cheltenham_villa Posted 2 hours ago Share Posted 2 hours ago The fact that Youri came off yesterday and not him makes me think Barkley may play instead of him on Wednesday. I thought he was fine yesterday, for large parts Ipswich couldnt find a way out and he was a big part of this, often recapturing and recycling the ball. Was picking more of the ball up from our back 4 as well and feeding into Ramsey/Rodgers. Its probably only a 10-15 minute spell yesterday that we struggled in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted 2 hours ago Share Posted 2 hours ago 35 minutes ago, thunderball said: The whole forum is in full panic mode. Some of the back lash across this and other threads is mental. We have pretty much had our best start to season. We've lost one game to Arsenal that we could have won, stood toe to toe but lost. We won our first CL game away - easily, and progressed in the cup with a B-team. We drew yesterday - drew. It's an insult to Ipswich if you think we are now a team that just rolls up and takes points. Only City and Liverpool have beaten Ipswich before Sunday. We will have off days - players and Unai will get things wrong, but after 6 games we are 2 points off the top. I ain't panicking. Onana was actually decent, he's got a good slide, got interception in him and yes he keeps it simple and generally plays the way he's facing but I'm struggling atm. I don't think he's played one game where we've really gone through the gears in possession like we did last season. Again, good age, good project and I'm not bemoaning signing 22 year old internationals with a skill set we lack. Times are good. ...but, I really do see him playing second fiddle soon as Kamara is up and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted 1 hour ago VT Supporter Share Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour ago, Cizzler said: He's our record signing, so think even if he's just "fine yesterday" - people are well withing their rights to expect more. He gets judged through a different lens. If he'd come through our academy, I'd have been happy. But he cost £50m in an era when we're sell to buy and can't afford to make egregious mistakes in the transfer market if we want to continue to kick on. He's useful defensively from set pieces. Apart from that, I really don't see it. He lunges in and misses tackles. Rarely passes forwards. Doesn't show for the ball from goal kicks/the centre backs. There were huge gaps between the forwards and midfield yesterday. Onana was sat in the defensive line at times at 2-2, he was getting screamed at to press higher. The passing accuracy stat isn't really a surprise - I bet the 9% of passes were the one's he attempted to go forwards with. When Kamara was on form he was just a million times better. Which means we've spent £50m on someone who arguably wouldn't get into our best team - when we have huge weaknesses at RB, CB depth and LW. I find this really really bizarre. I honestly don't know where to start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago I think Emery's reluctance to start with Barkley is the concern about his defensive capabilities, whilst he brings a level of calm and balance, he has never struck me the tough tackling type. This is where we miss Kamara, and to exacerbate that concern, we neither have McGinn, who certainly provides that combative ingredient. That is my main concern for Wednesday night, we will be strong enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterw Posted 1 hour ago Share Posted 1 hour ago I thought was fine yesterday. He did a lot of breaking up play and just moving the ball on. I thought we might have started with Onana and Barkley and pushing Tielemans further forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted 39 minutes ago Share Posted 39 minutes ago I do wonder how much of our defensive struggles, with a lot of chances and goals conceded coming via the right side, are to do with Onana not quite getting where he needs to be to help out the defence. He's also not helping out as much in build up like Kamara can, which is impacting our ability to attack down that side. I imagine it's as simple as the demands Emery will have placed on him will have been a lot of information for him to have taken, and he's struggling to get to grips with it all at the moment. Kamara had his struggles early on, often getting caught on the ball etc. Playing that central midfield role at a high level requires a lot both on and off the ball, and it's going to have been a steep learning curve coming from the more simple Dycheball 'low block and get stuck in' approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted 28 minutes ago Share Posted 28 minutes ago Once Kamara is fully fit Onana won't be starting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted 28 minutes ago Share Posted 28 minutes ago 1 hour ago, rodders0223 said: I ain't panicking. Onana was actually decent, he's got a good slide, got interception in him and yes he keeps it simple and generally plays the way he's facing but I'm struggling atm. I don't think he's played one game where we've really gone through the gears in possession like we did last season. Again, good age, good project and I'm not bemoaning signing 22 year old internationals with a skill set we lack. Times are good. ...but, I really do see him playing second fiddle soon as Kamara is up and running. I think Ramsay is most at risk here. I think Unai will find a home for Boubs, Onana and Youri, especially against good sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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