Davide Santon (now retired)

[alexf]

Santon is probably the only one of the current starters not in top form, if he gets back to his best we'll have real threat down both flanks for the first time in absolutely ages...

 

No we won't because he doesn't cross with his left foot. He comes inside every time and that's why he won't be providing many assists no matter what he does anywhere else on the pitch.

 

Actually he did go down the outside once and get a cross in with his left today after successfully beating his man a couple of times by cutting in before.

 

I know what you're saying but he is actually very good in 1 on 1 situations. Has very good close control.

[Ikon]

Starting to get tired of him cutting in all the time! Sooo easy to read! 99/100 times he cut's in. It's been so predictable for the opposition lately that this has resulted in us losing possession when not needed. I've always liked Santon and i think he's very composed on the ball and comfortable in possession in general.

 

His final ball and variety must improve. He's still young but imo he hasn't improved very much, if at all. Him cutting in all the time makes us lose width, and therefore the opposition defenders don't get stretched from their positions when we attack down the left.

[Cajun]

Starting to get tired of him cutting in all the time! Sooo easy to read! 99/100 times he cut's in. It's been so predictable for the opposition lately that this has resulted in us losing possession when not needed. I've always liked Santon and i think he's very composed on the ball and comfortable in possession in general.

 

His final ball and variety must improve. He's still young but imo he hasn't improved very much, if at all.

 

Did someone get you a word of the day calendar for xmas? Todays being possession?

 

Merry xmas xxx

[Ikon]

You could imagine

[Jordan]

Worst player on the pitch today. Absolutely awful. I'd drop him for Haidara atm.

[Cajun]

Find it strange how often Haidara is brought on. Don't think Santon had the worst game though, same with Sissoko. Just had average games.

[Tiresias]

I think Pardew likes Haidara a lot and wants to get him some game time, that's probably all. He probably also thinks Santon can be our weak link and having Haidara knocking on the door will make him up his game

[Jordan]

Every one of Stoke's attacks started on our left hand side. He's the weakest player in our team and other teams know it. Titanic turns faster than him also.

[joeyt]

Could learn a lot from Debuchy about how to time his attacking runs. Thought he was pretty rubbish first half.

[Ryan_Taylor]

Couldn't give a fuck today it looked like

[Varadi]

Wasn't great again - think Haidara must be running him very close for a start now.

[M1tche]

Every one of Stoke's attacks started on our left hand side. He's the weakest player in our team and other teams know it. Titanic turns faster than him also.

 

Didnt the goal come from our right though??

[The College Dropout]

In the opening 30 minutes he was the poorest player on the pitch.

 

Lost all his duels & 1v1's.

[The College Dropout]

Couldn't give a f*** today it looked like

It did. But most of the Stoke pressure came from the left beforehand which would've given them a lot of confidence. Class finish I must say. Arguably Anita should've been back quicker to help Debuchy but overall we couldn't withstand the pressure. Williamson had a few so-so clearances.

[Parky]

Haidara's crossing, tackling and pace is superior.

[Jill]

I'd definitely drop him, I just think he's our weaker link and isn't performing very well. We have an adequate replacement in Haidara so I'd like to see him come in.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I'm generally against changing the defence when we're winning, even if some players aren't performing as well as they should. Hopefully Haidara putting pressure on him will give him a bit of a kick up the arse, because he's been positionally poor for a little while now.

[Lotus]

You can never be confident in him when he's defending a 1 vs 1.

[Ryan_Taylor]

Time to end this right footed left back experiment for me like. We looked much better (9 men aside) with Haïdara on the left.

[Skirge]

Can see him being on his way in the summer, Milan is calling.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Aye, but you read owt Skirge.

[Kanj]

I like him - he just really, really needs to work on that left foot of his. His cutting-in 99% of the time when he has acres of space out wide is absolutely poor imo.

[Cronky]

You can never be confident in him when he's defending a 1 vs 1.

 

Absolutely. When exposed, his defending becomes very tentative, and that side of his game isn't improving.

[ujpest doza]

Just kept weakly hanging out a leg yesterday.

 

He's definately the wek link in our defence.

[alexthegreat]

I think he has talent but if you're lining up against him I dont see what you would be worried about.

 

His attacking play is very predictable and almost never causes any serious problems. Debuchy has whipped the ball into the box in a whole variety of ways this season, Santon is always the same. He can beat his man and he actually has got a decent shot, but so far has not been able to use these attributes to make himself a serious threat.

 

He doesn't wind up his opponent up at all, he never puts in a big tackle. You'd know you've been in a game against Debuchy, but you can't say the same with Santon. There are also question marks about his defensive play - he is sometimes out of position, and he was beaten a few times yesterday before they had the first man sent off. I think he's someone you would look forward to playing against if you were an opposing winger.

 

The attributes are there but he has played a lot of games now and has not developed -it's possible he may not have the mentality to be a top player, and it might be time to give some one else a go.