Player Watch: Serge Aurier

[JCRD]

He’s costing us too much too often. Forget the odd assist here and there, I’d rather a solid reliable defender. hes not for me. It’s terrifying watching a tight game when he’s playing, terrifying!

Our tactics are costing us too much too often. When youre allowing teams to just pile pressure on us then mistakes are going to happen and normally opposition players will target the full backs. Why go 1 up then sit back with. Our defense is under so much pressure with the tactics we are playing

 

[cozzo]

He’s costing us too much too often. Forget the odd assist here and there, I’d rather a solid reliable defender. hes not for me. It’s terrifying watching a tight game when he’s playing, terrifying!

Has he cost us more goals than any other player this season? Or any defender? I think it’s pretty important for a right back to contribute assists.

 

[gavspur]

It’s quite often he takes too many touches to clear the ball after initially winning it. Same today. He won it, took too many touches and lost it, leading to their goal. He’s much improved, still our best RB, but that says a lot more about our recruitment than him as a player.

 

[Cochise]

His issue is that sometimes he engages in un-needed physical tussles. Today was another where having won it initially he needed to unload the ball, but he stayed in for more and got double teamed in a really poor area. Aside from that he had a solid if unspectacular game.

 

[fortworthspur]

I didnt watch the second half. Did I jinx him by saying he's been good lately?

 

[Snarfalicious]

I didnt watch the second half. Did I jinx him by saying he's been good lately?

He gave away the ball that led to the goal. There was also other things that happened after this that had nothing to do with him that led to the goal. He also may have been pulled down from behind which led to him giving away the ball. All this equates to Serge Aurier and all the good things he's done recently rendered all for naught.

 

[ButchCassidy]

The Aurier debates on here remind me so much of the old Kyle Walker thread, before Poch coached the errors out of his game. Wonder if Serge has it in him to improve in the same way, because if he could only cut out the silly mistakes we’d have one hell of a player on our hands...

 

[fortworthspur]

The Aurier debates on here remind me so much of the old Kyle Walker thread, before Poch coached the errors out of his game. Wonder if Serge has it in him to improve in the same way, because if he could only cut out the silly mistakes we’d have one hell of a player on our hands...

Walker was PFA team of the year long before Poch showed up.

 

[ButchCassidy]

Walker was PFA team of the year long before Poch showed up.

Sure, but it wasn’t until that season where our wing back play became the best in the league that every match thread wasn’t full of complaints about Walker making silly mistakes. In a way it was even worse back then, because Walker usually had the pace to make a stupid challenge, get beaten by his man, and still get back into position before anything had gone wrong. Didn’t keep him from catching lots of flak for it though.

Aurier was also Ligue 1 TOTY twice, doesn’t mean his game doesn’t still need to improve.

 

[fortworthspur]

Sure, but it wasn’t until that season where our wing back play became the best in the league that every match thread wasn’t full of complaints about Walker making silly mistakes. In a way it was even worse back then, because Walker usually had the pace to make a stupid challenge, get beaten by his man, and still get back into position before anything had gone wrong. Didn’t keep him from catching lots of flak for it though.

Aurier was also Ligue 1 TOTY twice, doesn’t mean his game doesn’t still need to improve.

id love to be wrong but Ive never watched aurier and been reminded of walker.

 

[Vincent30]

The thing is, before this one moment, he was having a very solid game.

He lost the ball still quite high up the pitch. It's not as if he lost it in the 6 yard box and they tapped it in. The team still could have done better as a whole and i also think Jose took way to long to take off one of the AM who had no legs in them.

This is coming from someone who gives Serge a hard time. Yes it was a brain fart but i think people are acting like he gave them the goal single handedly which isn't true, yes he didn't help but Dele, Son and Lucas lost the ball countless times which led to them attacking, which kept putting unwanted pressure on us for large parts of the game.

 

[barry]

The thing is, before this one moment, he was having a very solid game.

He lost the ball still quite high up the pitch. It's not as if he lost it in the 6 yard box and they tapped it in. The team still could have done better as a whole and i also think Jose took way to long to take off one of the AM who had no legs in them.

This is coming from someone who gives Serge a hard time. Yes it was a brain fart but i think people are acting like he gave them the goal single handedly which isn't true, yes he didn't help but Dele, Son and Lucas lost the ball countless times which led to them attacking, which kept putting unwanted pressure on us for large parts of the game.

Exactly this. If there's one thing I could criticise the team for it's being too weak. It looked like he was fouled to me, but if you got a lenient ref, fight like a mofo and let him decide when to blow. I have to admit Southampton were far more tenacious than us in that respect.

 

[Jay.]

Has he cost us more goals than any other player this season? Or any defender? I think it’s pretty important for a right back to contribute assists.

Depends how high you set your standards. Personally i'd be seeking a much higher calibre right back. I think settling for players like Aurier is exactly why we are mid table.

 

[Zaoppy]

When Walker was one of our best players we've had Trippier who was playing really well (better than the last season with us) pushing him to be better. Right now Aurier has no competition, so a) he's overworked, plays most of the matches and has to run a lot b) has no real competition

 

[Timberwolf]

Depends how high you set your standards. Personally i'd be seeking a much higher calibre right back. I think settling for players like Aurier is exactly why we are mid table.

Yes, I think this is an issue. Over the past few seasons we've slowly but surely lowered our standards.

Sure, players like Aurier and Sissoko have improved to varying degrees over the past season, but they're still not the calibre of player we need if we want to actually challenge for anything. Aurier might get the odd assist and put in decent performances, but he still makes key errors on quite a regular basis, isn't great technically and too often makes the wrong decisions. An improved Aurier is better than a shit Aurier, but neither are half as good as a Pereira.

Likewise, Sissoko at his very best isn't half the player Dembele was, yet due to his improvement I think a lot of fans have gradually accepted him a first team regular even though he wouldn't get close to the first team of any truly top side and should be a squad player at best.

 

[thelak]

The easiest way to judge Serge (and a lot of our players atm) is whether any of our rivals would sign him if they could.....clearly no one would

he is 27 years old too now

Im pretty confident what we are seeing now is broadly his full potential - he’s not a terrible player, clearly has some qualities but lacks the consistency, concentration and decision making to be an elite fb

 

[TwanYid]

The easiest way to judge Serge (and a lot of our players atm) is whether any of our rivals would sign him if they could.....clearly no one would

he is 27 years old too now

Im pretty confident what we are seeing now is broadly his full potential - he’s not a terrible player, clearly has some qualities but lacks the consistency, concentration and decision making to be an elite fb

Would you rather have him in there or Trippier (and "neither" isn't an option in this case)? Serious question- not a wind-up; I'm fascinated as to who out of those two people would prefer if given (or forced into making lol) the choice.

For me I'd much prefer serge because he has shown improvement both defensively and offensively and I honestly think that if utilized correctly he can be an effective option for us, particularly if used as a Wing Back. I've literally witnessed his crosses improve, to the point where he starting to become a problem for the opponent. I've also seen him (admittedly marginally, but hey...) improve defensively, morphing from being a black Juan Foyth into becoming a decent one-on-one defender and in the process committing less atrocious, "OMFG- PLEASE TELL ME HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT!"-type errors, at least compared to when he arrived.

The thing about Serge is that he is athletic as all hell, and that (at least for the most part can't be improved upon) can't really be improved upon. Take his reflexes, for example: yesterday he stopped a cross coming in from one of their players by timing his jump to perfection and literally karate-kicking the just-blasted ball out of what could have been real danger. Trippier, for example, wouldn't have been able to do that if his life depended on it and he had 20 tries to get it right whereas Serge, otoh, made it look easy. So yeah- the guy has amazing reflexes, decent speed, good strength-- all important qualities for a position- Fullback- which covers so much ground.

But the thing I am the most hopeful about (keep in mind I said "hopeful," not "expectant") is down to the fact that he seems coachable as long as the right guy is working with him, which I think Mourinho is. If Jose can get Serge's on-field thought process(es) together, clearly delineate his role in the team (whatever that is) and get players and employ systems which afford him the chance to accentuate his gifts we'll have a player on our hands. I think Jose likes him, and I think Serge needs to be "liked." I'm hopeful this combo will result in us singing his name as opposed to cursing the day he was born lol.

 

[punkisback]

Would you rather have him in there or Trippier (and "neither" isn't an option in this case)? Serious question- not a wind-up; I'm fascinated as to who out of those two people would prefer if given (or forced into making lol) the choice.

For me I'd much prefer serge because he has shown improvement both defensively and offensively and I honestly think that if utilized correctly he can be an effective option for us, particularly if used as a Wing Back. I've literally witnessed his crosses improve, to the point where he starting to become a problem for the opponent. I've also seen him (admittedly marginally, but hey...) improve defensively, morphing from being a black Juan Foyth into becoming a decent one-on-one defender and in the process committing less atrocious, "OMFG- PLEASE TELL ME HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT!"-type errors, at least compared to when he arrived.

The thing about Serge is that he is athletic as all hell, and that (at least for the most part can't be improved upon) can't really be improved upon. Take his reflexes, for example: yesterday he stopped a cross coming in from one of their players by timing his jump to perfection and literally karate-kicking the just-blasted ball out of what could have been real danger. Trippier, for example, wouldn't have been able to do that if his life depended on it and he had 20 tries to get it right whereas Serge, otoh, made it look easy. So yeah- the guy has amazing reflexes, decent speed, good strength-- all important qualities for a position- Fullback- which covers so much ground.

But the thing I am the most hopeful about (keep in mind I said "hopeful," not "expectant") is down to the fact that he seems coachable as long as the right guy is working with him, which I think Mourinho is. If Jose can get Serge's on-field thought process(es) together, clearly delineate his role in the team (whatever that is) and get players and employ systems which afford him the chance to accentuate his gifts we'll have a player on our hands. I think Jose likes him, and I think Serge needs to be "liked." I'm hopeful this combo will result in us singing his name as opposed to cursing the day he was born lol.

I think what he offers over Trips is tenacity. He fights 100% for the ball and is eager. Which can be to a big detriment at times but I’m glad he is trying At least.

 

[Joely]

The easiest way to judge Serge (and a lot of our players atm) is whether any of our rivals would sign him if they could.....clearly no one would

he is 27 years old too now

Im pretty confident what we are seeing now is broadly his full potential - he’s not a terrible player, clearly has some qualities but lacks the consistency, concentration and decision making to be an elite fb

Agree. He had clocked up a lot of games for Lens, Toulouse and PSG before he arrived and unfortunately he came with some flaws/bad habits that were set in and which imo were too late in his career to put right. What you see with Aurier now is what you're going to get going forward.

He can be having a decent game but will always be susceptible to having a brainfart. I'm not too sure how you can go about building a solid defence knowing that the defensive work you put in on the the training pitch can pretty much all go out the window with him liable to make an inexcusable error. For that reason, I think he'll be off in the summer as Mourinho first and foremost will want defenders he can trust. Right now we don't have much else in terms of options so he is trying to get the best out of him but will be shocked if he is still here next season as a first team starter.

 

[dtxspurs]

The Aurier debates on here remind me so much of the old Kyle Walker thread, before Poch coached the errors out of his game. Wonder if Serge has it in him to improve in the same way, because if he could only cut out the silly mistakes we’d have one hell of a player on our hands...

No shot, he's already older than Kyle Walker was when he left us. This is who he is, a decent player who is prone constant brain farts. The good does absolutely not out weigh the bad. RB still a top priority to improve.