Jump to content

Motherwell FC - A Thread For All Seasons


Recommended Posts

10 minutes ago, joewarkfanclub said:

Watt still looks short of fitness.

He does, but I was pleasantly surprised with how quick he was at points closing down.

Probably just told to go out and do his pan in pressing their back 3/4 and cause chaos. Mission accomplished. Loved that he full on barged KVV towards the end too. 😅

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ceiling Granny said:

Big improvement for me on last season is players lifting their heads and looking for a pass.  Plenty examples from yesterday where last year we’d have lost the ball or knocked it out, but instead we had good awareness of where everyone was on the park.

Everyone around me in the John Hunter was screaming for the ball to be played out wide to Wilson first half. He was in acres of space. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the start to the season (including who we beat in the LC) tells us that we can at least be in the pack this season - and if you're in the pack, you've got a chance to have a good season as everything is always very compressed in the middle part of the table.

I think the team that we finished with yesterday (ie one with both Balmer and Stama in it) would probably be closer to what Kettlewell envisioned in the summer. Casey took one for the team yesterday but I think he might now struggle to dislodge Balmer (and The Throw), which is a shame for him personally but with the squad we've got, it's inevitable. I also thought that the fact SOD appeared yesterday was probably a sign of a player who doesn't want to lose his place with Kaleta and now Koutroumbis breathing down his neck.

Up front - I would like to see Stama with Watt as our first choice forwards - Watt is quite adaptable and could play wider or more centrally where needed. Moses is a sub/squad player as much as I like him and Robinson can fight it out with Watt for the "other" forward position.

The fact that we've got a lot of good options is a nice change for us - we desperately need the same in midfield though - Slattery coming back could be a big thing towards the end of the year...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, steelman1991 said:

It's nice to have options from the bench that don't weaken the team.

Said that yesterday, actually look at our bench now and have some excellent options that can improve the team and bring something a bit different. Balmer being  case in point, he came on and was really good was taking none of VV's pish, his thrown ins are brilliant to behold, a total weapon.

Edited by Dosser1886
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, boozyBJ said:

I like Dan Casey, but I’ve got a hunch that we’ll see a bit more shithousery from Balmer

Given Kettlewell's slowly dawning realisation that 5 subs can be used constructively you can see Casey being added to the second half switch up, especially in scenarios where we're chasing something and could do with an additional chaos factor in the opponents; box at set pieces..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's been a bit of debate over the midfield on SO this morning and in particular Davor.

@RandomGuy. did me a solid and ran some Wyscout data:

year.png.5f434361d1ab7e939ec2f311f0ae9cd7(1).thumb.png.28e96e880a5b0a4f5c267acf86c430ff.png

Pleasantly surprised with just how effectively he's contributed in comparison with everyone else.

Shows that of the current midfield... Halliday is probably the biggest problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Londonwell said:

I honestly don’t see the issue with Halliday. I think he’s been really good for us this season and it’s nice having an experienced head in there next to Lennon and Davor. I’ll die on this hill if I must. 

He was like a lost boy at points yesterday, although there will be others who say the same (rightly, I'll admit) of Davor.

Halliday was out of position a lot and the ball sailed over his head on multiple occasions leaving us outnumbered at the back.

He's had great games for us of late (Hearts and United) and we'll never really have a consistently performing midfield at that level but I'd prefer a 6 or 7/10 every week than two 8 or 9s followed by a 5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, StAndrew7 said:

He was like a lost boy at points yesterday, although there will be others who say the same (rightly, I'll admit) of Davor.

Halliday was out of position a lot and the ball sailed over his head on multiple occasions leaving us outnumbered at the back.

He's had great games for us of late (Hearts and United) and we'll never really have a consistently performing midfield at that level but I'd prefer a 6 or 7/10 every week than two 8 or 9s followed by a 5.

Yeh I mean, I don’t think he’s a superstar for us or anything but I just think he’s a gets a bit more criticism than he’s due perhaps. There’s maybe still a bit of an issue with the balance of the midfield but it’s improved in recent weeks. He’s got more quality on the ball than Davor but as you kind of alluded to he isn’t as nearly as mobile. If Slattery comes back in decent condition then it’s a toss up between the two of them to make way. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Vietnam91 said:

Maybe he's taking the Gerrard approach at Villa, going for another team in the same league to get himself on the radar for the gig he really wants.

Simo has more than earned his shot and so long as it doesn't hurt us I'd wish him all the best. 

I can understand why we always decided against him but we really should have bit the bullet and paid the compensation when it was him or Hammell two years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...