Anya

[needles]

Meh. He's alright. Never going to be as good or as productive as Jamie Ward. I think he, like Christie, struggled to impress yesterday through a lack of options on the ball at times. We're not the free-flowing side of 3 years ago of course, maybe it'll improve. £4m though? We need our bumps felt. I'd be in bits about that fee if it wasn't for spoofing £8m on Vydra. He's like Phil Gee without the pace.

[1967Ram]

1 hour ago, needles said:

Meh. He's alright. Never going to be as good or as productive as Jamie Ward. I think he, like Christie, struggled to impress yesterday through a lack of options on the ball at times. We're not the free-flowing side of 3 years ago of course, maybe it'll improve. £4m though? We need our bumps felt. I'd be in bits about that fee if it wasn't for spoofing £8m on Vydra. He's like Phil Gee without the pace.

Anya looks like he can control the ball too.

[Howard Canitbé]

5 hours ago, Gaspode said:

I saw an interview with Christie where he was talking about Ireland - he'd gone with the Republic squad when he was feeling quite down (at the time when Clement was trying to get rid of him) - O'Neill twigged something was wrong and put an arm round him and told him what a great player he was - that effectively turned his season around. I suspect he's just one of those players that needs a manager to have confidence in him - and I'm sure Mac will suss that out pretty quickly.

Looking at the change in attitude yesterday, I get the feeling we perhaps have a lot of that sort of player - perhaps being constantly 'disciplined' by 'Sargent' Pearson was part of the issue earlier in the season 

Perhaps that mentality is why we seem to fail so often at the final hurdle? Too many players with fragile confidence?

Not that I don't want those players at the club, just that a good balance between the different mentalities is probably important. I think personally we often lack the grit to pull ourselves around without an obvious confidence boost (such as a big win). Players should be able to dig deep and get it together even when things aren't going their way. 

[DEL]

8 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

Just wondered what peoples opinions on Anya are so far and what they think his best position is?

I think he works hard, shows good pace, gets in good positions but is very wasteful.

I wonder if he would be better as a wing back?

 

I rate him and his best position IMO is winger. 

[sage]

7 hours ago, angieram said:

I agree there's something lacking in communication skills between Ince and Christie. We all complain that Christie doesn't release the ball quickly enough but Ince has a tendency to hide behind the defender meaning Cyrus either has to drive on himself or pass backwards.

I prefer Ince on the left but if he remains on the right this is a simple issue for McClaren to sort out that would really improve both Christie and Ince's play. 

I understand why McClaren spends part of the match in the stand as he will have a much better view of these part pitch dynamics from there. 

Hit the nail on the head there. I was going to start a thread about this but will just add to this one. I'm not a big fan of Christie but Ince time and again just left him with no option. Deliberately standing 2 yards behind the defender or wandering infield. If Christie is on the halfway line with an opponent in front of him he needs Ince to offer a simple pass down the line or for Ince to spin behind the full back for a lofted pass. He does neither. At one point in the second half, Butterfirld was breaking but had an opponent running with him, Ince was outside him and could have offered a simple pass but Ince stood right next to the full back as he didn't want the ball.

He would never start a game for me as his goal every 4 games isn't enough to balance out the amount of times he stifles a passing move.  

[needles]

Or can Mac get Ince playing? 

[We'll be back in 81]

Move Ince into a central position and let Anya play right wing back, this i believe would improve the balance which is still missing.

[Alph]

Right now he's one of those players that looks great but doesn't do a great deal. 

I thought he played well yesterday by being reliable on the ball and giving us a foothold in the Leeds half but that's about it.

He seems determined to cross the ball. He just wants to do that. Which means he's great at getting from A to B but then you get stuck.

To other fans and pundits it'll be "he's causing chaos. Keeps running at defenders and terrifying them"

To us it will just be "he'll beat him and him aaaaannnnnd wait for it... There we go. Failed cross as expected" 

But he's still new and shiny. Played under 3 managers in a couple of months. Played in different styles and systems.

Got to give him chance to understand what the team needs from him.

[needles]

2 minutes ago, hiltonram said:

Move Ince into a central position and let Anya play right wing back, this i believe would improve the balance which is still missing.

You get that we're playing 433 now, right? Ince as centre forward? Or in midfield? 

[Mostyn6]

7 hours ago, PistoldPete2 said:

Jury is out on anya. Four million seems a lot of money for him. Russell came on and scored after about 10 minutes. They are different types of players but an in form russell would be in the side I think. 

why does what he costs matter? Just judge him on what he does on the pitch ffs!

When you go out for a meal, do you judge the quality of it by how much the chef spent on the ingredients? NO, you don't.

[Rev]

Is it just me that wants to stroke him?

 

[Ellafella]

8 hours ago, Ewe Ram said:

I really like him, he's an absolute pest to the opposition so no wonder they crock him. He appears to me to be an honest kind of footballer and I'll bet he's great to have as a team mate. I was upset he had to go off but obviously JR turning up and scoring was a bonus. When he first runs on you never know which JR you're going to get. 

Lovely guy. Like him a lot but lightweight and not a 90 minute man. I'd have Russell in before him. 

[Derby blood]

Think Anya, is a very good signing, fast direct, and works his socks off, and the type of player to get you on the edge of your seat, very impressed so far, and with time he will get better, and his final ball is a lot better than Johnny Russell, like Russell a lot, but prefer Anya over him any day of the week.

[Bris Vegas]

Am I the only one who doesn't see anything in Anya? He just runs to the byline before mostly putting in a poor delivery. It's not like he comes inside, plays intricate passing and connects play.

Dawkins far more effective in our system.

Then again I'm not surprised. We brought Anya in to feature in a 442 system. 

[G STAR RAM]

1 minute ago, Bris Vegas said:

Am I the only one who doesn't see anything in Anya? He just runs to the byline before mostly putting in a poor delivery. It's not like he comes inside, plays intricate passing and connects play.

Dawkins far more effective in our system.

Then again I'm not surprised. We brought Anya in to feature in a 442 system. 

I'm not overly impressed so far although I disagree with your first point as he was definitely more involved yesterday in interchanges with Hughes and Butterfield.

It's his final ball, or lack of that worries me. Also yesterday there were 2 or 3 occasions where he managed to isolate himself against their full back and did nothing.

Early days though.

[nfb]

The Watford fans said as much, he offers pace, determination, cover, energy etc, but ultimately not much 'end product', and will eventually drive us nuts cos of it... so why are we surprised ?

[Alph]

1 hour ago, reveldevil said:

Is it just me that wants to stroke him?

 

I asked the missus if we could get an Anya. 

So cute. 

[jono]

I like him.

he's got a way better first touch than JR and is almost as good as a terrier. 

Down to Mac to pick the team depending on the opposition, there will be matches where he doesn't flourish but he is a real asset and I reckon will prove to be an excellent buy. 

[IlsonDerby]

2 hours ago, Alpha said:

Right now he's one of those players that looks great but doesn't do a great deal. 

I thought he played well yesterday by being reliable on the ball and giving us a foothold in the Leeds half but that's about it.

He seems determined to cross the ball. He just wants to do that. Which means he's great at getting from A to B but then you get stuck.

To other fans and pundits it'll be "he's causing chaos. Keeps running at defenders and terrifying them"

To us it will just be "he'll beat him and him aaaaannnnnd wait for it... There we go. Failed cross as expected" 

But he's still new and shiny. Played under 3 managers in a couple of months. Played in different styles and systems.

Got to give him chance to understand what the team needs from him.

Good! We've been missing one of these players since Dawkins left. Someone who can hold onto the ball and wait for others to catchup. A link up winger. 

3 minutes ago, nfb said:

The Watford fans said as much, he offers pace, determination, cover, energy etc, but ultimately not much 'end product', and will eventually drive us nuts cos of it... so why are we surprised ?

So a typical championship winger? Consistent end product = playing higher than the second tier.

[FrostedRam]

1 hour ago, Ellafella said:

Lovely guy. Like him a lot but lightweight and not a 90 minute man. I'd have Russell in before him. 

Not a 90 minute man due to the amount of running he gets through in the game.