AVB needs to stop playing Caulker and Naughton together

[Ionman34]

I thought he'd explained his strengths earlier.

O'Hara and his time at Pompey has nothing to do with Rose and his time at Sunderland, nothing at all - you must judge the players on their individual skill sets. Rose is quick, tenacious, a good technician, positionally sound and gets forward really well - this is what I've seen when I've watched him for Sunderland this season. The biggest boost has been playing every week which has seen his confidence grow, something he never had at Spurs. He's also a bit older which will help.

I hope he comes back and it wouldn't surprise me to see him challenge Benny all the way for LB - longer term he's a more viable option certainly.

I never thought he'd make it at Spurs but after watching his improvement at Sunderland I think he's got a great chance now and that'll be a massive bonus considering he's English and homegrown.

I liked O'Hara and thought his short passing game was good but he suffered due to a slow, unathletic physique and at times his first touch was questionable as well as his tracking of players off the ball. He could certainly do a job for quite a few lower Prem teams but at Spurs the bar was set very high in his position. I think Rose is considerably better pound for pound and has started to become a specialist LB which has helped him enormously.

Couldn't agree more with this post Steve, very well put.

 

[sloth]

I thought he'd explained his strengths earlier.

O'Hara and his time at Pompey has nothing to do with Rose and his time at Sunderland, nothing at all - you must judge the players on their individual skill sets. Rose is quick, tenacious, a good technician, positionally sound and gets forward really well - this is what I've seen when I've watched him for Sunderland this season. The biggest boost has been playing every week which has seen his confidence grow, something he never had at Spurs. He's also a bit older which will help.

I hope he comes back and it wouldn't surprise me to see him challenge Benny all the way for LB - longer term he's a more viable option certainly.

I never thought he'd make it at Spurs but after watching his improvement at Sunderland I think he's got a great chance now and that'll be a massive bonus considering he's English and homegrown.

I liked O'Hara and thought his short passing game was good but he suffered due to a slow, unathletic physique and at times his first touch was questionable as well as his tracking of players off the ball. He could certainly do a job for quite a few lower Prem teams but at Spurs the bar was set very high in his position. I think Rose is considerably better pound for pound and has started to become a specialist LB which has helped him enormously.

I guess the only parallel is that for a while there O'Hara was on MOTD every week seemingly single-handedly dragging Portsmouth away from relegation, he was taking their free-kicks, scoring goals, their play-maker... but he was still O'Hara. None of which applies of course if you watched both and didn't think O'Hara was all that, but do think Rose is.

I've watched a few highlights of Sunderland, and the whole their game against Arsenal at the weekend, and I have to say Rose hasn't stood out as being anything different to what he always was, an honest, hard-working, but limited player. But in my case it's almost nothing to go on, and if you seen plenty more of him this season then fair enough.

The other thing is if, like Steve, you already rated him highly, then that's fair enough too. I have a different opinion, but I respect it if others feel differently. I really hope Rose turns out to be the player you say he is, but my view is he's probably found his level at Sunderland.

 

[worcestersauce]

Must admit I'm struggling to reconcile the Rose I last saw in a Spurs shirt with this new improved uber Rose that a few are saying they have seen at Sunderland. More's to the point, I can't understand why anyone would, of their own volition, watch Sunderland.

I did watch him play for Eng U21's not so long ago and he looked decent enough. What I don't understand is, we knew Ekotto had a long term injury when we sent him off on loan, why not keep him and play him. He'd have had at least half a season and we wouldn't have had to play a CB and RB there.

To be fair how often did we see him play left back? He was left wing but Harry moved him back to left back which he seemed to take to pretty well but he hardly had time to settle and learn the job.
I must confess I haven't watched Sunderland apart from a few snatches on MOTD so I'll rely on other peoples opinion on young Danny.

 

[SpurSince57]

I actually think that the defence has been far more solid than it was under H SS57.
Our goals against stats are actually quite misleading as we conceded a few, early doors, when AVB was getting the back line in order. Once his philosophy clicked, we've really had no one put together more than a small handful of chances against us for months. Even Utd, with their vaunted attacking prowess, barely troubled Lloris.
It's telling that the errors that are picked up on are so specific, because they are so rare. Unlike some, I expect that our fullbacks are going to come under some severe pressure. They are young and relatively inexperienced so they will be targeted. Errors will always occur in those scenarios, yet they rarely end up as a goal, testament to their ability to either recover or the defensive unit as a whole working together. They're learning and, IMO, learning well. Walker has not been as good as last season, the fact that he is now coming out of that blip in form shows he is learning well and his strength of character. Naughton is filling in, showing versatility and a lot of composure. So many writing him off here, I actually think he'll turn into a quality player over time.

On Stalteri and Lee, I loved Lee at left back, thought he was solid and a real threat going forward. Stalteri I was lukewarm with. He was relatively reliable but did seem to be the 'weak link' of the back line. It did seem that opposition had the greatest joy when they attacked down our right, although he never once deserved the vitriole he got. I personally don't think that any Spurs player does though, but that's just me and my views of what the word 'Supporter' actually means.

Stats for last season are remarkably similar to this, though, and last season's goals against were similarly skewed by our conceding 16 out of 41 goals in just four games. This is a bit angels-on-pinheads, however, because it's indisputable that our defensive record since 2008 is the best it's ever been. Why are some people complaining?

 

[steve]

Must admit I'm struggling to reconcile the Rose I last saw in a Spurs shirt with this new improved uber Rose that a few are saying they have seen at Sunderland. More's to the point, I can't understand why anyone would, of their own volition, watch Sunderland.

I did watch him play for Eng U21's not so long ago and he looked decent enough. What I don't understand is, we knew Ekotto had a long term injury when we sent him off on loan, why not keep him and play him. He'd have had at least half a season and we wouldn't have had to play a CB and RB there.

Dunno although I thought the same. He just seems to have grown in stature and confidence. I always felt at Spurs he was a bit overawed at times and he lacked confidence, almost like he didn't feel he belonged in the team. He's grown up a bit, played regularly and the confidence is there.

Benny's a better technician but Rose is a tough little fucker who plays hard and gets forward better. He doesn't smoke gear, drive a smart car, post LOL endlessly on twitter or shrug his shoulders when we get beat though so we're probably better getting rid.

 

[ultimateloner]

AvB can play anyone he wants because we are winning

 

[voxy28]

BAE as a substitute is use to change games.... he came on + Ade to stretch the left and give Bale more room down the middle.

I think AVB conserve BAE by not starting him. AVB was right in his selection so stop complaining, ffs.