahead of them. In fairness to Silva, at least he worked out that Hughes could play in a new position on the right of a front three, there's no credit whatsoever that Mazzarri can claim for Doucouré's development.
It's almost as though our coach only reads about players in a paragraph when they are signed and knows nothing about them from coaching them daily or their previous clubs.
A Point of Order... I still think that Doucoure's shot was heading in before Casper got a hand to it and it should be his goal. This seems to be confirmed by the replay seen on MOTD from the goal-line camera. Not important, except I like our players to get the credit. Many players would have given up in that over-hit cross.
If you look at whoscored.com our best pass completion midfielder this season is Capoue. Best defender is prodl. Worst three forwards for pass completion.... Richarlison, Okaka and Deeney Sinclair has 100% pass success rate. Doucoure and Cleverley combined have better pass completion stats than De Bruyne and Coutinho. Statistics eh....
Doucoure's shot was not going in until it was deflected goalwards by the fullback. It was an own goal but not Casper's.
