8 minutes ago, charierre said:

Apparently only the second player to play for England whose name contains all the vowels.

Name the first?

Dave Aeiou?

8 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Dave Aeiou?

😂

I saw the answer earlier so I won't spoil it, but I will give you the hint that he and I once shared a couple of glasses of straight gin in a random bar in Leicester.

9 hours ago, Nibs said:

I would take that over Sterling though, who just generally frustrates and makes the wrong decision 99% of the time.

Hope he carries on with that at The Gooners................!

Oh definitely and he's got the time to learn too with age on his side. I just hope he's not too arrogant or stubborn to learn as he's got the talent and potential.

22 hours ago, Simplymo said:

He should of had 3 more goals or assists if he knew when to pass or when to shoot.

When he needs to shoot he passes, when he needs to pass he shoots. He's frustrating at times because he's been good at everything else.

And I thought you liked Jackson?

4 hours ago, just said:

And I thought you liked Jackson?

I do.

It's frustrating with Madueke because it's really the only thing left in his game to take him to that next level. Wolves game he used his right foot and we all thought brilliant. England match in one camera angle if he used his right it probably would have been a goal. I could see the back of the net and no one in the way. He basically forgot he could shoot with his right. And that's why it's frustrating.

 

Oh in rgds to Jackson...even kane can't look down the line and stay onside too it seems. Lol

10 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

I saw the answer earlier so I won't spoil it, but I will give you the hint that he and I once shared a couple of glasses of straight gin in a random bar in Leicester.

Good hint

18 hours ago, charierre said:

Apparently only the second player to play for England whose name contains all the vowels.

Name the first?

Gazza

On 12/09/2024 at 12:05, Ukraine Bolt said:

Gazza

For the record he's also a shark at pool. Lovely bloke though.

Wasn't dreadful but wasn't great either, the only thing he really did was the pass to Jackson but even that was delayed too long. 

Suffered for having to share space with Palmer who was, for whatever reason, presumably under orders, glued to the touch line.

Noni had a better game than Palmer last night.

4 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

Noni had a better game than Palmer last night.

Thought they were on a par. And under par. Noni again not getting his head up; Palmer not free to roam and having to shore up DM. Veiga looked lost until Bournemouth tired later on. To be fair, he has hardly ever played that position.

On 11/09/2024 at 17:55, charierre said:

Apparently only the second player to play for England whose name contains all the vowels.

Name the first?

Paul Gascoigne 

After the great performance against Wolves he has looked a bit subdued in the last two games (as has Palmer).

No real concerns and he needs to stay in the starting 11 but I would like to see our players toughen up a bit. Bournemouth were physical but there were no really bad tackles and yet our players kept remonstrating with the ref (waste of time as it was the inept Taylor), and Noni even waved the imaginary card which I always hate to see. Just get on with it like Hazard used to and suffered a LOT worse in way of bad tackles.

 

I'd like to see Palmer moved back to RW next game. Madueke hasn't really pushed on since the Wolves game and Palmer looks a bit lost in the middle. 

1 hour ago, Nibs said:

After the great performance against Wolves he has looked a bit subdued in the last two games (as has Palmer).

No real concerns and he needs to stay in the starting 11 but I would like to see our players toughen up a bit. Bournemouth were physical but there were no really bad tackles and yet our players kept remonstrating with the ref (waste of time as it was the inept Taylor), and Noni even waved the imaginary card which I always hate to see. Just get on with it like Hazard used to and suffered a LOT worse in way of bad tackles.

 

Yo be fair to Palmer there was a systematic booting of him early on, their players were taking turns in the first 15 minutes until one eventually got booked.

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

After the great performance against Wolves he has looked a bit subdued in the last two games (as has Palmer).

No real concerns and he needs to stay in the starting 11 but I would like to see our players toughen up a bit. Bournemouth were physical but there were no really bad tackles and yet our players kept remonstrating with the ref (waste of time as it was the inept Taylor), and Noni even waved the imaginary card which I always hate to see. Just get on with it like Hazard used to and suffered a LOT worse in way of bad tackles.

 

The elephant in the room from the Wolves game is that their left back deflected the first goal to wrong foot Sa, and then went AWOL completely to allow Noni the second and third goals, granted they were both very well finished. Probably why they were relatively low xG chances as the statistics assume there is a left back challenging/blocking from those positions ! O'Neill even mentioned it in his post-match press conference.

Subsequent games he's not been afforded the same degree of empty space to play in.

Thought he was a victim of the tactics yesterday. Was isolated against 3 Bournemouth players when ever he received the ball. No one overlapping and Palmer himself didn't have a great game either given he too was isolated that first half or was too close to Jackson. Lot of issues progressing the ball. 

On 16/09/2024 at 21:43, Sexyfootball said:

the statistics assume there is a left back challenging/blocking from those positions

Technical point - this isn't an assumption of the xG model, merely a possible explanation of the model's results. xG was very low for those shots, and we can assume that is because most players shooting from those positions are right-footed and hence are restricted in finishing at the near post making it easier for a goalkeeper or defender to cover angles. In general, the assumptions of the xG model are that the chance of scoring a goal is dictated by the position of the shot, whether it is a header or a shot, and (in some models) the quality of the assist.

Even OPTA's xG model doesn't directly account for footedness, so it doesn't adjust for the fact that Madueke is both-footed and has a better opportunity than most players to score from these positions. On the first goal, a left-footed shot gives him a much better angle (albeit aided by the defender's block) than the xG model predicts. On the second and third, the Wolves defence is reacting to his ability to cut in side, giving him way too much space to run outside and finish with his right foot. These circumstances aren't part of the xG model and aren't accounted for. 

 

On 16/09/2024 at 22:11, Sconnie Blue said:

Thought he was a victim of the tactics yesterday. Was isolated against 3 Bournemouth players when ever he received the ball. No one overlapping and Palmer himself didn't have a great game either given he too was isolated that first half or was too close to Jackson. Lot of issues progressing the ball. 

Maresca's instructions to keep the wingers wide and seek 1v1s works in theory because teams can't effectively double-team both wingers. So you stick two good dribblers and if the opposition triple-teams one side, you just simply switch the attack to the other side. Madueke is obviously the form player so it makes sense Bournemouth identified him (vs Neto/Mudryk) for extra attention. This issue was magnified by Neto also have a poor game, had he started brightly Bournemouth would have had to re-think their plans.

Bournemouth (like Wharton/Palace the game before) also cleverly dealt with Palmer in the first half by stopping him from getting the ball (vs trying to tackle him on the ball). It's actually a bluff, as Palmer is so good (demonstrated later in the game) that it doesn't matter how many players appear to be pressuring him. So while the solution for Madueke is to cycle the ball for a switch of play and get the LW 1v1, he looks up, thinks Palmer is marked, and then cycles back to the DM or...Disasi (Jesus wept).

Although I am critical of him this season, I think that this is exactly the problem a player like Enzo Fernandez should solve should he play deeper. A team can't effectively mark him and Palmer if they are playing in different lines. If Madueke thinks he can't find Palmer then he can choose the 'safe' option of Enzo at CM instead, who very much has the raking switch of play in his locker. This is further augmented when we play James or Gusto at RB too, because both of them can also pull off this switch. Rodri does this for City and TAA for Liverpool, and Declan Rice's inability to do it has been cited as a big reason why Arsenal struggle to break down certain teams.

On 16/09/2024 at 19:43, Sexyfootball said:

The elephant in the room from the Wolves game is that their left back deflected the first goal to wrong foot Sa, and then went AWOL completely to allow Noni the second and third goals, granted they were both very well finished. Probably why they were relatively low xG chances as the statistics assume there is a left back challenging/blocking from those positions ! O'Neill even mentioned it in his post-match press conference.

Subsequent games he's not been afforded the same degree of empty space to play in.

This. 

To put it simply, madueke is a good player. He is not an elite player. 

On 16/09/2024 at 07:43, Sexyfootball said:

The elephant in the room from the Wolves game is that their left back deflected the first goal to wrong foot Sa, and then went AWOL completely to allow Noni the second and third goals, granted they were both very well finished. Probably why they were relatively low xG chances as the statistics assume there is a left back challenging/blocking from those positions ! O'Neill even mentioned it in his post-match press conference.

Subsequent games he's not been afforded the same degree of empty space to play in.

Very good points.  My hope is that the plethora of attacking options we now have creates some level of space for one of them.  Wonder if teams start going more man to man at times.  

I’ll be surprised if he’s still at the club next season. That’s no criticism of him as a player but I just think Neto has a higher ceiling at RW.

Hope he proves me wrong though. 

I think he ends up being sold next season to be honest, with Estevao coming into the team I don't see a place for him unless he becomes a very consistent performer.

Another poor game, every decision in the final third was the wrong one. Didn’t offer much defensively in the first half either but was better defensively in the second so at least that’s something.