England's Lewis Hall

[McCormick]

All right Anderson, nothing like using your platform to dig at a 20 year-old just breaking into the team.

[The Bonk]

16 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

'I have doubts about him' - Anderson
 

"Holes" in Lewis Hall's defensive game "have been there for everyone to see", says former Newcastle United defender John Anderson.

 

Hall joined the Magpies from Chelsea on loan in August 2023, before completing a permanent move this summer.

 

However, the 20-year-old left-back has struggled to secure a regular spot in Eddie Howe's side since making his debut nearly 12 months ago, playing 22 times in the Premier League but starting just 10 games.

 

"I have doubts about him from a defensive point of view," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle. "Some of the positions he takes up aren't great. 

 

"I think it is mainly the case that he isn't defensive minded. He wants to get on the ball, he wants to get forward, he wants to join in, which I know is your modern day full-back and I appreciate that, but when it comes to defending you have got to do it.

 

"You have to be in the right areas, you can't leave holes in behind you and, in the games he has played this season, they have been there for everyone to see.

 

"He is still 20 years of age but whether he sees his future long-term as a full-back or not, I don't know. 

 

"The boy can play the game, there is no doubt about it, I just feel defensively, he doesn't think defensively. All his thoughts are about getting forward and joining in and when it is coming the other way, he doesn't think 'danger'."

 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cy94jx820n2o.amp

 

How does Anderson know what the lad is thinking?   Love Anderson, but he's so relentlessly negative. He's 20, tons of time to develop his all-round game.

 

[LFEE]

27 minutes ago, Matt1892 said:

'I have doubts about him' - Anderson
 

"Holes" in Lewis Hall's defensive game "have been there for everyone to see", says former Newcastle United defender John Anderson.

 

Hall joined the Magpies from Chelsea on loan in August 2023, before completing a permanent move this summer.

 

However, the 20-year-old left-back has struggled to secure a regular spot in Eddie Howe's side since making his debut nearly 12 months ago, playing 22 times in the Premier League but starting just 10 games.

 

"I have doubts about him from a defensive point of view," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle. "Some of the positions he takes up aren't great. 

 

"I think it is mainly the case that he isn't defensive minded. He wants to get on the ball, he wants to get forward, he wants to join in, which I know is your modern day full-back and I appreciate that, but when it comes to defending you have got to do it.

 

"You have to be in the right areas, you can't leave holes in behind you and, in the games he has played this season, they have been there for everyone to see.

 

"He is still 20 years of age but whether he sees his future long-term as a full-back or not, I don't know. 

 

"The boy can play the game, there is no doubt about it, I just feel defensively, he doesn't think defensively. All his thoughts are about getting forward and joining in and when it is coming the other way, he doesn't think 'danger'."

 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cy94jx820n2o.amp

Spot on to be fair. Will hopefully improve game by game. Got to show him some trust however i wouldn’t start him in a four against Man City at the present. Maybe not Liverpool or Arsenal either.

[Cronky]

Yeah, I think Anderson is calling it right. He often gets caught out with a ball in behind him. He might well be better off as a wing back or even in midfield.

 

Having said that, he offers a lot to the attack and certainly far more than Kelly or Burn. On balance, I’d play him. In any event, the only way he’s going to improve now is through experience. 

[The Butcher]

He's 20 and he never played full back before the age of 18. He's an incredible talent and he'll be an England international for a decade once he breaks into the squad.

[The Prophet]

He's more than capable of inverting, whereas Tino is more of a traditional full back.

[Groundhog63]

31 minutes ago, The Butcher said:

He's 20 and he never played full back before the age of 18. He's an incredible talent and he'll be an England international for a decade once he breaks into the squad.

This. 

 

I said it earlier. Just got MotM for the Under21s, playing at left back, 2 assists. 

Whilst the level and opponents matter the fact is he's developing. Howe's the best manager for him to have at this stage in his career. 

All being well we've got, potentially, England's full back pairing for this generation. I think they're that good. 

[Dr.Spaceman]

I hate this, he's 20 and hasn't played a lot of football at the top level but clearly has something about him. Not sure whether there was a need for that article at all.

[gbandit]

Of course there wasn’t. Why anyone feels the need to dig out a fantastic talent who’s barely got going here is beyond me. Ando lives off negativity though 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Who gives a fuck what Ando says?

[mondonewc]

Whilst I agree that the cesspit that is social media for example is built on negativity and filled with people feeding on it, which I truly detest, are we not getting a little carried away here? 

What's the answer if that article is deemed inappropriate, you can't write any articles that are in any way negative? Or is it just related to his age? If so then what age is it appropriate to be critical? 

Same with the reaction to people on here saying they have concerns about his defensive abilities, it's a very valid concern in my opinion, albeit it's irrelevant whether I personally think so or not. Surely if it's done in a constructive way it's ok to share such a viewpoint? If it's a personal attack on him then that's obviously out of line, but I didn't see any of that in the last few pages, and to be fair, Howe clearly has reservations about him when he wasn't even getting minutes last season when we had circa 12 players fit, and then this season Howe's rotating him despite the fact he's said he hates to rotate the backline. 

He may go on to be a superstar left-back, I'm sure we all hope that's the case, but right now there are valid concerns worth discussing.  

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I just don't know why we're writing press articles about a young fullback not being perfect. Shock. 

 

Dan Burn is slow and gives the ball away, Sean Longstaff falls over all the time and makes loads of mistakes, Jacob Murphy is lucky to even be a Premier League footballer. I love all those lads but Lewis Hall is the least of our worries. In fact he's probably our most promising player, given his age. 

[Coffee_Johnny]

7 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I just don't know why we're writing press articles about a young fullback not being perfect. Shock. 

 

Dan Burn is slow and gives the ball away, Sean Longstaff falls over all the time and makes loads of mistakes, Jacob Murphy is lucky to even be a Premier League footballer. I love all those lads but Lewis Hall is the least of our worries. In fact he's probably our most promising player, given his age. 

Doesn’t mean what Anderson said wasn’t valid though. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Yeah I guess. I mean we know Ando is the master of moaning, that's why he's almost unlistenable unless we're brilliant. 

 

Guess he works for the BBC and therefore it's an easy article to generate on a quiet weekday. 

[Monters]

He was also a decent fullback himself back in the day especially defensively wise... Would have struggled athletically \ skillfully today but practically every defender from that era would do

[Monters]

TBH if an article written by someone from local radio that once played for the club is impacting a current player then the player's friends, family, agent etc. need to step up as it should be white noise really... 

[TRon]

1 hour ago, mondonewc said:

Whilst I agree that the cesspit that is social media for example is built on negativity and filled with people feeding on it, which I truly detest, are we not getting a little carried away here? 

What's the answer if that article is deemed inappropriate, you can't write any articles that are in any way negative? Or is it just related to his age? If so then what age is it appropriate to be critical? 

Same with the reaction to people on here saying they have concerns about his defensive abilities, it's a very valid concern in my opinion, albeit it's irrelevant whether I personally think so or not. Surely if it's done in a constructive way it's ok to share such a viewpoint? If it's a personal attack on him then that's obviously out of line, but I didn't see any of that in the last few pages, and to be fair, Howe clearly has reservations about him when he wasn't even getting minutes last season when we had circa 12 players fit, and then this season Howe's rotating him despite the fact he's said he hates to rotate the backline. 

He may go on to be a superstar left-back, I'm sure we all hope that's the case, but right now there are valid concerns worth discussing.  

 

Yeah I don't actually think he's said a lot wrong there, Howe obviously had the same reservations. I think Hall will look a lot better once our possession game improves in general, then we'll get to see his attacking attributes more rather than the defensive positioning which is bound to suffer if you are a marauding left back rather than one who sits back and doesn't get forward.

[The College Dropout]

The tone of the article is wrong ‘he’s still only 20’. 
 

That’s what you say about a 23/24 year old that’s still finding his way.  Not someone who has literally just turned 20. He needs to develop physically and learn the position. Yeh. Of course he does. But the tone is all wrong? 
 

I’ll never forget people constantly criticising Milner. I was one of them.  That’s not how you nurture talent.  

[Monters]

2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

The tone of the article is wrong ‘he’s still only 20’. 
 

That’s what you say about a 23/24 year old that’s still finding his way.  Not someone who has literally just turned 20. He needs to develop physically and learn the position. Yeh. Of course he does. But the tone is all wrong? 
 

I’ll never forget people constantly criticising Milner. I was one of them.  That’s not how you nurture talent.  

Hahaha cool, I'll blame you for Milner not being at the Toon for his whole career 

[Hanshithispantz]

He needs to be put in a box and allowed to grow. Watered and fed, set to 200 celsius and baked until golden. We keep on opening the oven to check but we're just letting the heat out, give the lad a chance to rise. 

 

Salt him when he's done, we're always too eager to season players before they're ready but I was always told to taste at the end and adjust. He'll come good, we all just need to be patient and trust the recipe, he's only 20.

[The College Dropout]

4 minutes ago, Monters said:

Hahaha cool, I'll blame you for Milner not being at the Toon for his whole career 

 I was a young lad myself tbf.  These are grown men.  

[The College Dropout]

If at the end of the season things are exactly the same. It’s more of a discussion imo.  He’s still in and out the side and part of his first real run of games under Howe.  If this time next season he’s still right here then we can talk about stalled development. 

[andycap]

Could it be he's not match fit yet? 

Like the majority of our squad are where he can't get back into position how he'd like. 

Gordon hasn't been protecting him either because of fitness issues aswell. Then hoy in joelintons poor form at the moment, so he's basically doing all on his tod. 

[Sibierski]

6 hours ago, The Butcher said:

He's 20 and he never played full back before the age of 18. He's an incredible talent and he'll be an England international for a decade once he breaks into the squad.

He’s also got a proper slow LCB as his cover and regularly very little sitting CDM. Bit different to other sides who will have a faster CB to cover the gap and a more natural CDM.

 

Maintain that Kelly at LCB over Burn would cover a lot of the issues. Teams know it’s an area to attack, as the pace just isn’t there on that side.

[TRC]

14 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

He’s also got a proper slow LCB as his cover and regularly very little sitting CDM. Bit different to other sides who will have a faster CB to cover the gap and a more natural CDM.

 

Maintain that Kelly at LCB over Burn would cover a lot of the issues. Teams know it’s an area to attack, as the pace just isn’t there on that side.

I do think we need Kelly to play with Hall or just move Livra back to LB.