Rhys Williams

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Very very good performance all things considered. Most CBs in the league struggle with Kane and Son so he's not alone there, but he did way better than could reasonable be expected of him IMO.

[rubble-rouser]

1 minute ago, Em City said:

 

Yep. 

Fantastic pass - we'd all be creaming ourselves if VVD had done that.

 

He looks a very good footballer. Whether he's good enough to play CB in the premier league is another matter. Any time we go up against big grocks Phillips might be the better option.

[Daisy]

I thought he was OK not great. 

 

As Barry said all the chances Spurs had came from his errors. 

 

Hes good with the ball though which is crucial to us. 

 

If he can get better in the air he could become great. 

[Lario]

6 minutes ago, Daisy said:

I thought he was OK not great. 

 

As Barry said all the chances Spurs had came from his errors. 

 

Hes good with the ball though which is crucial to us. 

 

If he can get better in the air he could become great. 

How did you play when you made your Premier League debut at 19?

 

Fucking hell.

[mattyq]

1 hour ago, Barrington Womble said:

To be honest, I thought he was pretty awful. We dominated possession and most of their big chances came from him getting dragged out of position. I don't know if there's a player in there with him or not, but he's a kid and playing against one of the better forward lines in the country. But he needs to play better than that. 

Dunno if he was allowed a bit of license as Kane has taken to dropping deep but every time he moved forward I noticed Hendo dropping deep to cover the CB position

 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

30 minutes ago, rubble-rouser said:

Was it his ball that put Salah in late in the second half?

Because, like any Kidderminster defender, he had the confidence and ability to step up to Sir Harry on the halfway line and snuff out whatever attack he was planning.

[dockers_strike]

Someone thought he was pretty awful? Fuck. Ing. Hell. I thought the boy was magnificent. He made one mistake when he misjudged an aerial ball but overall, alli made more mistakes than Rhys last night and I dont see anyone calling him 'pretty awful'!

 

 

[Ron B]

34 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

I've never known one of our managers to put so much faith in kids in absolutely huge games. It has generally been the making of them. 

 

Jones is now a first choice midfielder, Kelleher looks better than a lot of top flight goalkeepers and both Williams kids and Phillips have made good progress. 

 

People might say they only got their chances through necessity, but it would have been just as easy for Jurgen to play Adrian when Alisson was out, to slot Henderson into centre half instead of giving Williams and Phillips a go or to play Milner or Henderson instead of Neco. 

 

What a manager. 

I’ll admit, there’s been a bit of talk over the last year or so about the kids being involved in first team training, how involved they feel, etc. And whilst that’s all well and groovy, to sone extent my response was... so what?

We’ve had a habit, certainly going back to Houllier, of new managers coming in and blooding youngsters, but the longer they’re here the less they do so. Ged completely backed Gerrard for example, but increasingly moved to importing French kids (who were largely rubbish) instead of promoting promising youngsters. Rafa was the making of Carra, but after a while it was obvious that he’d rather buy a moderate player like Degen than give Warnock or Wright a sustained run. I know that Carraghers and Gerrards are one-offs, but it was striking how these one-offs only emerged at the start of managers’ regimes. I didn’t want Trent to be the same. 
Clearly, Jurgen is different. I know that it’s phenomenally unlikely that Trent, the Williamses, Phillips, Jones, etc, will all be regulars for the next decade. But they’re all being given a proper crack, and there’s an actual long-term plan to build a side which can accommodate and groom young players.

I fucking love it. 

[Ron B]

43 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

I've never known one of our managers to put so much faith in kids in absolutely huge games. It has generally been the making of them. 

 

Jones is now a first choice midfielder, Kelleher looks better than a lot of top flight goalkeepers and both Williams kids and Phillips have made good progress. 

 

People might say they only got their chances through necessity, but it would have been just as easy for Jurgen to play Adrian when Alisson was out, to slot Henderson into centre half instead of giving Williams and Phillips a go or to play Milner or Henderson instead of Neco. 

 

What a manager. 

Apparently I love it so much that I double-posted 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Ron B
Double-post

[Ron B]

44 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

I've never known one of our managers to put so much faith in kids in absolutely huge games. It has generally been the making of them. 

 

Jones is now a first choice midfielder, Kelleher looks better than a lot of top flight goalkeepers and both Williams kids and Phillips have made good progress. 

 

People might say they only got their chances through necessity, but it would have been just as easy for Jurgen to play Adrian when Alisson was out, to slot Henderson into centre half instead of giving Williams and Phillips a go or to play Milner or Henderson instead of Neco. 

 

What a manager. 

And then treble-posted

Edited December 17, 2020 by Ron B
Treble-posted

[No2]

I was sure it was him that headed in winner. I like Bobby and all but I was slightly disappointed I was wrong.

[Lee909]

Can't see how it was his fault getting caught a d dragged out of positiom a couple time yesterday. Trent often leaves the RCB in the shit defensively by being so far upfield. Our CB are often forced to leave space and defend one on one. Asking a 19 year old kid to do that is a big ask of him. Thought he did very well. 

 

There will always be mistakes in kids that age playing at the back and left exposed. 

[Lee909]

7 minutes ago, Ron B said:

 

Clearly, Jurgen is different. I know that it’s phenomenally unlikely that Trent, the Williamses, Phillips, Jones, etc, will all be regulars for the next decade. But they’re all being given a proper crack, and there’s an actual long-term plan to build a side which can accommodate and groom young players.

I fucking love it. 

 

That's the tjing

You'll only get a handful of Gerrard Carragher etc coming through the ranks in a generation. But as you only need to look at what the mancs did with the others O'Shea, Brown etc. They filled out the squad, came in did a job when needed and got sold on to fund better players in the long run. If you are getting a few players every few years who are able to do that the academy is doing a good job 

[bossy]

I thought he did fantastically well, really can’t see how he was awful. Defenders mistakes are always worse than anywhere else on the pitch and he didn’t make many. Kane puts the fear into most CBs, our two last night were anything but scared.

[3 Stacks]

2 hours ago, Barrington Womble said:

To be honest, I thought he was pretty awful. We dominated possession and most of their big chances came from him getting dragged out of position. I don't know if there's a player in there with him or not, but he's a kid and playing against one of the better forward lines in the country. But he needs to play better than that. 

He's a 19 year old kid who was playing non-league last season. This season, he's been picked to play against Atalanta and Tottenham and it hasn't been a disaster at all. 3 goals conceded in those 3 difficult games. You're way too harsh, he's exceeded expectations massively and has been perfectly fine. 

[aRdja]

I thought he was fine. I liked his ability to win headers, and he used the ball quite well. He’s just a bit pedestrian but then again so was Sami. 

[Barrington Womble]

1 hour ago, Spy Bee said:

 

I suspect there have been few better Premier League debuts from a teenage centre half. Awful? What on earth were you watching?

I am not really sure how centre backs not being good at 19 makes his performance better. Just look at the big chances he gave away. I am not saying he can never play football, but he showed last night his ability isn't at this level at the moment. His mistakes were ones you would not expect to see in the U23s. 

1 hour ago, joe_fishfish said:

Harsh that @Barrington Womble, there were a couple of moments where he showed he was definitely above Kidderminster's level.

 

I don't think he's anywhere near the level of our centre backs, and I wouldn't really expect him to be. But I think he'd look a lot better on the left of the defence with Robbo covering in behind him on high balls than on the right, because Trent doesn't really do that very well. First Bergwijn chance last night was on Williams fucking up the header; second was as much on Trent as Williams for not sticking tight to his man.

The thing with defending is you have to get the basics right. For me he looked like a school boy (which I realise he's not much older) getting under the ball, following players out of position, losing the flight of the ball - but if he needs to stay in the side, I think we will have some issues there. He looked like exactly what he is - a kid who isn't ready yet for this level. 

54 minutes ago, mattyq said:

Dunno if he was allowed a bit of license as Kane has taken to dropping deep but every time he moved forward I noticed Hendo dropping deep to cover the CB position

 

Henderson does what he does when youngsters are in the team, he holds their hands through the game and talks them through it (like Milner does too if he's there) - on the flip side, the maturity Jones continues to show is emphasised by the fact Henderson can mostly just let him get on with it. Pretty much from breaking into the team he has not really needed baby sitting. 

17 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

He's a 19 year old kid who was playing non-league last season. This season, he's been picked to play against Atalanta and Tottenham and it hasn't been a disaster at all. 3 goals conceded in those 3 difficult games. You're way too harsh, he's exceeded expectations massively and has been perfectly fine. 

I know he's 19. I know he was at Kidderminster last season. But to be regarded as a good start last night, I think he needs to not look like a 19 year old who played at Kidderminster, which he very much did. 

[Spy Bee]

Can you talk us through all these chances he gave away? Their goal was Trent being out of position, Jones filling in and getting dragged infield by cross-over runs. Kane's header was nothing to do with Williams. I can't remember what happened when they hit the post, was that Williams fault?

 

You of course need to put into context how good you could expect him to be as a teenager in the central defensive position. It's not fair to compare him to Van Dijk.

[3 Stacks]

4 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

 

I know he's 19. I know he was at Kidderminster last season. But to be regarded as a good start last night, I think he needs to not look like a 19 year old who played at Kidderminster, which he very much did. 

You think he looked like someone who was playing non-league last season? If that's the case, I don't think you understand the difference in level between Atalanta in the Champions League, Tottenham in the Premier League and non-league football. 

[Guest Alex_K]

Yeah .. he wasn’t awful by any stretch. I get the narrative before the game already was “he played for Kidderminster; he’s awful”, but sometimes you need to refresh the narrative based on what’s put in front of you. 
 

The CB situation is bad but there’s a lot we can do to disguise it through roles of the other outfield players. ‘Keeper was always a bigger concern as there’s no hiding for a goalkeeper: you will be found out time and time again. Defensively we’ve been more or less fine again of late: get away with the Robertson boot at Brighton and we’d be 5 pts clear and laughing.

[joe_fishfish]

1 minute ago, 3 Stacks said:

You think he looked like someone who played non-league last season? If that's the case, I don't think you understand the difference in level between Atalanta in the Champions League, Tottenham in the Premier League and non-league football. 

 

I don't think Barry watches much non-league. I watched Tranmere in League One a couple of times last season, for my sins, and Rhys Williams would probably have been their best player.

[Barrington Womble]

9 minutes ago, Spy Bee said:

Can you talk us through all these chances he gave away? Their goal was Trent being out of position, Jones filling in and getting dragged infield by cross-over runs. Kane's header was nothing to do with Williams. I can't remember what happened when they hit the post, was that Williams fault?

 

You of course need to put into context how good you could expect him to be as a teenager in the central defensive position. It's not fair to compare him to Van Dijk.

You need to watch them again and watch what he does. You have to remember they barely crossed the half way line and when they did through him they created all of their big chances aside from the Kane one from a corner. 

8 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

You think he looked like someone who was playing non-league last season? If that's the case, I don't think you understand the difference in level between Atalanta in the Champions League, Tottenham in the Premier League and non-league football. 

I know the difference well thanks. It's about the same as that shite french stuff you watch. 

5 minutes ago, joe_fishfish said:

 

I don't think Barry watches much non-league. I watched Tranmere in League One a couple of times last season, for my sins, and Rhys Williams would probably have been their best player.

Well aside from going down to south road with my daughter to suffer AFC Liverpool and Marine. And that following the ball around is exactly the type of defending you see all game. 

[3 Stacks]

12 minutes ago, joe_fishfish said:

 

I don't think Barry watches much non-league. I watched Tranmere in League One a couple of times last season, for my sins, and Rhys Williams would probably have been their best player.

I mean, I don't watch non-league either, but given what we've seen of him, if I knew nothing about where he'd come from, I absolutely would not guess he was playing non-league last season. At worst, he looks like a young centre back who can come in and he won't totally kill us. 

[3 Stacks]

3 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

 

I know the difference well thanks. It's about the same as that shite french stuff you watch. 

 

Uhhh, ok. Sweet roast, dude. Got me there. 

[Spy Bee]

6 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

You need to watch them again and watch what he does. You have to remember they barely crossed the half way line and when they did through him they created all of their big chances aside from the Kane one from a corner. 

I've already explained that he wasn't at fault for the goal. Watch it again.