FOF MOTM Liverpool v Fulham and Post Match Thread = Affengruber

[howitis]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

[Deeping_white]

We were really good; controlled the midfield, created chances and basically gave Liverpool no clear cut attempts which is really promising. MoTM for Affi making his debut away at Anfield in a team that looked as defensively watertight as the titanic up until today. Pleased for AA because the tactics were spot on and the system looked fluid. Need to take that to the utd game and build on it for the three after but certainly lots of promise from the whole squad today

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

It's not unthinkable that Kevin gets a go from KO next time round. Did a couple of nice things when he came on today, including covering.

[hopper]

Affengruber MOTM for me with Charles a close second. Considering it was his first game in English football away at Liverpool he was outstanding, looks a great signing and also looked really good on the ball too.

Charles has looked very good in all his minutes and I am really happy with that signing too.

Special mention to Iwobi (pre game I said I don't think he should start and I thought he looked much much better on the wing. Berge was also much improved today too and looked solid.

I love Smith-Rowe and Kevin working very hard for the team when they came on also.. given lots of speculation about them being unhappy it was great to see Kevin especially track all the way back and put off Rio when he had a good chance.

Agree with most of this except for the final point. I'm not a serial ESR basher by any means but made no attempt to close down their RB for a cross at the end which I found pretty concerning as every other player was busting a gut all match.

Really pleased with that performance and thought Affengruber made a huge difference. Berge and Charles looks like a good pairing, and importantly Arbeloa got his balance and tactics spot on today.

[hopper]

I think the difference is that Andersen couldn't be a scapegoat today.

He hasn't been scapegoated, people have simple been pointing out that he looks very uncomfortable in the AA set up and that seems to have negatively impacted his form.

To scapegoat means; "to blame a person for a mistake, failure or bad situation caused by someone(s) else". I honestly do not think that has been the case except perhaps by just a tiny minority of one or two.

Anyway delighted about today; the performance, AA's flexibility, some of our new signings. A point against Man U and things will start to look a lot better.

Totally agree, Andersen hasn't been scapegoated. He's just made lots of errors regularly and been costly for us. Scapegoating is one thing, objective criticism another.

[SerbianLad]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create.

That's the thing though, it's how we need to play. We don't have the budget to improve our squad significantly enough or the current squad quality that can play without two defensively sound midfielders. We're not like Man City who used to play Bernardo Silva there. We need the defensive stability of having two midfielders who are good defensively. People often moaned about Berge-Lukic, but I still think that worked better than Berge-Iwobi or Lukic-Iwobi. Same thing now. Berge-Iwobi was poor. Charles-Iwobi slightly better, but Berge-Charles was by far the best pairing.

Maybe if in a few years if our squad gets significantly better, we'll be able to have someone who's a bit of a weak link defensively in the middle,for now, we cannot.

And tbf, I think we created more than enough chances today to score some goals. Garcia should have scored. Bobb would have had a good chance had his first touch been better, likewise Muniz, King had 2 chances he could have dkne better with and had one good effort on goal, etc.

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

Agreed, we could easily have walked off with three points at a difficult stadium.

Excited for the next four games.

[General]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

Am expecting Larsson to step in for Berge sooner or later to add the additional dynamism and creativity

[General]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

I don't think it's as much an issue re Garcia and King, they're both great prospects and just need coaching to work better together. When that happens then we'll have quite a lethal pair.

[AshfordFFC]

went with Charles in the end.  Whilst Affengruber had a great debut, no doubts there, just thought Charles was calm and mature in the centre.

[Moussa Dembele the 3rd]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

Am expecting Larsson to step in for Berge sooner or later to add the additional dynamism and creativity

Sorry to disagree, but I don't think that is a good idea. Berge is seriously underrated on this board. I feel like we need his positional discipline and technical ability in the team. Larsson is definitely promising but at this stage of his career he simply is not as good.

[General]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

Am expecting Larsson to step in for Berge sooner or later to add the additional dynamism and creativity

Sorry to disagree, but I don't think that is a good idea. Berge is seriously underrated on this board. I feel like we need his positional discipline and technical ability in the team. Larsson is definitely promising but at this stage of his career he simply is not as good.

That's not true. Appreciate the disagreement and way you put the point across, but no-one has seen enough of Larsson in this team and setup to make that call. I appreciate Berge may still be underappreciated and have his merits, but I put Andersen in that bracket too and it doesn't mean they don't have their limitations or areas they could be better in and where other players can't be better. E.g. berge doesn't carry a threat going forward. Larsson does. Watching Larsson's highlights he can do defensive work, play a fast and more creative passes as well as carry the goalscoring threat. Something he's proven at a younger age and at a higher level than Berge as Larsson has played in European football and at international level, as well as at the top end of bundesliga, though Berge was going between champ and prem for a lot of his career.

At 22 Larsson having achieved that has a much higher bar not only now but in future. The aim isn't to go with what works, but what works best now and future.

[WindyCity]

Post game thoughts:

Very pleased and encouraged by this show.  It will only be significant if we can see some follow through in upcoming games, particularly our next home game.  Fingers crossed for follow through.

Thought just about every player had a good game, only a few missteps.
Affengruber looks a real good player.  Made a couple poor passes, but also found some nice recipients as well.  Nice player.
Charles looks a very good player as well.  Had good game.
King still our best forward in the team.  Voted him my MOTM.  Affengruber and Charles were close seconds for me, but King is really providing FFC with positive forward chances.
Garcia had fairly good game, still waiting for him to really break out though.  He missed great scoring chance, should have scored, got beat be an outfield player as keeper was nowhere to be found.
Even Leno had a decent game (finally).  Made some nice saves, but nothing I wouldn't expect any PL keeper to make, but he earned his clean sheet.
Rest of the team played well.  However, I want to single out Bobb for commentary.

Bobb - I've noticed he's getting quite a bit of stick in this forum.  Some is justified.  I have even criticized him for not shooting enough, and still feel he needs to have confidence out there to take the shot.  He had great scoring chance at top of the box and he decided to take a studs touch and lost control and squandered the chance, when he should have just blasted the ball, no touch needed.  He does need to start scoring goals.  All that said, I believe there is a really good player in Oscar Bobb.  He needs continued playing time and fan support, and he needs to build up some confidence.  Methinks once he finally tallies, the floodgates could open and we see a really good, contributing player.  I think we have a good player in Bobb, and I also would like to see Kevin get more play time as well, as there is a terrific player in him too. 

[FFC007]

I think dropping Bobb is on the menu as far as I'm concerned..

If you aren't producing the goods, you should be out and replaced with someone who is.

Kevin deserves a chance on the right hand side,

[v]

So glad Charles has already formed a solid partnership with Berge in the midfield.

And mightily relieved our fullbacks have stopped bombing forward and we're tighter at the back.

Long may it continue ! 

[Sting of the North]

I too think the team looks much more balanced. I would say that Berge and Charles together was strong and arguably won the midfield battle. Their lack of creativity however puts additional pressure on the wide players to create. Thought Bobb struggled today and whilst I am a big fan of Iwobi o thought our attack lacked pace out wide.
I am really keen to see Kevin play from the off but he clearly is not showing enough in training to warrant it.
I think your observation on Josh King in front of goal is spot on. He snatches and generally is not the most composed or clinical when the n goal scoring positions. His movement is electric and when he drops deeper in pockets of space he drags opponents out of position.
I also find it interesting that king and Garcia don't seem to connect yet. Slightly worried for all for all Garcia running he receives so few chances per game.
The best chance fell to Muniz from a brilliant Kevin delivery. Just wish Garcia had received that cross ..

Am expecting Larsson to step in for Berge sooner or later to add the additional dynamism and creativity

Sorry to disagree, but I don't think that is a good idea. Berge is seriously underrated on this board. I feel like we need his positional discipline and technical ability in the team. Larsson is definitely promising but at this stage of his career he simply is not as good.

That's not true. Appreciate the disagreement and way you put the point across, but no-one has seen enough of Larsson in this team and setup to make that call. I appreciate Berge may still be underappreciated and have his merits, but I put Andersen in that bracket too and it doesn't mean they don't have their limitations or areas they could be better in and where other players can't be better. E.g. berge doesn't carry a threat going forward. Larsson does. Watching Larsson's highlights he can do defensive work, play a fast and more creative passes as well as carry the goalscoring threat. Something he's proven at a younger age and at a higher level than Berge as Larsson has played in European football and at international level, as well as at the top end of bundesliga, though Berge was going between champ and prem for a lot of his career.

At 22 Larsson having achieved that has a much higher bar not only now but in future. The aim isn't to go with what works, but what works best now and future.

Internationally, Larsson has achieved almost nothing. Berge is miles and miles ahead there. Larsson is still young, but his international experience so far consists mostly of not so good sub appearances.