| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season 11:18 - Jul 29 with 3881 views | PacittiJohn |
and if we get another striker to support Hirst our attack will be stronger as well. Delap was too selfish, and did’t knit the team together as well as Hirst can. Also, think Clark and Philogene could surpass Omari? |  | | |  |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:22 - Jul 29 with 3101 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
Largely agree with what you say, Delap was too selfish for me, didn’t bring in other players like Hirst does. Not sure on Clarke or Jaden though, Omari’s ceiling is so much higher.
If we can keep him this year he would be crucial to staying in the Prem should we get promoted. |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:26 - Jul 29 with 3013 views | tonybied |
On paper, our midfield starters look stronger, or at least equal, than last year (if we sign Hackney), but that is yet to be proved on the pitch. Although, our backup is weaker. We still need some extra quality to come in as backup for me to feel comfortable.
It sounds odd to type out that first sentence, considering we signed Philips and Cajuste this time last year. You would think they would be much better, but as I stated above, that has to transfer to the pitch, which, other than a few moments of Cajuste magic, it sadly did not! |  | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:27 - Jul 29 with 2984 views | charlie1 |
Can see where you’re coming from with Delap, but I think his selfishness was mainly borne out of necessity as had to defend deep for the majority of the season and he was very isolated.
I actually think he did well to achieve all that he did as we were rarely able to transition from that deep in enough numbers to support him.
Left with a choice of laying it off into a congested midfield or turning, puffing his chest out and trying to create something, he invariably chose the latter. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:29 - Jul 29 with 2962 views | SomethingBlue |
We'd still need another really good body in there, we'd only be one injury away from looking very light again. But in terms of the starting two I think you're right. Matusiwa looks very good from the early bits I've seen and looks like he can get us moving quickly from those deep areas. | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:33 - Jul 29 with 2845 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:27 - Jul 29 by charlie1 |
Can see where you’re coming from with Delap, but I think his selfishness was mainly borne out of necessity as had to defend deep for the majority of the season and he was very isolated.
I actually think he did well to achieve all that he did as we were rarely able to transition from that deep in enough numbers to support him.
Left with a choice of laying it off into a congested midfield or turning, puffing his chest out and trying to create something, he invariably chose the latter. |
Al Hamadi plays that way, as well. Very direct. If he is fully fit, and with Pre-Season and McKenna's coaching, he could prove to be a more than adequate Championship OEM Delap, as a "last 20 minutes when the defence are tired" sub. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 with 2793 views | Hackneyblueboy |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:29 - Jul 29 by SomethingBlue |
We'd still need another really good body in there, we'd only be one injury away from looking very light again. But in terms of the starting two I think you're right. Matusiwa looks very good from the early bits I've seen and looks like he can get us moving quickly from those deep areas. |
I wonder if Toby Collyer is one we'll look at. It was reported yesterday he would be made available for loan and I'm sure he's only KMac is familiar with. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 with 2791 views | itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:41 - Jul 29 with 2630 views | TractorJack |
If Morsy was still here I'd agree with you, we still need 1 more. |  | | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:43 - Jul 29 with 2608 views | StokieBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |
Good post.
Hirst is great and will be great this season but there is a tendency from some quarters to be over-critical of Delap without considering the context.
Still hoping we get another striker in who can push Hirst into even better things.
SB |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:45 - Jul 29 with 2561 views | Herbivore |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |
Indeed. Much as I am a big fan of Hirst, Delap is going right to the top of the game I expect, he's got all the attributes to be a world class centre forward. Hirst is a very good player, one I think can make the step up to the Prem if he continues to develop, but he's not going to reach the heights of Delap. There's no second striker signing we can make that leaves us in a better position than we had last year with Delap and Hirst on our books. |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:47 - Jul 29 with 2527 views | FrimleyBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |
I don't personally see the OP is putting delap down it's more about what you've agreed with that hirst is more suited to our style and delap Is a more standalone striker who tries to create his own chances over hirst who looks to create things for others. |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:48 - Jul 29 with 2510 views | Kievthegreat |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |
He's clearly a better player with a massively higher ceiling. Stronger, faster, better on the ball, better shot and finishing, a very clever player too.
My one big criticism of him (and I think a pretty universal one on here) is he had a habit of being selfish on those rare occasions when he actually did have support around him. Sticks out a lot more when we scored so few goals last year. Can't mean that we forget him scoring 1/3 of our goals still! |  | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:49 - Jul 29 with 2491 views | BarcaBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by itfcjoe |
Delap is far better than Hirst, Hirst a great fit for how we play and I really like him but we don't need to talk Delap down for that to be true |
This is becoming a common theme with players moving on to clubs further on up. Several post like this about Delap, and Omari won't be missed as he didn't really score or assist a lot and wasn't regularly skinning defenders in the Prem.
Maybe it's just a coping mechanism or simply not appreciating top top quality. |  | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:54 - Jul 29 with 2396 views | RichardP08 |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:35 - Jul 29 by Hackneyblueboy |
I wonder if Toby Collyer is one we'll look at. It was reported yesterday he would be made available for loan and I'm sure he's only KMac is familiar with. |
I'd love that - he grew up where I live and went to the same school as me. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:01 - Jul 29 with 2275 views | JakeITFC |
I’d like one more permanent midfielder (on top of Hackney) and possibly a loan depending on how we see Taylor this year.
Upfront I think we are a body or two short - we really need to get back to having a credible option on the bench at 70 minutes every week and I think with Hirst’s fitness record that means we need two good players in reserve (and I don’t think Al-Hamadi is that at our current level). |  | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:09 - Jul 29 with 2111 views | ReusersTown |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:43 - Jul 29 by StokieBlue |
Good post.
Hirst is great and will be great this season but there is a tendency from some quarters to be over-critical of Delap without considering the context.
Still hoping we get another striker in who can push Hirst into even better things.
SB |
There's not really any doubt in my mind that Delap became more selfish as the season went on and was a part of why our play became more disjointed and him more isolated. See also Enciso who was only ever really interested in getting his own shot off for his highlight reel. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:12 - Jul 29 with 2027 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:49 - Jul 29 by BarcaBlue |
This is becoming a common theme with players moving on to clubs further on up. Several post like this about Delap, and Omari won't be missed as he didn't really score or assist a lot and wasn't regularly skinning defenders in the Prem.
Maybe it's just a coping mechanism or simply not appreciating top top quality. |
Not sure anyone said he wasn’t quality did they?
Man U fans found Ronaldo could be frustratingly selfish at times but they all thought he was quality.
People are allowed to mention what they see with their eyes without it being a criticism or ‘talking the player down’ | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:14 - Jul 29 with 1974 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
Not sure why FLW are maintaining this, been obvious for a couple of weeks that he isn’t coming here. | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:33 - Jul 29 with 1777 views | BarcaBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:12 - Jul 29 by Cheltenham_Blue |
Not sure anyone said he wasn’t quality did they?
Man U fans found Ronaldo could be frustratingly selfish at times but they all thought he was quality.
People are allowed to mention what they see with their eyes without it being a criticism or ‘talking the player down’ |
I didn't find Delap frustratingly selfish, it was more often than not just lacking options around him. From what I've seen him playing for Chelsea he doesn't appear to be so. I don't think Hirst was able to bring players into play either in his Premier League cameos, he certainly did in the Championship but I think Delap probably would have done so too. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:39 - Jul 29 with 1654 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:33 - Jul 29 by BarcaBlue |
I didn't find Delap frustratingly selfish, it was more often than not just lacking options around him. From what I've seen him playing for Chelsea he doesn't appear to be so. I don't think Hirst was able to bring players into play either in his Premier League cameos, he certainly did in the Championship but I think Delap probably would have done so too. |
Ok. You didn’t see things that others did. Doesn’t mean either opinion is correct, nor does it mean other posters don’t appreciate quality.
Most times at PR I thought, quality wise, Delap was streets ahead of the rest of the squad.
But at the same time I did wish that occasionally he wouldn’t drive straight at the defence quite as often. | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:43 - Jul 29 with 1558 views | FrimleyBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:39 - Jul 29 by Cheltenham_Blue |
Ok. You didn’t see things that others did. Doesn’t mean either opinion is correct, nor does it mean other posters don’t appreciate quality.
Most times at PR I thought, quality wise, Delap was streets ahead of the rest of the squad.
But at the same time I did wish that occasionally he wouldn’t drive straight at the defence quite as often. |
Personally If delap ignores Cole Palmer standing 5 yards away from him like he did to davis on occasions last season i don't think he'd hear the last of it. | |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:50 - Jul 29 with 1457 views | BarcaBlue |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:39 - Jul 29 by Cheltenham_Blue |
Ok. You didn’t see things that others did. Doesn’t mean either opinion is correct, nor does it mean other posters don’t appreciate quality.
Most times at PR I thought, quality wise, Delap was streets ahead of the rest of the squad.
But at the same time I did wish that occasionally he wouldn’t drive straight at the defence quite as often. |
I agree, there were definitely occasions when a pass was on and he took the wrong option of driving on and losing possession. I don't think that makes him a selfish player though just that he is a very confident young player. There were also plenty of times where driving on was the only realistic option. | | | |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:57 - Jul 29 with 1364 views | Vic |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 11:45 - Jul 29 by Herbivore |
Indeed. Much as I am a big fan of Hirst, Delap is going right to the top of the game I expect, he's got all the attributes to be a world class centre forward. Hirst is a very good player, one I think can make the step up to the Prem if he continues to develop, but he's not going to reach the heights of Delap. There's no second striker signing we can make that leaves us in a better position than we had last year with Delap and Hirst on our books. |
I think Delap's isolation eventually highlighted that our biggest problem was our midfield and the way we struggled to transition forward in the way we'd done the previous two seasons. In a way we were unable to use him to his full potential.
In the champ Hirsty should do very well (if he stays fit) and I think he will actually benefit the likes of Clarke and Phili because he'll probably bring them into the game more.
I loved Sami, but he got found out as the season went along; Cajuste was classy, but his end product stats just weren't there were they. So if we can add Hackney to the rAzor then I think that the first choice midfield could well prove to be stronger than last year. (though ironically maybe not stronger than Morse and Mass the year before) |  |
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| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 13:24 - Jul 29 with 1149 views | homer_123 |
| If we get Hackney our midfield is stronger than last season on 12:43 - Jul 29 by FrimleyBlue |
Personally If delap ignores Cole Palmer standing 5 yards away from him like he did to davis on occasions last season i don't think he'd hear the last of it. |
And yet a trait of a quality striker is being selfish. |  |
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