Anel and JLT partnership

[ReeceofBDTBL]

Still only one clean sheet since Souttar got injured, and that was against an appalling Norwich, so basically a match where they had no defending to do.

If Rob Holding isn’t good enough to displace Jack Robinson then that goes down as a terrible signing.

Spending £10m on cannon whilst only bringing in 1 center back who’s played one cup game in 2 years could end up being as bizarre a decision as it looks.

Does anyone honestly think we’ll get promoted if we go the rest of the season with these 2 at the heart of the defence?

The biblically horrific defending last season, not to mention that second half against QPR at the start of the season, didn’t happen in a black box.

Just drop Robinson, it’s 2025 let’s move on from this decades Neil Collins

 

[ReeceofBDTBL]

Look at their qualities as a partnership:
Blend 3/10
Trust 3/10
Communication 4/10
Dominance in the air 4/10
Ability on the ball 6/10 (8 for anel, 4 for robbo)
Pace 7/10
Penalty box defending 5/10

It’s just not good enough, I don’t think they’re even top half of the league as a partnership.

 

[thehet]

Robinson has a number of bad habits that put the team and my heart rate under severe pressure.

He doesn’t win enough headers. He’s no Souttar I accept, but when the ball is in the air it always seems a struggle for him to get above the opposing forward.

His decision making is so slow. Time and again he waits and waits and waits to knock a simple weighted ball down the line into space, or into someone’s feet, and invariably ends up doing his trademark Cruyff turn. This waiting invites the press and if he’s lucky he gets to give it back to Cooper and if he’s not he gets robbed.

Anel looks a shadow of his former self at the side of him and the pair of them can’t defend a cross. They also spend way too much time with the ball, which is not entirely their fault, more that of the lack of effective build up play.

I don’t think our overall performances are down to this partnership, however as the stats prove, with it we will continue to ship goals and put even more pressure on a team looking devoid of real confidence and creativity.

 

[KiwiBlabe]

Pedantic point, but Derby too. I agree with general.sentiment that they are not hitting the heights that Anel/Souttar were.

 

[Thrice]

The lack of chemistry between the two is shocking. It's like they make each other worse. They've both had the armband, but I think neither Anel nor Robinson is a player who can lead a backline. They're missing that calming presence that Egan or Souttar provided. I hope Holding can bring that back to a degree.

 

[Davalon]

Despite his limitations I've generally been a fan of Robbo.

However, if what I've been told about the Disabled Club do at the Lane is true, he's not fit to hold the club captain role that people like Billy and Morgs did.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

I’m not sure if the OP is intended to suggest that the main reason for our utterly abject performance today was mainly down to this partnership , but if so is somewhat misguided and of the two Robinson was by far the better performer.

The underlying reason is far deeper than that and has to involve many other aspects of our game .

Not for the first time we were made to look very ordinary and at times inferior to a team struggling in the relegation battle and , given the squad that we have compared to theirs , must lead to questions about our formation , style of play and the role in which some players are asked to perform in which they are clearly not comfortable .

This deficiency has to come down not only to the manager but also his assistant and the coaching staff and needs to change very rapidly if we are to have any chance of promotion .

 

[Houston_Blade]

They can’t play together and I’ve been fairly sure the JLT is the issue since Anel played so well at the side of Souttar, recently I’m not so sure. We could have done with replacing them both.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

We fucked up in January. It will cost us

 

[nopigfansintown]

They're both good players at this level but the blend is miles out. Not enough height and strength. To be fair to Robbo he compensates for this very well with his game attitude but nobody can consistently make up for being at a significant natural physical disadvantage. Anel has always been a big softie despite his frame.Bullied

Three things brought them on to us:

1) A failure of the two central midfielders and two centre backs to progress the ball forward on the ground and beat their press.We had no big player to play over the press too (Moore) which exacerbates the above. Play broke down and brought them onto us

2) A failure of the two centre backs to deal with punts down the middle and big diags.a lot of the time this was enough for them to win the ball high in our half.

3) A failure to win the second balls in midfield when the ball hit the ground after the big punts

United actually looked useful once they got through the first Pompey press, even first half. It's just that it happened very infrequently so the front lads were largely redundant

Peck allowed us to play out whereas JRS and Brewster gave us better options on the counter hence the game changed.

 

[finlaytheblade]

I’m not sure if the OP is intended to suggest that the main reason for our utterly abject performance today was mainly down to this partnership , but if so is somewhat misguided and of the two Robinson was by far the better performer.

The underlying reason is far deeper than that and has to involve many other aspects of our game .

Not for the first time we were made to look very ordinary and at times inferior to a team struggling in the relegation battle and , given the squad that we have compared to theirs , must lead to questions about our formation , style of play and the role in which some players are asked to perform in which they are clearly not comfortable .

This deficiency has to come down not only to the manager but also his assistant and the coaching staff and needs to change very rapidly if we are to have any chance of promotion .

I think your post hits the nail on the head ! are we as a group good enough and Wilder and his set up :coaching staff etc!.CW is acting like a young kid with a selection box of goodies ! eats too many and makes himself sick.
Just what are they doing with a game plan! AB&C load of rubbish players are looking at each other expecting more from others rather than taking responsibility them selves.
Master stroke by Wilder bringing on the 3 subs! Although not directly involved in the goal ! Peck was the catalyst behind this win, not getting the accolades he deserves!what a great attitude and engine he has with quality as well.
We've had some young captains over the years ! Curtis Woodhouse a good example ! he had a great attitude but not the quality Peck has.
How about making him captain?
COH have backed Wilder but did they have much choice ! they will have advisers monitoring our performances winning promotion or not .
Can we go from a shocking
performance to one of our best on Wed ! Boro will be after us ! We as the home team should be after them?
Come on Blades!

 

[mattbianco1]

If Rob Holding isn’t good enough to displace Jack Robinson then that goes down as a terrible signing

Holding will replace Robinson

 

[YES Blade]

Our league results since Souttar got injured is P8 W5 D1 L2. So that’s 16 points or 2 points per game average. So it’s clearly not been an issue getting results.

Central defence is obviously an area of the team that can be improved but I don’t think if we end up playing Anel and Robinson for the majority of the rest of the season it would cost us.

They’re competent at Championship level, but we can’t rely on clean sheets so need to show more attacking threat and get more goals.

 

[Caveblade]

I think your post hits the nail on the head ! are we as a group good enough and Wilder and his set up :coaching staff etc!.CW is acting like a young kid with a selection box of goodies ! eats too many and makes himself sick.
Just what are they doing with a game plan! AB&C load of rubbish players are looking at each other expecting more from others rather than taking responsibility them selves.
Master stroke by Wilder bringing on the 3 subs! Although not directly involved in the goal ! Peck was the catalyst behind this win, not getting the accolades he deserves!what a great attitude and engine he has with quality as well.
We've had some young captains over the years ! Curtis Woodhouse a good example ! he had a great attitude but not the quality Peck has.
How about making him captain?
COH have backed Wilder but did they have much choice ! they will have advisers monitoring our performances winning promotion or not .
Can we go from a shocking
performance to one of our best on Wed ! Boro will be after us ! We as the home team should be after them?
Come on Blades!

Great point re Peck. This kid is going to be a top class player. The game changed as soon as he came on.

We are too slow and predictable at the back. It wàs noticeable the one time Anel ran at them in the first half and broke the press it led to the goal. We then went back to passing it sideways which was what screwed us against Hull.

Wilder has done an amazing job, this has been a complete rebuild, but we have to learn quickly. Peck deserves his place on Wednesday and remember that JRS was key when we played well earlier in the season. We have to be less predictable and put the pressure on back on the opposition.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

We fucked up in January. It will cost us

Everybody knew, the second Souttar went down, he needed replacing with urgency.

Ending up with a half-cooked Rob Holding on loan on the final day was the result of poor planning.
He may come good, but it feels a missed opportunity.

 

[Grizzly blade]

Maybe there is a lack of CB options out there, but at this level I’m not set against Holding coming in.
Yes he might need time to get match sharp, but he has to come in to change this CB pairing.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

Everybody knew, the second Souttar went down, he needed replacing with urgency.

Ending up with a half-cooked Rob Holding on loan on the final day was the result of poor planning.
He may come good, but it feels a missed opportunity.

A very strong transfer window, but with very bad decisions. Which presumably falls on the shoulders of the unquestionable messiah, although we can't rule out owner interference because we don't know them well enough

Cannon - hideous overspend on a fairly average striker who doesn't suit us, which leads to.....
Holding - a rusty CB on loan because we'd already spent the big money. And a CB of a very different mould to Souttar
Clarke - a mediocre right back
Choudhury - a midfielder who consolidates our ugliness and lack of creativity. Might not be such a problem if Wilder wasn't so likely to start him too often in order to justify him

Brereton - no complaints but even he's nothing like fit, and to top it off Wilder's playing him on the right

The two foreign wingers - ever so random and interesting but won't help us this season and seemingly prevented us from spending an extra bit to sign one of the division's players of the season from QPR. This is what makes me suspect owner interference. Wilder wouldn't have signed these 2. And would Wilder have been willing to spend 10m on Cannon, but then not spend 2m or so on Dunne?

 

[KiwiBlabe]

Thinking about this subject the day after. I don't think CB were the main problem yesterday.
We had 2 ball winners in MF and we lost every 2nd ball.
Murphy ran Clark ragged,who was given no help. Resulting in soooo many ball in from the right.
Pompey played through our "press" at one point yesterday and got from the edge of thier box to midway in our half in 2 passes.
We hoofed the ball missing the MF all 1st half To Cannon which was meat and drink to the big CBs.
In summary there was so much wrong with the performance, that our issues at CB could have been easily masked if just one or two of the deficiencies were sorted.
I'm certainly not advocating sticking with the current CBs, but there are bigger fish to fry for me. If we get the balance if the team right, the 2 CBs in situ would see us through I'm sure. However, I do hope Holding is an improvement and forms a Souttar like partnership with Anel.
After all that, we did what we had to and got 3 points, UTB

 

[AnstonBlade1]

The partnership is done everyone knew the priority in Jan was a defender, Cannon wasn’t a priority.
Half that money should of gone on a defender.

 

[ancientblade]

actually thought anel was the worst of the 2 yesterday but its not working thats obvious big decision for wilder but holding has to come in for one of them or go in between em in a 3

 

[Berkshire Blade]

Robinson isn't top end championship level and playing along side him would be as nerve wracking as playing next to a stick of tnt with the fuse burning down. You know a mistake is coming.

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

We have to get Anel back over to the left by the way

He should never be on the side of our weakest full back. Carry on with him and Clarke and we're fucked, based on yesterday

And based on yesterday Gilchrist is still our best option at RB. But he missed the squad - another implication of fuck ups in January

 

[ReeceofBDTBL]

I’m not sure if the OP is intended to suggest that the main reason for our utterly abject performance today was mainly down to this partnership , but if so is somewhat misguided and of the two Robinson was by far the better performer.

The underlying reason is far deeper than that and has to involve many other aspects of our game .

Not for the first time we were made to look very ordinary and at times inferior to a team struggling in the relegation battle and , given the squad that we have compared to theirs , must lead to questions about our formation , style of play and the role in which some players are asked to perform in which they are clearly not comfortable .

This deficiency has to come down not only to the manager but also his assistant and the coaching staff and needs to change very rapidly if we are to have any chance of promotion .

I absolutely am not suggesting it’s the main reason for the poor performances of the whole team. So you’re debating with someone else entirely.

It’s still a huge problem, the heart of the defence in any team is always crucial.
Since losing Souttar, we’ve basically conceded in every game where JLT and Anel have some actual defending to do.

 

[Bladesince59]

And Robbos contract expires when?

 

[1973Blade]

Stats can be spun in different ways. Since the Sunderland game we have conceded more than one goal only once against Hull. But, yes, the defence does look shaky at times.

 

[HermitageBlade]

Anel wasn’t great yesterday but to say he’s worse than Robbo is insane. Seriously if you can’t see why we’re shaky at the back since Robbo came into the team give it up. He’s really really really poor, the one big tackle a game does not make up for the needless fouls he gives away in dangerous positions, his slow recovery and for me worst of all his woeful passing and build up play.

 

[Frank the tank]

Maybe there is a lack of CB options out there, but at this level I’m not set against Holding coming in.
Yes he might need time to get match sharp, but he has to come in to change this CB pairing.

I agree should have been In yesterday even if just to get him up to speed

I think he will do OK
We can't carry on with that back line

 

[alcoblade]

Anel wasn’t great yesterday but to say he’s worse than Robbo is insane. Seriously if you can’t see why we’re shaky at the back since Robbo came into the team give it up. He’s really really really poor, the one big tackle a game does not make up for the needless fouls he gives away in dangerous positions, his slow recovery and for me worst of all his woeful passing and build up play.

It's much more about the loss of Soutar than it is about Robinson coming back. I think there's definitely an argument regarding who's better between Anel and Robinson. Anel is painfully week, and very poor in the air.

 

[Cheeky Blade]

I’m not sure if the OP is intended to suggest that the main reason for our utterly abject performance today was mainly down to this partnership , but if so is somewhat misguided and of the two Robinson was by far the better performer.

The underlying reason is far deeper than that and has to involve many other aspects of our game .

Not for the first time we were made to look very ordinary and at times inferior to a team struggling in the relegation battle and , given the squad that we have compared to theirs , must lead to questions about our formation , style of play and the role in which some players are asked to perform in which they are clearly not comfortable .

This deficiency has to come down not only to the manager but also his assistant and the coaching staff and needs to change very rapidly if we are to have any chance of promotion .

A bold suggestion to change the manager, his assistant and coaching staff two-thirds of the way through a season and sat second place in the Champonship.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Cannot have these two as a CB partnership , neither is a leader nor an organiser . Every time they put the ball in the box yesterday it was panic stations , just looked like last season all over again , without Cooper yesterday that could have been so much worse.
As well as been the dominant ball winner Souttar was the organiser back there and Anel looked a completely different player .
The priority of this transfer window should have been his replacement & I don’t think Holding who hasn’t played first team football all season was the answer ..stinks of desperation if I’m honest . I think some the cash that was used to purchase Cannon would have better been spent on Tanganga or Dunne who reportedly approached.
Worryingly the only thing I can see shoring us up is going back to 3 CB’s again .. and that’s a conversation on its own