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Scott Malone


Sheikh n Bake

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Thought him and Bogle had a very busy game against wingers that I think Huddersfield bought after finding the highest speed and dribbling stats on Football Manager that they could realistically buy. 

Lots of different situations tonight. Overlaps and counter attacks, 2v1 and 3v2, going inside and out. 

No wonder they won so many corners. 

I'd say their performances tonight were better than many last season. Defensively anyway. 

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He can't stop a cross and his decision making leads to poor positioning. Too many times today he was drawn into a CB's position when we had Keogh and Clarke covering already. Their chances all came down their right with acres of space. 

Don't want to be too negative after a great win but I'd much rather see Lowe starting for us, assuming he's fit.

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Just now, GenBr said:

He is good at attacking, but may as well not be there from a defensive perspective. (And most of the time he wasnt)

I'd agree for the majority of the time. But much improved tonight, no? 

He'll always be caught out a bit because he shoots off down the pitch at the slightest opportunity. That part of his game was missed at Wembley with the Villa RB spotted mowing the grass when we had the ball.

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He seems to get dragged inside a little too much for my liking. Their big chance for Kachunga came when he ended up challenging a header basically on the centre spot leaving the winger free.

Maybe it is a hangover from last season and wanting to take responsibility as we were susceptible, but I think he’ll grow to trust Clarke to deal with it. Other than that there is no concern with him. Sounds odd but I think a lot of criticism stems from the fact he just looks weird. It’s like in Moneyball, when scouts etc write players off because they just don’t look ‘right.’

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Thought Malone did nothing at all wrong defensively yesterday. Didn't lose his man, didn't allow many crosses in...and in fact stepped in front of the attacker several times and started the attack.

First half he stayed wide and was an outlet and then gave Lawrence the ball who had just reverted to type from Mon and drifted into traffic or just gave it back to him.

Second half he seemed to lose that option of a man in front of him to pass to...he had the length of the pitch to patrol on his own. He complained fairly about having no one to pass to and few fans got on his back. After a misplaced pass a fan had another go so he shouted back at him. Frustrated fans couldn't see what was obvious, he had no real options. Unfortunately his head went a bit then and he lost his way...but really feel fans having a go were pointing the finger in the wrong direction. He is a left back, not a wing back and he did a good job generally.

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Blimey. He may not have had his best game but the vitriol aimed at him is amazing.

 I agree with the posters who say he didn’t have much to aim for. We had one of those days when no one really demanded the ball and looked like they had a plan.

We will have to address he fact that Waghorn is often the only one in the opposition box making a run when we get a chance to cross. The rest seemed to wander into the box but don’t put a challenge in, making it easy for the defence.

I think we have looked much stronger defensively in the first two games. Last year it was all about Tomori’s pace and Keogh’s bravery getting us out of trouble. Lowe is not a good defender and Malone is our best option at left back.

We look more organised and the offensive planning will be the next priority.

If Malone’s low cross had been swept into the net by Waghorn as perhaps it should have been he would be a hero.

 

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33 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

Blimey. He may not have had his best game but the vitriol aimed at him is amazing.

 I agree with the posters who say he didn’t have much to aim for. We had one of those days when no one really demanded the ball and looked like they had a plan.

 

Cocus post match comments said he was pleased by the team trying to do the things that the coaches wanted.

i hope there’s more to the tactics than what you were seeing! ?

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30 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Cocus post match comments said he was pleased by the team trying to do the things that the coaches wanted.

i hope there’s more to the tactics than what you were seeing! ?

Ah there’s a subtle difference there.

The team may know their roles and understand positioning but that’s different to knowing exactly what they are going to do in possession and who’s around them in space.

Perhaps keeping a good shape has been drilled into them so much they are frightened to make a run which drags them ‘out of position ‘.

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9 minutes ago, Needlesh said:

Now Keogh has gone from pantomime villain to long serving stalwart for a bit, Malone may be next up in the whipping boy stakes. Doesn't deserve it. Perfectly sound full back, gets forward well, defends perfectly respectably.

I agree he’s capable, but his passing is awful. Forsyths is just as bad though.

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Like Malone but yesterday everything was a first time cross. Wish he’d just take a touch and compose himself rather than hit the first man frequently.

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38 minutes ago, Needlesh said:

Now Keogh has gone from pantomime villain to long serving stalwart for a bit, Malone may be next up in the whipping boy stakes. Doesn't deserve it. Perfectly sound full back, gets forward well, defends perfectly respectably.

Nailed.  The problem for Malone was Lampard. He bought a full back who was known to be defensively iffy from time to time, but linked well with midfield and provided some good quality in the final third from crosses and occasional goals. Been doing that most of the last 8 years. So Lampard needed a good midfield CDM and an experienced left sided centre back.

As we know, Lampard never identified, or certainly didn’t buy, defensive midfield cover, and we had Tomori as centre back who ever much we loved was naive in terms of positional sense.

Malone will be just fine when matters settle. Yes he will continue to make defensive mistakes, but with Clarke being solid by his side, and Bielik being the engine to cover him as he bombs forward, we will see a lot more of his strengths and ability. The problem is that fans have had him here for a year, and far too many have made their minds up already on him.  Cocu and co. will have him performing well soon, but for the mindless few it will still be too late.

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28 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

Nailed.  The problem for Malone was Lampard. He bought a full back who was known to be defensively iffy from time to time, but linked well with midfield and provided some good quality in the final third from crosses and occasional goals. Been doing that most of the last 8 years. So Lampard needed a good midfield CDM and an experienced left sided centre back.

As we know, Lampard never identified, or certainly didn’t buy, defensive midfield cover, and we had Tomori as centre back who ever much we loved was naive in terms of positional sense.

Malone will be just fine when matters settle. Yes he will continue to make defensive mistakes, but with Clarke being solid by his side, and Bielik being the engine to cover him as he bombs forward, we will see a lot more of his strengths and ability. The problem is that fans have had him here for a year, and far too have made their minds up already on him.  Cocu and co. will have him performing well soon, but for the mindless few it will still be too late.

I’m still bit ambivalent on Malone or in who will suit us best at left back.

Lowe still needs to develop, Fozzy will he ever get fit enough and then we have Malone. What I did notice was a few stray passes but as has been alluded to, was that down to s lack of movement and options in front of him? So then he just tried to force something to happen knowing a backwards or sideways ball would have the crowd on his back. Be interesting to know his pass completion rate?

I’d like Lowe to have a chance Tuesday because he also did ok on his wrong foot when he came on not because Malone did anything massively wrong. The point about having Clarke alongside is well made and I don’t think Malone will leave us exposed too much as first few games, Clarke seems to cover well and add much needed stability to the back line.

Malone though I think he's one of those players fans see flaws easier than the good points; maybe why he’s moved around a fair bit in his career.

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4 hours ago, Chester40 said:

Thought Malone did nothing at all wrong defensively yesterday. Didn't lose his man, didn't allow many crosses in...and in fact stepped in front of the attacker several times and started the attack.

He is a left back, not a wing back and he did a good job generally.

We must have watched different games then because, more than once, I saw Malone up to his most annoying trick again of over-committing too far up the field and being caught totally out of position, leaving us exposed against a more than capable winger in Nathan Dyer.

The stats also disagree with you: 0 clearances, 0 blocked shots, 0/4 ground duels won, 1 interception and didn't make a tackle in the game... Also, a 62.8% passing rate is pretty dire, as is only 2/5 crosses being accurate from a general footballing perspective.

He should have all the traits to make him a decent fullback but he makes me super uneasy every time he receives the ball and leaves us vulnerable too many times for my liking. Max Lowe gets the nod for me, all day.

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Just club policy for someone to argue with the East Stand.

It would be interesting to hear what caused him to react.

Never allowed to hear the players side of it.

I don’t have an issue with our players telling us what they think and why.

We’re all in it together...aren’t we?

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