Dimi Payet; the Epilogue

SuzanneClaret

We should keep playing him, we might even need to put him at RB ;biggrin

Slaven_Cups_His_Beard

He isn't going to be able to win every game on his own every week

But he can help others do it either with set pieces or ensuring they have more space than they should while he's getting all the attention from the opposition

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Think Valencia is better on the left wing so maybe a front 3 of Valencia-Emenike-Antonio so payet can have a little rest can't think of a good game he's had since City but he's a good option off the bench

Lukerz

Gotta remember this team has not had much rotation. They were all back in training in June, playing in July and since then, Slav has played pretty much the same lot in every game, including the league cup loss to LCFC and the FA cup games.

Cresswell has played pretty much every second. Reid, Ogbonna, Tomkins and Ginge are probably the most rested, as they've all shared the burden. Noble has played almost every game. Kouyate and Payet likewise. Antonio has played every week since breaking into the side before Xmas. Valencia has not had a breather after two serious injuries because Sakho and Carroll have been out. It does catch up, and it may be catching up with Payet.

Maybe he's a little unsettled due to the media talk.

Or maybe we're just imagining him playing not as good.

eskimoking

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

Think Valencia is better on the left wing so maybe a front 3 of Valencia-Emenike-Antonio so payet can have a little rest can't think of a good game he's had since City but he's a good option off the bench

Tell you what. If we had to play 3 CMs, that is not a bad front 3 at all. Serious pace there and all good in the air so 2 attacking when the third crosses, plus the work rate for Valencia and Antonio to switch to 4-5-1.

Lukerz

BREAKING: Dimitri Payet close to agreeing new mega-deal at West Ham, keeping him at the club until 2021. [@lequipe]

Yeoldhammer

When your the centre point you get judged more critically. Coutinho is a brilliant player but got slaughtered for a couple offish performances. But like Payet they can produce moments of magic. The talented players want to play the best ball for the best opportunity not necessarily the right ball for an opportunity.

Moojor

Isn't he already contracted until 2021?

SuzanneClaret

Slaven_A_Laugh_Lukerz said:

Maybe he's a little unsettled due to the media talk.

Or maybe we're just imagining him playing not as good.

I very much doubt it and no, we are not imagining his wee dip. It for me is due to the opposition targeting / marking him closer.

Lukerz

The France coach says Payet is too proud and too arrogant to become a player that he likes. ;hmm

SuzanneClaret

The French coach can go for a long walk off a short pier.

baracks_a_hammer

There is no better "direct shot at goal" free kick taker in the prem right now. Every time we get one the opposition fears it almost as much as if we'd been given a pen. Which is just as well as our cup isn't exactly overflowing on the "pens awarded" front

baracks_a_hammer

Slaven_A_Laugh_Lukerz said:

Gotta remember this team has not had much rotation.

But the BBC commentator said we've used 41 players this season, more than any other side? That implies almost as much rotation as my washing machine

The problem here is injuries meaning chopping and changing and the lack of a settled side

Look at where Leicester are, they've had virtually no injuries.

baracks_a_hammer

Slaven_A_Laugh_Lukerz said:

Gotta remember this team has not had much rotation.

But the BBC commentator said we've used 41 players this season, more than any other side? That implies almost as much rotation as my washing machine

The problem here is injuries meaning chopping and changing and the lack of a settled side

Look at where Leicester are, they've had virtually no injuries.

grey_til_I_dye

Clearly unlike the France coach...

heathrowhammer

Well i would love to see him play at the Euro's.
Its a shame deschamp ignores him. Bit like the the england manager very blinkered.

OutcastLondoner

Baracks, that might be to do with the amount of young players who played in the Europa games.

claretandbluesky

I could not understand how the talk from the commentators before last nights match was about tying him to a long term deal, how much can we tie him to beyond the current five year contract he is already on?

I do hope the Dave's don't do a mega deal as it could go seriously wrong. If the figures quoted in the newspaper are correct and he is on 65k plus extra 10k for appearance I would perhaps offer another 20k max on the appearance, and in truth not sure why we would do that immediately to be honest. If he is 28 and never played for a big club there is a reason, it is not through not being noticed. Anyone who has ever watched decent schoolboy football knows that the scouting system does not let players like Payet slip through the net, it is a fine tuned machine. He has made a great start and has tricks that catch the eye, but lets not get carried away.

grey_til_I_dye

C&b

Can't agree that scouts always get things right, or that clubs never make poor decisions.

Vardy would be the standout example of that for this season, imo.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

baracks_a_hammer said:

There is no better "direct shot at goal" free kick taker in the prem right now. Every time we get one the opposition fears it almost as much as if we'd been given a pen. Which is just as well as our cup isn't exactly overflowing on the "pens awarded" front

Willian probably is

grey_til_I_dye

Slaven_A_Laugh_Lukerz said:

The France coach says Payet is too proud and too arrogant to become a player that he likes. ;hmm

To be fair to Deschamps, that is a view attributed to him by a French journo, rather than a direct quotation.

IronHerb

All French are arrogant, it's their national trait.

baracks_a_hammer

Christiano Ronaldo is arrogant - perhaps Portugal should leave him out of their squad? I'm sure they'd fare much better without him? ;lol

IronHerb

;wink

grey_til_I_dye

Like the old saying

It's only boasting if you can't do it.

eskimoking

Baracks, Willian is better, but Payet is probably second. Willian has scored about 7 direct free kicks this season.

MrsGrey

Sigurdsson getting his mojo back, too.

OutcastLondoner

I could see how in a team with better players, Payet's tendency to get into tight positions to use tricks to get out of might not work as well as it does with us.

Then again, its not like he's at all greedy. His decision-making is probably his best trait. A lot of players have great technique but they're usually awful at choosing the right pass or shot.

Pearces_Left_Foot

I think the reason we have used 41 players is all those Europa cup games where we fielded mostly youngsters and fringe players

IronHerb

According to the OS we have played 24 players in the Prem, 1 other in the FA Cup (JOB) and another 4 (Henry, Parfitt-Williams, Paige & Nasha) in the Europa making it 29 in total.