Brighton v West Ham. Sat 4th March 3pm.

OK, I'll take the poison chalice and take on the Brighton thread.

Same team as last night but with Ings for Antonio, Bowen and Scamacca coming off the bench as and when necessary.

It's time we beat Brighton and, with the recent lift in our performance, Saturday will be a good time to do it. 2-1 Hammers.

COYI
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Comments

  • Where’s Vaz Te when you need him
  • Respect the point
  • IronHerb gets 5-game guaranteed run of match threads if we win this one.
  • IronHerb gets a place on the board if we win this one.
  • No that is too small a prize........he gets the managers job if we win this. =)
  • Megaloss
  • Hamstew said:

    Megaloss

    Hang on, I’m not the manager yet 😁
  • Lots of positives from last night if we start like that against Brighton then I really fancy us to get the win.
  • edited March 2023
    Areola
    Johnson - Aguerd - Ogbonna - Emerson
    Paqueta - Rice
    Bowen - Fornals - Benrahma
    Ings
  • Lukerz said:

    Areola
    Johnson - Aguerd - Ogbonna - Emerson
    Paqueta - Rice
    Bowen - Fornals - Benrahma
    Ings

    But you know it'll be Soucek > Fornals, right?
  • Personally think Soucek has done enough to be in the starting line up … He’s been below par , earlier in the season, but somewhat perhaps becoming the scapegoat IMO for an overall poor team performance ….
    Ever since Moyes sort of allowed Rice the freedom to move more upfield, although not allowed to be said , It has been to Soucek’s detriment….
    Of course, just my own thoughts…
  • Brighton at home

    Won 5 Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bournemouth (plus Liverpool in the Cup)
    Drawn 2 Newcastle, Forest
    Lost 4 Spurs, Villa, Arsenal, Fulham

    Failed to score in 3, 5 clean sheets

    Danny Ings scored both goals in Villa's 2-1 win
  • Lukerz said:

    Areola
    Johnson - Aguerd - Ogbonna - Emerson
    Paqueta - Rice
    Bowen - Fornals - Benrahma
    Ings

    I prefer Coufal at right back. Other than that, I’d be happy with this team.
  • edited March 2023

    Personally think Soucek has done enough to be in the starting line up … He’s been below par , earlier in the season, but somewhat perhaps becoming the scapegoat IMO for an overall poor team performance ….
    Ever since Moyes sort of allowed Rice the freedom to move more upfield, although not allowed to be said , It has been to Soucek’s detriment….
    Of course, just my own thoughts…

    The problem with playing Soucek as the advanced CM is that he isn't technically competent enough for that role, IMO. His passing is pretty poor for a PL player and I don't think his speed of thought isn't quick enough for that role either. He seems to have lost his threat in the opposition box and has become far too limited and predictable for me. As with Antonio, I don't think it's anything to do with scapegoating; they're just not playing well enough to justify a start.

    If Moyes is going to persist with a midfield three, in which Rice and Paqueta are nailed on starters, then I'd like to see either Fornals or Benrahma as the advanced player as they are more effective attackers, again IMO. Maybe when Cornet is back he can play wide left and Benrahma given a run in the middle as I think he'll link the midfield and the forwards a lot better than Soucek has been doing.
  • Lukerz said:

    Areola
    Johnson - Aguerd - Ogbonna - Emerson
    Paqueta - Rice
    Bowen - Fornals - Benrahma
    Ings

    I prefer Coufal at right back. Other than that, I’d be happy with this team.
    He might still be out, he injured his heel against Forest and had to come off at half time.
  • Soucek isn't the type of midfielder to play advanced and create, but I think his records i tells us that he is definitely good enough to the be the advanced CM. He scored 10 goals in 2020/21, and that was the season he played in a 2 with Rice, and Rice was the one that sat. His dip in form has coincided with a) Rice pushing on more, removing what Soucek is good at (i.e. getting in the box) and b) us trying to become more possession based, which is sort of out the window right now anyway.
  • Rice pushing on more has yielded 2 goals and 2 assists.
    I agree with Keano and G Nevs on this.
    With the prices mentioned you would expect a lot more!
  • Chelsea will pay the money, after all they spent over £100m on Fernandez who is slower than Cresswell.
  • edited March 2023
    Ravel49 said:

    Rice pushing on more has yielded 2 goals and 2 assists.
    I agree with Keano and G Nevs on this.
    With the prices mentioned you would expect a lot more!

    It depends what you pay the price for. If you're buying him to be a goalscoring midfielder then yes that's not really enough. If you're paying it for him to be a DM, then that's fine.

    IMO, goals and assists aren't really what you should be measuring his role on. He has two main jobs for us - drive us up the pitch, and win the ball back.

    For driving us up the pitch, he's in the top 11% of midfielders for progressive carries and progressive passes, top 7% for progressive carry distance, top 11% for progressive carries into the final third, and top 7% for passes into the final third.

    For winning the ball back, he's in the top 6% for ball recoveries, top 12% for aerial duels won, top 9% for tackling people running at him, top 5% for interceptions.

    (All from FBRef, btw)
  • For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.
  • Ravel49 said:

    For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.

    Somebody better hold me back because I am going to have to fight you now
  • In my current state that will be a very easy win for you chief
  • edited March 2023
    Feel somewhere in the middle, so I'll be the ref !


    Going forward the stats above sounds very good, but in all reality he hasn't achieved even what Soucek did when he was the one to have the higher up position ( goal scoring etc )

    He's a great player, but somewhat agree with Ravel that not sure he's worth the crazy money that has been mentioned before, but because he's from England, I'd reckon 60-70 million is about right, not north of 100 likes Moyes sort of said, or something similar....but if he's to go...let them start a bidding war for him.....The more the merrier.
  • alderz said:

    Ravel49 said:

    For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.

    Somebody better hold me back because I am going to have to fight you now

  • Ravel49 said:

    For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.

    I think he’s a mater of the defensive side but has tried to show he can master everything else. He can’t and he’s neglected his defensive side. It’s cool when he drives forward with the ball from deep but the rest of his play in the final third is pretty ineffective. That’s why I think we looked a bit better with Paqueta next to him.
  • edited March 2023

    Ravel49 said:

    For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.

    I think he’s a mater of the defensive side but has tried to show he can master everything else. He can’t and he’s neglected his defensive side. It’s cool when he drives forward with the ball from deep but the rest of his play in the final third is pretty ineffective. That’s why I think we looked a bit better with Paqueta next to him.
    I think there's two things to consider. One is that it seems he wanted to become a bit more of a rounded CM, rather than just a holding player, hence a reason why he wanted a bit more freedom to get forward; it definitely felt as though there was a switch last season as Soucek wasn't getting forward as much. However, whether it was because Soucek wasn't as good defensively, or that the whole team's form died off last season, Rice was having to be defensive and drive us forward as well.

    In a better team he'll look the class player he is, primarily as a holding midfielder but with the ability to surge forward as well, and don't forget he's still only 24. £100m or so feels about right.
  • Rice should be more of a Gerrard than a Carrick.
  • I think a point in this game would be a good result.
  • I actually feel a win coming on. =)
  • alderz said:

    Ravel49 said:

    For me he’s a Jack of all trades when it comes to the midfield role but a master of none.
    All imo of course but just feel he is very overrated.

    Somebody better hold me back because I am going to have to fight you now
    Alderz, very disappointed that you of all people have introduced the possibility of violence into the conversation. =)
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