Mark Noble refused to be downbeat following what most saw as a disappointing Europa Cup draw in Romania last night.“We have picked up a few injuries which is not great and our thoughts go out to Andre [Ayew] who has suffered a tough time in just his first game.
“We had a lot of young players in the squad which is what this competition is for. If the squad is not big enough to play first-team players then you pick the youngsters which is what we have done. We got a draw and are now at home in the second leg.”
Noble quickly turns his attention to the first ever Premier League game at the new Stadium against Bournemouth on Sunday and says it will be a special day for everyone involved with the football club.
“I am looking forward to Sunday and it is finally upon us. I have been waiting a long time for it.
“The three hour trip to Romania was not ideal three days before but we are football players and have to get on with it.”
It was great to see some younger players last night & Burke out of all of them looked very good.They need these matches,it will do them good in the long run.The Europa League is what our fans wanted to see the kids play in so I don’t get why now they moan that we didnt have a fuller strength team out or we didn’t turn them over easily.You can’t have your cake & eat it unless youre Mr.Kipling 😉
I can’t disagree there P45.Many fans wanted the youth to be given their head in this match.I have seen it all week.They got what they wanted but now complain.I don’t know about Mr.Kipling but you can’t always have it both ways..It’s a sad state of affairs these days when fans are calling out managers & players after a couple of matches of the season.There are far too many Princesses amongst our fanbase these days who love a bit of drama.
Indeed, we have to give the young players a chance which is why I would have rather seen Callieri kept on and Fletcher given the chance to play alongside him instead of Carroll. Antonio put a huge shift in, was impressed by Browne too, Byram made a few mistakes but we want our young players to make those mistakes in these type of games or have to accept that they will make them in more important games but of they do, we have to play them again in the next game so they can iron out those mistakes and improve. At Everton Stones made loads of mistakes as did Barclay but they kept playing them and they have improved, if we do the same ours will also improve, against teams that are not as strong we should give youth a chance, Bournemouth on Sunday is another opportunity, put Oxford in play Fletcher alongside Callieri instead of Valencia and Carroll, give us pace and control up top, the ball sticks to Fletcher more than it does Carroll and he is an intelligent player. I doubt it will happen but imho Slav is missing a trick if he doesn’t get Fletcher some game time other than the U23’s. I think we look terrible with Carroll in the team and we play in the same way we did under Sam, with pace up top we look like we can score two or three even if we are defensively less stable, teams want us to play Carroll because we are less of a threat to most of them, that is why Leicester won the league and we slowly slipped down. Against Man City however Carroll may prove to be an equaliser likewise teams like Arsenal, if you are going to be played off the park make sure you have three up top around Carroll and play only long diagonals straight onto his head and win the second balls, best to bypass their midfield as they want to win the ball back off you high up the pitch and keep you penned in building pressure constantly, the goalie also has to hold onto the ball for much longer than ours do and as soon as he has it the whole team has to get as high as possible up the pitch to condense the game in the opponents half.
Bang on 45 and to see Noble Obiang Ogbonna and Antonio showing better form,
The 3 lads at the back should now start being considered for starting roles every game
Byram should be left at RB Oxford or Burke should start next to Oggy and Arthur should come back into his LB role,
Reid and Collins now need to improve or sit on the bench,
We could now develop our defence with Cressie coming back for the next 3-7 years,
It could also end up being most of the England defence as well with Page ,Dobson Rice pansies coming through the ranks things are looking great
Not in a rush myself if we can have good cup runs and finish 7 or above this season be a happy bunny,
Burke looked very good – composed and positive. We mustn’t hassle Antonio for that miss as he needs to get his confidence back. Browne looked impressive.
Valencia should never be anything other than bench from now on, or only ever have a second touch, as his first one is dross.
I want to see more of Fletcher.