2 | Kyle Walker - 2022/23 Performances

[Eccles Blue]

Come on Kyle. Show ‘em our kid. Show ‘em all what you are made of, prove your doubters wrong.
You’re a Blue and you fight to the end. :-)

 

[alexmcity]

You do dislike any dissent don't you. It was really unnecessary to advise on the importance of practice, 35 years of coaching has made me more than aware of that. It has also taught me that there are many times when things need to be tried in a real match situation, it's a bit like bringing in the young players, they may look great/poor in training but sooner or later you have to see how they fare in a real adult competitive game.

You are an excellent poster, no need to waste your time arguing with foolish critics of Pep's *tinkering*.

 

[samarasra]

You are an excellent poster, no need to waste your time arguing with foolish critics of Pep's *tinkering*.

Appreciated, so hard to resist sometimes, the urge to right wrongs, but I should know better.

 

[FantasyIreland]

You are an excellent poster, no need to waste your time arguing with foolish critics of Pep's *tinkering*.

He is human you know? as great a manager as he is,his tactics and ideas can be questioned and debated on a football message board,you know....the very reason they exist......

 

[alexmcity]

He is human you know? as great a manager as he is,his tactics and ideas can be questioned and debated on a football message board,you know....the very reason they exist......

You are right, but Pep wouldn't be Pep without *tinkering*, i.e. without trying and learning new things. Football is too complex as a game to allow for one winning formula.

Pep is training Kyle over 5 years now. He knows his game better than us. We may be sceptical about some of Pep's decisions but what we shouldn't forget is that he has his reasons for them, which we may not understand well -- not because they are genius, but because we lack enough info. To tinker is part of what makes Pep Pep. He isn't dogmatic in his approach but open to experiments.

I don't know whether the idea of playing Kyle more centrally is good enough, it's too early to tell. I guess it will be tried only against non-top teams. Our defensive problems in the last two games are due to several factors, perhaps mostly to the fact that our defensive players including Rodri are not in form yet.

 

[FantasyIreland]

You are right, but Pep wouldn't be Pep without *tinkering*, i.e. without trying and learning new things. Football is too complex as a game to allow for one winning formula.

Pep is training Kyle over 5 years now. He knows his game better than us. We may be sceptical about some of Pep's decisions but what we shouldn't forget is that he has his reasons for them, which we may not understand well -- not because they are genius, but because we lack enough info. To tinker is part of what makes Pep Pep. He isn't dogmatic in his approach but open to experiments.

I don't know whether the idea of playing Kyle more centrally is good enough, it's too early to tell. I guess it will be tried only against non-top teams. Our defensive problems in the last two games are due to several factors, perhaps mostly to the fact that our defensive players including Rodri are not in form yet.

Thank you for a much better comment,certainly much more so than your previous that called me a 'fool'.

Pep has got far far more right than wrong while here,that is obviously undebatable,but that certainly doesn't mean i won't call out his decisions if i think they are worthy of criticism/debate.....which in this instance,where i see unnecessary,maybe even unfeasible,'tinkering' is concerned.

Kyle remains an excellent fulllback,but keeping his game simple is key.To ask him to add technical strings to his bow is a stretch too far IMO.

 

[alexmcity]

Thank you for a much better comment,certainly much more so than your previous that called me a 'fool'.

Pep has got far far more right than wrong while here,that is obviously undebatable,but that certainly doesn't mean i won't call out his decisions if i think they are worthy of criticism/debate.....which in this instance,where i see unnecessary,maybe even unfeasible,'tinkering' is concerned.

Kyle remains an excellent fulllback,but keeping his game simple is key.To ask him to add technical strings to his bow is a stretch too far IMO.

Why not give Pep the benefit of doubt, given that he has his reasons and that his tactical mind is superior to ours? Pep knows pretty well Walkers's qualities, it's not like he doesn't see what forum members can see.

The nature of Pep's mistakes is hardly related to what amateurs like us can see from our armchairs. They are related to highly complex and hard to predict situations, and not to what forum members can see in advance. To pretend that we know better than Pep what Walker can and can't do is both naive and disrespectful. Given Pep's talent and the fact he has managed Walker for 5 seasons, the reality is that he knows everything we know about Walker, and way more. Thus, the benefit of doubt, and humility on our part as fans whose job is not to manage the best team in the world.

I take posts that Pep's wrong to do something more seriously, if the posters are able to reconstruct convincingly Pep's reasoning to do X or Y. If they don't really know his reasons, but are convinced they know better how Walker should be played, well, I'm not impressed.

For Pep, there are trade-offs in playing Walker more centrally: something is to be lost and something is to be gained. It's a c9mplex calculation, we don't have enough info to be too certain in our judgments. And 2 games are not enough for big, categorical generalisations, either.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Why not give Pep the benefit of doubt, given that he has his reasons and that his tactical mind is superior to ours? Pep knows pretty well Walkers's qualities, it's not like he doesn't see what forum members can see.

The nature of Pep's mistakes is hardly related to what amateurs like us can see from our armchairs. They are related to highly complex and hard to predict situations, and not to what forum members can see in advance. To pretend that we know better than Pep what Walker can and can't do is both naive and disrespectful. Given Pep's talent and the fact he has managed Walker for 5 seasons, the reality is that he knows everything we know about Walker, and way more. Thus, the benefit of doubt, and humility on our part as fans whose job is not to manage the best team in the world.

I take posts that Pep's wrong to do something more seriously, if the posters are able to reconstruct convincingly Pep's reasoning to do X or Y. If they don't really know his reasons, but are convinced they know better how Walker should be played, well, I'm not impressed.

For Pep, there are trade-offs in playing Walker more centrally: something is to be lost and something is to be gained. It's a c9mplex calculation, we don't have enough info to be too certain in our judgments. And 2 games are not enough for big, categorical generalisations, either.

I'm not pretending i know better than a football a manager,let alone probably the best....but i am questioning his reasoning,and looking for an understanding,for changing something that isnt broke? especially in the heat of battle,and with a player that has shown nothing by way of being able to comply and adapt.

My bone of contention with you remains with the fact you suggested Pep should never be criticsed,and only a fool would do so......History firmly debunks that statement.

 

[alexmcity]

I'm not pretending i know better than a football a manager,let alone probably the best....but i am questioning his reasoning,and looking for an understanding,for changing something that isnt broke? especially in the heat of battle,and with a player that has shown nothing by way of being able to comply and adapt.

My bone of contention with you remains with the fact you suggested Pep should never be criticsed,and only a fool would do so......History firmly debunks that statement.

I never suggested such a thing. Also, there are different ways to criticise Pep, some may be foolish, others may be intelligent. Those who don't show enough humility tend to be foolish… In the post you are replying to, I wrote that I'd take criticisms more seriously if the posters could explain Pep's reasoning behind his tactical choices. I don't think you provide a good explanation of Pep's reasoning. Granted, that's difficult to do, for we lack info. Let's leave it at that.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

Did everything to a very high standard tonight. I believe he actually just shaded Gündy for most touches of the ball