Sven Botman

[LordJake]

Noticed Elanga was loving his insta😟

[Heron]

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.

[GEFAFWISP]

He's back and shaking off the rust.

[Lush Vlad]

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. 

[TRon]

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.

[alexf]

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. 

[TRon]

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.

[M1tche]

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. 

[Conjo]

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. 

[Infinitely Content]

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.

[huss9]

harsh to criticise him for their goal.

positioned himself well and stayed really tight to solanke but that cross was inch perfect. 

[Palestoon]

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

 

 

[Nucasol]

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.

[ExiledGeordie]

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. 

[Lush Vlad]

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 yesterday at 13:02 by Lush Vlad

[SteV]

He actually did the initial injury in the 8-0 at Sheff Utd which was September 23, so he hasn’t played injury-free since then.

[SUPERTOON]

Still think he could have done better for their goal, but having watched it back, have to give credit for the delivery and finish. It was a brilliant goal.

[black_n_white]

The thought of him playing 2 games in 4 days after an ACL seems ridiculous tbh. Not worth the risk, just play Kelly and give him a start again vs Bromley at LCB.

[Unbelievable]

I’m happy to go with Bunce’s recommendation again. We evidently have professionals in place now who are perfectly capable of assessing and managing a player’s ability to play and perform at the required level. Once again, if Sven is fit to play he should, seeing as that gives us the best chance of a good result in this important game.

[manorpark]

3 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

Still think he could have done better for their goal, but having watched it back, have to give credit for the delivery and finish. It was a brilliant goal.

 

Botman was not himself for the first ten minutes or so, which included when (and why) Spurs were able to score their goal.

 

You could see the fractional difference in his speed of reaction, which is VERY understandable after so long out injured.

 

After that first ten minutes Botman was (amazingly) pretty much back to his normal very high defensive (and other) standards.

 

 

[Mazzy]

So we think he starts again Arsenal?

 

I'm assuming he does, but that's a quick turnaround and considering he came off with cramp it does cast some doubt. So I'd not be surprised to see Kelly instead.

[manorpark]

Just now, Mazzy said:

So we think he starts again Arsenal?

 

I'm assuming he does, but that's a quick turnaround and considering he came off with cramp it does cast some doubt. So I'd not be surprised to see Kelly instead.

 

Most definitely, I have a lot of faith in Bunces judgement, and also I saw what I saw of Botman after the first ten minutes against Spurs.

[David Edgar]

I think we are all forgetting that this isn't the first time Botman has been incredibly sluggish in a match where he is making his first competitive appearance for a while. He's definitely had a match or matches in the past where he has looked like a cumbersome oaf and then later in the game snapped out of it. 

[manorpark]

1 minute ago, David Edgar said:

I think we are all forgetting that this isn't the first time Botman has been incredibly sluggish in a match where he is making his first competitive appearance for a while. He's definitely had a match or matches in the past where he has looked like a cumbersome oaf and then later in the game snapped out of it. 

 

Even in that first ten minutes against Spurs, he never looked like that!

[Bondedcrown]

39 minutes ago, Mazzy said:

So we think he starts again Arsenal?

 

I'm assuming he does, but that's a quick turnaround and considering he came off with cramp it does cast some doubt. So I'd not be surprised to see Kelly instead.

No full game Til March