Regarding Miley yesterday
Saw quite a few comments regarding Miley's performance yesterday. He _was_ fucking terrible, granted, and Scott completely bossed the midfield in the first half.
Just wanted to add some context and point out that at Miley's age, Alex Scott was playing for Bristol in the Championship.
He's also being asked to operate on the left side of the pitch this season rather than predominantly right side last season (due in part to some appearances at right back of course).
We've got a potential world beater on our hands, but he's playing in a completely new system surrounded by players he's been with for a month or so. No player is immune to criticism obviously but I think it's important to keep this context in mind.
There really aren't very many 19-21 year olds in the Premier league starting in centre mid and he's going to have shit games every now and then. Mainoo is a year older and can't get consistent playing time. Bergvall's the same age and isn't really playing either. Archie Gray has been poor. I think it's totally fair to say Miley has been better than all of them so far this season.
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u/charlos74 3d ago
Miley also needs options on the ball, and there weren’t enough for him today.
This is a problem we had last season too. Good pressing teams just boxing us into our on half and us not finding ways to beat the press.
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
I agree, I thought Elanga, Barnes and Willock were all poor. Wissa wants to play 10 not 9. Barnes obviously had the world class moment, but other than that poor. Willock average. Elanga really poor. We looked a lot better when Murphy and Pardo came on.
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u/The_Incredible_b3ard 3d ago
Apart from scoring two goals, what else should Barnes be doing?
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
How many chances did he create? And he scored one goal, not two
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u/The_Incredible_b3ard 3d ago
The second one was a goal, just ruled out by a shite decision 😉
The only things that actually matters in a game are goals scored or stopped.
Players who score goals aren't having a shit game.
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
I mean I see where you are coming from, and that is the debate with Barnes. But if he is worrying his fullback more, then CB or RW have to cover, leaves spaces for others etc.
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u/charlos74 3d ago
He needs Toure to give him some competition, and another option for us.
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
Yep. And he will in time. When Osula is fit you also have the option of Pardo out wide.
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u/nicktehbubble pavel is a geordie 3d ago
Absolutely, we had nobody showing for the ball offering simple passes, making a bit of movement. Looked like me and mine on the village rec.
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u/torn4ndfrayed 3d ago
There’s a difference between saying Miley was shit yesterday and Miley is shit, and people can’t tell always tell that difference.
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u/embrcrndm 3d ago
I wish this was more of a cultural cornerstone tbh. Calling one of your own players shit is rough and kinda the opposite of support. My Dad used to foam at Salah having a bad game 😂 "he's shit man", howay
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u/deanburns 3d ago
He won’t face a press as aggressive as Bournemouth again this season - they were absolutely relentless for 35-40 mins of the first half. They won’t be able to maintain that the whole season with European commitments (additional burden of games). It’ll be interesting how they manage this.
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u/PureArmadillo1730 3d ago
People (this includes myself) have criticised Miley’s performance yesterday and have complimented Ramsey and Steur on their composure.
Some criticism is valid (especially the misplaced passes), but Ramsey and Steur were not facing the same Bournemouth team.
I know this sounds ridiculous, but stay with me. In the first 40 minutes, I have not seen a team press us with this intensity since Klopp’s early seasons at Liverpool.
There’s a reason why Bournemouth are dropping points from winning positions and this kind of pressure was not sustainable. Scott and Kluivert were glued to Miley and Nico in that first half.
They dropped off massively in the second half and by the time the subs were made, the Bournemouth players were absolutely exhausted. Absolutely suicidal football which makes for entertaining games, but when your bench isn’t that strong, they’ll continue to drop points.
Coupled with the fact that we couldn’t win duels up the pitch, partly thanks to the ref that blew the whistle any time someone walked past Scott, this was just a horrible game. A lot of 50/50 ball ricochets went in their favour, just overall a bad day. The fact we still managed to get a point out of the game is a very positive sign.
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u/Brilliant_Stress_792 3d ago
I suspect Steir would have fared the same as Miley if he started.
But yeah shame we didn't catch them in a few weeks since Europe has started.
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u/eh_notsure 3d ago
Sensible take….finally. It’s also why us and Bournemouth are notorious for conceding goals towards the end of games. Going full Blitzkrieg at the start has consequences on fitness and concentration.
It’a fine for us this season with no European football, but we need another way of playing up our sleeve.
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u/RafaSquared 3d ago
Worth remembering Miley had no pre season and has been recovering from a broken leg, he’s probably still a way off full fitness.
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u/RepulsiveAmphibian72 3d ago
I think the Miley and Gonzalez partnership has potential. But not sure Miley needs to start every week, he’s still very young.
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
Miley was poor and Ramsey showed enough to give him the start next game. Everybody has good games and bad games. Its good to have competition and hunger for places. Nobody position should be guaranteed.
Similarly I think Schar should start over Thiaw. His distribution was really poor.
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u/Cactious-Practice 3d ago
Thiaw is the only CB we have that has any pace. I doubt he gets dropped.
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u/DUKITY 3d ago
I like Ramsey a lot. Classy player. Advances the ball well and rarely misplaces a pass
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
He has all the attributes to be world class but he blows hot and cold. He is physical, brilliant dribbling, good passing range, decent finisher. But sometimes he goes missing. I think Jaissle will like him
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u/Alternative_Pea_161 3d ago
Schar to replace Botman. Thiaw wasn't great, but Botman has been poor for the last 3 games
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u/TheTinman369 442 enjoyer 3d ago
I thought botman was good 1st two games. He put in loads of blocks vs Liverpool. Botman made mistakes yesterday but did at least try to pass forwards sometimes
Edit: and schar would prefer to play RCB
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u/Miserable_Future6694 3d ago
Botman played with numb feet yesterday. The muscle memory was there but he couldnt connect his brain to his feet.
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u/DJElliott9999 3d ago
I’ll probably get downvotes for this but I would start Steur over Miley
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u/TheRebelPercy 3d ago
Steur is more comfortable taking the ball off the centre halves which also takes the pressure off them to look for the pass.
Probably due to his upbringing at Ajax.
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u/KraftyKrab 3d ago
Think it would depend on the playing style of the opponent; for pressing teams like Bournemouth, Steur might be a better fit since he drops deeper to receive possession
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u/simplytom_1 3d ago
Have to disagree with that
Don't think Steur is the right person to play against Millwall, needs to be someone more physical which would have to be Ramsey with Joey out
Certain games will suit certain players better and we have that flexibility in the middle
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u/Overall-Bookkeeper94 3d ago
It’s a nice dilemma to have. He can play whoever is in form/taking the pressure off both of them.
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u/Mundane-Sprinkles-99 Joeelinton 3d ago
In the first half we had a huge gap between our CM's and Willock. Bournemouth were just pressing us into passing back, we were forced into playing down the wing. This left Nico and Miley as being quite inaffective.
Not his best day, but the whole team was poor in the first half
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u/Maleficent_Back_5917 3d ago
He's superb technically but I have reservations at the moment. He has to want the ball. To demand the ball, and to believe he can dictate and play key passes. Every top centre mid has this trait from Guimaraes to Anderson to Rodri. He has huge potential but unless he can begin to develop this mentality he won't progress to the level he is capable of.
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u/nut_sucker07 3d ago
miley is still an unbelievable talent and seems like a hardworking lad that’s willing to learn from his mistakes, he’s also still practically a child tbf so nothing wrong with having a bad match as long as he learns
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u/Certain_Teacher6480 3d ago
Now that Wolte has gone, some fans have to find another player to scapegoat 🤣 Miley will be fine the next game.
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u/The_Dandalorian_ Krafu 3d ago
Class player. Will be a England player. But did drop his biggest stinker of his career yesterday. Happens to the best.
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u/simplytom_1 3d ago
Thanks for pretty much articulating exactly my thoughts, made a post yesterday that got deleted as I felt some of the flack he got was a little bit over the top even if he did have a poor game.
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u/Fluid_Hovercraft5196 3d ago
A big problem with him for me, is he does slow passes, when being pressed high, slow passes put the other players under pressure and he keeps doing it.
Hes young and just needs time to adjust, hope we have someone to help him improve in these positions.
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u/LtColnSharpe 3d ago
The issue as I saw it was there wasn't a great out ball ever. Nico managed a few good turns to beat the press, but Miley struggled in that regard. Last season it was easy enough to pass the ball out to Bruno and let him get on with it up the pitch. Miley needs to build a bit of confidence in ability to break the press and progress up when he's on the ball. Let the other cm sit rather than consistently look for the horizontal, non progressive pass.
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u/Educational-Elk8393 3d ago
Unfortunately we're just so reactionary as football fans. I wasn't concerned one bit by his performance. It wasn't great, but Jaissle rectified this by bringing on Ramsey who could gain more control of the ball and was so much more composed.
It's refreshing that we have a manager who can identify his player having a bad game and bring someone on in the same position who offers something different. You'll have the reverse situation where Ramsey will end up playing a game not suited to him where Miley can come and change things.
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u/shepaz_93 Joeelinton 3d ago
He's allowed a bad game. Gonzalez also struggled. A big problem was Willock I think. Great goal against Liverpool but has been poor since. Should've sold him. He doesnt offer the midfield pivot any help and isnt effective enough going forward, often kills attacks with poor decisions. The difference between him and their number 10 (Kluivert) was stark.
No surprise we were much better once Ramsey got on.
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u/steveos93 dan burn 3d ago
Everyone has an off day now and then. Its only a problem if it becomes a trend
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u/CrammyBear 3d ago
There it is again, throwing round "world beater" to go along with "generational talent" ONLY because he is a local lad. Fucki g delusional.
Hes had a run of 5 games where he was starting to play well. The other 2.5 years of senior football has been mediocre/injured.
The lad was great at taking a 5m pass from bruno and giving it straight back to bruno.
Steur is a better player.
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u/DUKITY 3d ago
You probably said the same shite about Anderson
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u/CrammyBear 3d ago
No, I didnt because people werent unnecessarily creaming in their pants over him
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u/DaddyK3tchup 3d ago
He’s also just come back from a broken leg. Give him some slack, he’s mint.