Jumping the gun, way too early, pat on the back to AFCB thread

Agree about L.Cook... In the time he has spent on the pitch, I don't think he has necessarily done anything to suggest to me, he deserves his place in a side that has been winning and winning whilst playing well.

This break will be Cook's first chance to stake his claim on a birth that currently isn't his now... I am sure Eddie is looking for that moment to squeeze him in alongside Lerma, as he probably realises Cook, can be a better player than Gosling... Just that right now, he isn't and Gosling is playing too well to drop...
 
The thing I am most pleased with is that Eddie has finally identified the weaknesses in the starting eleven and acted on it.
Last season if there were poor performances,the same names were cropping up.
Daniels,Surman,Ibe,Francis.
Eddie has finally recognised that when everyone is available ,that Smith should start over Francis.
Rico was thrown in for Daniels as soon as he was available,ditto Lerma for Surman.
Brooks was also given the nod over Ibe.
We have the strongest squad since we have been in this League and I'll stick my neck out and say we are already looking stronger than last season and I think this could be our best season yet.

Daniels,Surman,Ibe,Francis.
Aren't they the normal scapegoats when we lose?
 
Agree about L.Cook... In the time he has spent on the pitch, I don't think he has necessarily done anything to suggest to me, he deserves his place in a side that has been winning and winning whilst playing well.

This break will be Cook's first chance to stake his claim on a birth that currently isn't his now... I am sure Eddie is looking for that moment to squeeze him in alongside Lerma, as he probably realises Cook, can be a better player than Gosling... Just that right now, he isn't and Gosling is playing too well to drop...
Totally disagree with this, Lewis can do more with the ball than Gosling has ever done. Plus, his talents are recognised by Gareth Southgate and Ady Boothroyd.
 
Totally disagree with this, Lewis can do more with the ball than Gosling has ever done. Plus, his talents are recognised by Gareth Southgate and Ady Boothroyd.

I don't actually think anyone is disagreeing that Cook can do more on the ball than Gosling. The point being made is that on the basis of this season so far, Gosling has put in the better performances. When that changes, and it will change, everyone knows Cook will be back in the team.
 
....hopefully Lewis Cook is hungry to win his place back, but as said Gosling is playing his guts out to stay in the side...the competition for the midfield is now fierce and that can only be a huge incentive for the likes of Brooks, Surman, Lerma, Cook and Gosling?

The more worrying thing is Ibe and his lack of progress given the time that he has had?....and Stanislas will be back in the fold at some point to challenge for his place too!

These are great times for us..we shouldn't forget our depth of squad now!
 
Totally disagree with this, Lewis can do more with the ball than Gosling has ever done. Plus, his talents are recognised by Gareth Southgate and Ady Boothroyd.

As others have said, I'm not denying your point, in fact I actually said he could be better, but on recent form, and the key word here is 'recent', Gosling is the preferred player.

Eddie has always recognised good, honest hard work, as an equal to skill. You just have to look at his infatuation with Lewis Grabban for that (for all his faults Grabbs was a grafter). Season on season, Gosling has proven he can graft... His game is not the same as Lewis' game. What Gosling lacks in skill he surpasses Cook (IMO) for work-rate.

Cook's time will come, and I reckon it will be sooner rather than later as well. Recognition at England level does not necessarily mean he has to play each week. I just hope Cook realises he simply needs to be better to get his chance, and not get the hump at spending more time on the bench.
 
My only worry with Cook currently is that when he does get on the pitch, he's going to be trying to force things, trying to be too clever, in an effort to impress and win his place back. That leads to silly stuff like we saw late on against Everton where he's trying to be far too clever rather than keeping it simple when it needs to be simple.

Hopefully a quick chat with Eddie can cure this. Assuring Cook that when introduced he just needs to calmly go about his usual game, turning and distributing the ball, rather than trying to dribble the whole opposition team and then play the perfect killer ball, all on his own.
 
The cup game against MK, I thought looked better with Lewis Cook playing deeper and Lerma further forward, which was not what I expected at all. I'd be interested if anyone else saw that. Is it not the way that Cook plays in the England set up?
 
Our XI looked like World beaters against MK Dons... I know you can only beat what is put in front of you, and we were very good... but we do have to take into consideration we were playing a side in Lg 2.

Lerma looked awesome in that Tuesday night game, and whilst he still looked good up at the Bridge, he was not the free flowing, midfield maestro that we saw against MK.

What I'm trying to say is that we can't really take too much from the MK game as the reality is they are well below what we will come up against every week...
 
Is it not the way that Cook plays in the England set up?

He's not intentionally played deeper with England, he's a box to box midfielder, equally happy at 4 or 8. Just he's more positionally aware and disciplined than a lot of his team mates (especially at u19 and u20), so he just naturally sacrifices his game a little when full backs both bomb on, or a centre back goes wandering upfield. Should happen less as the players around him mature

Whilst I think nsm point about overlaying and trying too hard has validity for any player, the discipline I mention above makes me less concerned about Cook than I might be with others. Yes he overplayed a couple of times, but I think that's more about him not being scared of the game, not content to be a passenger

Some players his age are just happy to get minutes and can hide sometimes, at the same time I'm super optimistic about him so am choosing the 'Goulet Alternative View'. That said he's not in the team right now because he's not done enough and that's perfectly fair. Long summer, he'll get two full competitive matches with England, and hopefully be raring to start his season proper
 
Totally disagree with this, Lewis can do more with the ball than Gosling has ever done. Plus, his talents are recognised by Gareth Southgate and Ady Boothroyd.

That is irrelevant and pointless. Gosling has strengths that Cook doesn't have.
No one will argue that Cook is not more creative but you need players to put in the hard yards week after week - Gosling has been superb at that so far this season and over the past 3 seasons. The only thing that matters is getting the balance of the midfield right. Cook will get his chance again - of course he will - it is up to him to grab it.
 
It's a fair point about Cook. England managers and the media always whinge about young English players not getting games in the league. Well Cook had a pre-season disrupted by England and that seems to have put him behind in the pecking order - will England whinge about that?

He's also got two games now whilst the rest of them will be working with the squad so might not even come straight back in. England can't have it both ways.
 
This whole Cook versus the other midfielders reminds of the same arguments and counter arguments on this board when Eddie decided to drop Wiltshire .Some posters couldn’t fathom it as they see skill and flair as the be all and end all , whereas Eddie seems to put more value on the grafters ,especially during targeted winnable games .
 
so you think our recruitment team have done a good job this summer, neil, or are you just too embarrassed to say so?

I think our recruitment team did a great job this summer and a good job last summer. I’ve said so many times.

Not embarrassed in the slightest to say this...in fact I’ve been dying to say it. :)
 
Our XI looked like World beaters against MK Dons... I know you can only beat what is put in front of you, and we were very good... but we do have to take into consideration we were playing a side in Lg 2.

Lerma looked awesome in that Tuesday night game, and whilst he still looked good up at the Bridge, he was not the free flowing, midfield maestro that we saw against MK.

What I'm trying to say is that we can't really take too much from the MK game as the reality is they are well below what we will come up against every week...
That's very true, and Eddie seemed to be trying some different systems over the course of that game.
 

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