Okoye is just a taller Bachmann. Both are good shot stoppers, both love to stay on their line, both are poor with crosses. What Bachmann has over Okoye is that he is not a giraffe on ice when the ball is at his feet. That said, Bachmann is not that great with his distribution. I wouldn't be surprised to see Edwards go with Harmer at some point.
Decent performance. Actually enjoyed watching us. Pressed very well the first half. Second half started slower which was probably Saints most “dominate” time of the match, those opening 10mins of the second half. After that we seemed to get going again. Positives: Our pressing was good Players looked fit Players looked to be enjoying their football Pedro, Kayembe, Sierralta, Kamara, Dennis, Asprilla, and Manaj were our standouts. I actually enjoyed watching Manaj getting stuck in and putting himself about. Sierralta bullying Armstrong all half. Looked like we actually have a game plan. Negatives: Sema just can’t be in our starting line up. So frustrating to watch. In fairness he did some things well, but teams will target him every game. Clearly the weak link. Bachmann not coming off his line yet again. Don’t want to sound harsh, but there was a moment he should have been coming to claim the ball and just stood on his line. A Saints set piece came into the box, Sierralta headed it high up into the air, Bachmann had more than enough time to shout “keepers” and claim it. Instead he stood there and either Sierralta or Kaba had to head the second ball clear. If were selling Samir, a LCB is desperately needed. Cathcart did ok when playing it short on his left foot. However if he start there, teams will have a field day against Cathcart and Sema on that left side. The ref. Gave everything Saints way. There was multiple fair shoulder to shoulder barges and 50/50’s which landed the Saints player on the deck and the ref gave them a foul. On 2 occasions we were in had the ref not had a stiffy for Saints. Corncerns: Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I feel Edwards needs to pull Pedro and Dennis to one side and have a chat. Both had options today to play the other one in or even just pass the ball to. Instead both of them on more than one occasion went at it alone. Comes across as both are trying to be the star man rather than focusing on the win. I could be way off the mark, but just feels like something isn’t quite right between them. If we can get them singing off the same hymn sheet, then no club in the league will have a better attack than us. Got to work on that relationship. What we need: It’s been clearly obvious (which worries me, because the last obvious position we needed to strengthen, we didn’t) all summer that we need to strengthen CM. We desperately missed a Will Hughes player today. I know Louza will most likely fill that role but he’s not playing for the first 7 games at least. That to me has got to be our number one signing a midfielder that can get on the ball and make something happen with a pass, turn, shot etc. I miss Hughesy. Next position has got to be RWB. Yes we’ve signed Gasper but that’s not good enough. He will never last 46 games. Ngakia not starting spoke volumes. Clearly isn’t fancied. A HG RWB has to come in. Also feel like a dominant DM is needed. Kayembe done very well today. However an injury to him or suspension, we currently have no-one that can fill that void. A LCB (is Samir leaves) or RCB I don’t really care, but a defender that can carry the ball out of defence and get us up the pitch is a must. Lastly a HG striker. Someone who is clinical and knows where the back of the net. Whether it’s a loan from a Prem team or someone from the lower leagues, I don’t care, but someone to be in around the 6 yard box more often than not. These are not in order of preference, (well the first 2 are) just my thoughts. Bare minimum for me though has to be a CM, RWB and ST.
Think we ll see Asprilla quite a lot this season. From all the games that Reid’s kindly posted of him , he looks far more dangerous playing in midfield with the game in front of him as he has incredible vision and is always looking for the positive progression . Today he was in rotating front 3 which I don’t think will be his favoured position as he develops .
I remember Luther doing that a number of times. He never gave up and knew where the goal was, eventually.
In not losing our last two friendlies, we’ve equalled our longest unbeaten run of all of last season lol
But Sema’s 10 years older than Luther was when he was doing that! Although Sema did reasonably ok when we were last in the championship he is never going to be motm!
Don’t know if there are available stats for friendlies but I’d be interested to see Kayembe’s. He’s got some praise today and I thought he looked very good on a few occasions, but I also thought he lost the ball in dangerous positions as well. I thought TDB was less effective. Still young though and certainly some potential.
Feel like Kayembe is a competent but uninspiring PL midfielder but probably a world beater at this level. Like most our team really.
Only moment I really remember that happening was in the second half right before the half way line. Instead of passing it he turned back into trouble and into 3 Saints players. They got the ball and broke at speed but Kamara put the jet engines on and went to smash their player, but the player stopped as Kamara slid in.
Got you. I don’t think a hypothetical situation like the below is far from what may be happening as I think it’s rare a club is totally blindsided by an offer, people are so connected now I’m sure 90% of the time clubs expect a bid before it’s officially tabled. - We’ve told Dennis a price we will accept, him / agent has agreed it’s fair. - No club has shown signs of getting anywhere near our valuation for Dennis. Let’s say for examples sake any clubs enquiring are asking for him at around £10m and we’re saying we want £20m. That’s a fairly decent gap to close and come to an agreement on. - Our first fixture is 9 days, there’s not even any negotiations or clubs calling around Dennis right now so someone has told Rob there’s a high chance he will be available for the season opener. - So our (arguably) best player is being involved and kept fit in case he’s here for the first 1, 2 or 3 fixtures and can positively impact the team. - RE realises he is a massive asset if happy so has decided to involve him and attempt to get him on side. Both parties understand a move could happen at any time but as a smart gaffer he’s attempting to build a good relationship now so if a move doesn’t materialise, Dennis gets his head down and becomes the wonderful positive for this team that we all assume he would be in this division. I’d go as far as to say a motivated, healthy Dennis could net 20 goals for us next season. Very sad that I actually wrote this all out but wanted to counter the “not even vaguely possible” as I’m a petty, petty man.
The multiple renditions of the 'Armstrong's coming to us' chant, however it actually goes, as he milled about directly in front of that stand would probably have a cheeky look-in for most embarrassing, too. Would echo several comments already made on here. Still definitely need a central midfielder, and Sema is, shockingly, still Sema. We were very close to him when he ran up the wing, got himself marooned on the touchline surrounded by two Southampton players, and instead of taking the only option available to him - passing to Asprilla as he appeared free on the edge of the box, just kicked it straight behind for a goal kick, instead. Asprilla's face was a picture - I enjoyed how annoyed he looked by it; rightly so. Asprilla did seem like a bright spark to me, too. Still hard to see where the goals are going to come from, and Bayo's terrible control and subsequent miss from about 6 yards out from the late set piece was a good harbinger for that. Happy to see Sierralta back and looking just as aerially dominant as ever. There seemed to be a decent amount of banging it up and hoofing from defence, for an Edwards team that would never ever do that, in the eyes of Deeney, at least. Would very much be looking forward to seeing Kamara on the left, and an appropriate right wing back on the right, however that manifests itself.
I thought as much l was writing it. I have seen Luther play and met him many times. I will agree and apologise, Ken Sema is not fit to lace up the boots of Luther Blissett.
Officially confirmed, then: £5 million, at a time we desperately needed competent reinforcements to have any chance of survival, well spent
Oh my oh my. Is it April 1st? So as long as teams don't cross the ball, win any corners or leave Bachmann with the decision to stay or leave his goalline, then we may get away with it. Unfortunately, Bachmann will never change. It is not in his game. Teams playing Watford should cross the the ball at every opportunity. They will all know Bachmann glaring weaknesses. Okoye is not much better with crosses and is poor with the ball at his feet. £5m well spent. Two very average Keepers at Championship level. Not good news.
Jesus that is appalling. The signing of Okoye aside, we benched and alienated the keeper who would go on to be our #1 the next season whilst letting Ben Foster who was never renewing run down his days as #1. It’s not the biggest of deals but just shows the complete disjointed thinking up at board level.
Gino Pozzo benched Dan Bachmann? Scott Duxbury decided Ben Foster was a better option? Or was it Giaretta?
I have a feeling okoye will get a chance to.prove himself. Who starts as number 1 doesn't always end as number 1
Why are you blaming Giaretta for transfers? We all know who is running the recruitment here and it certainly isn't Giaretta.
But it's not about the cost of the player is it? It's about which bank accounts the money ends up in.
People have claimed in the past they have had an influence on the team but if Edwards feels like playing Bachmann ahead of f Okoye then fair enough. He shouldn’t be expected to straight away play a new signing if he doesn’t want to .
Don't know if anyone else saw it, but against Southampton on Saturday, they had a corner that be was swung in, Bachmann (self appointed world's best keeper) took a couple of steps forward to come and claim it, crapped himself and went back to his line. Saints player headed it over and then Bachmann did his usual shouting at the defence with his arms wide. It's a wonder none of them have chinned him.
I don't think he has a role, he certainly isn't a sporting director. Sure he might speak to players once they've been identified as a target but does he actually decide who to sign? I very much doubt it. My guess is Mogi Bayat has more of a say than Giaretta.
Maybe Okoye just needs time to settle, we'll no doubt get to see him when we enter the League Cup (or whatever they call it these days)
exactly. i actually think it's a good sign for that very reason. it does show that (despite what some fear) Rob does hold the power
