18 hours ago, El regreso said:

Josh honestly looks better than him, less panicked, drives out with the ball comfortably  makes simple easy passes and just seems so composed and controlled.

His ceiling looks so high. Hope he’s not rushed and they protect him. 

Basically describing Colwill under De Zerbi at Brighton.

I think it is important to note an aspect that gets easily looked over at this club and that is the age. 

This season we've played like 95% of the matches in a 3-2-5-1 system with one of the full backs always inverting in midfield or even higher up the pitch, as in Gusto's case. Only recently Maresca kept the full backs in their position (not Everton away, though). 

Given the two guys on the wings are pretty much the attacking wingers when one of the full back inverts and the other one sticks to the back three, it's pretty much as an attacking line-up as you can see.

To have Colwill at 21 lead an already young set of defenders in such an attacking line up, I think this gets looked over way too easy. I know it is a club with high ambition and lots of expectations, but if the board chose this way then I think we, as fans, need to realize than it's completely normal and natural for such a young set of players to have ups and downs and blips in form throughout their development. 

14 minutes ago, petre ispirescu said:

Basically describing Colwill under De Zerbi at Brighton.

I think it is important to note an aspect that gets easily looked over at this club and that is the age. 

This season we've played like 95% of the matches in a 3-2-5-1 system with one of the full backs always inverting in midfield or even higher up the pitch, as in Gusto's case. Only recently Maresca kept the full backs in their position (not Everton away, though). 

Given the two guys on the wings are pretty much the attacking wingers when one of the full back inverts and the other one sticks to the back three, it's pretty much as an attacking line-up as you can see.

To have Colwill at 21 lead an already young set of defenders in such an attacking line up, I think this gets looked over way too easy. I know it is a club with high ambition and lots of expectations, but if the board chose this way then I think we, as fans, need to realize than it's completely normal and natural for such a young set of players to have ups and downs and blips in form throughout their development. 

Also gets overlooked we have not had James to lead us and had either Disasi or Gusto at RB, one completely useless one still very young, raw and not ready for this responsibility.

Also, as Sconnie pointed out, we invested how much on CBS only to find we need 18 year old Josh to step up ahead of seasoned pros as that money was wasted on bums and a permanent crock.

19 hours ago, El regreso said:

Josh honestly looks better than him, less panicked, drives out with the ball comfortably  makes simple easy passes and just seems so composed and controlled.

His ceiling looks so high. Hope he’s not rushed and they protect him. 

If Levi gave the ball away like the few times Josh gave the ball away yesterday, people would be calling him sloppy. 

Sometimes you need to take off the specs when it comes to youth, Josh did well, but he also made some mistakes in that game that other defenders would've been slaughtered for on here. 

24 minutes ago, Victor90 said:

If Levi gave the ball away like the few times Josh gave the ball away yesterday, people would be calling him sloppy. 

Sometimes you need to take off the specs when it comes to youth, Josh did well, but he also made some mistakes in that game that other defenders would've been slaughtered for on here. 

A welcome dose of reality.

People have really gone overboard on his debut yesterday (club app had him getting 36% of the MotM votes LOL)

He did OK, exactly what you would expect for a raw 18 year old, but there is a reason why the two main stats sites that give algorithm-based rankings (Whoscored & Sofascore) both had him as the lowest score of our 11 starters. 

Comparing our two centre backs : 

• Colwill 95% passing accuracy vs Acheampong 85%
• Colwill lost possession 3 times vs Acheampong 12 times
• Colwill 4/7 aerial duals vs Acheampong 0/5
• Colwill accurate long balls 5/5 vs Acheampong 3/10
• Colwill 5 clearances vs Acheampong 0
• Colwill 2 tackles vs Acheampong 0
• Colwill 2 interceptions vs Acheampong 1

Those sort of numbers would have been eagerly used as stick to beat Disasi or Badiashile with ... 

 

4 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

 

Those sort of numbers would have been eagerly used as stick to beat Disasi or Badiashile with ... 

 

Because one is an 18 year old making his debut as opposed to two CBs who are in their prime years. 

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Because one is an 18 year old making his debut as opposed to two CBs who are in their prime years. 

Of course, but we're replying to a post that's saying Josh looks better than Colwill, which I don't believe is the case at all.

It's a natural thing that we give glowing reviews to youngsters who put in a decent shift that would be just an average game for a senior player. It's not a bad thing, but we can't get ahead of ourselves either. 

1 minute ago, Victor90 said:

Of course, but we're replying to a post that's saying Josh looks better than Colwill, which I don't believe is the case at all.

It's a natural thing that we give glowing reviews to youngsters who put in a decent shift that would be just an average game for a senior player. It's not a bad thing, but we can't get ahead of ourselves either. 

We as a fanbase should expect and welcome these errors considering with his age he will learn from them. I don’t expect Disasi or Badiashile to learn anything. 
 

You’re acting as if his errors were giving the ball away, unchallenged, which lead to a goal. Something the Monaco chuckle brothers are literally guilty of every other week. 

TBF, the stuff Colwill faces is pretty much what JT faced at the dawn of the internet. 

Some Chelsea fans wanted him to move to Nottingham who he was loaned to. Thank god he didnt want to go. 

Not sure Colwill gets to JT's level, but he's a very decent premiership level defender already. 

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Also gets overlooked we have not had James to lead us and had either Disasi or Gusto at RB, one completely useless one still very young, raw and not ready for this responsibility.

Also, as Sconnie pointed out, we invested how much on CBS only to find we need 18 year old Josh to step up ahead of seasoned pros as that money was wasted on bums and a permanent crock.

I agree, we invested a lot and made mistakes in that area, but the thing is we knew from the very first day that those defenders were bought for the future. Not a single one we can say was bought to instantly add experience and steel at the back. Koulibaly was probably the only one closer to fall into that category, more because of his reputation in Italy and the fact he was part of a very settled Napoli team, rather than his actual skills.

Since Boehly and Clearlake took over we've not had a marquee signing or two that can have everybody say "Ok, that's it, these were the last missing puzzles, now they are ready to go big." Like it was with Van Dijk when Liverpool brought him from Southampton or that summer when we got Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas and then went on to win the league title the same season.

That's why it's important we're ruthless in the market this summer and get rid of the likes of Disasi, Badiashile, Tosin, Chalobah, maybe even Fofana (if he has any good offers) while their stock is still at a high and finally bring those two or three top players with experience.

 

 

15 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I agree, we invested a lot and made mistakes in that area, but the thing is we knew from the very first day that those defenders were bought for the future. Not a single one we can say was bought to instantly add experience and steel at the back. Koulibaly was probably the only one closer to fall into that category, more because of his reputation in Italy and the fact he was part of a very settled Napoli team, rather than his actual skills.

Since Boehly and Clearlake took over we've not had a marquee signing or two that can have everybody say "Ok, that's it, these were the last missing puzzles, now they are ready to go big." Like it was with Van Dijk when Liverpool brought him from Southampton or that summer when we got Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas and then went on to win the league title the same season.

That's why it's important we're ruthless in the market this summer and get rid of the likes of Disasi, Badiashile, Tosin, Chalobah, maybe even Fofana (if he has any good offers) while their stock is still at a high and finally bring those two or three top players with experience.

Do you think these owners will do that though? They seem to prefer to gamble than buy what we need, this summer is make or break imo. 

3 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Do you think these owners will do that though? They seem to prefer to gamble than buy what we need, this summer is make or break imo. 

If we make top five and go back to UCL football, which I believe we will, they have no other choice to be fair. It's clear already that Fofana and James cannot be trusted as starters anymore because of their injury record and Disasi, Badiashile and Tosin are not starting line-up material. Acheampong is way too young at this point. Plus the players are going to have little to no rest this summer because of that glorified pre-season competition that starts very early.

The UCL money, the new shirt sponsor, the money made available from outgoings plus the extra funds from the owners. In my view there is going to be enough money for at least three marquee signings. The major targets should be two top center backs and one top center forward.

I'd sell Disasi, Badiashile and Chalobah/Tosin, put James, Fofana, Acheampong and Chalobah/Tosin on the bench and then bring a towering CB like Tah on a free, a defender like Kounde that can play in that hybrid CB/RB role and a prolific striker. Ronald Araujo is another good shout as he is going to have one year left on his contract and Barcelona are skint. I just gave some examples that came to my mind, but I am sure there are others, too.

On 05/01/2025 at 11:18, Sexyfootball said:

A welcome dose of reality.

People have really gone overboard on his debut yesterday (club app had him getting 36% of the MotM votes LOL)

He did OK, exactly what you would expect for a raw 18 year old, but there is a reason why the two main stats sites that give algorithm-based rankings (Whoscored & Sofascore) both had him as the lowest score of our 11 starters. 

Comparing our two centre backs : 

• Colwill 95% passing accuracy vs Acheampong 85%
• Colwill lost possession 3 times vs Acheampong 12 times
• Colwill 4/7 aerial duals vs Acheampong 0/5
• Colwill accurate long balls 5/5 vs Acheampong 3/10
• Colwill 5 clearances vs Acheampong 0
• Colwill 2 tackles vs Acheampong 0
• Colwill 2 interceptions vs Acheampong 1

Those sort of numbers would have been eagerly used as stick to beat Disasi or Badiashile with ... 

 

Great info.  My eyes deceived me in the game as I thought Acheampong had the better game, but it really shows how solid Levi was.  Very excited for Acheampong though. 

5 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

Great info.  My eyes deceived me in the game as I thought Acheampong had the better game, but it really shows how solid Levi was.  Very excited for Acheampong though. 

Acheampong is such a classy looking defender as he brings the ball forward, and with Colwill looking similarly classy alongside, I'm starting to think CB doesn't stand for centre back, it stands for Cobham Beckenbauer 🙂 

Yup - Colwill and Acheampong look good together.

We need more of a sample size but...are we better defensively WITHOUT Colwill?

2 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

We need more of a sample size but...are we better defensively WITHOUT Colwill?

He makes a lot of mistakes, Chalobah was solid.

4 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

We need more of a sample size but...are we better defensively WITHOUT Colwill?

No, we just played Wolves 

2 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

No, we just played Wolves 

Aye they are hopeless. So are Fulham, Palace and Ipswich though.

Why I would need to see a large sample of the Tosin and Chalobah pairing than just Wolves.

21 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Aye they are hopeless. So are Fulham, Palace and Ipswich though.

Why I would need to see a large sample of the Tosin and Chalobah pairing than just Wolves.

I said a few weeks back that he is playing too much like a passion merchant, something that regularly fools fans into thinking a player is playing well. He's constantly cheerleading. Every tackle, every clearance, but I think he has been a bit all over the place at times. I don't just blame him though, I don't feel like there is much training in the more important parts of defending under Maresca. I get the feeling that Maresca's idea of defending is about being comfortable with the ball at the back and bypassing the oppositions press with pass between the lines. The important parts like positioning, heading, tackling, knowing when to back off and when to press feels like something none of our defenders are getting properly coached on.

Chalobah has just got back from Palace, a side who have been well drilled in defending in recent times, so it doesn't surprise me that he comes back and instantly looks like he can defend better than anybody else in the team.

Can I have a honest answer from everybody please?

Is Colwill really any better than Chalobah?

3 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Can I have a honest answer from everybody please?

Is Colwill really any better than Chalobah?

No he’s not. I said when Josh played he looked far more composed that Colwil and I was laughed at. Josh look more like a seasoned pro than Colwil did, drives out better has better passing more composed and all round just looked better. 
Trev first game back and his performance is better than Colwil. 
Fofana and Trev are our best CB pairing now he’s back with Tosin and Josh as backups.

Just now, El regreso said:

No he’s not. I said when Josh played he looked far more composed that Colwil and I was laughed at. Josh look more like a seasoned pro than Colwil did, drives out better has better passing more composed and all round just looked better. 
Trev first game back and his performance is better than Colwil. 
Fofana and Trev are our best CB pairing now he’s back with Tosin and Josh as backups.

I'm surprised you have Fofana so high, because I think he has been awful this season. When he plays, he's always getting caught out of position and making desperate attempts to correct it. Colwill hasn't been great, but I still have him ahead of Fofana. I prefer Tosin over Fofana as well.

42 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I said a few weeks back that he is playing too much like a passion merchant, something that regularly fools fans into thinking a player is playing well. He's constantly cheerleading. Every tackle, every clearance, but I think he has been a bit all over the place at times. I don't just blame him though, I don't feel like there is much training in the more important parts of defending under Maresca. I get the feeling that Maresca's idea of defending is about being comfortable with the ball at the back and bypassing the oppositions press with pass between the lines. The important parts like positioning, heading, tackling, knowing when to back off and when to press feels like something none of our defenders are getting properly coached on.

Chalobah has just got back from Palace, a side who have been well drilled in defending in recent times, so it doesn't surprise me that he comes back and instantly looks like he can defend better than anybody else in the team.

Fair point. Maybe after a few weeks Maresca will knock that good defending out of him.

39 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

Can I have a honest answer from everybody please?

Is Colwill really any better than Chalobah?

At the moment, imo, no he is not. Colwill is younger so has potential to be better.

Should have he been brought back in over Tosin, vs the very physical Haaland? 

Soft. Been concerned for a long time but with over 50 PL appearances now we need to admit his level is not high enough. 

Too many mistakes. Gives ball away too much.  Loses too many duels. Not assertive or a leader. Instills no confidence at all.