Totally agree with the first point, Kelly will rightly be forgiven for his mistake. But there is no doubt in my in my mind that Roy will drop Jairo from the matchday squad completely once regulars are back to fitness. I am a big supporter of Roy, but in this instance I think he has got it totally wrong about Jairo and is wasting a talent we should use a lot more, and I really can't understand why

JR would shine surrounded by class players. Schlupp wouldn’t, but is probably more important to the way we play unfortunately. Our close passing was really good yesterday and the addition of JR was part of that.

Think he has done well and much better than most, me included, would have thought in recent games. That tackle vs West Ham will be long remembered and savoured.

Despite impressing I am not sure where his best position is. I never bought the oversized shirt shirt, he was unfit and overweight for a professional footballer and in no way mobile enough to compete for a midfield spot. Hopefully he can kick on from here and justify a regular bench position as a reliable utility player as his next stepping stone.

Yep

Except there are pictures of him from the same time in that seasons training top and he is no bigger than he is right now. Total fake news. Roy and Rays concerns were about him not being aggressive enough.

When Bright did co-comms on u23, he said JR needs to get fitter and work harder without the ball, before RH would consider him part of the first team squad. Bright was quite scathing of him when he didn’t have the ball. I think it’s safe to say... JR has improved. I don’t think it’s fake news to say he was unfit 12-18 months ago.

Work harder without the ball is be more aggressive. He's clearly not match fit although getting there. Cheik, Macca and Luka are all quite aggressive players even though their passing is a bit poo. Aggression and work rate does not equal unfit. We know creativity and passing ability is secondary in the middle of the park to Roy to work rate and aggression. It's simultaneously why we are hard to beat and why we are shit at creating good goal scoring chances and breaking down bus parkers.

That's decades of British players running around on maximum effort while mostly being ******* shit at actually passing a ball and being anything other than direct. It's something that is ingrained. Top to bottom in our footballing pyramid. You can teach and train for strength, fitness but you can't teach actual ability or tactical thinking only refine it and make it consistent. Look how our youth development and players have changed now foreign teams take our youngsters. Which was unheard of. Roy is in that halfway house between old school and the newer managers

I love Roy and he suits a smaller to medium size club that's on its arse. He gets the maximum out of hardworking honest players.


However his methods with a team that already has skillful, talented players don't really play out so well Liverpool and England being the best examples.

Thought yesterday was his best full match of the season. Went through a nervy patch for the 10 minutes after he had gone down with the injury. But overall looked a bit more settled in that left back role. Presuming no one is back to fitness, we had better hope he is OK for Wednesday too.

I thought he did really well yesterday and looked closer to fitness/sharpness than he has done for a long time.

He looked very dangerous bombing up the left and then cutting inside, should have done that more often as there was space to run into.

His weight and choice of passing is delightful. You can see his pedigree.

If he can build on that performance, we've got a real challenger to PVA at left back.

So pleased for him that he seems to be taking this chance and hope he proves himself to management. Not good for a club our size with our wage constraints to have a player earning that much and never playing. Plus there is definitely a good player there

I hear what your saying, but I think you’re wrong. I don’t think work harder is to be more aggressive. I think playing midfield needs a athleticism that JR didn’t have (according to Bright). Playing midfield is about cutting off passages of play, working as a unit with your other midfielders... you can’t have one midfielder not pulling his weight. The way palace play is to block off the middle of the pitch, pushing the oppo wide.
I agree with Bright... in the modern British game, you need a high level of fitness... JR didn’t have this (understandably, as he played at CB at Ajax).
Having watched the U23s.... I can totally see why JR didn’t get games for us.

Yeah but playing in midfield you're in the game all the time, it's relentless, whereas at LB you get time to catch your breath.

Very good point, JR would've been crucified. I've also been impressed, has done really well and I'm pleased for him, I think yesterday we saw him coming out of his shell a bit more, looked more confident and adventurous going forward.

Random thought... IF/When Wilf leaves I'd be interested to see JR at LB and PVA at LH

Really impressed with Jairo at Southampton, so comfortable on the ball.

Come on Jairo ,make that first team slot your own.

Jairo strikes me as a very talented footballer with great passing & movement, strong in the tackle and with a decent amount of pace once he gets going.

The one big weakness I noticed from the Southampton game is his ability to change direction quickly enough. It's a vital part of being a central midfielder or a full-back, and he seems to struggle with it. Compare him with any of our other CMs or full-backs and they scamper around much more quickly, even Kouyate with his improbably high centre of gravity.

It could be his hip issues or rustiness, but it looks to me like Jairo's best position really would be as a deep playmaker or ball playing centre-back in a less physical league or a team that likes to dominate possession. His ability to read the game, spot passes and cut out attacks look to be first rate, but his physicality doesn't seem to lend itself to the industriousness Roy prioritises.

He is too slow and not physical enough for English football
Don't care how elegant he looks in possession

Wasn't surprised derby goal came from a cross on his side

Agreed if he had the quickness of pva we wouldn’t need pva back so urgently

Sorry to say, I think that’s right.

I think he is a class player, who unfortunately isn't fancied by the manager.

Some of his link up play is class. He reads the game so we'll and is rarely out of position. He is clearly not a left back, not strong enough to be a center back. His block against West Ham was game winning.

I personally believe he is a center mid(which we have too many of unfortunately for him). His performance against city when we held them to a 0-0 draw two years ago was excellent.

You don't come through at ajax and play in a Europa league final if there isn't something about you.