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[Albion] Who has got better?



Tony Towner's Toe

Tony Towner's Toe

Member
Feb 9, 2012
70
perth
Apologies if fixtures but haven't really seen this discussed at any length. No doubt are squad is stronger this year than last. Potentially our best ever. But to me the sign of a great coach is seeing our talent develop over the season.

With that in mind I'm struggling to name any individual player who appears to be taking big steps over this season. Hard to judge the new guys yet and certainly some of our old hands are still doing the business..welbeck and Veltman my stand outs. As for the rest, some flashes of brilliance seemingly mixed with much inconsistency. Is this a concern for Fab? I would have thought so, but feel free to tell me I'm wrong.
 




North Carolina Supporter

North Carolina Supporter

American Seagull
NSC Patron
Mar 26, 2023
147
Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Improving-
Mitoma (threatening again- just needs more clinical finishes) and Estupinan (still somewhat inconsistent defensively), Veltman (Mr Dependable with a dash of dark arts!), Welbz (pleasant surprise at his longevity)

Steady- JPVH, Bart, Joao Pedro, Igor, and Baleba (keep waiting for “next level”)

Declining- Dunk (slower), Adingra (looks lost), Lamptey (one good cross to Mitoma but too many mistakes)

Too early to Tell- Hinshelwood (injured), Enciso (erratic but energetic), Ferguson (shaking off the illness and ankle - or past peak?)

Hopeful- Weiffer and O’Riley grow into dependable midfielders while Ferdi and Gruda earn their time… Solly- (would love to see him back to his 2022 form)
 






Guinness Boy

Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
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Jul 23, 2003
37,764
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
American Seagle said:
Baleba is miles better than last season.

Whether you think that's the manager or just him gaining experience, I dunno.

Same with Verbruggen.
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They’re both playing, which helps. The goalie switching was RDZ’s worst trait but, at the same time, the current situation means Steele is naturally declining.

Igor looked better when he played.

Estupinian, Dunk, Adingra, Ferguson, Pedro and Enciso are all on the decline, though at different rates. For Pedro it’s probably just not having Welbeck. For Dunk and Estupinian it looks terminal.
 




Zeberdi

Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
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Oct 20, 2022
7,434
Hürzeler needs to sort out his strongest starting 11 and stick with tbh but injuries have been an issue for him as has having a large influx of new players to bed in - too much rotation.

Big adaptations from De Zerbi ball which was positionally very rigid - imo some players, the more positionally versatile by nature (such as most of our summer signings and youngsters) are coping better than those who the last few lseasons had found a very clear positional role under De Zerbi but now struggling to reinvent their role in a more flexible system and seem to be regressing. Combine this with a positionally flexible DNA that allows a few young players to be too pushy to impress and selfish as individual players, we have a team that needs to communicate better and be more cohesive on the pitch.

Just needs a bit more discipline and focus I think.
 


B

boik

Well-known member
Sep 3, 2011
3,628
Between Happiness and Heartache
Zeberdi said:
Hürzeler needs to sort out his strongest starting 11 and stick with tbh but injuries have been an issue for him as has having a large influx of new players to bed in - too much rotation.

Big adaptations from De Zerbi ball which was positionally very rigid - imo some players, the more positionally versatile by nature (such as most of our summer signings and youngsters) are coping better than those who the last few lseasons had found a very clear positional role under De Zerbi but now struggling to reinvent their role in a more flexible system and seem to be regressing. Combine this with a positionally flexible DNA that allows a few young players to be too pushy to impress and selfish as individual players, we have a team that needs to communicate better and be more cohesive on the pitch.

Just needs a bit more discipline and focus I think.
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Haven't read the forest thread, but they are bottom of the injuries table so can play a settled side. Makes a huge difference. Other teams at the bottom of the injuries table are Bournemouth, Fulham and Chelsea. One of the reasons Leicester won the league is that they had very few injuries.
 








GT49er

GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,576
Gloucester
Zeberdi said:
Hürzeler needs to sort out his strongest starting 11 and stick with tbh but injuries have been an issue for him as has having a large influx of new players to bed in - too much rotation.

Big adaptations from De Zerbi ball which was positionally very rigid - imo some players, the more positionally versatile by nature (such as most of our summer signings and youngsters) are coping better than those who the last few seasons had found a very clear positional role under De Zerbi but now struggling to reinvent their role in a more flexible system and seem to be regressing. Combine this with a positionally flexible DNA that allows a few young players to be too pushy to impress and selfish as individual players, we have a team that needs to communicate better and be more cohesive on the pitch.

Just needs a bit more discipline and focus I think.
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I see it the other way round - we played our best football and got the best results early in the season with our existing players (just with Minteh for Adingra, which didn't make much difference one way or another) before we started trying to shoe-horn in six new signings.
 


Zeberdi

Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
7,434
GT49er said:
I see it the other way round - we played our best football and got the best results early in the season with our existing players (just with Minteh for Adingra, which didn't make much difference one way or another) before we started trying to shoe-horn in six new signings.
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That was my point - read my post again.

As soon as we started bedding in new players things went a bit awry for our existing players for the reason I suggested that had established roles under De Zerbi - Pedro, Mitoma, Pervis, etc- having Veltman injured also made a big impact.

Baleba playing higher/incursions into central MF and Igor ( in left CB) definitely improved their performances but overall until FH started trying to integrate the summer signings we were no better or worse at the beginning of this season than we were at the beginning of 2023/4 or 2022/3 under Potter.
 
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Nobby Cybergoat

Nobby Cybergoat

Well-known member
Jul 19, 2021
8,838
Baleba is the big improver.

I guess Bart is getting slowly better.

Igor has improved

Welbeck has been better than ever

Wieffer has recovered a shaky start
 


GT49er

GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,576
Gloucester
Zeberdi said:
That was my point - read my post again.

As soon as we started bedding in new players things went a bit awry for our existing players for the reason I suggested that had established roles under De Zerbi - Pedro, Mitoma, Pervis, etc- having Veltman injured also made a big impact.

We were no better or worse at the beginning of this season than we were at the beginning of 2023/4 or 2022/3 under Potter.
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Yep, have done - you are right, I misread it first time round.
 










North Carolina Supporter

North Carolina Supporter

American Seagull
NSC Patron
Mar 26, 2023
147
Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Agree with the comments about Baleba’s improvement from last year… but, to me, his performances are still frustratingly below potential. Perhaps Fab has placed more responsibilities on him… as Baleba seems to be all alone in the middle too often. I also think he needs a steady partner instead of our current constant rotation in midfield.
 










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