A lot of money to pay for a player well below PL quality. As far as I’m aware, no other club were seriously interested in signing him. I just hope he doesn’t become another Rante, Hyndman, Ibe, Afobe, Murray, Tomlin and too many others.
We desperately need a big ugly no-nonsense centre back. Someone like the guy Mings, currently playing at Aston Villa would do fine.
Astounding reaction to a player after he's only been at AFCB for a month. This is akin to the "not fit to wear the shirt" King thread a few seasons ago.... but after only 2 matches!!!A lot of money to pay for a player well below PL quality. As far as I’m aware, no other club were seriously interested in signing him. I just hope he doesn’t become another Rante, Hyndman, Ibe, Afobe, Murray, Tomlin and too many others.
We desperately need a big ugly no-nonsense centre back. Someone like the guy Mings, currently playing at Aston Villa would do fine.
I didn't watch the match live but....
We conceded five. Does Ake get away scot free on this?
In which case, we know he can play well. He was in team of the daybon Saturday.Ake was less bad, but also played poorly.
The very last thing we need is a big no nonsense ugly centre back. Think Wes Morgans performance against us this seasonVirtually all the goals we concede are allowing pacy forwards in behind our defence. The amount of goals we concede from high balls pumped into the box is negligible.
What we need are quick defenders who read the game well and make a tackle as a last resort. It’s too early to say if Mepham is that guy, but I’m pretty certain he’ll be more effective than this mythical old skool big ugly no nonsense centre back that occasionally gets mentioned!
Lol I was tempted to mention Big Wes in my post!The very last thing we need is a big no nonsense ugly centre back. Think Wes Morgans performance against us this season
From kickoff our shape was confusing. As a viewer, never mind as a player. Our fullbacks were getting caught too far forwards which meant that Mepham and Ake were trying to cover the space which created gaps in and behind.
For me that is either an issue with tactics, or maybe (by the amount that Eddie was shouting in the first 20 mins) the players not adhering to the plan. I don’t think you can blame the CBs too much for this, they were always going to be the last man and made to look worse by being fully stretched. I’ve said similar things about Cook in the past.
Smithy had an absolute shocker last night. From the assist for Arsenal’s second to continual giving the ball away or not tracking his man well enough. He was trying to hard to make things happen up front without concentrating on his defensive duties. When Rico came on I actually thought he did a far better job at both ends. I thought it was strange to start with 2RBs and 0LBs and end the game with 2LBs, in hindsight Daniels should have been brought on for Smith or Smith pushed up in place of the ineffective Ibe.
I thought Gosling ran his socks off but as usual the Surman-Gosling partnership didn’t work and provided little in the way of attacking chances or defensive coverage. It’s a bit like the Lampard-Gerrard conundrum only more tinpot.
In summary I think Mepham was thrown in at the deep end here with the least amount of support or protection from his teammates he is likely to get. Lets give the poor lad a fighting chance before the lynching starts.
From kickoff our shape was confusing. As a viewer, never mind as a player. Our fullbacks were getting caught too far forwards which meant that Mepham and Ake were trying to cover the space which created gaps in and behind.
For me that is either an issue with tactics, or maybe (by the amount that Eddie was shouting in the first 20 mins) the players not adhering to the plan. I don’t think you can blame the CBs too much for this, they were always going to be the last man and made to look worse by being fully stretched. I’ve said similar things about Cook in the past.
Smithy had an absolute shocker last night. From the assist for Arsenal’s second to continual giving the ball away or not tracking his man well enough. He was trying to hard to make things happen up front without concentrating on his defensive duties. When Rico came on I actually thought he did a far better job at both ends. I thought it was strange to start with 2RBs and 0LBs and end the game with 2LBs, in hindsight Daniels should have been brought on for Smith or Smith pushed up in place of the ineffective Ibe.
I thought Gosling ran his socks off but as usual the Surman-Gosling partnership didn’t work and provided little in the way of attacking chances or defensive coverage. It’s a bit like the Lampard-Gerrard conundrum only more tinpot.
In summary I think Mepham was thrown in at the deep end here with the least amount of support or protection from his teammates he is likely to get. Lets give the poor lad a fighting chance before the lynching starts.