TOPIC: Bastien Hery

I read on a couple of other threads that Bastien was our "creative player" or our "flair player"... which I found strange as I couldn't actually think of much he has created, other than the assist at Liverpool. Don't get me wrong, I think the lad clearly has ability, he is comfortable on the ball and he actually works quite hard.... but is he really a creative player? Obviously we get the odd nice flick or trick in the middle of the park but to me a creative player creates chances, creates goals and scores goals out of nothing. A quick check of his stats for the season reveal that in 13 league games so far this season (10 starts, 3 sub) he has so far score 0 goals, has 0 assists, and has only had 1 shot on target so far. I appreciate that stats don't always tell the full picture but for me, having seen him play a number of those games, he is easy on the eye but just doesn't make things happen... a lad with his ability should be scoring and creating goals regularly in my opinion. I'd love to see him be more positive in the final third, try that risky through ball, take a player on, take a shot on. He can be so much more than a tidy midfield passer with the odd trick and a wierd hair cut. Personally at the moment he wouldn't be in my starting 11 but I hear others raving about him, which makes me feel like I am missing something about what he offers to the team? With his ability and attributes I'd be expecting him to be replacing Dempsey's goals and assists, which he clearly isn't doing at the moment... for me he is coasting a bit... working hard enough for the team but not taking the risks to thread that killer pass or really drive to get a shot in. Am I being unfair?

I actually think you're being kind.

He's shite - doesn't do anything.

People like him because he's foreign and has funny hair.

Reeves9 wrote: Well I wasn't expecting that first post Reeves.... I expected to get slaughtered for criticising our foreign flair player.

I think he is the flair player, for those reasons you listed. The odd trick, flick, bit of skill etc.

But yeah thinking about it you are spot on, he was brought in to be that creative player and he isn't really producing the goods in terms of assists and creating situations for other people to create goals.
Although technically he does have an assist in the league. He passed the ball to Miller at Hartlepool (if I remember right) before Miller put it in the top corner. Not an out of this world bit of creativity but probably should go into his stats.

I think he needs to run at people more, be a bit more direct. He is quite quick, we saw against Exeter what can almost happen if he runs at defenders, they were all scared to put their foot in because of the speed of his feet. Something similar happened at Northampton when 3-1 down and he did it a lot in the league cup against Chesterfield.

The other thing to consider is, who makes the final pass to the assister, a player may make a killer pass out wide and the winger gets all the credit for the final ball into the box.

Not saying this is the case for Hery but just a thought.

bluealf wrote:
Think this was the case for Gilliead's goal against Exeter. Hery turned on the edge of our box, ran with it, passed it to Asamoah who then set up Gilliead.

crunchblue wrote: Just using the official club stats... which lets face it are probably wrong. I agree with the running at players... I was screaming at him to shoot against Exeter when he beat those players. Maybe it will come in time and he will begin to contribute more.

Blue Alf, yes you are spot on with the assist stats... but I just don't see him creating much generally. 1 shot on target in 13 games is very poor for a creative midfielder though. Maybe he needs to be more selfish and take a bit more responsibility.

There's more posts criticising our squad this year than there was for that pile of shite last year!

We're doing well with what we have for now.

TheLazyLewisGuy wrote: Nobody is saying we aren't doing well, although 9th place is hardly amazing. Just pointing out that this one player could and should be creating more, given his attributes and ability on the ball, if he is going to be classed as our creative player.

People have compared Gilliead to tom lawrence in his direct approach to attack, Mr Hery could take notice of this fact. Anyone with pace and good feet will cause defenders at this level problems. If he needs a kick up the jeer to get him to start doing this then keith needs to get his boots on. We are creating chances but not putting them away often enough, If hery could create a bit more, win a pen or two( unlikely as we don't get pens!!) He may then be doing what we hoped he would when he arrived.

Hery is a very frustrating player. It's clear he has ability and pace but he disappears from games for long periods. He needs to get involved more. And his hair chopped off.

People are getting more and more hung up on stats in football when in fact they often don't show a true reflection of a player's ability. For instance what if a player beats 6 men squares it to the centre forward 2 yards out who scuffs his shot which is then finished by another player, who gets the assist? The man who beat 6 men or the crap striker who missed an open goal?

Take pass completion as another example. You could have a defensive midfielder who plays 50 five yard balls in a game, all backwards to the centre half, doing little for the team but they all reach their target. At the other end of the pitch you have a player having a blinder, like Gillihad against Exeter, putting ball after ball through to the striker who's that crap that he's either not getting on the end of the pass or he's missing the chances given to him. Who has the better stats for the game?

Even stats like goals scored can be misleading. Folk often rate a striker by how many goals he scores and if you don't score many you're crap. What stats don't show is the hard work, runs made, pressing done by strikers to create chances and opening for others. Derek Holmes is a prime example, didn't get many goals but the work he did to create space and chances for Hawley and Bridges was priceless but if you look at the stats his role is barely recognised.

franksidebottom wrote:
And then youve got Chris Billy who did nowt

Much as I love Bastien Hery with his clever flicks he clearly doesn't have pace. He can beat players with his skill but not with speed. He should concentrate on making those killer defence-splitting passes and not keep running into dead-ends and losing the ball.

carwash wrote: He quite clearly does have pace,

franksidebottom wrote: I agree with you Frank.. stats on there own can be very misleading... however, they totally back up what i thought they'd say before I looked them up. I haven't seen him commit players very often, I haven't seen him trying those difficult final passes, I haven't seen him take a shot on very often. People are describing him as creative ... but in reality he isn't demonstrating that... he isn't creating anything at the moment. He needs to stop taking the easy option every time and take more responsibility himself. Maybe he needs more belief in himself and needs to get a bit more selfish... things I am sure KC is probably telling him too. He clearly has the ability to score goals and create chances from others and it's frustrating that he isn't currently. By the way I do think he has good pace off the mark, which is the crucial bit.

Cue MOM performance on Saturday with 2 goals and 3 assists... if that happens I will be doing a Mullen and claiming the credit.

I must see somthing different , players like him put bums on seats , agree he has a long way to go however he provides somthing that nobody else in the team provides. Watch this space I predict he will become a very important player for us.

Is everyone forgetting his turn and pass to Asamoah at Anfield?

Flair players at this level are never going to be consistent but feel something is more likely to happen when he is in the side than when he isn't..

We need a player of his sort to provide some sort of magic. He's always going to be frustrating at times but that's what you have to put up with to get that spark that can win a game, quite often I've found he tries so hard to get into a game by the time he does he's knackered especially when he's played out wide. With Joyce, Dicker and Kennedy all similar players we need him in there to balance it out. A midfield of two of them three plus Gillead and Hery is very strong at BP I reckon. With Asamoah partnering one of Wyke/Jabo up top there's a good balance going forward.

seabird wrote: I hope you are right Seabird... he certainly has the ability...

RagingBlue wrote: We were talking about L2 games... but yes that was a great assist and demonstrates what he is capable of... name something else he has created in the 15 other games he has played for us this season? I'd argue he has been very consistent this season... he basically hasn't created anything at all, consistently... not great a great attribute in a "flair" player. It's still early days at Carlisle though bjut he has to up his game and start delivering chances and goals before he can be called a creative, flair player for me though. Hopefully starting this Saturday.

He's regularly 10 to 20 yards too deep.

He often beats players unexpectedly and then has nobody on to make a pass to, as they are expecting him to lose the ball, or pass back.

He quite often plays brilliant passes that only he sees, into acres of space, which nobody else even sees.

He is bright, he is quick and he is infuriating. If he actually played more simple passes sometimes he'd destroy teams, especially if he received possession further up the pitch.

Moorlad wrote: All valid points Moorlad. Maybe if he was played further forward he would prove to be more effective.

I believe so.

I also think he probably is told to play further forward, but tends to drift back looking for the ball. I think he is a very gifted footballer, and once he sorts his positioning in the team out there we will see great things from him.

I was often critical of Zoko disappearing in games or only producing once in four or five games. this lad is a long way from Zoko at the moment. he's not the messiah, in fact he's not even a very naughty boy!

Could his place be threatened now that the options up front are increased? I wonder if Gilliead will play behind two strikers at some point?