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He's technically very good but he has the physical assertiveness of a small boy. No good being great on the ball if you're constantly getting knocked off it.

I thought he stayed on his feet a lot more today mind, he had a good game.

Eh? Ran himself into trouble a good few times.

 

In fact today was another example of how weak/quick to hit the deck all the time as Pardew mentioned. At least 3 times he went shoulder to shoulder, fell down (from being too weak not diving), looked at the ref for the ref to no give a foul. And deservedly so.

 

Technically, to me he doesn't look especially good. First touch is solid but he doesn't look a great dribbler and his passing isn't slick or accurate. IMO Marveaux (when he played well) seemed to move with the ball and pass the ball better and quicker. That brilliant cross aside he was decent at best.

 

Thought he looked like the weak link. He had the time and space to do some space to do some damage 7-8 times and only produced on a few occasions.

 

I really hope him struggling with the physicality of the league is affecting his overall game as to me - it isn't impressive.

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He's low on confidence and when you are that it's natural that you take too much time on the ball and especially decisions. You can clearly see that he has technical ability and is a better passer of the ball than he has shown. When you are confident you don't think much and everything just works without much thought.

 

I'm sure that once he gets a goal his confidence will make a massive difference to his game overall. Just a matter of time until he's fully adapted and starts performing to the level he is capable of.

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He's low on confidence and when you are that it's natural that you take too much time on the ball and especially decisions. You can clearly see that he has technical ability and is a better passer of the ball than he has shown. When you are confident you don't think much and everything just works without much thought.

How?
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Because he's done some things that shows that he clearly has natural talent, even though he's been very inconsistent so far because of low confidence. When you are low on confidence you think too much and start thinking "what if i miss this pass", you don handle or strike the ball with the same authority.

 

I've seen him in play in france as well. No doubt that he has ability. Just needs to fully adapt and find som confidence.

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He's obviously a good passer, made the right decision to play Janmaat in, put in that mint cross, he will be fine. No doubt in my mind

 

Feel the same, he's a good player, he just needs to learn how to use his talents in this league. I thought he was dropped too soon originally, but maybe now we're playing slightly better he'll have a better chance.

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No way was Cabella the weak link yesterday, man. Sammy was dispossessed just as much, had far less passing accuracy (only 52% compared to Cabella's 81%), no key passes, no crosses and less of a defensive contribution.

Sammy can only play for 45 minutes tbf. Was desperate for Gouff to take his place within 10 minutes of the re-start.

Sammy did however look dangerous in that first half, showed some skill and showed some great technique with the shot that hit the bar.

 

Cabella was given a lot of freedom to express himself and he disappointed. He played closest to Ayoze but never really supported him well.

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I like a lot of what he tries to do, and he never hides. I love that. He just needs to continue playing till it all starts coming together.

 

I don't understand how people can't see something in this guy, when they watch him. He's always involved in the action, and get's into good situations. He's fluffing his lines at the moment, as he's clearly lost some confidence, and is eager to prove himself, but this guy is good.

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I thought he was poor yesterday bar the great cross. He just can't seem to do anything on the ball unless given loads of space and gets bullied off it too easily. In fairness he might just be struggling to adapt and may come good in the future

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It's his first half season in the PL after being in France, fuck sake lay off the kid. All this talk of "justifying the fee" - its all relative. Let the boy have time, no shock he's looked much better in recent weeks in matches where we've actually won something. He's no Hatem, he's no Sylvain, both of whom I rated much higher as well - but what I do like about him is his work rate for a creative player and he'll work great with Siem De Jong, Aarons at full pelt and a better pressing system.

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He's not done much at all but he's certainly not helped by the chronic lack of movement around him.

 

That first goal yesterday was one of the only decent bits of play he's been involved in since he signed. No coincidence that it involved some movement/people giving him options.

 

He's as weak as piss, that's his problem.

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It's his first half season in the PL after being in France, f*** sake lay off the kid. All this talk of "justifying the fee" - its all relative. Let the boy have time, no shock he's looked much better in recent weeks in matches where we've actually won something. He's no Hatem, he's no Sylvain, both of whom I rated much higher as well - but what I do like about him is his work rate for a creative player and he'll work great with Siem De Jong, Aarons at full pelt and a better pressing system.

 

This. Plus the fact that our team was fucking horrible for the first two months he was here. It's no wonder he looked shit, everyone did.

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People he's doing it so he can tell you he was right all along. Just like he did with Cisse and Sissoko, don't bite.

Eh? Apart from his horrible extended run at AM I've always been happy enough with Sissoko's contribution.

 

Just not seeing enough quality in Cabella atm.

 

That's because you are confusing quality with physical strength. YOu mentioned 3 times he went down going shoulder to shoulder, well that's not surprising since he's not very big. But he does still put his foot in for the tackles and he tracks back so he's not a liability on the pitch. He does faff around on the ball a bit, but that's probably because he's come from France where the pace is a lot slower and you need a trick to get by people. I think he could adjust as he gets used to English football. He's got a few assists now and I've seen enough to suggest he's going to provide some good end product if given time.

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I think if anything he doesn't get the ball to feet high enough up the pitch, often enough. Our game, just doesn't allow for it. He and Sammy suffered the same problem, yesterday.

 

As soon as he got it in that kind of position he dribble forward, played a well weighted ball out wide that allowed Janmaat to cross first time for the goal.

 

Most of the time though, he's closer to the halfway line when he does get it, with defenders right up against him. These are the situations he mostly struggles from.

 

It's a shame really. I'm worried because we will never play the kind of football to allow wide players to really shine.

 

We really haven't had a wide player really shine under Pardew have we. Ben Arfa is really the only one that has been able to excel in this stifling setup, and yet Pardew couldn't even appreciate it.

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I'm starting to see things from him that make me believe he'll get there in this league.  He got stuck in a few times yesterday and wasn't as physically bullied as he has been in previous games.  He did positive things with the ball and got involved with the move for the first goal.  He's not doing anything fantastic yet, but he's improving slowly and that's a positive sign as far as I can see.

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If Gouffran starts ahead of him that first goal doesn't happen. God knows where Gouff would have been stationed in the build up. Probably behind Janmaat, as Pardew gazed at him in longing admiration of his defensive solidity.

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Gouffran just isn't being used correctly.  He came here as a striker and his finishing hasn't been bad when in position, it's just that he's far too often covering the full back and never anywhere near the goal.  Pardew has a comical way of getting half the team playing out of position.

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I really like Gouffran, but Pardew has ruined his life. The guy was scoring 1 every other game in France playing as a lone forward. A hard working striker that worked the channels, and got on the end of through balls, with a decent finish. Now look at the state of him. Pardew up until now, hasn't respected the guy as a striker, for reasons unbeknown to us all.

 

 

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