Joe Willock

[Holmesy]

8 minutes ago, KingArthur said:

Was so frustrating today.. 

He just did what he normally does - loads of energy, loads of endeavour, no end product. That run where he went too far and ran the ball out of play is basically Joe Willock summed up in one move.

[The College Dropout]

Needs to be more decisive. Too many times attacks break down because of him. 
 

Dont want to see him and Gordon start next week. So many faltering attacks. 

[The College Dropout]

He was ok.  But we missed the Big Joe’s presence and ability to make the ball stick and play off. 

[TRon]

2 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

To the Willock thread! Never mind that he was easily our best in the midfield 3 and Bruno and Tonali were both really poor. 

 

 

 

 

 

That's how I saw it as well. Thought he was pretty bright and busy, but predictably he's getting the pelters. I have no problem calling him out when he's been invisible, which he has for a lot of this season, but he put himself about today. The failure was the front three for me, none of them really produced anything of note.

[Groundhog63]

53 minutes ago, duo said:

Not sure why Willock is being singled out 

Someone has to be. N-O rules, innit

[Holloway]

The recent criticism of his performances aren't exactly harsh, like. Being 'busy' isn't exactly an endorsement

[Menace]

End product produced absolutely nothing, dived for a pen and got hooked where we immediately looked better - but he's getting "pelters"

 

Right 

[gbandit]

I’ve always rated him higher than most, his qualities at carrying the ball are fairly unique even though he’s not a technically gifted dribbler. However, we’ve hardly seen that aspect of his game for the last few years because of injuries and not trusting his body when he is available. Today was a final straw moment for me with the penalty dive. I don’t think he’s a great fit as a squad player because of clear weaknesses in his game (not strong defensively, his confidence seems very brittle, not actually being a very good finisher or passer despite having the space to create good openings). He was a really important player for us in the past and I think he’s got a decent future ahead of him if he stays fit but I just don’t think he should be a squad player, he should be a starter for a poorer team and that will suit him much better 

[KaKa]

He's great at driving forward with the ball and getting into dangerous positions to then make something happen.

 

Only problem is he then falls over, runs the ball out of play or mishits the ball ...

 

Making all the good work he did up to then completely pointless.

 

This makes him an incredibly frustrating player to watch, and makes his performances seem a lot worse than they might be.

 

He is just so careless and wasteful when he gets into some fantastic positions.

 

Another big problem is his defensive work, as he's pretty flimsy in the tackle and doesn't do as good a job getting back into good defensive positions.

 

Really painful at the minute.

 

 

Edited May 4 by KaKa

[Kid Icarus]

Criticise the player in a match who kept getting into positions to have any end product in the first place, despite being the best out of the 3 in midfield, because you've already decided they're not good enough.

 

Ignore the performances and context of the other players in midfield and the team who kept misplacing 5 yard passes, were shrugged off the ball time and again, and were outplayed, because it's been established that they're usually very good players.

 

Even though they all played in the same match, against the same opposition, in the same positions. Same context for their performances, different opinions and perspectives on them and their performances, with the standards for some reason being higher than those for Bruno and Tonali, despite them being much better players.

 

Too many want to have their cake and eat it.

 

 

Edited May 4 by Kid Icarus

[midds]

Given the chance to cement his place in the team for the rest of the season but put in a complete horse's arse of a performance today. The moment he just completely ran the ball out of play for a goal kick was the final straw today. Energy without any end product or wasting really good chances isn't going to cut it at this level. He seems like a canny lad but he's just not at the level we're aiming for imo, it's unfortunate but he's not going to improve either and there are also question marks about his injury record too. It's all stacking up to a move in the summer I reckon

[bobbydazzla]

1 hour ago, duo said:

Not sure why Willock is being singled out 

Because Longstaff didn’t play 

[Sibierski]

He was our best midfielder, but that’s because Tonali and Bruno put in some of their worse games of the season. What the game highlighted was the lack of good quality by Willock when he should be the one making a case.

 

Said it during game, there was one moment where he did the sublime to flick it over a Brighton player but then the simple thing, the pass to Gordon, was underhit and bobbly which meant Gordon couldn’t take it first time. Just completely killed the attack. It’s those small things that separates being a useful bottom half prem player and being a starter for a top 6 side. 

[TRon]

1 hour ago, Sibierski said:

He was our best midfielder, but that’s because Tonali and Bruno put in some of their worse games of the season. What the game highlighted was the lack of good quality by Willock when he should be the one making a case.

 

Said it during game, there was one moment where he did the sublime to flick it over a Brighton player but then the simple thing, the pass to Gordon, was underhit and bobbly which meant Gordon couldn’t take it first time. Just completely killed the attack. It’s those small things that separates being a useful bottom half prem player and being a starter for a top 6 side. 

 

His job today was to replace Joelinton. It's not like Big Joe is putting in killer passes or scoring goals in most games either. The lack of end product really should be put at the door of the forwards, all of whom barely contributed in the final third.

 

Judge him on his contribution as a midfielder, in that regard I thought he was better than Bruno and Tonali, both of whom had disappointing games.

[JonBez comesock]

Nothingness of a performance 

 

Just like his contribution this season 

 

Underwhelming 

[Pata]

5 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

Proving the point I'm making AFAIC 

 

We know Bruno and Tonali are good enough for this club. Willock has been struggling for form for two years now and is one of our few non-crucial assets that someone might actually buy. He wasn't the worst today but IMO once again did nothing to prove we should try to keep him. 

[The Prophet]

He needs a couple of big performances before the season is out. He's front and centre to be hounded out. While Barnes, Tino, Pope, Tonali, Gordon, Murphy, Trippier, Dubravka, Hall, Burn and Willock (the first time) have all shaken it off with a decent run in the team, the constant berating of his defensive work and sighing at any misplaced passes could sap any remaining confidence he does have.

[The College Dropout]

Yeh he did more good things than Bruno or Tonali tbf

[Lotus]

19 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Yeh he did more good things than Bruno or Tonali tbf

 

Agree, I thought he was ok. One of the least of our problems (dive aside). It's a shame:

a) he can't play in a 10 style role

b) we're unwilling to try (possibly because of a)

 

Him just drifting left all the time can be predictable but I guess he's trying to get himself comfortable in the side again. Hoping Chelsea give him more space to run into.

[The College Dropout]

9 minutes ago, Lotus said:

 

Agree, I thought he was ok. One of the least of our problems (dive aside). It's a shame:

a) he can't play in a 10 style role

b) we're unwilling to try (possibly because of a)

 

Him just drifting left all the time can be predictable but I guess he's trying to get himself comfortable in the side again. Hoping Chelsea give him more space to run into.

Thought he got into good positions then it fizzled. A couple nice interceptions too.  

[Shearergol]

Wasn’t our worst player, needs more gametime. I get that our fans need someone to blame though.

[OverThere]

I thought he was fine today. If you want to moan at someone Tonali had a bit of a shocker today.

[Sibierski]

11 hours ago, TRon said:

 

His job today was to replace Joelinton. It's not like Big Joe is putting in killer passes or scoring goals in most games either.

Joelinton has been much better this season with his passes in final third, plays them with purpose. 

[TRon]

1 hour ago, Sibierski said:

Joelinton has been much better this season with his passes in final third, plays them with purpose. 

 

 

That's not what I said though, I actually agree Joelinton is very underrated on his passing. But how many assists does he get or goals? Not a regular occurence which was my point.

 

The crux of it is, we can't play Joelinton because he's probably out for the last few games. So in my view we have to play a replacement, and in that regard I thought Willock did as well as could be expected given those around him were not great.

[The Prophet]