Sarcevic

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GhostoftheBok
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Re: Sarcevic

Post by GhostoftheBok » Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:53 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:55 am
Forget on the ball or attacking.

Off the ball. Defending - who would get in Wigan's team? Who do you think we've got who is a good defender?
They're fine, yeah. That back four (Jones, Santos, Johnston, John) has only started 4 games together this season. Two wins and two losses. Not conceded more than one goal in any game.

When it's Santos and Johnston together, but various combinations of fullbacks, their record is: 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 0-1, 0-0, 5-2, 0-2, 0-1, 2-1, 0-1, 0-4, 2-2.

The biggest issue in there is our failure to score in 7 of those games. If you take the utterly shambolic team display vs Wigan out it's just a normal defensive record. When you then factor in that this is Johnston's first ever full season and they've variously been babysitting Gordon and Brockbank I'm not exactly horrified. If you put out a defence that contains 3 players with no more than handful of league games in them then you will take some hammerings.

We knew going into this season that the defence was going to take time to work out. We didn't know we'd only have had our first choice defence out in 4 games so far. You need a settled unit at the back and we don't have it.

There's loads I don't like about our defending, but the first choice players are good enough for this division.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by boltonboris » Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:57 pm

With Santos, if they're countering and we're 2v2 or whatever, I wouldn't want anybody else in that situation. He's quite quick and can get his body across players and see them out

However, when the ball comes into our box, he's absofeckinlutely feckin useless. Ball watches and let's forwards run across him
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Re: Sarcevic

Post by GhostoftheBok » Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:58 pm

Also worth pointing out that Johnston was in the Wigan team and they had planned to keep him for this season until we signed him. So in terms of that question, yes, at least one of them would have got into that team.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by GhostoftheBok » Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:18 pm

boltonboris wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:57 pm
With Santos, if they're countering and we're 2v2 or whatever, I wouldn't want anybody else in that situation. He's quite quick and can get his body across players and see them out

However, when the ball comes into our box, he's absofeckinlutely feckin useless. Ball watches and let's forwards run across him
Yes, absolutely. It's the reason he was going into non-league if not for us offering him a lifeline. Just like John can't mark, which is why he was down with us in League Two.

Santos is vastly better when someone in there is organising things. But he's now captain, so we will see if the armband is magic.

What I will say is he's much less error prone than when he arrived. Evatt has improved him.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by BWFC_Insane » Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:41 pm

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:18 pm
boltonboris wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:57 pm
With Santos, if they're countering and we're 2v2 or whatever, I wouldn't want anybody else in that situation. He's quite quick and can get his body across players and see them out

However, when the ball comes into our box, he's absofeckinlutely feckin useless. Ball watches and let's forwards run across him
Yes, absolutely. It's the reason he was going into non-league if not for us offering him a lifeline. Just like John can't mark, which is why he was down with us in League Two.

Santos is vastly better when someone in there is organising things. But he's now captain, so we will see if the armband is magic.

What I will say is he's much less error prone than when he arrived. Evatt has improved him.
You're trying to tell me a centre half you've just admitted can't defend the box is 'a good defender'.

Sorry I'm not buying it. If we persist with how we play and have full backs bombing on then I think we need better defensive centre backs because a lot of crosses will come in and as noted we don't deal with them well. Our defending isn't good enough and I think its the quality of defender we have that's the issue because second half of last season IE showed he could martial us into an effective defensive unit.

We've stepped up a level and the questions are being asked and the back four don't have the answers. I can forgive Jones and John as their role is more nuanced. But the centre backs need to be strong enough, focussed enough and competent enough to defend the box and the area in front of it. And I don't feel they are.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by GhostoftheBok » Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:54 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:41 pm
You're trying to tell me a centre half you've just admitted can't defend the box is 'a good defender'.
No, what I said was Santos was on his way to non-league because he has serious defensive lapses - which have dramatically improved under Evatt. Conte's Chelsea won the league with David Luiz at the heart of their defence. Currently Tuchel's defence is water tight with Antonio Rudiger in it. In both cases those are players who fall asleep and ball watch, but they have other characteristics their teams need and so the manager put structures around them to mitigate their flaws.

There are very few perfect defenders around and none of them play in League One. Santos has loads of strengths and a couple of weaknesses. I'd love to have an aggressive organiser in next to him, who would cover for those issues, but we don't at the minute.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Thu Nov 11, 2021 4:50 pm

GhostoftheBok wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:53 pm
That back four (Jones, Santos, Johnston, John) has only started 4 games together this season. Two wins and two losses. Not conceded more than one goal in any game.
This is hereby declared Fact Of The Day.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by TANGODANCER » Thu Nov 11, 2021 5:02 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Thu Nov 11, 2021 3:41 pm

We've stepped up a level and the questions are being asked and the back four don't have the answers. I can forgive Jones and John as their role is more nuanced. But the centre backs need to be strong enough, focussed enough and competent enough to defend the box and the area in front of it. And I don't feel they are.
Mr Evatt might tend to disagree with you on that. There are no absolutely perfect players in Liverpool, Real Madrid or P.S.V. Stands to reason the standard at the Unibol might be a shade less perfect than either. They do their best and seem pretty good for this league. I will, of course defer to your better judgement.. :)
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Re: Sarcevic

Post by TANGODANCER » Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:20 pm

Good news about M..J. Williams signing a new deal and saying he wants to stay at Bolton as long as possible. "Bolton is now my home!" he says... :oyea:
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Re: Sarcevic

Post by Phil1983 » Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:35 pm

https://youtu.be/vZOgoLbQzFc

Apparently Sarce is back in training and available for Saturday. Hopefully he doesn't pick up a knock before Wednesday. We're going to need him as Whitfield (the scorer of our second) went off with a stress fracture and is out for 3 months minimum.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by Phil1983 » Sat Nov 20, 2021 7:35 am

Sarce's POV on Wednesday.

https://youtu.be/mHuQd43fn4Y

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by TANGODANCER » Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:48 am

The real Sarcevic story will probably be like the Marie Celeste in as much as the "why and how" may never be known. Good player, captain of a club, local hero to the fans, manager loves him and then.....gone like the wind....Stranger than fiction.... :shock:
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Re: Sarcevic

Post by officer_dibble » Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:55 am

He’ll be forgotten about by February 1st.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by Dave Sutton's barnet » Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:44 am

officer_dibble wrote:
Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:55 am
He’ll be forgotten about by February 1st.
Until the next defeat, when he'll again become the unimprovable prince in exile.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by Worthy4England » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:15 pm

Dave Sutton's barnet wrote:
Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:44 am
officer_dibble wrote:
Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:55 am
He’ll be forgotten about by February 1st.
Until the next defeat, when he'll again become the unimprovable prince in exile.
That depends. And I'm not sure anyone said he was unimprovable or even great. I think it's much more likely that some people - myself included - believe he's the only bloke we had, likely to say words to the effect of "Gentlemen, this is somewhat below par, we need to try a little harder, maybe displaying some testes."

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by officer_dibble » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:20 pm

All that gets me is we were told he’s being released cos we had plenty of options. Similarly Comley has just been binned off (with less of a fuss). And lo and behold our hopes now rest on a clearly green George Thomason, and we’ve academy graduates on the bench.

Until someone tells me he punched/spat at Evatt my gripe is he’s cut his nose off to spite his face in getting rid before we could sign a replacement.

I don’t think he’s a great footballer - I think he was a good captain, and if he’s done something that means he can’t be the captain fair enough…but if I were in charge I’d of found a way to keep him here until we could replace him.

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Re: Sarcevic

Post by LeverEnd » Sat Nov 20, 2021 4:48 pm

Agree Dibs. Or not insulted the intelligence of the fans with his 'it's all part of the plan and I've got it under control' type bollocks.
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