The supertanker turns - 3 on the bounce

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Flynn beat 3 defenders with skill and pace then put in a great low cross for Robson to win the penalty. A good, decisive early contribution and then when Colchester did threaten during the rest of the game I don't think any threat came down the flank Flynn was monitoring. He could have had a goal but fluffed his lines from a rebound in 2nd half. Don't see how people wouldn't say he had a good game yesterday, even if they're not a fan of his play in general.
 
OllyBlade said:
Flynn beat 3 defenders with skill and pace then put in a great low cross for Robson to win the penalty.
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He sidestepped their centre half and then got his body in front of the backtracking right back. The centre half caught up with him by the time the cross came in, but it went low and between his legs. But Flynn was decisive and determined and ran at full speed, he should do that more often.
 
blade too long said:
Robson confirmed what I knew , hes the right blend of experience and quality we needed to balance things out , and as expected tired after an hour or so due to his lack of games, but this will improve ,this might be the best signing of the Wilson era
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I think Robson gave the ball away more times than anyone else on the pitch. Some of the reason for that is that he tries killer passes quite often, something that we've missed. Another reason may be his fitness. If his pulse is too high he's going to struggle for precision.

There was one episode in the first half which describes his current level. He came deep to get the ball (good), played the ball between an opponent's legs (good), but then didn't have the legs to reach the ball again (poor). Seconds later Colchester played a ball in behind our midfield and Robson was the closest to the Colchester man who got the ball. Robson made no attempt to chase after him (poor), and eventually he was allowed to fire their best shot of the game, although Long saved it. Later he seemed to argue with Doyle (who also seemed to take a break) who were supposed to pick their man up.

He generally looks the slowest United player since McCall in his last season.

But he did a few good things. Although he may have cheated when going down to win the penalty, he showed good anticipation and some energy to get to the cross first. The penalty was good. Towards the end of the first half he played a superb cross field ball to Flynn. Shortly after he played a great cross to Kitson when he nodded home, but was ruled offside. There were some good touches here and there, and it can benefit us to have someone other than McDonald who is confident and composed on the ball and looking to try killer balls.

It will be interesting to see if he'll improve with more training.
 
Yes there were some misplaced passes , but did you notice they were all up the park , away from our goal , and as I said we shouldnt expect a flawless display from a player thats had around 12 minutes game time before saturday in 2013, the raw quality and up in pace comes with game time, maccyd has time to flourish as the loads been lightened , an even better side effect
 
blade too long said:
Yes there were some misplaced passes , but did you notice they were all up the park , away from our goal , and as I said we shouldnt expect a flawless display from a player thats had around 12 minutes game time before saturday in 2013, the raw quality and up in pace comes with game time, maccyd has time to flourish as the loads been lightened , an even better side effect
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That's one of the longest sentences I've ever seen. It's certainly the longest without a full-stop.

Once deciphered, however, I agree.

Here's a novelty: Robson IN!
 
Pinchy said:
I recognise Flynn's contribution. Robson, however, is top class at this level. If Jonno is fit next week it has to be Flynn who loses out in my view.

Given the opposition, though, DW may go 4-5-1, though I sincerely hope not. It's no coincidence that a bolder approach, and less concentration on the opposition, has seen better results. If that were the case, I would still select Murph and Forte as the wide forwards at Flynn's expense.

Either way Robbo should retain his place, at least for the first hour. :)
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I would leave out Murphy in this scenario, he has yet to convince me of his talents, other than good pace. His general awareness doesn't seem apparent from what I've seen, but then again, I haven't seen him away from home, so maybe I'm being a tad harsh. The 3 home games I've seen him, I'm currently underwhelmed.

Robson has obvious qualities, young legs not being one of them, so any suggestion of playing him in the middle with KMac, is a non-starter for me. Unless his stamina/fitness has some capacity to come, I think he'll either start with a roving commission and give it an hour of his best, or, role from bench to suit specific situation.

Flynn, pointless trying to convince some that he is a good player who brings more than the blindingly obvious to the table. I'm sold on him, I recognise when he is below par, but like the manager, I would pick him every time as he does so much good work that goes unnoticed to those who cannot see.
 
LSF said:
I would leave out Murphy in this scenario, he has yet to convince me of his talents, other than good pace. His general awareness doesn't seem apparent from what I've seen, but then again, I haven't seen him away from home, so maybe I'm being a tad harsh. The 3 home games I've seen him, I'm currently underwhelmed.

Robson has obvious qualities, young legs not being one of them, so any suggestion of playing him in the middle with KMac, is a non-starter for me. Unless his stamina/fitness has some capacity to come, I think he'll either start with a roving commission and give it an hour of his best, or, role from bench to suit specific situation.

Flynn, pointless trying to convince some that he is a good player who brings more than the blindingly obvious to the table. I'm sold on him, I recognise when he is below par, but like the manager, I would pick him every time as he does so much good work that goes unnoticed to those who cannot see.
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Really? I think he had a decent game sat.
 
blade too long said:
Yes there were some misplaced passes , but did you notice they were all up the park , away from our goal , and as I said we shouldnt expect a flawless display from a player thats had around 12 minutes game time before saturday in 2013, the raw quality and up in pace comes with game time, maccyd has time to flourish as the loads been lightened , an even better side effect
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The way he is described in this article is similar to his performance on Saturday:


Barry Robson has shown hints of his effectiveness, but he still gives the ball away a lot for a central midfielder.
When Barry Robson is at his combative best, it’s hard not to love watching him play.

Clattering into opponents, attempting audacious shots on goal, and displaying the sort of body language that lets everyone know he cares are all surefire ways for the Scottish designated player to get the kids lining up around the block to get a shirt with his name on the back.

And in time that’s sure to happen – especially if he sets up a few more goals like he did for Kenny Miller’s 68th minute effort against the Colorado Rapids in the club’s 2-2 draw on Sunday.

But for as entertaining as Robson is, there must surely still be questions about his effectiveness. For a central midfielder, he loses the ball an awful lot, either through misplacing passes or simply being tackled.

In Sunday’s match, he lost the ball through tackles 20 times – more than any other Vancouver player. He also gave the ball away 17 times through unsuccessful passes.

Now it is worth saying he hit more successful passes than any other Whitecaps player with 39, but the main issue here is the ratio of successful uses of the ball in comparison to situations of wasting possession.

As with examining anything soccer related, it’s not exactly a scientific process, and stats don’t tell the full story – some midfielders are more conservative with their passing and thus create little in the way of meaningful attacking play – can a defensive midfielder who passes the ball three feet to more creative players be compared with an attacking midfielder who is constantly attempting more high-risk balls?

No.

But having a look at some the midfield battles over this six-game winless streak will give a glimpse into why this team is struggling to keep the ball, and how that’s impacting its ability to win.

So, for this sake of this discussion, let’s call this the keep:concede ratio, where “keep” is determined by successful passes, and “concede” is the total number of situations where a player gives away the ball through getting tackled or passing to the opposition.

For Sunday’s match, Robson had a ratio of 39:37. Almost a one-for-one swap in terms of using and losing the ball. A 1.05 in decimal terms.

Gershon Koffie had a ratio of 21:11. Perhaps he isn’t quite as adventurous with his passing as Robson, and he certainly wasn’t as involved, but he managed to keep the ball much more effectively for his team throughout the match. A 1.91.

Alain Rochat? 32:24. A 1.33. (It is worth mentioning Rochat only played the first half as a central midfielder before dropping into the back line for the second period).

As for the opponents in the Rapids midfield? Jeff Larentowicz was the epitome of efficiency (barring his dire miss shortly after halftime), completing 48 passes and losing the ball just 13 times.

Hendry Thomas was quietly effective with a ratio of 38:15, for a 2.53.

Martin Rivero, who was the most advanced of Colorado’s central players, had a 30:19 ratio, for a 1.58.

Each of the Rapids’ central players was significantly better than his counterpart when it came to using the ball on Sunday.

But maybe that was just one game. So let’s look at the central players in Vancouver’s previous match, the 1-0 loss to FC Dallas on Sept. 15.

Robson: 32:39, for a score of 0.82.

Koffie: 36:20, for a score of 1.8.

Rochat: 41:20, for a score of 2.05.

Their Dallas counterparts:

Julian de Guzman: 40:12, for a score of 3.33.

Jackson Goncalves: 21:31, for a score of 0.67.

David Ferreira: 32:39, for a score of 0.82.

This isn’t so much an in-depth season-long look as more of a “passing” observation – and Robson has been brought in to be a creative force, so naturally he will be relied upon to attempt high-risk plays in the final third that will inevitably lead to a lower success rate.

Follow MARTIN MACMAHON on

As long as some of those plays come off these numbers are irrelevant, but if head coach Martin Rennie does opt for more 4-4-2 down the stretch, having Robson on the field in addition to two strikers could mean a major gap in midfield due to the amount of high-risk plays the midfielder attempts, and the subsequent amount of times he concedes possession.

To make this a tad more scientific (and just a tad), let’s look at one more match before signing off, the Sept. 1 game where the LA Galaxy won 2-0 at the Home Depot Center through top goals from Juninho and David Beckham.

Robson: 44:40, 1.1

Jun Marques Davidson: 60:3, for a remarkable score of 20. It is worth considering Davidson is perhaps one of the most conservative midfielders in MLS, passing the ball off to a teammate in close proximity as soon as he comes into possession).

Watson: 26:27, 0.96.

The Galaxy only played with two central midfielders:

Beckham: 54:41, 1.31.

Juninho: 52:3, 17.33.

To conclude, these numbers are pointless in comparison to the number on the scoreboard at the end of every match.

But there is something to be said about keeping the ball and using it more effectively.

Martin MacMahon covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for Goal.com Canada
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Original article: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110...on-could-robson-be-more-efficient-on-the-ball
 

Grecian2000 said:
Bloody hell Bergs.

That article nearly had me heading for the Walthy/Dazzler love in on the Martine McTits thread.

Don't think I'll be following him on Twatter anytime soon (although to be fair that puts him in with the other 100% of the population!).
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In short, for every time Robson finds a teammate with a pass, he'll find an opponent with the next. But some of the passes will be really good.
 
"to get the kids lining up around the block to get a shirt with his name on the back."

For some reason I dont think that many will at our club, unless it has his first name on too
 
Bergen Blade said:
In short, for every time Robson finds a teammate with a pass, he'll find an opponent with the next. But some of the passes will be really good.
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That article was seemingly based on him playing in one of the central roles. In a wider role presumably we are happy to have a player attempting more creative passes? I also thought he gave it away quite a bit but then made some very very good passes, whilst also putting in a brilliant cross for Kitson's disallowed goal. If Doyle gets his role right at home and sits deep and we play through Kmac and Robson surely we can turn around the home form?
 
Pinchy said:
That's one of the longest sentences I've ever seen. It's certainly the longest without a full-stop.

Once deciphered, however, I agree.

Here's a novelty: Robson IN!
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the full stop button doesnt ork on my computer , nor does the v v( put together)
 
blade too long said:
the full stop button doesnt ork on my computer , nor does the v v( put together)
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ell, let's hope the mighty Blades in at Bournemouth this eekend, in fact lets allop the southern ankers, maybe Cressell ill come off the bench and hack in the inner; e need to use our ingers isely and keep a close atch on their idemen

If e do in, I shall get asted

:)
 
LSF said:
Flynn, pointless trying to convince some that he is a good player who brings more than the blindingly obvious to the table. I'm sold on him, I recognise when he is below par, but like the manager, I would pick him every time as he does so much good work that goes unnoticed to those who cannot see.
Click to expand...

Speaking as one who can't see, my money is on Flynn being the winger that makes way the minute we have any options. I hope so anyway.

UTB
 
Pinchy said:
ell, let's hope the mighty Blades in at Bournemouth this eekend, in fact lets allop the southern ankers, maybe Cressell ill come off the bench and hack in the inner; e need to use our ingers isely and keep a close atch on their idemen

If e do in, I shall get asted

:)
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hope you have a onderful day out hope e in ith a orkmanlike display
 
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