Correct. How much would it cost to buy a player with nearly 300 appearances, over 50 goals and countless assists, mainly at this level? Too much. Get him signed up and utilise him properly.
DJ
The age thing is nonsense too. We live in an era where the ‘past 30 is past it’ paradigm is being redrawn. At 35 Messi is still amazing. Ronaldo is about 72 I think. In cricket, Jimmy and Broad are redefining expectations and this will become the norm. You all forgotten Grezza ?
edited for Accuracy : End Of Class player 😉
Which infers we havent been..
which means we either change how we play to accommodate him or he uses his experience and skill to fit in with how our manager wants to play ?
Whist RL has us in the PO's I'd go for option 2....
I wouldn’t be so certain so quickly anyway. I’ll always welcome youth to the side, but to say Woodburn, O’Neill or Mawene could step into being the most technically gifted player in the side within anything short of 2 years or so, might be a bit of a stretch.
Well this is it… when we don’t perform it’s because we don’t play to anybody’s strengths. We’ve averaged a pretty woeful amount of goal scored since our return to the championship, for all the attacking chatter we have had, it’s the defensive solidarity we’ve played into.
Saturday just goes to show for me, when we play into the players high up the pitch who are good on the ball. We score goals. When we don’t score goals is the lump it and hope, because we don’t actually have a man for that job, just Riis, who albeit maybe 6’3, isn’t a good target man.
This DJ thing is really frustrating because if you play him in his preferred position he’s brilliant. All the Managers we’ve had have seen that, but they always go back to trying to get him to play a role that just doesn’t suit him. It surely isn’t rocket science. Play DJ in his best position.
did we play him in his preferred position at Ewood though?
He was on the attacking right of a box of 4.....with Woodburn on the left of it and 2 sitters behind....
not many have played him on the right and even less have played 'midfield box of 4' behind a single striker.....
lets hope we do the same against QPR and see how it works at home..
He was on the attacking right of a box of 4.....with Woodburn on the left of it and 2 sitters behind....
not many have played him on the right and even less have played 'midfield box of 4' behind a single striker.....
lets hope we do the same against QPR and see how it works at home..
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Liam Lindsay's.
That’s it though, any role to have free reign in and around the strikers and he plays a blinder. Sit him anywhere deep lying and everyone just complains about him not running around enough and putting a foot in, that’s not his game and never has been, and I don’t even think he’s as bad as people say at working hard either.
I wouldn't be surprised if DJ covers the most miles out of anyone in the team in the majority of games he plays.
His engine is the main reason manager's fuck about and try to play him in different midfield roles I reckon. Grayson, Neil, and Lowe have all done it.
Was he fuck anonymous last season.
I swear most people on here can't remember more than a month back.
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I've no issue with his work off the ball these days, it's one area he has clearly improved. Its the fact that he has a tendency to do little significant when on the ball in some games that's the problem.
3 decent managers have experienced this and eventually you have to conclude that it's not necessarily their fault for not getting the best out of him consistently. He is what he is - a talented yet inconsistent player at this level. I'd agree he's probably best when further forward so we have to ask why several managers choose no to link him there consistently.
Someone mentioned that he's maybe held to a higher standard than other players which is an interesting point. Possibly so, his obvious talent contributes to this. I'd argue that we should expect our most gifted and creative passer to lead our attacking play and make a significant difference more often than he does. If he's as good as some claim why doesn't this happen?
Finally I really really hope he can get a regular first team spot this season and show what he can do. We need it.
I think if we get Archer on loan next month you will see a different Daniel Johnson, having better players at the club seems to lift him it was the same when Callum Robinson was here, he always looks for the forward pass first and these two players always made a forward run into space. We played a lot of the ball along the floor on Saturday and we didnt pass around our backline as much, we pushed forward a lot faster which is ideal for Johnson he needs to be involved all the time, he needs the captains armband, we need him for our push for the play offs. By the way, i have just watched the highlights of Bolton v Man Utd U21s, Connor Bradley, is he a RWB or right winger he spent a lot of time in the oppositions box, I know it was the U21s they played but what a prospect he looks, he scored but could also have had a couple of more, I know Potts has had a good season, but we do need a qualified RWB and this lad ticks all the boxes. With Archer and Bradley added, also Parrott fit again who knows where we might be come May
but 'thats it' too..... you said strikerS not striker......... When we play 2 strikers we only have 3 in midfield and so he cant have 'free reign' if he is one of a 3 anymore because this season he hasn't contributed in a 3......
so yes, with 2 protectors behind he can play with freedom, so long as people dont want Riis & Evans to start.....
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But DJ wasn't playing in his 'best' position on Saturday and he produced that performance. The know it all fans seem to think that DJ's best position is number ten yet we have had three managers with quite a bit of experience refuse to play him there for a consistent period of time. He's capable playing in a deeper role - he has shown that throughout the years and actually some of his best performances have come from that role.
Lowe isn't going to change his formation just to suit DJ. He didn't on Saturday and he won't do in the future. No need. DJ has always been inconsistent. He if wasn't he would be playing in the prem.
Thanks Simon, Alex, Frankie or whatever your name is.😉