by Denver Royal »
21 Jan 2018 17:48
Gunter was generally ok, I thought. But for the goal he could have headed it off the line, which might have been easier than what he attempted.
Keep in mind Bees' are a handful for anyone offensively, and for the most part we did ok.
Re. our 'style' of play, we actually played a lot of long balls yesterday, more than Brentford did? (Alas, some of these cannoned off the chest and legs of Bod, but I digress).
Aluko was horrible, in a big game, against some pretty average defenders. When things aren't falling for you, you still leave it all out there.
Roy Beerens? Don't get me started.
Joey was decent, I thought, and put in a shift. Given all the abuse, I made a point of watching him. His style doesn't lend itself to playing on an early yellow, but he handled it ok. He adds a presence we missed when he went off, and the Bees' seemed happy and relieved when he did. He was decent at Hull, too, so it was right to start him yesterday. His passing, movement, and timing is better, and he looks fitter. He seemed the least of our worries yesterday, I thought.
Interesting there is little talk of Bod, in a 'silence is deafening' kinda way. Given all the lobbying midweek for him to start, he still looked pretty average to me. (Haven't seen many props for Stam starting him, either? Although, I'd have gone with Yann, myself, because I fancied him against their defenders).
So anyway, Bod ran around and hustled (which tends to catch the eye), and improved as the game wore on. I liked some of his movement and he occupied defenders. However, two crucial moments need to be mentioned, I'm afraid...
1. Ball in from left, Bod gets it, back to goal. Fortunately their D comes across and over-pursues, and leave acres behind them. Bod has an easy pass on, to Barrow, who is all alone, for him to run on to. But, its an awful pass. You might watch 10 high school games and not see the same pass in that situation. (And no, Stam didn't coach him to do it like that). You know where to put that pass, its simple basics that you are coached at u10 level.
(Tbf, Barrow made a meal of it, too, making it look even worse than it was. Pedestrian, he somehow needed about 4 touches/kisses with his left foot to get a shot off, which invited and afforded the grateful defenders time to get across and block. As bad a pass as it was, reckon Barrow could have flipped the ball with his left, one touch, on to his right foot, and hit it. Two touches, bang, goal, 1-0 up).
2. Bouncing ball comes over from right, Bod is alone. He's to the right of goal, about where you'd like it as a striker. He hits it first time on volley with his right. He hooks it wide left. At the very least there, you have to put it on frame and make the keeper save it.
Bod is tall, but doesn't always play like it. You wouldn't exactly say he was dominant in the air yesterday. He lost a lot of headers, some of which he didn't even attempt to go for. (Again, youth footy stuff. 'No free headers, boys. At least challenge to put the defender off. If you wanna spectate, I'll pull you off, and you can spectate from the stands'). Bod is almost 26, yet plays more like he's 20. He looks green and raw to me, and lacks guile and awareness. I think he will improve, but he is a work in progress as far as being 'the man' up front for two games each week against Champ defenders. (And btw, he was up against Bees' defenders who are far from the best...they have conceded as many as we have this season).
Last edited by
Denver Royal on 21 Jan 2018 17:59, edited 1 time in total.
