Lewis Hall

[gbandit]

Hall is clearly a far better footballer than Kelly but a poorer athlete. I’ll be extremely frustrated if Kelly largely keeps Hall out of the side at LB when both are fit 

[Erikse]

1 hour ago, Checko said:

Wonder if Hall's going to be used for home games and Kelly for away games.

 

Also, I said a few days ago, but I reckon he could be a terrific inverted right wing. What do we want in that position? A left footer with great technique who can shoot and pick a pass. A good athlete who can dribble and is two-footed enough to go down the outside and who'll get stuck in on the defensive side of the game. That is basically Lewis Hall.

 

I don't think that being defensive is necessarily better when playing away from home. If we sit deep and let them play their game like we did in the first half, we're basically just waiting for them to score first. In the 22/23 season we did well away from home by being fearless, not by being scared and defensive minded.

 

We did play Burn at LB that season, mind, which is not exactly an offensive choice anyways.. But we didn't look as defensive overall imo, which might just be due to tactics.

 

 

Edited August 25 by Erikse

[stozo]

46 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Hall is clearly a far better footballer than Kelly but a poorer athlete. I’ll be extremely frustrated if Kelly largely keeps Hall out of the side at LB when both are fit 

A poorer defender as well as athlete. The cross he headed out for a corner today was a near disaster for him in my eyes. He’d completely lost track of Semenyo who had got in front of him and it was pure chance the ball went over Semenyo’s head and fell to Hall. On another day the cross is perfect, the ball heads up in the net and everyone is wondering why Hall is half asleep.

 

I do like Hall a lot and think he has huge potential but this season is going to be a tough one where we’ll probably need to juggle Hall, Kelly and Burn based on a variety of factors.  

[gbandit]

There’s not a single scenario other than injuries to Kelly and Hall which would mean that Burn should play LB

[Solitude20]

Howe likes to play the Burn/Kelly type as a LB in order to give Bruno more freedom in moving forward without leaving our CBs completely exposed. When we have the ball, we play 3-4-3 and then a holding/defensive midfielder won’t be necessary given we have 3 CBs at the back. 
 

If Hall plays as a LB we can no longer do that, and then one of our midfielders will have to stay back to support against counterattacks. This explains why Howe always had to play Burn as a LB whenever given the chance, he just wants to give Bruno more freedom roaming around. Now that Hall clearly has something to offer as a LB in attacking positions, he might have to restructure the midfield in a way to have some cover for the 2 CBs at the back. I still believe he would play Kelly or Burn as LB for the majority of the season, and Hall might come in the last 30 mins when needed. 

[Pata]

4 hours ago, Alberto2005 said:

Don't forget Kelly is a CB, and I'd have him ahead of Burn.

At CB?

[stozo]

30 minutes ago, gbandit said:

There’s not a single scenario other than injuries to Kelly and Hall which would mean that Burn should play LB

It’s less than 12 months since Burn played game of his life against PSG! I get why Burn became a target for fan disgruntlement during our rough patch last season but when Botman is back, he’s a very solid option at LB in certain games. 

[Pata]

Hall did well today but I have serious doubts that he could have handled Semenyo all match. Nice to have two different options now and Hall’s strengths are really good and promising.

[Matt1892]

For all of Hall’s ability on the ball he isn’t very good at the defensive side of the job at this point in his development, he also doesn’t have the pace to recover when he does get beaten and neither does Burn who would be next to him.

 

Howe knows how dangerous Semenyo is for Bournemouth which is why he went with Kelly, who also had a difficult time against his pace and trickery, but he would have had a field day against Hall, which is why he was dropped.

 

People will say that we improved after Hall came on but it is worth remembering that Bournemouth’s attackers had ran themselves in to the ground by then with their constant pressing and running, they were all taken off apart from Semenyo, who stayed on but was clearly fatigued with the amount of ground he had covered.

 

 

Edited August 25 by Matt1892

[Holloway]

His defensive side is being asked questions,  it's not his preferred choice I believe. Fuck knows how he fits in higher up on the left

[Sibierski]

Said it last season, and still say it now. Hall offers so much going forward, we have to play him and accept he’s not going to be the best defensive and he’ll learn on the job. But it’s one we need to do because of the quality he gives us going forward and it’s what we need as a club moving forward.

 

You are stronger as a team defensively if you can keep hold of the ball more and control games.

[timnufc22]

If Howe’s structure revolves around having a defensive minded LB to allow Bruno to roam then why sign Hall in the first place? It just seems strange to me. And if you want Bruno to roam, why not play him alongside a more defensively minded no6?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

He's class IMO, defensive deficiencies are much exaggerated. I've never noticed him being that bad defensively. 

 

If anything he got dropped because of poor ball retention against Southampton. 

 

I can understand sometimes that how might basically want a CB in that position to shut up shop, but I didn't think against Bournemouth should have been one of those times. 

 

Basically we had Bruno, Isak and Gordon who are great technicians and everyone else who couldn't cope with the speed of the play. 

[Disco]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

He's class IMO, defensive deficiencies are much exaggerated. I've never noticed him being that bad defensively. 

 

If anything he got dropped because of poor ball retention against Southampton. 

 

I can understand sometimes that how might basically want a CB in that position to shut up shop, but I didn't think against Bournemouth should have been one of those times. 

 

Basically we had Bruno, Isak and Gordon who are great technicians and everyone else who couldn't cope with the speed of the play. 

Interesting take RE: ball retention and not something I’d considered, it’s something I reckon Howe would favour over being a good defender which to me he’s 50/50 but still clearly learning. Very much a work in progress but one I’m pleased to have.

[Kanji]

He also got dropped because Lloyd Kelly has been pushing for more minutes (and needs them) and we’re still early days in the season. Healthy rotation is probably okay + the obvious, which needn’t be stated that Kelly playing on familiar turf against familiar players away from home was seen as a positive. 

 

In any case, Howe is meticulous I am sure he has a million other reasons why he dropped Hall. But let’s just also give credit to Lewis Hall though - he came on and was an impact, he didn’t sulk about being dropped when he stepped on the pitch. That’s exactly the reaction we should be applauding versus the negative

[Mazzy]

Think this is a perfect situation tbh. Hall will play in the games that suits his style of play and therefore most of the home games and Kelly will swap in for him in some away games or when the opposition calls for it. Hall is 19, if he's expecting to play EVERY single PL game this season, that's delusional. 

[mighty__mag]

8 hours ago, KaKa said:

 

Howe had better stop with the Longstaff and Almiron/Murphy combo, or we are going to end up in big trouble.

 

It's putting us up on the back foot and taking the team out of rhythm completely.

 

 

I agree, when Miggy had his best spell, previous seasons, the right pattern of play was Trippier, Miggy, and Bruno, Longstaff would sit deeper, now Bruno sits deeper. Hopefully Tonali coming back will cause Howe to have to think.

 

[Deuce]

Chelsea academy doesn’t half produce really technically proficient youth players.

[cubaricho]

Rough first half but you’re always going to be the one getting targeted when it’s Trippier on the other side.  

 

As soon as Tino came on and they started targeting that right side, Hall was able to show more quality on the ball going forward and looked better. 

[gbandit]

I really don’t think he was shocking at all going forward. I thought he looked shaky when he had his winger running at him though 

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Both Hall and Livra are capable of getting goals

from open play which is pretty neat. Hall will need patience. 

[RobS]

It’s a tough one really, he needs to play to learn and develop and gain experience, but he will make mistakes while doing this still. He’s 19, got a great touch and a ton of talent, we need to cut him some slack at times I think this season. 

[Newcastle Fan]

I like him a lot more than Kelly from what i've seen so far from both.

[Kid Icarus]

On 25/08/2024 at 19:53, gbandit said:

There’s not a single scenario other than injuries to Kelly and Hall which would mean that Burn should play LB

Hall's trying his best to prove you wrong at the moment like.

 

Cannot believe how poor he's been. I thought he was going to tear it up from the start this season.

[gbandit]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Hall's trying his best to prove you wrong at the moment like.

 

Cannot believe how poor he's been. I thought he was going to tear it up from the start this season.

He’s a classy footballer, he’ll show it in spades this season if he gets enough game time but he’ll have some very up and down performances and I do think the defensive side of his game needs a lot of work