Sven Botman

[Smal]

His start to the season was absolutely majestic and he looked like he’d hit a higher level than last season. Every game he was a monster and so dominant.

 

The injury has been a killer for him. Probably worth giving him a game or two off.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2024 by Smal

[Yorkie]

Said it in the match thread but they showed him onto his right all night and it left him absolutely clueless. Clever tactics from the opposition it has to be said but by fuck did he struggle. Own goal was incredibly unlucky obviously. 

[Smal]

4 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Said it in the match thread but they showed him onto his right all night and it left him absolutely clueless. Clever tactics from the opposition it has to be said but by fuck did he struggle. Own goal was incredibly unlucky obviously. 

He’s not normally that bad on his right though. We had issues playing the ball out from defence all game - even Trippier and Schar. Arsenal bombarded our only realistic midfield passing option in Bruno which worked very effectively, and Longstaff just hid most of the game like he didn’t want to receive the ball. Their centre backs were proactive against a half-fit Isak… there was just never a good passing option for our CBs.

 

And also… he regularly uses Burn as an outlet but Livramento plays much higher and was generally marked as a result.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2024 by Smal

[joeyt]

6 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Said it in the match thread but they showed him onto his right all night and it left him absolutely clueless. Clever tactics from the opposition it has to be said but by fuck did he struggle. Own goal was incredibly unlucky obviously. 

 

Not sure the own goal was unlucky, he should have just cleared it properly

[M1tche]

A rare off day, these things happen.

[TRon]

Two of the goals were directly his fault. Doesn't mean he's turned to shit mind, just couldn't cope with so many Arsenal players coming at him from all directions, same for the rest of the defence tbh. The midfield were just letting them through like a human tidal wave.

[joeyt]

2 minutes ago, M1tche said:

A rare off day, these things happen.

 

He's been off it for a number of weeks now

[M1tche]

2 minutes ago, joeyt said:

 

He's been off it for a number of weeks now

The back 4 has been exposed for a number of weeks now, that massive gap between them and the midfield is the problem.

[Kid Icarus]

He's a fantastic defender, a brilliant footballer. Without a sweeper keeper and with the midfield pressed he isn't, combine it with an off day and it highlights the bad side.

[Coffee_Johnny]

31 minutes ago, TRon said:

Two of the goals were directly his fault. Doesn't mean he's turned to shit mind, just couldn't cope with so many Arsenal players coming at him from all directions, same for the rest of the defence tbh. The midfield were just letting them through like a human tidal wave.

He’s been, more specifically his lack of pace and decision making,  responsible—or most responsible—‘for another two goals in last couple of games also. He’s been little short of his standard since he returned. Doesn’t take much of a percentage drop to cease being an asset at this level. Let’s hope it is a blip and with a bit more protection in midfield and more of the ball he can find the groove again. 

[TRon]

1 minute ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

He’s been, more specifically his lack of pace and decision making,  responsible—or most responsible—‘for another two goals in last couple of games also. He’s been little short of his standard since he returned. Doesn’t take much of a percentage drop to cease being an asset at this level. Let’s hope it is a blip and with a bit more protection in midfield and more of the ball he can find the groove again. 

 

Not concerned about him at all. I think once we get our blue chip players back he'll look more like himself. The lack of pace is chronic in that midfield, and we don't have a whole lot of it in defence either. When we lose pace in front of the defence they look even more exposed.

[pubteam]

Yes botman wasn't great, but collectively the defence isn't functioning as a unit, I don't think it will until we get pope fit again and a functioning midfield. 

[The College Dropout]

Was awful. 

[Geordie Ahmed]

Was really bad tonight, some of the decision making was just baffling 

 

He hasn't looked right since returning from injury, probably a case of taking him time to get up to speed but the way Arsenal played tonight unless a player was 100% on it they would get badly punished 

[M1tche]

The whole back 4 lacks pace, when I was managing I always tried to set with pace in every other position. So if my RB was quick the LCB would have to be the quicker of the 2 CBs. We don't have that luxury unfortunately. He had a higher ceiling the Schar in my mind, so getting in a pacey RCB and LB should be priority in the summer. 

[80]

If there's any chance the knee isn't fully up to scratch and is causing his troubles, I think I'd rather just bite the bullet, get the op done and say see you next season. Hopefully our new physio has closely reviewed the situation.

[Lush Vlad]

5 hours ago, 80 said:

If there's any chance the knee isn't fully up to scratch and is causing his troubles, I think I'd rather just bite the bullet, get the op done and say see you next season. Hopefully our new physio has closely reviewed the situation.

Wasn’t it his ACL, though? Quite a long recovery if he’s having that as an op. Guessing it might mean a graft to replace the damaged ligament. Which is usually 6-9 months for a footballer, isn’t it? 
 

I’m assuming because of his age and it not being ruptured, more just damaged/badly sprained (no idea here BTW). They settled on not going for the op. 
 

Terrible from our medical team to miss it in the first place and have him play two more games. Worse still if he ended up needing an operation after all this. 

[80]

58 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

Wasn’t it his ACL, though? Quite a long recovery if he’s having that as an op. Guessing it might mean a graft to replace the damaged ligament. Which is usually 6-9 months for a footballer, isn’t it? 
 

I’m assuming because of his age and it not being ruptured, more just damaged/badly sprained (no idea here BTW). They settled on not going for the op. 
 

Terrible from our medical team to miss it in the first place and have him play two more games. Worse still if he ended up needing an operation after all this. 

I think that's the gist of it, yes. Hopefully it isn't necessary, but it feels totally in keeping with this season for something like that to eventually happen.

[NE27]

Just watching the highlights, holy fuck Botman 

 

Game to forget for him last night. He looked calamitous in such a calm way.

[OoOGazOoO]

6 hours ago, NE27 said:

Just watching the highlights, holy fuck Botman 

 

Game to forget for him last night. He looked calamitous in such a calm way.

 

Aye I have just watched the highlights too, I said at the time for their second that he was half asleep, but that was being generous to him. Also at fault initially for Saka's goal with a really crappy pass.

 

Horrendous from him yesterday, what the chuff was he playing at!

[nufcjmc]

It was the deer in headlights instances for me he was given the ball and placed his foot on it not knowing what to do or where to go. It had to be a confidence thing as Arsenal particularly in the first half they were coming at us in waves but being so slow to try and break out of our own third was suicide. 

[CPL]

Think Tino's position could have been slightly deeper to offer a better position to receive the ball. Burn is actually excellent at doing this but there's no doubt he had a poor game and it's  probably the worse one since he's been at the club. 

[STM]

Botman has been poor since he come back... our defensive felt better when Trippier Lascelles Schar Livramento were the back four.....

 

However Botman is a grade A player, possibly brought back from injury a tad soon and is being chronically exposed by our midfield.

 

Look at Van Dijk, he was "past it". Players can come in and out of form and it tends to happen to centre backs when the team isn't playing so well.

 

That's now Trippier, Burn and Botman who've had terrible spells this season. Its not the individuals, or at least not solely the individuals to blame.

[Dr Jinx]

27 minutes ago, STM said:

Botman has been poor since he come back... our defensive felt better when Trippier Lascelles Schar Livramento were the back four.....

 

However Botman is a grade A player, possibly brought back from injury a tad soon and is being chronically exposed by our midfield.

 

Look at Van Dijk, he was "past it". Players can come in and out of form and it tends to happen to centre backs when the team isn't playing so well.

 

That's now Trippier, Burn and Botman who've had terrible spells this season. Its not the individuals, or at least not solely the individuals to blame.

Liverpool had a dysfunctional midfield and their defence took the flack.. they brought in quality and now look solid again. Were the same.. our midfield and attack has been rank this season so it’s inevitable that the back line will come under more pressure.

[The College Dropout]

12 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

Liverpool had a dysfunctional midfield and their defence took the flack.. they brought in quality and now look solid again. Were the same.. our midfield and attack has been rank this season so it’s inevitable that the back line will come under more pressure.

They don't look as good as before though. I wouldn't call them solid.

 

Their Xga is a long way short of Arsenal and City. But they have the best GK in the league which narrows the gap (and an excellent understudy).