Bali, ball watching

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Bali Mumba playing Mendez Laing onside to gift Derby the lead at Argyull.

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Actually, apologies to Bali. It wasn't him.

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,347]

Plymouth starting to choke.. Ipswich closing in

[hogesar 10,051]

1 minute ago, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

Plymouth starting to choke.. Ipswich closing in

Or Derby!

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

10 minutes ago, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

Plymouth starting to choke.. Ipswich closing in

Yes, worrying. Looking forward to watching us at Home Park. (If we don't go up).

Barnsley in the mix as well.

Edited March 7, 2023 by keelansgrandad

[FenwayFrank 2,557]

Have a look at the binners next five fixtures, the gap could open up again

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Baggies winning

[Capt. Pants 4,502]

Blades goalless so far.

[cambridgeshire canary 7,162]

36 minutes ago, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

Plymouth starting to choke.. Ipswich closing in

Binner

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Now its all Argyle

[cambridgeshire canary 7,162]

1 hour ago, Creedence Clearwater Couto said:

Plymouth starting to choke.. Ipswich closing in

 

3 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Now its all Argyle

 

[Midlands Yellow 4,342]

2.1 Plymouth. 

[Capt. Pants 4,502]

Meanwhile in our league it isn't going as well as we would like.

Gap to 3rd 12pts, effectively 13 with goal difference.

[Top corner 242]

I think Plymouth are playing really attractive football, Bali is causing the Derby left back all sorts of problems in the second half. 

[cambridgeshire canary 7,162]

Just now, Top corner said:

I think Plymouth are playing really attractive football, Bali is causing the Derby left back all sorts of problems in the second half. 

Time to bring him home.. Once he's done enough to keep Ipswich out of the top two of course

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,176]

I get why so many would be wingers of the past have been converted to full backs because the modern game requires attacking fullbacks and wingers are pretty much obsolete beyond Championship level but I don't get why we see Bali Mumba as a full back. For me he should be someone who plays in the wide no.10 role for us like Hernandez or Tzolis, he's too short to defend high balls and really not good at 1v1 defending. I'm not gonna pretend that I know better than our coaches or the coaches at Plymouth who play him at wing back and I've agreed with all of the positional changes we've made to young players recently like making Godfrey at CB or making Gibbs a deep lying midfielder but I just can't work this one out to be honest and his best game for us was a left sided no.10 in the game we won v Swansea two years ago. 

I'd be extremely worried about him replacing Aarons but more than happy to see him take Onel's place in coming seasons. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Christoph Stiepermann

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Two potential City wing backs on the pitch.

[Google Bot 3,537]

At least everyone on the same amount of games in Champs when these full-times come in, gives a truer reflection of where we all sit.

[Capt. Pants 4,502]

2 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

I get why so many would be wingers of the past have been converted to full backs because the modern game requires attacking fullbacks and wingers are pretty much obsolete beyond Championship level but I don't get why we see Bali Mumba as a full back. For me he should be someone who plays in the wide no.10 role for us like Hernandez or Tzolis, he's too short to defend high balls and really not good at 1v1 defending. I'm not gonna pretend that I know better than our coaches or the coaches at Plymouth who play him at wing back and I've agreed with all of the positional changes we've made to young players recently like making Godfrey at CB or making Gibbs a deep lying midfielder but I just can't work this one out to be honest and his best game for us was a left sided no.10 in the game we won v Swansea two years ago. 

I'd be extremely worried about him replacing Aarons but more than happy to see him take Onel's place in coming seasons. 

Agree he is more a wingback in a 5, which isn't Wagner's style. Depends which league we're in. If Premier League then I expect him to go on loan again. Hard to say if we're in the Chump and Wagner will have a decision to make.

 

[Barham Blitz 714]

6 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

I get why so many would be wingers of the past have been converted to full backs because the modern game requires attacking fullbacks and wingers are pretty much obsolete beyond Championship level but I don't get why we see Bali Mumba as a full back. For me he should be someone who plays in the wide no.10 role for us like Hernandez or Tzolis, he's too short to defend high balls and really not good at 1v1 defending. I'm not gonna pretend that I know better than our coaches or the coaches at Plymouth who play him at wing back and I've agreed with all of the positional changes we've made to young players recently like making Godfrey at CB or making Gibbs a deep lying midfielder but I just can't work this one out to be honest and his best game for us was a left sided no.10 in the game we won v Swansea two years ago. 

I'd be extremely worried about him replacing Aarons but more than happy to see him take Onel's place in coming seasons. 

I'd largely agree with that - his strengths are definitely further forward (more mystifying - if I remember correctly - was the suggestion on here many moons ago that he was a defensive midfielder for Sunderland's youth teams ?!)

But I suspect the reasoning is that it is generally felt, rightly or wrongly, that the defensive side is more coachable than the attacking side of a young player's game.  If it could be, his value would be significantly higher than a defensively sound full back with no real attacking game.  That said, we can't make him grow, so I guess we are in Aaron's II territory if he is being groomed as a full back.

[Capt. Pants 4,502]

Massive win for Sheff Utd and that door looks closed now (if it wasn't already).

We just need to concentrate on our next game and hopefully 3 points on Sunday.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,176]

8 minutes ago, Barham Blitz said:

I'd largely agree with that - his strengths are definitely further forward (more mystifying - if I remember correctly - was the suggestion on here many moons ago that he was a defensive midfielder for Sunderland's youth teams ?!)

But I suspect the reasoning is that it is generally felt, rightly or wrongly, that the defensive side is more coachable than the attacking side of a young player's game.  If it could be, his value would be significantly higher than a defensively sound full back with no real attacking game.  That said, we can't make him grow, so I guess we are in Aaron's II territory if he is being groomed as a full back.

You're absolutely right. You can't coach attacking instincts but you can coach positioning, discipline and when and where to make tackles. However, from watching him for me at least it just doesn't seem to come naturally to him and even if you could coach him to defend 90% of the time the 10% of the time when he gets it wrong could be catastrophic. 

Contrast that with Aarons who looked defensively competent from the moment we dropped him in. Aarons is very bright and has always had good attacking attributes but kept it simple at first and when he grew into his role then started throwing himself forward while not abandoning his defensive responsibilities as he got acclimatized that season. I just don't see that with Mumba who is two years older than Aarons was when he first got into the side. However, from what I've seen Mumba has more potential in an attacking sense with his close control and ability to beat a man. I just don't see the same potential for a well rounded player like Aarons is, I think Mumba is a really dangerous asset in an attacking sense but will always be vulnerable defensively. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Christoph Stiepermann

[PurpleCanary 5,850]

45 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

I get why so many would be wingers of the past have been converted to full backs because the modern game requires attacking fullbacks and wingers are pretty much obsolete beyond Championship level but I don't get why we see Bali Mumba as a full back. For me he should be someone who plays in the wide no.10 role for us like Hernandez or Tzolis, he's too short to defend high balls and really not good at 1v1 defending. I'm not gonna pretend that I know better than our coaches or the coaches at Plymouth who play him at wing back and I've agreed with all of the positional changes we've made to young players recently like making Godfrey at CB or making Gibbs a deep lying midfielder but I just can't work this one out to be honest and his best game for us was a left sided no.10 in the game we won v Swansea two years ago. 

I'd be extremely worried about him replacing Aarons but more than happy to see him take Onel's place in coming seasons. 

It may well be the club doesn’t see Mumba as a fullback. From what little I have seen of him, backed up by a few reports, he doesn’t sound even like a modern fullback or even a wingback, but may have some potential as a wide attacker.

[chicken 2,831]

1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

Massive win for Sheff Utd and that door looks closed now (if it wasn't already).

We just need to concentrate on our next game and hopefully 3 points on Sunday.

I said as much at the weekend when folks were suggesting Shef Utd were catchable. It just looked that way due to the game in hand. 12pts with 33 left to play for. Would need some change in form from them to drop half the points left to allow us even a whiff of finishing above them. Even if they drew all 11 games left they'd have 23pts, we'd need to win 8 games out of 11 to get past them. Being realistic, they are hitting that 2pt per game average will end up with something like 22pts from the final 11. That puts them on 89pts.

We are on 55. Win all 33 and we'd be on 88. It just isn't  happening.

As you say, need to focus on finishing in the play-offs now and getting as much momentum behind us as possible whilst banking some serious confidence and belief.

[Google Bot 3,537]

1 hour ago, chicken said:

Being realistic, they are hitting that 2pt per game average will end up with something like 22pts from the final 11. That puts them on 89pts.

They're 3 points short of the 2pts/game average across the season and their form has dipped radically, for the past 6 games (inc tonights win):

Based on that,  We're hitting an average of 2.2 pts/game.  They're hitting 1.5 pts/game, so:

NCFC: 55+(11*2.2) = 79 pts

SUFC: 67+(11*1.5) = 83 pts

Not saying that's going to happen as you'd think that United will come back to the 2pts/game form.  And if they did slip Middlesbrough would take second anyway. 🙂

Personally, I don't think it does any harm to chase the runner up spot - even if no longer realistically obtainable (I think you're right that ~88pts could be the magic number there).  I find it much simpler to gauge how you're doing if you're keeping pace with top 2, or making gains - the playoffs will be achieved regardless.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Google Bot

[Barham Blitz 714]

2 hours ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

You're absolutely right. You can't coach attacking instincts but you can coach positioning, discipline and when and where to make tackles. However, from watching him for me at least it just doesn't seem to come naturally to him and even if you could coach him to defend 90% of the time the 10% of the time when he gets it wrong could be catastrophic. 

Contrast that with Aarons who looked defensively competent from the moment we dropped him in. Aarons is very bright and has always had good attacking attributes but kept it simple at first and when he grew into his role then started throwing himself forward while not abandoning his defensive responsibilities as he got acclimatized that season. I just don't see that with Mumba who is two years older than Aarons was when he first got into the side. However, from what I've seen Mumba has more potential in an attacking sense with his close control and ability to beat a man. I just don't see the same potential for a well rounded player like Aarons is, I think Mumba is a really dangerous asset in an attacking sense but will always be vulnerable defensively. 

As I said I agree - was just suggesting the possible reasoning behind the approach.   As you also pointed out, the traditional winger isn't really a thing at the top level anymore so the big bucks would potentially be for an eye-catching attacking full back.

Although I do also like the idea of a roving 3/4 type role.  Sort of a Raheem Sterling kind of thing.  Would be interested to see him given a go at that somewhere - I've not seen enough of him to know if it would be likely to bear fruit though.

[The Bunny 320]

 

5 hours ago, Capt. Pants said:

Gap to 3rd 12pts, effectively 13 with goal difference.

Not really. In the event that we catch them on points, that would likely mean us winning 4 games and them losing 4. That would mean a swing of 8 GD minimum. If at least 3 those 8 games had a margin of more than one goal, we'd be ahead on GD. 

Not saying that's a likely scenario, but GD isn't the issue.

Edited March 8, 2023 by The Bunny

[It's Character Forming 1,169]

Sheffield have lost 3 out of their last 5, I can't see that continuing, but it is what it is.

We should ignore it, we're only just up to 6th, we need to consolidate a playoff spot and just do the best we can.  Top 2 is incredibly unlikely so let's focus on what's under our control.

[shefcanary 2,622]

Trouble is the Blades next game is against Luton. I'm having difficulty with who I'd prefer to win that game - draw then?

[Capt. Pants 4,502]

2 hours ago, shefcanary said:

Trouble is the Blades next game is against Luton. I'm having difficulty with who I'd prefer to win that game - draw then?

Difficult one isn't it. I sort of want Middlesbrough to keep thinking they are looking good for 2nd only to come up short badly, in a demoralising way, in the last few games of the season.

On balance a Blades win or draw to help our play-off chances.