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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 16, 2024 21:47:00 GMT
Ward was pinging a lot of accurate balls out to the flanks in that home game. It's not the b all and end all, but it's not an unimportant consideration. Especially for Bellamy.
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Post by ddirpytnop on Nov 16, 2024 22:24:47 GMT
He was ok tonight. Came out well to smother Twrci's big chance and commanded his area generally. But his distribution was poor at times. There was one dreadfully misplaced pass to Sheehan that had us in all sorts of trouble. For me, he needs to improve a lot in that area of play.
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Post by insertname on Nov 16, 2024 23:32:13 GMT
The one plus point from tonight for me.
It’s a big statement picking him. Darkow is the number one for big games from now on and he’s steady enough. Let’s hope he moves for first team football in January.
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Post by jimexotic on Nov 17, 2024 2:31:54 GMT
Watching him tonight makes me wonder how his career would have turned out if he'd had a career of first team football and chosen to represent Wales 15 years ago.
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Post by hooky on Nov 17, 2024 9:03:49 GMT
Watching him tonight makes me wonder how his career would have turned out if he'd had a career of first team football and chosen to represent Wales 15 years ago. Well he wanted to play for his home country and the positive of that is he must have had total belief in himself and his abilities and I fear that is Ward's biggest issue - he does not seem as confident does he? You can see Darlow is a very intelligent guy to and a dominant, commanding type of character. As well as his brilliant shot stop in that one on one, I also loved that punch off the top of that striker head - why? Because he looked like a second favourite and that he could have given away a penalty with the slightest of errors but he smashed it with high conviction and even got a bit of the player with the follow through. He has 100% conviction in everything he does. He is definitely a top 6 Championship goalkeeper if not a Premiership standard player based on what I have seen, albeit I suspect there must be a weakness that is not that obvious to pick up which has held him back Think if Harrington is at a very good level, then we perhaps need to prioritise him over Ward. We simply need the option of an excellent keeper for the future. Ireland have 3 young keepers ahead of him and I am sure he knows this but we can't afford to be stuck with just Ward and Darlow, who are into their mid 30s and realistically have 3-4 years left operating at a decent level can we? |
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Post by hooky on Nov 17, 2024 9:06:29 GMT
Watching him tonight makes me wonder how his career would have turned out if he'd had a career of first team football and chosen to represent Wales 15 years ago. Sorry on second glance I get you are suggesting being in the shop window of international football would have helped his career Maybe he would have done better vs Poland with the penalties? |
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Post by melynwy on Nov 17, 2024 10:23:52 GMT
Darlow's command of his box, and excellent one-on-one save certainly puts him ahead of Ward, but I don't think we should be ignoring the distribution aspect. Against Turkiye at home Ward completed 39 out of 47 passes (83%) and completed 5 out of 11 long passes (45%). Tonight Darlow completed 18 out of 38 passes (47%) and only 3 out of 22 long passes (14%). To be fair he was under a lot more pressure than Ward was in the home game, but Bellamy will want a higher pass completion to sustain a possession led game. It may be that he plays Darlow in the tougher fixtures and Ward in the easier ones, where his superior distribution can be brought to bear. I don't think Bellamy will make any black and white decisions yet. I think this is unfair, and that Darlow has better distribution despite the stats. In these games, Darlow has seemed more willing (or was given more freedom to by Bellamy) to go long on occasion, which is bound to be reflected as lower accuracy in the stats. Ward seemed to go for the short ball every single time, which isn’t to say he’s better at it than Darlow. |
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Post by gwernybwch on Nov 17, 2024 10:25:12 GMT
34 today. Bizarre that he is just starting his Wales career Nothing 'bizarre' about him just starting his Wales career now. He was approached by Wales on two previous occasions and he turned us down. His current inclusion is because we currently have a new Manager, a poor selection of goalkeepers. And playing international football is a benefit to his career. |
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Post by reyrey on Nov 17, 2024 12:15:43 GMT
Just a reminder to some that Danny Ward is only 31
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Post by dragons on Nov 17, 2024 12:32:06 GMT
7.9 rating on FotMob for his performance v Turkey.
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 17, 2024 15:29:12 GMT
Darlow's command of his box, and excellent one-on-one save certainly puts him ahead of Ward, but I don't think we should be ignoring the distribution aspect. Against Turkiye at home Ward completed 39 out of 47 passes (83%) and completed 5 out of 11 long passes (45%). Tonight Darlow completed 18 out of 38 passes (47%) and only 3 out of 22 long passes (14%). To be fair he was under a lot more pressure than Ward was in the home game, but Bellamy will want a higher pass completion to sustain a possession led game. It may be that he plays Darlow in the tougher fixtures and Ward in the easier ones, where his superior distribution can be brought to bear. I don't think Bellamy will make any black and white decisions yet. I think this is unfair, and that Darlow has better distribution despite the stats. In these games, Darlow has seemed more willing (or was given more freedom to by Bellamy) to go long on occasion, which is bound to be reflected as lower accuracy in the stats. Ward seemed to go for the short ball every single time, which isn’t to say he’s better at it than Darlow. I really don't agree. Ward's distribution long and short, was superb against Turkiye, which is reflected in his match stats, whereas Darlow struggled in that regard in an otherwise excellent performance. Because neither have played many games Fotmob doesn't offer much info on either, other than both being rated at 100% on long ball accuracy in the player traits section. Personally, I'm happy to see the goalie position continue to be rotated, at least for now - until one player has clearly superior form. Competition and freshness are good things. Ward knows that if he wants to continue to play he will need to perform well against Iceland. |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 17, 2024 15:32:15 GMT
Ward hit 5 out of 11 accurate long balls against Turkiye. Darlow hit 3 out of 22 accurate long balls against the same opponents. So Ward hit more accurate long balls from half as many attempts.
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Post by marsvolta on Nov 17, 2024 16:36:35 GMT
Just a reminder to some that Danny Ward is only 31 Yes, we seem to have replaced a 31 year old keeper who isn’t playing football for a 34 year old keeper who isn’t playing football haha. |
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Post by jimexotic on Nov 17, 2024 17:38:15 GMT
Ward hit 5 out of 11 accurate long balls against Turkiye. Darlow hit 3 out of 22 accurate long balls against the same opponents. So Ward hit more accurate long balls from half as many attempts. It was a different eleven in the game that Ward played in, at home for Bellamy's first match in charge with a largely stronger starting eleven. I'm not a Ward hater but right now I'd rather start with Darlow. |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 17, 2024 18:14:03 GMT
I wouldn't mind if Bellamy starts with Darlow against Iceland, but in the double headers to date the two performances have been evenly matched. I think Bellamy will want to give Ward a chance to match Darlow's performance. I think that's the smart thing to do, to maintain a competitive edge. The pressure will be on Ward to perform knowing a poor showing probably puts him as backup for the foreseeable.
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