Leading from the front

[guancheblade]

Is it just me or do we look a far more threatening team when we have Sharp on the pitch? To me this is the one constant throughout the season so far.

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

When he came on last night our attacking play went up a couple of notches which brought out the best in McG, Fleck and others. And because the ball isn't coming straight back, he also buys time for our defence to regroup and catch their breath. I'm sure the other 10 on the pitch feel more confident when their club captain is out there with them.

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

Is it just me or do we look a far more threatening team when we have Sharp on the pitch? To me this is the one constant throughout the season so far.

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

When he came on last night our attacking play went up a couple of notches which brought out the best in McG, Fleck and others. And because the ball isn't coming straight back, he also buys time for our defence to regroup and catch their breath. I'm sure the other 10 on the pitch feel more confident when their club captain is out there with them.

Might need to take cover but I thought he was very poor with the ball. Taking the wrong option and losing it a lot. Worked hard closing down though but his area of strength is in the box and I don’t think he even touched the ball in their box

 

[Pinchy]

Is it just me or do we look a far more threatening team when we have Sharp on the pitch? To me this is the one constant throughout the season so far.

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

When he came on last night our attacking play went up a couple of notches which brought out the best in McG, Fleck and others. And because the ball isn't coming straight back, he also buys time for our defence to regroup and catch their breath. I'm sure the other 10 on the pitch feel more confident when their club captain is out there with them.

Bladey Claptrap.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

This is less than 24 hours after McGoldrick did all of these things. Sharp was also good when he came on, but I’m amazed you don’t think McGoldrick’s our best forward at linking with midfield.

 

[Pinchy]

Might need to take cover but I thought he was very poor with the ball. Taking the wrong option and losing it a lot. Worked hard closing down though but his area of strength is in the box and I don’t think he even touched the ball in their box

Quite right. The Billy Blades see what they want to see. It bears no resemblance to reality.

 

[I should coco]

Bladey Claptrap.

I thought our resident Fleck-hater might have the decency to keep his head down today.

Only in S2 eh?

 

[S40BLADE]

Bladey Claptrap.

Are you saying that Sharp isn't good at holding up play?

 

[guancheblade]

Worked hard closing down though but his area of strength is in the box and I don’t think he even touched the ball in their box

JOC and the Mousse aside.. did anyone else either? (NOTE: Sharp did indeed touch the ball in the box, trapping and laying off to a team mate in a better position)

I must have seen a different performance cos when he came on especially the first 5 mins we had a number of moves with him at the fulcrum, bringing players in and working neat triangles. To me its as if he just knows what is required in that role and has that understanding with the rest of them.

 

[SwissBlade]

Might need to take cover but I thought he was very poor with the ball. Taking the wrong option and losing it a lot. Worked hard closing down though but his area of strength is in the box and I don’t think he even touched the ball in their box

Agreed. Thought we were more attacking with freeman, Sharp and McBurnie on, but I also felt we didn’t use the ball well enough when they were on.

McG was immense and Mousset was very dangerous. Even up against some decent and quick defenders.

 

[CopenhagenBlade]

JOC and the Mousse aside.. did anyone else either? (NOTE: Sharp did indeed touch the ball in the box, trapping and laying off to a team mate in a better position)

I must have seen a different performance cos when he came on especially the first 5 mins we had a number of moves with him at the fulcrum, bringing players in and working neat triangles. To me its as if he just knows what is required in that role and has that understanding with the rest of them.

You could be right, sometimes you need to see a game again to see everything. It just stood out for me that he lost the ball a lot

 

[guancheblade]

This is less than 24 hours after McGoldrick did all of these things. Sharp was also good when he came on, but I’m amazed you don’t think McGoldrick’s our best forward at linking with midfield.

I was never making that argument, clearly. I believe we've looked our best with Sharp on the pitch and that doesn't preclude McGoldrick being in the team at the same time either.

And even if you only look at the link up play between the forwards, McG and Sharp looked the best combo on the night.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I was never making that argument, clearly. I believe we've looked our best with Sharp on the pitch and that doesn't preclude McGoldrick being in the team at the same time either.

And even if you only look at the link up play between the forwards, McG and Sharp looked the best combo on the night.

I don’t disagree with that, but I do disagree with your original suggestion that McGoldrick doesn’t also have that knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick. He does, and I thought we looked a different prospect to the Watford game because of it. That’s not to play down Sharp’s role as a link player in the slightest, something I’ve always called people up on whenever they suggest he’s just a finisher.

 

[Bladesman]

I thought our resident Fleck-hater might have the decency to keep his head down today.

Only in S2 eh?

The troll back from holiday to troll some more. Imagine my shock.

That said Sharp did okay when he came, it wasn't one of his better performances.

 

[Mumbo]

Is it just me or do we look a far more threatening team when we have Sharp on the pitch? To me this is the one constant throughout the season so far.

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

When he came on last night our attacking play went up a couple of notches which brought out the best in McG, Fleck and others. And because the ball isn't coming straight back, he also buys time for our defence to regroup and catch their breath. I'm sure the other 10 on the pitch feel more confident when their club captain is out there with them.

I’m a Billeiber and I have no doubt about what he adds to our team but last night things did’nt quite roll for Billy.
when he broke away and made a slow beeline for the corner instead of a direct run at goal or looking for advancing blades to his right,I thought
he’d made the wrong choice which was compounded when he gave the ball away in the same passage of play.
Contrary to what I’ve read on here he can actually hold the ball up rather well and there were chances that he would have took as first time volleys which other
lesser finishes felt the need to control but then of course the chance was gone.

 

[Snowman]

McBurnie is still shit.

 

[Maidenhead]

Might need to take cover but I thought he was very poor with the ball. Taking the wrong option and losing it a lot. Worked hard closing down though but his area of strength is in the box and I don’t think he even touched the ball in their box

Have to agree with this.

I've just watched the game again on tele and although Billy worked hard and ran around a lot I don't think he had one positive outcome with the ball, or if he did I can't remember it.

All effort and no end product for me.

 

[Champagneblade]

Bladey Claptrap.

Nothing against Billy but last night I felt he ran into a number of blind alleys and got dispossessed a fair bit! Would've been nice to see him get a few chances or even half chances though.

 

[guancheblade]

I’m a Billeiber and I have no doubt about what he adds to our team but last night things did’nt quite roll for Billy.
when he broke away and made a slow beeline for the corner instead of a direct run at goal or looking for advancing blades to his right,I thought
he’d made the wrong choice which was compounded when he gave the ball away in the same passage of play.
Contrary to what I’ve read on here he can actually hold the ball up rather well and there were chances that he would have took as first time volleys which other
lesser finishes felt the need to control but then of course the chance was gone.

A slow dribble with the ball towards the corner was exactly what was required at that moment! You really expected us to go for a second goal and risk the counter? Billy did plenty of what he's good at last night. Yes he lost out a few times, but so did the rest of the forwards, more so than him. And he's had fewer minutes than all of them so he's gonna be a little rusty.

Not saying he's perfect. But with him in the 11 the entire team looks better. That's my point.

 

[Yewsman]

I thought he did well. He worked really hard to close them down including going deep to help out in midfield. He set up Baldock with a really good chance which George should have hit first time in my view. He took a touch then skewed it well wide of the RH post. It was difficult as the ball was just being hit hopefully forward. Yes he did lose it a couple of times but overall did well.

 

[Sean Thornton]

McBurnie is still shit.

Someone should tell him that adding just a woolly hat doesn’t give him the full “street liver” look, although with dogs not being allowed at the Lane, walking around with just a rope will make him look daft....

 

[Pinchy]

Nothing against Billy but last night I felt he ran into a number of blind alleys and got dispossessed a fair bit! Would've been nice to see him get a few chances or even half chances though.

He played marginally better or about as well as Oli McBurnie. That’s the reality, but it’s not the current party line.

 

[Akinbiyi]

We have done previously (like at Watford and against Leicester when he was introduced with Oli) - but not yesterday. He was quite poor with the ball, and our attacking play 'went up a couple of notches' only because we went back to having 11 men on the pitch rather than 10 and a patched up Mousset.

 

[Wards]

McG is the best we have at present IMO, despite his lack of goals. Can hold, create, dribble. It's him plus one other - and it's Mousset's to lose now.

 

[Snake]

We are crying out for a Wilfried Zaha type up front to compliment our fantastic defensive attributes. Sharp (as much as I like the guy) will never be effective when we are solid and digging in. You need a pacy strong outlet ball player - it stretches the play and gives the defence something to think about. Pace and power hurts!

Sharp did ok, nothing more. However in the grand scheme of things I don't give a fook, 3 points in the bag

 

[Woodys Thunderbolt]

Is it just me or do we look a far more threatening team when we have Sharp on the pitch? To me this is the one constant throughout the season so far.

None of our other forward options have his knack of getting amongst defenders and making the ball stick, buying time for midfielders and bringing them into play. Skills that are even more important when we're playing with the flat three in midfield.

When he came on last night our attacking play went up a couple of notches which brought out the best in McG, Fleck and others. And because the ball isn't coming straight back, he also buys time for our defence to regroup and catch their breath. I'm sure the other 10 on the pitch feel more confident when their club captain is out there with them.

Yes it's just you.
When Billy came on we lost all our attacking threat and the ball kept coming straight back, would have prefered to have seen Robinson replace Sharp just for the pace up top.

 

[Woodys Thunderbolt]

A slow dribble with the ball towards the corner was exactly what was required at that moment! You really expected us to go for a second goal and risk the counter? Billy did plenty of what he's good at last night. Yes he lost out a few times, but so did the rest of the forwards, more so than him. And he's had fewer minutes than all of them so he's gonna be a little rusty.

Not saying he's perfect. But with him in the 11 the entire team looks better. That's my point.

A slow dribble with the ball towards the corner was his only option because he didn't have the pace to go for goal.

 

[Mumbo]

A slow dribble with the ball towards the corner was exactly what was required at that moment! You really expected us to go for a second goal and risk the counter? Billy did plenty of what he's good at last night. Yes he lost out a few times, but so did the rest of the forwards, more so than him. And he's had fewer minutes than all of them so he's gonna be a little rusty.

Not saying he's perfect. But with him in the 11 the entire team looks better. That's my point.

If it wasn’t for the quick counter that actually happened I might be inclined to agree.

 

[Bergen Blade]

We are crying out for a Wilfried Zaha type up front to compliment our fantastic defensive attributes. Sharp (as much as I like the guy) will never be effective when we are solid and digging in. You need a pacy strong outlet ball player - it stretches the play and gives the defence something to think about. Pace and power hurts!

Sharp did ok, nothing more. However in the grand scheme of things I don't give a fook, 3 points in the bag

I think Sharp would prefer to stay in the box and wait for chances to come to him, but yesterday was about keeping that lead and he did a job for the team. His hard work, chasing and fighting played a part, although it probably influenced his ball control and decision making on occasions as well.

Brentford at home last season was another game where he came on and helped us get a result.

Long term we need to be looking for more striker additions though, I'd take a Zaha type as well.

 

[guancheblade]

Yes it's just you.
When Billy came on we lost all our attacking threat and the ball kept coming straight back, would have prefered to have seen Robinson replace Sharp just for the pace up top.

So setting up chances for Fleck and Baldock don't count then?

 

[DronnieBlade]

Little love on ere for our Skipper it seems.

More importantly, being 4th or 5th choice as things stand with the gaffer will become increasingly untenable for all concerned.

Big mistake !

UTB