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Orel Johnson Mangala

Malwood

Geoff Thomas
I thought it took him 45 mins to work out the speed of the game. I was worried about the amount of space that Rice Soucek and Fornal got. But second half he had some lovely touches.

I hadn't realised just how big Declan Rice is. Or how good Lewis O'brien is.
 

weejockmcplop

Geoff Thomas
I didn't actually notice him much, which probably means a lot - he didn't seem to do anything wrong, and we looked better in the middle with him and O'Brien rather than Colback, which probably is as much down to him as general team improvement. Probably does the tidy things well but not a great deal spectacular, which is a good attribute.
He got into space much better than Colback ever does. He always seemed to have time on the ball. I don't know if that was because West Ham are a bit lazy off the ball compared to Newcastle, but it worked wonders for our midfield.
 

eyupmeduck

Geoff Thomas
Any love for my man Mangala today?

Thought he looked pretty tidy.

(PS - membership of the Orel Mangala Fan Club is open to all, for free!)
I'd like to join @Strummer, there were parts of the first half when I was thinking to myself "How the hell did we manage to sign this guy!?" Clever, mobile, great technique and genuinely likeable too.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 

valspoodle

Steve Chettle
That's why I like to watch the game again. First time round I tend to follow the ball and generally get get distracted by the tension and excitement of the game.

But second time round, I can concentrate on other things and watch player performance off the ball.

This guy is excellent, always moving and alert to danger. He'll anchor our midfield for sure.
 

Rzar

Bob McKinlay
That's why I like to watch the game again. First time round I tend to follow the ball and generally get get distracted by the tension and excitement of the game.

But second time round, I can concentrate on other things and watch player performance off the ball.

This guy is excellent, always moving and alert to danger. He'll anchor our midfield for sure.
Yes I watched him after watching it a second time (just before I watch MOTD) and he was even better than I thought live. All 1 touch, constantly showing for the ball, moved it quickly, very strong in the tackle. He excelled in areas I didn't expect such as his physicality.

One thing I noticed is he was more of the sitter next to LOB, and from the stats he was one of the best ball carriers in the Bundesliga last season - so we haven't seen that yet!

Looks a really good and smart signing, like many of our signings!
 
Fought and ran and fought and ran. Couple of excellent touches too, including one pass out wide he absolutely drilled with his toe as it was dropping past him on the volley.

Yates has got a job to get back in.

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That was my favourite pass of the game! He looks like a lovely player. Can't wait to see more.
 

marshal99

John Robertson
with our midfield overloaded now , yates will have to settle for the bench. O'brien has staked his claim alongside mangala and with remo and kouyate already onboard and forest still chasing after Houssem Aouar , sow and bakayoko, we'll have to field 3 teams.
 

Rich

Rice IV
I think Yates' injury has come at the absolute worst time. He should have been nowhere near that Notts County game.
For me, he should be a starter, he was better than O'Brien last season so there's no reason to suggest that he wouldn't be now. However, the timing of his injury means his pre season was short and crucially he's missing the games where we get up to pace with the speed of the Premier League game.
What he needs is to be ready to go - he'll get a chance through injury, tactics, or away at Grimsby. He needs to come in and impress to keep the spot.
 

Ashley

Steve Chettle
Yates will get his chances. All of the main five midfielders (O'Brien, Mangala, Yates, Kouyate and Freuler) have different skill sets and will all be used as and when required. Even more so with five substitutes per game.
 

MaxiRobriguez

Bob McKinlay
Yates will get his chances. All of the main five midfielders (O'Brien, Mangala, Yates, Kouyate and Freuler) have different skill sets and will all be used as and when required. Even more so with five substitutes per game.
I suspect the most likely scenario is Kouyate is the close out the game in the last 10 minutes option, with the other four centre mids actually vying for a starting berth. O'Brien and Mangala most similar of the four so suspect if we're up against a good team it's Yates + one of those two (if not both), and if we're up against a weaker side then maybe start with Freuler.

That approach also manages the players minutes quite well as there will always be a game coming up soon when they can get rested if needbe.
 

Rzar

Bob McKinlay
I suspect the most likely scenario is Kouyate is the close out the game in the last 10 minutes option, with the other four centre mids actually vying for a starting berth. O'Brien and Mangala most similar of the four so suspect if we're up against a good team it's Yates + one of those two (if not both), and if we're up against a weaker side then maybe start with Freuler.

That approach also manages the players minutes quite well as there will always be a game coming up soon when they can get rested if needbe.
Kouyate was probably brought in as cover for both DM & the middle CB position
 

EmmersonForest4

Stuart Pearce
I loved him and O'Brien yesterday, I think that probably consigns Yates to a squad player an important one at that but these 2 were class. I really enjoyed Lewis O'Brien yesterday. Frueller as well!!! This is gonna be fun this year. Cafu now will be offskis
 

EmmersonForest4

Stuart Pearce
Kouyate was probably brought in as cover for both DM & the middle CB position
My thoughts exactly! He played in a back 3 quite a few times. He is a very shrewd squad signing. Cant beleive our transfer business its been so good. We are making sure even if we go down that we are the big boys which is perfect.
 

marshal99

John Robertson
if worrall doesn't step up , he'll be replaced by kouyate soon enough. The penalty was a result of joe failing with his slide tackle , it's not the first time , in the playoff finals , he also did the same against o'brien and thomas where he failed with his slide tackles and left the opposition with space to attack.
 

Harry1982

Grenville Morris
I suspect the most likely scenario is Kouyate is the close out the game in the last 10 minutes option, with the other four centre mids actually vying for a starting berth. O'Brien and Mangala most similar of the four so suspect if we're up against a good team it's Yates + one of those two (if not both), and if we're up against a weaker side then maybe start with Freuler.

That approach also manages the players minutes quite well as there will always be a game coming up soon when they can get rested if needbe.
At the moment with 5 subs I'm leaning or hoping that all will be used and a high press will be used to keep the pressure on for the full 90 mins
 
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