Ricardo not impressed

[Silver Canary 7]

I saw some a few real positives against Ajax. Vaughan looked very impressive - mobile, quick and strong. He caused the Ajax defence some real problems and several times they had to resort to fouling to stop him. Good to see Tierney back and looked in good shape. Nice to see Morison come on with a smile on his face and looked a lot more mobile than last half of last season - hopefully over any injury problems. Bennets (E &R) both had good games. Holty was still carrying a few extra pounds but looked fitter and sharper than this time last year. On the whole our defence coped well against a very good team who are some weeks ahead in preparation. Ajax pressed and closed us down quickly. We defended deep and found it difficult to work the ball out easily. The 2 DMs were also very deep (at times almost on the CBs toes) so didnt really offer much to the back four as an outlet. There were some nice passing from the FBs to wide midfielders but otherwise there was a lot of long balls out because there wasnt much else on. When  Russell Martin and Tierney went off and Lappin came on and R. Bennet moved to RB we seemed to struggle a bit more - Lapps got mugged a few times and Bennet kept moving in to nearer his normal CB position. To me it looks like we need anothe FB as cover / competition. In the end it was just a pre-season friendly. It''s work-in-progress and I''m confident we will do well again this season. The game against BM on the 11th will be a better indication of where we are going.

[Monty13 2,241]

I can see why ricardo wasn''t impressed, from watching the game online I found it pretty dull. However with so many clamours for us to tighten up at the back at least this game showed we do have the potential to shut up shop against, lets face it, superior opposition. It was a good defensive display, but that makes a poor viewers game, hopefully Hughton got out of it what he wanted.

I was wondering when the Ward bashing would start, thought he had a very composed game and worked well with Bennet. Some people praising the defence but completely ignoring his contribution or singling out Bennet for praise when Ward played well is pretty hard on the guy. I don''t think he is a world class defender but quite frankly I would be worried about a CD partnership as young as Ayala and Bennet, as good a prospect as both look. Martin seems to be a RB again and therefore I think Ward is going to be fighting with Turner (Poss Barnett) for one CB berth while Ayala and Bennet vie for the other unless we bring someone else in.

The Liverpool game seems to have been a turning point for Ward, he had a stinker, but by the same token the team didn''t play well and but for some good blocks by Bennet AND Ward the score could have been far worse, however Ward seems to take the blame in entirety for that performance. People questioning his ability, wantng rid of him and wanting him to fail before the season kicks off again and when two Managers (who people generally seem to agree are both pretty good) both appear seem to rate him, seems pretty childish to me. Let the guy prove himself in a settled defence with a new manager and if he can''t make the grade i''m sure he will be replaced. I''m not suggesting that know one is allowed to criticise him or not rate him, but when he does play well, he deserves credit for the performance he has just put in rather than questioning his selection. 

[ricardo 7,396]

[quote user="Monty13"]

I can see why ricardo wasn''t impressed, from watching the game online I found it pretty dull. However with so many clamours for us to tighten up at the back at least this game showed we do have the potential to shut up shop against, lets face it, superior opposition. It was a good defensive display, but that makes a poor viewers game, hopefully Hughton got out of it what he wanted.

I was wondering when the Ward bashing would start, thought he had a very composed game and worked well with Bennet. Some people praising the defence but completely ignoring his contribution or singling out Bennet for praise when Ward played well is pretty hard on the guy. I don''t think he is a world class defender but quite frankly I would be worried about a CD partnership as young as Ayala and Bennet, as good a prospect as both look. Martin seems to be a RB again and therefore I think Ward is going to be fighting with Turner (Poss Barnett) for one CB berth while Ayala and Bennet vie for the other unless we bring someone else in.

The Liverpool game seems to have been a turning point for Ward, he had a stinker, but by the same token the team didn''t play well and but for some good blocks by Bennet AND Ward the score could have been far worse, however Ward seems to take the blame in entirety for that performance. People questioning his ability, wantng rid of him and wanting him to fail before the season kicks off again and when two Managers (who people generally seem to agree are both pretty good) both appear seem to rate him, seems pretty childish to me. Let the guy prove himself in a settled defence with a new manager and if he can''t make the grade i''m sure he will be replaced. I''m not suggesting that know one is allowed to criticise him or not rate him, but when he does play well, he deserves credit for the performance he has just put in rather than questioning his selection. 

[/quote]The Ward basher''s may not like this but he was far and away the outstanding defender last night. Strong in the air and always trying to play a pass out of defence rather than a hoof. I think when the real stuff starts in a couple of weeks, he will be our No 1 Centre Back.

[Monty13 2,241]

I think your right Ricardo, and I think barring any further injuries, buying someone of real quality in the back four (and I would put Naughton in that category) or Turner pushing his way beyond question into Hughtons first team plan, that what we saw last night is the back four for Fulham.

Martin, Ward, Bennett and Tierney. Just to remind people that is three quarters of the starting line up at Tottenham last season and although I still miss Drury, Tierney is looking sharp again and a worthy replacement.

I don''t think anyone will disagree we could do with another Left back, but if we line up like that against Fulham a small part of me will be disappointed that we haven''t strengthened with a real quality player, but I trust those players to perform.

[ZLF 274]

It was not an impressive performance, we seemed to lack energy, particularly in central midfield, where howson and johnson were IMO poor, and their equaliser while a stunning strike was down to a failure to close down.

I struggle to see how Tierney impressed - the number of crosses coming from that side of the pitch from the impressive 27 (lukokvic?) was a concern and he was beaten far too often, with lappin having the same treatment right at the end of the game.

The positives were we did not lose a game we should have, Vaughan was our MOTM (can we really afford to loan him to Celtic?), with Ryan Bennett and Martin looking OK at the back. The rest simply lacked energy and possibly fitness which I am sure will improve once we get to competitive games.

What did I learn? Only the reason why its been so long since I have been to a friendly, not something I will be repeating soon

[ZLF 274]

As for ward, yes he was ok.

However the only error in central defence came from him, first half a long ball into the box which he completely misread but fortunately the excellent run from midfield (their 8) came to nothing when he failed to control the ball near the penalty box.