TOPIC: Pat Brough

Surprised and confused as to why he has been poor in the two competitive games, he looked really good in pre season!

Agreed, thought he was pretty average in both games, if he doesn't improve we could probably put McQueen there and have Miller on the other side, though i reckon he'll find his form again soon.

NO......after that game Osei should get the nod over Brough.

Brough's better defensively, certainly not up to much attack wise.

I'd struggle to see Osei functioning in a wing back role against a League 2 side, think he could play up front with Jabo though.

depends on what formation Curle plays......but i would abandon the 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation.

Osei played up front against Oldham (friendly) and was dire.

I've never seen him have a good game and can't understand why he is anywhere near the first team at all.

Apart from the occasional bad delivery I find it hard to fault the lad.

Our left was much more open for them to attack when he went off.

Funny how people see things differently in football.

He is our worst player…. Week in, week out!

Curle must see something I cant?

He cant cross, he cant head, he cant pass, his first touch is absent, he doesn’t move into space….. just stands and demands 60 yard cross field balls. Should be nowhere near the team!!

Was extremely noticeable how the standard of player this year at United has increased and unfortunately Brough and Rigg have been left behind!

On a bright note…. Loved the game last night

cufccumbrian wrote:
If you're basing that on the first couple of games then don't forget Wyke in that, he was poor in pre season and didn't play well yesterday either.

Brough, Wyke and Rigg are all young lads, they will learn from experience. I would have played Jabo and Asamoah up front against them for the pace. Osei I would keep as an impact sub, came on after the right back had, had an hour yesterday which made him look better than he was. cracking goal mind

Osei is predominantly right-footed so he was playing on the wrong side really, he looked a bit lost defensively so would be much better utilised further up the pitch.

As for Brough, yes he's made an average start but he's a young lad so cut him some slack. His form will be up&down; as he strives for that consistency he needs and he's still learning. I think there's a decent player in there plus the wing-back role could be new to him also. I think he's one we need to persevere with and give him some support instead of slagging him off at the first opportunity.

Wukkie wrote:
Wingers nowadays need to be able to adapt to playing on both sides. You can't say he was playing on the wrong side, when he cut inside from the left and scored a sensational goal

Hope Osei can find the sort of form that he showed the other night. I seem to remember it took Zoko a full season to show how good he was hopefully Osei will end up being as good once he adjusts to the British game.

cufccumbrian wrote: Surely Grainger's worse every week?

I agree that he has been poor so far this season but as already mentioned I think the form of young players can fluctuate considerably while they gain experience. I think generally he can cross the ball well when he decides to do it first time but when he dwells on the ball ( and has time to think about it ) I think he tightens up a bit. Sometimes I wish Grainger would give him the ball a bit earlier before Brough is closed down. That said he has had time and space in games this season but not done well enough.

Anyone doubting his potential clearly wasn't at the Blackburn game a couple of years ago. ( We won on penalties ) He had a storming game and I think it might even have been his first game for us. He clearly needs to improve his technical ability and work on his strength but give the lad a chance. Perhaps he doesn't merit a first team place on current performances but he looks the kind of lad who needs a bit of encouragement not people slating him off on here.

1954Blue wrote:

Although I do agree with you, Mark Beck put in a performance in the League Cup against Ipswich the previous year that made him look like the next Didier Drogba, and that didn't really materialise.

For me, Brough has enough to be a big success at this level but his start to 15/16 has been underwhelming. I suppose the wing back role is relatively new to him and there's a fair chance he'll grow into it in 10-15 games. No doubting he has an engine on him and he can cross a ball so I don't think it's a cause for concern just yet.

PaddockRanger wrote:
I'd say abandoning the system we have prepared the whole of preseason would be the worst thing we could do, as proved last season.

DeckchairBlue wrote:
We played 442 in half our friendlies!

I think it'd be a pretty idiotic move switching formation 2 games in when we've had 2 good results out of it, especially just for the sake of one player.

CCU wrote:
Didn't we play 5-3-2/3-5-2 against Bradford, Preston and Oldham ? The other games really were only fitness sessions.

Well don't say 'the whole of preseason' then!

Flexibility is key...

CCU wrote:
I did only say prepared, not used

Nah, stick with one and play it till it no longer works, just like 442 was.

cufccumbrian wrote:
Harsh

Mush wrote:

Wrooooong! get off his back - critism when it`s due....... you clearly weren`t there on Tuesday night Mush or v Preston

So you think he played well on Tuesday eh? One of the reasons we play 3 centre half's because he makes so many mistakes. He's in the team/captain because he's surprisingly 'a good pro'.