hogesar 9,657 Posted March 11, 2019 On 09/03/2019 at 23:45, GJP said: In the latter part of last season, after a few months of settling in, Vrancic was probably our best player. A few more months down the line and the guy goes from being our best player to the best player in the league. Leitner is an absolute genius at what he does but Vrancic...he is some player. Yep, whenever he's had a few games to settle in he's generally then been our best player. I'd have him ahead of Mclean who has been decent every day of the week. Stiepermann though? Even when he's not on it he's pretty integral to our play in the final third. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Smith 2,317 Posted March 11, 2019 Arguably at the time they got injured both Leitner and Vrancic were the "best midfielder in the division" for the month or so prior to their injuries. I do get the "if you have the shirt" argument and why loyalty is important but by the same token I would argue its pretty harsh and possibly unfair on Vrancic to not be given the opportunity to prove himself for more than 5 minutes as a sub and get back into the team after just missing a couple of games or indeed for Leitner to only come on in the last few minutes as well. Its almost impossible for them to get back in the team if we keep winning even if it is accepted that they are both better players in that deeper midfield position. Vrancic brings more attacking threat with his ability to play a killer pass and also score but for me the period of the season where I felt we really controlled games best was when Leitner was in the side and we went on our good run after the Ipswich game. That's what i think we've missed a bit in the last two games, that ability to just keep the ball and control the tempo of the game so as to alleviate pressure on the defence and prevent it becoming a bit frantic and end to end. Instead we've had less possession than usual and in both games (although Swansea carried less threat in the second half) have conceded a very large number of free kicks and corners which on another day could have been quite costly. I agree with the comment above about Friday being a bit of a (gentle) wake up call and whilst Farke is clearly massively, massively in credit for his decision making this season and really its harsh to criticise anything at the moment, I would be a bit disappointed if he has not spotted this and does not react and make a change or two on Wednesday night because I would expect a coach of his ability to be proactive here rather than wait until a Preston type situation comes along where you are making reactive changes to try and get back into a game because you are not always able to do so. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
westcoastcanary 173 Posted March 11, 2019 4 hours ago, Jim Smith said: I would expect a coach of his ability to be proactive here rather than wait until a Preston type situation comes along where you are making reactive changes to try and get back into a game I don't think the Preston game can be held up as a case of DF failing to make proactive changes in his team selection. This was our bench for that match: McGovern, Rhodes, McLean, Hanley, Cantwell, Srbeny, Passlack. To me, selecting Tettey to play alongside Trybull, made perfectly good sense facing a Preston side in such good form. The need for reactive changes arose simply from several players, notably Trybull, performing unpredictably poorly from the start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Pants 4,225 Posted March 11, 2019 The other thing with Vrancic is his underlying match fitness will be sharper than Leitner's. Whilst Leitner is quality, Hull is such an important match that we need to start with the fittest of the two. DF will know more about the fitness of his players than any of us which I assume is why Mo hasn't been rushed back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanaryChris 146 Posted March 12, 2019 Takes one off, puts one in - we win, we lose, we draw. Next week same discussions based on the results of the last match. Who would want to be a coach?! 11 hours ago, Jim Smith said: I would be a bit disappointed if he has not spotted this and does not react and make a change or two on Wednesday Don't mind the discussions about who "you would play", but injecting these with feelings of disappointment if these changes are not made seems counter-productive to me. DF has given me no reason not to trust his judgement. Since September we have won 20 games from 30 and lost just three. He has been, in my opinion, the best coach in this league by some distance this season. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
