ron obvious 1,499 Posted February 16, 2020 7 minutes ago, JF said: Every player loses the ball! But just to throw another stat in, Buendea tops our list of passes completed and is 50th in the PL. so in conclusion he’s our highest rated passer, tackling, assists and chances created. And last season we didn’t win a match without him in the team. I agree with all of that. But this season it's the PL & it's a whole different, er, ball game. This season his undoubted talents have been negated to a large extent by his undoubted frailties. We're being tested to destruction all over the pitch. One of our major shortcomings is in terms of sheer physical power (which does not necessarily mean brute strength) guile (look at mane's nudge on Christoph) & athleticism. Emi is fairly easy to knock off the ball - at this level. His temperament doesn't always help, & sometimes he tries too hard to force a situation. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ron obvious 1,499 Posted February 16, 2020 45 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said: And yet we didn't concede until the 72nd minute. I guarantee you we would have conceded long before that with Mario & Emi in the team. Yes and that could have just been Liverpool's equaliser if Emi and Mario had played Absolutely. And there's the conundrum. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,089 Posted February 16, 2020 This is just another example of Becchio syndrome - while he’s not playing he’s a world beater, if/when he is in the team we’ll be reminded of why he wasn’t playing. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GJP 79 Posted February 16, 2020 1 hour ago, hogesar said: I imagine we will see more of Vrancic with home games upcoming I.e not against the best team in the world. I'd be disappointed if not because if we want to take the game to teams he is an important player. Equally, away from home and against a team like Liverpool I can see exactly why he can't get in. Know what you're saying but... we lose these games anyway. At least with Vrancic on the pitch we've got a bit more style and more likely to create something. Same with Buendia. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wcorkcanary 4,329 Posted February 16, 2020 Just now, ron obvious said: Absolutely. And there's the conundrum. In an enigma, wrapped by a mystery. Ladies and gentlemen, there is, in a nutshell, Mario Vrancic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JF 694 Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Nuff Said said: This is just another example of Becchio syndrome - while he’s not playing he’s a world beater, if/when he is in the team we’ll be reminded of why he wasn’t playing. Edited February 16, 2020 by JF Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,089 Posted February 16, 2020 Just now, JF said: Buendea or Vrancic? Vrancic. Buendia is too good not to play, he’s not perfect but his ability far outweighs any downside. If he was any better, he would never have been here in the first place. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TeemuVanBasten 3,327 Posted February 16, 2020 (edited) 52 minutes ago, Nuff Said said: This is just another example of Becchio syndrome - while he’s not playing he’s a world beater, if/when he is in the team we’ll be reminded of why he wasn’t playing. He was the best player on the pitch the last time he started a game, so clearly not. Edited February 16, 2020 by TeemuVanBasten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vos 155 Posted February 16, 2020 Vrancic is a luxury player and is one of the best passes in the game. But having seen plenty of the Premiership at first hand this season the modern game is all about power and athleticism. This has been one of our problems this season. Football wise, our midfielders are quite capable but they are continually closed down, knocked off the ball and beaten in the air by the all round strength of the opposition.At the beginning of the season I wrongly suggested that our current squad would hold their own in the Premiership. Sadly we have had to come to terms that we do not possess the required level of strength and physicality. Yesterday, even the better ball players such as Salah and Mane looked far stronger than the likes of Rupp and Duda for example. As a midfielder you have to run your socks off for 90 mins with power and pace. Vrancic, Leitner and Trybull just do not possess those abilities, albeit they are still useful footballers. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hogesar 9,618 Posted February 16, 2020 1 hour ago, GJP said: Know what you're saying but... we lose these games anyway. At least with Vrancic on the pitch we've got a bit more style and more likely to create something. Same with Buendia. We do, so I get what you're saying. But I guess it's easy for us to say. I'd personally play Vrancic more but I do understand why he doesn't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canary dwarf 221 Posted February 16, 2020 1 hour ago, hogesar said: We do, so I get what you're saying. But I guess it's easy for us to say. I'd personally play Vrancic more but I do understand why he doesn't. Yeah same here so good with the ball and so bad without it😄 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,089 Posted February 17, 2020 13 hours ago, TeemuVanBasten said: He was the best player on the pitch the last time he started a game, so clearly not. And he was probably the worst on the pitch against Man U so where does that leave us? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TeemuVanBasten 3,327 Posted February 17, 2020 5 hours ago, Nuff Said said: And he was probably the worst on the pitch against Man U so where does that leave us? Tettey and McLean were also very poor in that game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
