wormy Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 57 minutes ago, alexf said: Was it Darlow he replaced? Remember that game and it being night and day in terms of quality. He caught everything and communicated with the back 4 etc. was a great signing at the time. Yeah I think Darlow was in the nets by that point but had been rotated with Elliot a bit so far that season. Halcyon days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouldy_uk Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 10 minutes ago, wormy said: Yeah I think Darlow was in the nets by that point but had been rotated with Elliot a bit so far that season. Halcyon days. Ah, Blobby Elliot, the good old (definitely not shite) days Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 (edited) 5 hours ago, Pilko said: People have short memories. Remember when a returning Pope sat on the bench late last season for several games despite Dubravka looking shit, then away at Man U Dubravka was at fault for two goals that arguably cost us a European place? Then Pope plays at Burnley three days later. I'm glad Dubs has been steady and not made any errors but Pope is the superior keeper by a mile and should come back in soon as he's fit. I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two. Edited January 10 by LFEE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GideonShandy Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 11 minutes ago, LFEE said: I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two. Several or seven? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Dubravka is not as good a goalkeeper as Pope. He's aging, commands his box to an inferior level, doesn't come off his line proactively to sweep and isn't as good a shot stopper. He was massively exposed slotting into our existing team last year particularly with the defensive line and system remaining the same. We started conceding goals at literally twice the rate as we did with Pope in nets. However - there is not only one way to play football and defend. Having more control in possession during games, which Dubravka's composure and ability on the ball has undoubtedly contributed to (not the only factor obvs, but it's there) has allowed us to control games to greater degree and far reduced the number of shots and chances he's faced. This is proactive defending/goalkeeping, preventing the chances from happening in the first place. It's not too dissimilar to the endless tedious debates around Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. Yes he is exposable 1v1 and gets caught out of position defensively and it can be immediately obvious on those occasions when it happens. However he's an exceptional footballer on the ball and the entire shape and mentality of the team changes when he's on the pitch for Liverpool. This not only means being better going forward but by design being better defensively as they are far more proactive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
80 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 hour ago, TRon said: Tbh with you, it's perfectly understandable Howe wants to keep as many players as he can, he's got to look at short term results as his job depends on them. It's Mitchell who should be making the hard nosed business decisions, and I don't see how it makes sense to give a contract extension to a 35 year old keeper if we want to free up money to buy a younger better version. Of course, give a manager the job security of a sports director and perhaps they would be more willing to take long term views on buying and selling players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 21 minutes ago, LFEE said: I’ve got a short memory. Remind me which seven games he was on the bench for fit when Dubs got picked? My short memory only recalls two. I said "several" not "seven" if you re-read my post. He was on the bench for Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Man U (a) and then came back for Brentford (a) on the final day. I mistakenly said Burnley was the game he came back for, think I'm mixing it up with the season before where Burnley away was the season closer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 6 minutes ago, Pilko said: I said "several" not "seven" if you re-read my post. He was on the bench for Burnley (a), Brighton (h), Man U (a) and then came back for Brentford (a) on the final day. I mistakenly said Burnley was the game he came back for, think I'm mixing it up with the season before where Burnley away was the season closer. So 3 games. So around a couple. Not several. Even less than half a dozen. Arguably less than a few 🙂 Was hardly a stretch. Pope maybe wasn’t quite sharp/fit enough to displace him. Or maybe he thought against teams like Brighton and Man Utd you’d be best off having a keeper as an 11th outfield player as previously discussed. As for Burnley we won 4-1 and played well (I was there!) not that he had loads to do apart from an early spell and late spell. In return he showed Dubs that he’d given him a fair chance with not dropping him instantly and is reaping the rewards with Dubs still giving his all this year and mulling over turning down a big contract offer and remaining professional. Looks like good management to me personally. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Fucking hell. I've stuumbled onto Pedants-Online by mistake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 minute ago, Lush Vlad said: Fucking hell. I've stuumbled onto Pedants-Online by mistake. Stumbled* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Just now, thomas said: Stumbled* Haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Ideal world, he signs a pre-contract with the Saudi club and joins them in the summer. Finishing up with us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I get from his perspective he needs some level of security. But we should just run it down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 2 hours ago, LFEE said: So 3 games. So around a couple. Not several. Even less than half a dozen. Arguably less than a few 🙂 Was hardly a stretch. Pope maybe wasn’t quite sharp/fit enough to displace him. Or maybe he thought against teams like Brighton and Man Utd you’d be best off having a keeper as an 11th outfield player as previously discussed. As for Burnley we won 4-1 and played well (I was there!) not that he had loads to do apart from an early spell and late spell. In return he showed Dubs that he’d given him a fair chance with not dropping him instantly and is reaping the rewards with Dubs still giving his all this year and mulling over turning down a big contract offer and remaining professional. Looks like good management to me personally. Fuck me, I bet you're a right laugh at parties. You've dragged me into your dullard bath water now, so having Googled "several", various online dictionaries say "more than two but not many" by definition. Three, then. Much closer than fucking seven Dubravka had been incredibly poor throughout his run in the side last year and as someone else said in an earlier post, the rate we conceded goals spiked pretty heavily after he came in for Pope. I can't prove or disprove your theory on why Howe chose to keep him in the side after Pope was fit for selection again. But I know it cost us at Man U where Pope is almost certainly saving the Hojlund pea roller that Dubravka let in to win them the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 7 minutes ago, Pilko said: Fuck me, I bet you're a right laugh at parties. You've dragged me into your dullard bath water now, so having Googled "several", various online dictionaries say "more than two but not many" by definition. Three, then. Much closer than fucking seven Dubravka had been incredibly poor throughout his run in the side last year and as someone else said in an earlier post, the rate we conceded goals spiked pretty heavily after he came in for Pope. I can't prove or disprove your theory on why Howe chose to keep him in the side after Pope was fit for selection again. But I know it cost us at Man U where Pope is almost certainly saving the Hojlund pea roller that Dubravka let in to win them the game. Sorry. Just having a bit of fun I certainly agree I would’ve had Pope in for those games if fit as Dubs form is nowhere near what it is now. End of the day one of the first calls EH made was to upgrade Dubs with Pope so all things being fair and even (sounding like Ange now!) you’d suspect Pope would get the nod as soon as 100%. We’ll never know but I’ll always fall on the side of trust in Howe. He’ll of had reasons that were best for the team and club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 minute ago, LFEE said: Sorry. Just having a bit of fun I certainly agree I would’ve had Pope in for those games if fit as Dubs form is nowhere near what it is now. End of the day one of the first calls EH made was to upgrade Dubs with Pope so all things being fair and even (sounding like Ange now!) you’d suspect Pope would get the nod as soon as 100%. We’ll never know but I’ll always fall on the side of trust in Howe. He’ll of had reasons that were best for the team and club. I've learned that on 9/10 occasions, Eddie tends to know best in the end. But, there's still a minor narrative of him sticking with and trusting poor players longer than he perhaps should. The fact that Dummett and Ritchie were on for another year each if City had won the cup final, for example. PSR tied or not, both had been way past their sell by dates for years. Him doing so will definitely help the whole squad ethos that serves us so well, but that little bit extra ruthlessness of getting a better player back in there is for me the 1/10 time when he doesn't get it quite right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFEE Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 1 minute ago, Pilko said: I've learned that on 9/10 occasions, Eddie tends to know best in the end. But, there's still a minor narrative of him sticking with and trusting poor players longer than he perhaps should. The fact that Dummett and Ritchie were on for another year each if City had won the cup final, for example. PSR tied or not, both had been way past their sell by dates for years. Him doing so will definitely help the whole squad ethos that serves us so well, but that little bit extra ruthlessness of getting a better player back in there is for me the 1/10 time when he doesn't get it quite right. I get you. I just don’t think you get 1-2 of that 9/10 without sacrificing that 1 if that makes sense. His treatment of players from the outside is fantastic showing real emotional intelligence and treating them like humans and with that he gets a lot back from them showing why we punch above our weight constantly to the point those levels have wrongly been expected from some fans every game. He’s shown with Fraser you are demoted if not on board but still not criticised. Was in Fraser’s hands to get back on board. In all the years of following NUFC I’ve never known such a well moulded group. The trick as most managers will admit is not keeping the 11 regularly playing happy but the 11 that regularly aren’t. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andycap Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 His distribution against arsenal wasn't great on Tuesday. A few wobbles but in all I think he done well. Looks like he'll probably stay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Genuinely baffled reading some of the negative comments! He’s came in and has done a great job -let’s just appreciate that?! I dread to see this thread when he makes a clanger (which all keepers do!)! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 9 hours ago, Paully said: Genuinely baffled reading some of the negative comments! He’s came in and has done a great job -let’s just appreciate that?! I dread to see this thread when he makes a clanger (which all keepers do!)! Yeah I think he’s done well and look assured. It’s a two way thing really, he’s probably given the defence some confidence and no doubt he’s benefitted from Burn, Botman et al and Tonali roaming in front of the defence which has been a massive plus. One thing I enjoy about Dubravka is his kicking ability, massively settles my nerves lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEFAFWISP Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Dubs will be getting pelters as soon as he concedes a soft goal from the same people spaffing over his passing. #cantwait Pope has to go straight back in, he saves shots. Tonali is the difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 18 minutes ago, GEFAFWISP said: Dubs will be getting pelters as soon as he concedes a soft goal from the same people spaffing over his passing. #cantwait Pope has to go straight back in, he saves shots. Tonali is the difference. Nope. From any regulation pass back old ricochet feet either concedes possesion, via a throw-in in our defensive third, or puts a defender under pressure with a vaguely accurate pass in the general direction of his chosen defender. With Dubs we're retaining the ball much better and without the ball the other team can't create a chance that needs saving, add in Tonali and Hall and we have an excellent defemsive unit very capable of recycling the ball, if, that is, the keeper can pass it to them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 I think he’ll stay, he’ll almost certainly be given the cup final if we get there and that’s a massive opportunity for him. There’ll be some kind of compromise I’d imagine and then he’ll go at the end of the season. Makes no sense to sell him this month if there’s little or no financial advantage to be gained as is being reported. Pope isn’t even back yet and has looked a bit shaky recently (I think he’ll be fine with the new midfield and defence in front of him). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEFAFWISP Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 6 minutes ago, Toonpack said: Nope. From any regulation pass back old ricochet feet either concedes possesion, via a throw-in in our defensive third, or puts a defender under pressure with a vaguely accurate pass in the general direction of his chosen defender. With Dubs we're retaining the ball much better and without the ball the other team can't create a chance that needs saving, add in Tonali and Hall and we have an excellent defemsive unit very capable of recycling the ball, if, that is, the keeper can pass it to them. See my first sentence, when that happens we'll lament not having someone who can save difficult shots. Great if Dubs can prove me wrong but I'm not hopeful once we start conceding better chances. Time will tell... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myleftboot Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 This cunt gone to Saudi yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now