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shruk4

Thoughts on Pierre Less-Melou

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Still adapting as he does have his weak spells where the sheer pace of the game just makes him switch off a little as others have already said, but there's definitely a lot to like in there. He's pretty quick, he's willing to get up and down, he likes to put a foot in and he can hit a cross-field ball.

If he's got a weakness it's similar to Stiepi - for a tall guy he's not exactly a hulking, physical, aggressive unit. That's not to say he doesn't like a good press and chasing the ball down, it's that when you look at the size of him, you'd think he'd be a bit more robust in battles than he is. You expect a smaller player like Rupp to struggle a little but Lees-Melou isn't much better there.

That's where Normann looks more promising.

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20 hours ago, shruk4 said:

I think he is pretty good. I sense he is not getting the respect he deserves from fans of the club.
PLM.thumb.jpg.85bcfedca95db5fa682821a8b6525a67.jpg. And you?

5 palace players, 3 Everton players. I’d like to think as we are bottom of the league all of our midfield should be making this list so at least we aren’t out worked even if we are lacking in quality. 

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58 minutes ago, Budapest Canary said:

What does "pressure applied" mean? Is it a healing method, like acupuncture?

I would guess it simply means he closed down a player with the ball 🤷‍♂️
 

ppda (passes per defensive action) is a much more statistical based analysis on how much pressure a team applies or is under. This is worked out by how many passes on average an opposing team has in the final 3/5ths of the pitch before a tackle is made. 

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No real improvement on any players we already had. He doesn't really stand out in games and as others have said he seems to switch off on occasions.

So far none of our summer signings look like they are anything special apart from Normann's little bit of flair last week.

And why does our team need "time to gel" when the likes of Brentford got off to a flying start. Why are we different? 

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3 minutes ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

No real improvement on any players we already had. He doesn't really stand out in games and as others have said he seems to switch off on occasions.

So far none of our summer signings look like they are anything special apart from Normann's little bit of flair last week.

And why does our team need "time to gel" when the likes of Brentford got off to a flying start. Why are we different? 

Brentford have not brought in a whole new 11 like us, and they don't change thier formation and tactics every week either

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8 minutes ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

No real improvement on any players we already had. He doesn't really stand out in games and as others have said he seems to switch off on occasions.

So far none of our summer signings look like they are anything special apart from Normann's little bit of flair last week.

And why does our team need "time to gel" when the likes of Brentford got off to a flying start. Why are we different? 

Probably because they made less signings effecting the starting 11 and didn't lose out on nearly 3 weeks of pre season because of covid, I guess.

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1 hour ago, hogesar said:

Probably because they made less signings effecting the starting 11 and didn't lose out on nearly 3 weeks of pre season because of covid, I guess.

So nearly 7 games in are we still attempting to gel?

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4 minutes ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

So nearly 7 games in are we still attempting to gel?

Well we've only really had one or two games to play what most would class as our best eleven and one of them was without any training due to international break.

Its certainly not an excuse for everything like the Watford performance after they went 2-1 up, but to ignore it as a factor altogether would be absolutely stupid.

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Was pleased to see us sign someone with experience. Yet to see him at his best but it’s far too early to write him off yet. Provided he’s happy to stay next summer, I do feel he could turn out to be quite a threat in the Championship next season judging by his performances so far*

*that’s on the assumption we get relegated. I’m not writing us off yet as I still feel it’s too early when you compare the number of points adrift we are to the number still available. My confidence is going fast though, and in order to do so I think we have got to get at least 2 points out of the next 2 games

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59 minutes ago, HazzaJet said:

Was pleased to see us sign someone with experience. Yet to see him at his best but it’s far too early to write him off yet. Provided he’s happy to stay next summer, I do feel he could turn out to be quite a threat in the Championship next season judging by his performances so far*

*that’s on the assumption we get relegated. I’m not writing us off yet as I still feel it’s too early when you compare the number of points adrift we are to the number still available. My confidence is going fast though, and in order to do so I think we have got to get at least 2 points out of the next 2 games

I'd prefer to see him at his best this season rather than next summer.

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2 hours ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

So nearly 7 games in are we still attempting to gel?

There isn't such a thing as "nearly 7 games" is there? It's 6 games. None of the 7th game has been played... 60mins into the 7th game is "nearly 7 games" not three days before it.

And yes. Because how long does that period of 6 games represent? Normann and Kabak have just about been here a month now, with one of those two being away for two weeks of that time on international duty. Williams, Sargent and Tzolis are not far off that with two of those three also having been away on international duty for two weeks.

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14 hours ago, By Hook or Ian crook said:

5 palace players, 3 Everton players. I’d like to think as we are bottom of the league all of our midfield should be making this list so at least we aren’t out worked even if we are lacking in quality. 

It is interesting to see which Palace players are on there- Zaha, Edouard, Ayew, all forwards, suggesting they are pressing from the front when they play- something we don't really do.

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Parts of his game look good, but will no doubt take time to adjust to pace of Premiership. We have a number of players in the same boat, so difficult to say. At present, he looks an ok squad player with a good long range pass in his arsenal and can certainly chip in with goals/assist, in the right position. The key now is keeping players confidence up despite losses, or otherwise we will never really know the new additions true level in order to judge them appropriately. 

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I suppose the challenge for PLM this week will be, assuming he's selected, who does he have to gel with this week and what formation will we play?

I feel for our players a bit with the constant chopping and changing. You would have thought McLean will be dropped after committing bad errors in successive games, so another change in midfield personnel.

 

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2 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

I suppose the challenge for PLM this week will be, assuming he's selected, who does he have to gel with this week and what formation will we play?

I feel for our players a bit with the constant chopping and changing. You would have thought McLean will be dropped after committing bad errors in successive games, so another change in midfield personnel.

 

Mclean seems to have an outstanding game, then a series of championship quality style games where he losses possession too often. Gilmour does need to be included somewhere in the Midfield, as he is probably the most accomplished passer other than Norman in the centre of the park. The issue is he cant compete size wise against a number of midfielders in the Prem.

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3 hours ago, jaberry2 said:

Mclean seems to have an outstanding game, then a series of championship quality style games where he losses possession too often. Gilmour does need to be included somewhere in the Midfield, as he is probably the most accomplished passer other than Norman in the centre of the park. The issue is he cant compete size wise against a number of midfielders in the Prem.

Gilmour's size is of huge concern. I watched his youtube highlights and was impressed by how his movement, awareness and first touch compensated for his boyish physique. He hasnt done any of that in yellow and has simply been overpowered.

Unless he gets those skills up to scratch I can only see him being useful in an adapted role. Either a deep lying Pirlo Regista, protected by two CMs (Normann and Lees-Melou), or put him higher up the field as Wes like Enganche.

 

And yes, I do play too much Football Manager!

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28 minutes ago, The Great Mass Debater said:

Gilmour's size is of huge concern. I watched his youtube highlights and was impressed by how his movement, awareness and first touch compensated for his boyish physique. He hasnt done any of that in yellow and has simply been overpowered.

Unless he gets those skills up to scratch I can only see him being useful in an adapted role. Either a deep lying Pirlo Regista, protected by two CMs (Normann and Lees-Melou), or put him higher up the field as Wes like Enganche.

 

And yes, I do play too much Football Manager!

When he's the only lightweight player in a midfield he's fine. The trouble is because all of our midfielders are lightweight not only does he get no protection teams will just press us relentlessly because they know they can overpower us and he will constantly find himself under pressure and without passing options because other more athletic players can cover more ground and intercept our short, on the deck passes. That's when his lack of physicality becomes an issue. 

He's a great player but this was the wrong move for him, i know we've got a good record with young players but he'd be better off playing a bit part for a team like Newcastle or Watford where he would be allowed to ping passes around than getting battered every game playing for us. I think we should send him back in Jan and loan a more robust, physically capable young holding midfielder. we get a lot right in the loan market, but I think we made a mistake with this lad.

 

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22 hours ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

Every bad season we have in the premiership is because after 38 games the team haven't had "time to gel". 

That would be absolutely bang on if you aimed to miss by so much you hit something else altogether.

Last time round in the Premier League absolutely no one was claiming that the team hadn't had time to gel... it was mainly still the championship winning team. Fahrman, Roberts, Amadou, Drmic, Dida, Rupp, Byram... who else? Two of those were signed in January, three of them had left by the end of January...

Nor do I remember that being the excuse of Alex Neil's squad. Nor Chris Hughton's...

So basically, no one has ever claimed that a premier league squad before now was struggling because it hasn't had "time to gel".

F-, but 6/10 for effort I guess.

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You don't finish 5th in Ligue 1 and play week in week out with players like Morgan Schneiderlin unless you are a talented player. I expect that he is still settling in and learning to play with his new team mates, but I think he looks our best midfielder who understands the game very well.

Will judge more when we start to get some wins and the team looks confident again 

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On 29/09/2021 at 22:30, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

I'd prefer to see him at his best this season rather than next summer.

I’d prefer that too, as I think we all would. All I’m saying is that if he doesn’t turn out at his best in the PL, I’m confident he will do in the Championship

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On 29/09/2021 at 18:54, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

No real improvement on any players we already had. He doesn't really stand out in games and as others have said he seems to switch off on occasions.

So far none of our summer signings look like they are anything special apart from Normann's little bit of flair last week.

And why does our team need "time to gel" when the likes of Brentford got off to a flying start. Why are we different? 

Against Arsenal he stood out, and for periods in recent games he has looked like he has a good level of quality about him.

Tzolis, Williams and Sargent also looked the real deal in the cup Vs Bournemouth.

As to the last bit... because they haven't changed their team nearly as much as us. We needed to. Skipp returned to Spurs, Tettey has gone out to semi-retirement (he's not playing on any artificial surfaces, of which there are a number in their league). Stiepermann wanted to return home after a year struggling with implications of long covid - which you can hardly blame him for. Hugill wanted game time, same with Hernandez. Trybull, Leitner and Drmic were deemed no longer part of where we are going. Klose was past his best for us.

You are looking at a good 9-10 players out as well as the new in. Many of those core to the team spirit we had too. Tettey especially, as a player with genuine captain credentials. Everything we had built on for the 2-3 seasons prior to this one were built on the shoulders of those players.

When you look at the squad right now to see how many players in it were here two summers ago... Pukki, Krul, Hanley, Aarons, Zimmermann, McLean, Cantwell, Byram, Idah and McGovern - with Rupp joining in January 2020. Of those, the experience that can be used to bring a team together is really McLean, Krul and Hanley in terms of on the pitch.

On top of that, for the last couple of seasons at least, we have always favoured a 4-2-3-1. We have played 4-3-3 and 3-5-1 this season. Both formations we have only seen deployed in response to situations in games rather than ones we have started games in prior to this season. New formations, new on pitch responsibilities and a pretty much 50/50 if not greater squad overhaul... 

 

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23 hours ago, HazzaJet said:

I’d prefer that too, as I think we all would. All I’m saying is that if he doesn’t turn out at his best in the PL, I’m confident he will do in the Championship

In other words, do a Rupp after he's settled in.

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