Aiston Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Great to see him back, did well after the opening minutes. Surprised he played so long, presume he is on the bench midweek after that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bondedcrown Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 2 minutes ago, Aiston said: Great to see him back, did well after the opening minutes. Surprised he played so long, presume he is on the bench midweek after that. Is it March already? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibierski Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Did notice he wasn’t comfortable being on right side when it came to certain way to play the ball. Not a long term position, so will be interesting to see how he’s integrated into the side as Burn been dependable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 38 minutes ago, wyn davies said: Not angry at all with Howe, but we've been there before playing guys not fully fit, was worried for first part of game and then a bang on the knee later on, but he did well and we got away with it Can you get fitter than full training and 3 practice matches? I get he would normally play a half here and there instead of immediately starting, but sometimes the squad needs what it needs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 10 minutes ago, PauloGeordio said: Whenever I hear Dutch people speaking English, I can't help thinking of Schteve McClaren these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexf Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Worried for him after that opening goal. If he was sharper I think he cuts that cross out. Grew into it though and despite playing on the wrong side, had a few moments of the old Sven where he nicked the ball high and set us on the counter as he used to do. Also read a few other dangerous situations really well. Was surprised to see him play the full 90 and to be fair to him he only cramped up on the 91st minute. So he's clearly worked his arse off to get back to full fitness and I think with more games to get that sharpness back he's going to be great to have back for the rest of the season. Well done Sven 👍 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 6 minutes ago, Skeletor said: Whenever I hear Dutch people speaking English, I can't help thinking of Schteve McClaren these days. He was more fluent Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Butcher Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 It was a fantastic cross for their goal tbf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 2 minutes ago, The Butcher said: It was a fantastic cross for their goal tbf. I was more irritated at how much space he had to send that ball in in the first place compared to Botman's role tbh. He definitely grew in to the game and oh how I've missed seeing him come out to the centre circle to break up play. One particularly lovely Scharesque ball out to the left wing at one point, too. He's not at Fab's level when it comes to that but he's still got some wonderful passes in his locker when he wants to. Hopefully he's well and truly over his fitness issues and he can build back up to being the beast we know he can be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teslact Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 3 hours ago, Skeletor said: Whenever I hear Dutch people speaking English, I can't help thinking of Schteve McClaren these days. We spent a week in Amsterdam this summer for our 20th anniversary, and watching the Olympics coverage at night was like Julio Geordieo. They'll be speaking in fluent Dutch and then say 3-4 words entirely in English before reverting back. I don't know if this is common, but it helped understand what they were talking about. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordJake Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Noticed Elanga was loving his insta😟 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Thought he started very slow today and they scored as a result of his rustiness and us just being a little open. Fast put that right though and after around 15mins looked rather comfortable for the most part. Will be good to see him get back to 100% as he's an absolute Rolls Royce defender on his day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEFAFWISP Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 He's back and shaking off the rust. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Really grew into it. He was shaky early on. It was great movement and cross for their goal. But he’ll be annoyed at biting so hard on that fake run and losing Solanke. He was also trying his best not to use his right and it caused us and him some bother. But considering he had so long out and be was playing on the wrong side. That was a very impressive showing. We have some pretty decent depth at CB when Schar and Krafth are back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 In the end this was the perfect comeback game. Got his rust out of the system and the goal he got done for didn't cost us anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexf Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 1 minute ago, TRon said: In the end this was the perfect comeback game. Got his rust out of the system and the goal he got done for didn't cost us anything. Good way to look at it. Yeah there will be far slower and more comfortable games for him to play in future, so this was a good litmus test to see where he was at. I thought he got up to speed with things after a rough start incredibly well considering how long he's been out, bodes well for the rest of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 1 minute ago, alexf said: Good way to look at it. Yeah there will be far slower and more comfortable games for him to play in future, so this was a good litmus test to see where he was at. I thought he got up to speed with things after a rough start incredibly well considering how long he's been out, bodes well for the rest of the season. Aye, despite the goal he was pretty fucking solid for the rest of the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1tche Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Started slow, but grew into it, got some lovely blocks, used his body will, showed a decent turn of pace a few times and also did a few of those interceptions where he reaches around to get nick the ball away. Looked more panicked on the ball then I've ever seen him at times today, but still hit a lovely cross field pass. Good to have him back, Tuesday likely comes to quick, but if he doje everything needed and a little on top he could go again. Sometimes you come across athletes that are just a different breed, be could be one of those. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 8 minutes ago, M1tche said: Looked more panicked on the ball then I've ever seen him at times today, but still hit a lovely cross field pass. Probably part due to being rusty, and part playing as a right sided center back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinitely Content Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Pleased to have him back, but Schar comes straight back in to that right side once he's back from suspension, both for balance of distribution and simply because he's more than earned that position. Burn has arguably been our best player this season too so he maintains the left position. I wouldn't be too fussed if we didn't see Botman in the 11 regularly until next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huss9 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 harsh to criticise him for their goal. positioned himself well and stayed really tight to solanke but that cross was inch perfect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palestoon Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I think he starts Tuesday if he hasn't had any setbacks today. You'd have to assume if Howe was planning to start him only one of the two games (spurs, arsenal) surely he would have saved Botmans size and strength for set piece FC and played Kelly today. Guess we have to wait and see. Regardless great to see him back in the side Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucasol Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 5 hours ago, Palestoon said: I think he starts Tuesday if he hasn't had any setbacks today. You'd have to assume if Howe was planning to start him only one of the two games (spurs, arsenal) surely he would have saved Botmans size and strength for set piece FC and played Kelly today. Guess we have to wait and see. Regardless great to see him back in the side I wouldn’t have trusted Kelly v Solanke given the way Antonio and other West Ham players like Soucek bullied him. That’s also a big worry v Arsenal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I think he’ll probably be ok to start on Tuesday as long as the cramp was only minor at the end and there’s no lasting effects. On a side note you can already see what be brings to the side in terms of passing, ball retention and initiating attacks. That’s on top of what Tonali already brings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) 13 hours ago, M1tche said: Started slow, but grew into it, got some lovely blocks, used his body will, showed a decent turn of pace a few times and also did a few of those interceptions where he reaches around to get nick the ball away. Looked more panicked on the ball then I've ever seen him at times today, but still hit a lovely cross field pass. Good to have him back, Tuesday likely comes to quick, but if he doje everything needed and a little on top he could go again. Sometimes you come across athletes that are just a different breed, be could be one of those. He’s already recovered fairly quickly for an ACL. I had it in my head the Arsenal game where he came off was January, but it was Feb. Then I was wrong anyway, as his last game was at Man City in March. That’s his 4th game already and he didn’t look like someone who hasn’t played at this level for 9-10 months. I suppose now it’s about all the risk of muscle injuries after his load has increased so much and a short recovery time. Not so much the knee itself. But I’m sure Bunce will be all over that and we won’t have repeats of last season. Edited January 5 by Lush Vlad 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