02 Mar 2015 09:11:43
I think criticism of Lazar is a bit harsh. He shows fantastic technical ability and will only get better at 19 or 20 years old. Furthermore, he is being played as a wing back, when quite clearly he is not a wing back, but does a reasonable job. I think he has a great future. Lovern needs a run of games in his preferred position to build confidence. Minulet's has shown us all how important confidence can be.
02 Mar 2015 10:07:32
He's 21
02 Mar 2015 10:20:47
Completely agree with what you've said. He just turned 21 today, so Happy Birthday Lazar!
02 Mar 2015 10:21:38
He's 21 today pal
But he is playing won't back what I found annoying is he is good defending like a full back but bad attacking like a winger whipping balls in so it's a fair criticism for me
02 Mar 2015 10:26:28
I don't care if br plays him in goal. Facts remain he can't beat his man, and for a quick player like him that's awful. Infact even when the ball does can't past the defender he's made it so obvious what he's doing the defender gets his body accorss and we are back to square one. But I'm sure he has to have something about him as he came very highly rated!!
02 Mar 2015 10:51:53
We can not afford to buy a 50 million pound player in the prime of his career.
We have to take a chance on young players and sign them before they develop.
We have a coach who develops young players.
That is our MO.
Why would you slate a 21 year old anyway??
There is a general consensus that a player is in his prime at about 26 so all those who slate Sterling, Markovic, Sturridge, Moreno, Allen etc are blind to the fact that they are yet to hit their peak.
Look at Coutinho. producing consistently moments of brilliance aged 22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have created a monster!!!
When he came he always had glimpses of real quality but struggled with consistency and now that consistency is starting to come through and it's a pleasure to see.
Our MO is working, we have a coach who is perfectly suited to our MO.
Markovic will be fine because he is at one of the best clubs in the world for his development.
Gives me great pleasure to say that.
As long as we don't do something daft, like signing a lorry load of players in the summer or getting rid of this manager then we will be the bees knees in the not too distant future.
02 Mar 2015 11:04:29
It's about time we learnt to give players time?
Red Rum
02 Mar 2015 11:22:25
Supermario,
Bit harsh I think mate. He's playing out of position and even if he does beat his man, we rarely have enough people in the box, so the liklihood is he'd have to beat the fullback, then a combination of the central defenders and a midfielder, and unless he's Messi, there's not too many players that can beat 3-4 players within a 15 yard space.
It's no suprise to me that he looks the most effective when we're counter attacking and he's recieving the ball in similar areas to Coutinho. He does indeed then race past players pretty well, as he has that space and has a little momentum. From a standing start, there's too much time to think - not his fault, not his position but I think he's doing a decent job there anyway. He has a bit of fire too, which I like.
02 Mar 2015 12:48:30
Its all down to confidence.
The trouble is that we all forget that the majority of our players are kids.
You've seen older established players not settle down playing for a big club where expectations are high, so I think we can forgive a 21 year old.
02 Mar 2015 13:14:39
Lol super mario berating Markovic, this from a man that has vehemetnly defended mario balotellis performances.
Lazar can't afford to take his man on too often, if he does he leaves Can exposed. He doesn't quite have the pace/strength of Ibe to simply knock it past and chase. He does clearly have a good football brain and often uses Can coming forward to play one twos to get round his man. He's brilliant at cutting in when not in posession to make himself available in the space. He's a good player who I think is pegged backa little by his defensive duties in this formation. He does seem hit and miss on occasions but I like what I have seen so far.