Was saying to my old man on the way to the game that I was going to watch him closely today as up until now I hadn't really seen what all the fuss was about.
As I said in the player marks thread, this season I keep seem to be giving him lower marks than most other posters on here, not that I think he is bad but don't seem to rate him as the star others do. However he was outstanding today, I lost count how many times I said 'well done Dale' to myself in the first half alone, along with Green was the best player on the pitch. Long may it continue.
Thinking man's footballer. Real asset to Charlton. Don't understand the criticism he has got.
My criticism has always been based around how careless he can sometimes be with relatively simple passes - see his disastrous back-pass vs Derby for a particularly costly example. Doesn't sound like he was doing much of that today though and that means the better parts of his game shone through. Well done Dale and long may it continue.
System helped him out today, with the five man midfield he was off the chain and could roam around to his heart's content and let JJ and Hollands do the nitty-gritty 'dirty work' (though Dale did get stuck in with surprising alacrity.) He could play deep but carry the ball forward knowing if he did lose the ball it would soon come back to him. Not to mention more men in midfield = more targets to aim at. Yes he gave/gives the ball away but for my money that is just as much the recipient not having the same vision as Dale doing poor passes!
Thinking man's footballer. Real asset to Charlton. Don't understand the criticism he has got.
My criticism has always been based around how careless he can sometimes be with relatively simple passes - see his disastrous back-pass vs Derby for a particularly costly example. Doesn't sound like he was doing much of that today though and that means the better parts of his game shone through. Well done Dale and long may it continue.
Take your point and was not at Derby, so cannot comment on that, but always felt you can see his potential. Not surprising he shone today in a game where there was very little long ball play.
Hope we're going to play the system we did today away from home a few more times , not sure we can get a win playing it at home all the time , but we were light on strikers today , so needs must.
Big fan of Dale myself, and think he really benefited from not only having two other players in central positions alongside him, but having two out and out wide players stretching the game out more.
I have found him frustrating. One minute he'll be playing a blinding pass that opens the oppositions defence up, the next he's playing a silly pass which breaks down the move, putting us immediately on the back-foot. This isn't down to a lack of ability, but a lack of concentration.
However, Yesterday I thought he looked superb. Couldn't fault his performance and got my vote for MOTM. Got to thinking that this may have been down to us playing a 5 man midfield, which maybe suited his game more?
He was excellent yesterday. I thought when he came back from his injury last season he looked well off the quality he had shown at the beggining of the season. But this season he has been brilliant, stepped upto the plate to look one of our best players every game.
His best game for us yesterday. Have always felt he is a bit over rated on this forum as I think he has more bad games than good (just my view). Couldn't fault him yesterday, thought he was excellent
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Thought he played very well today.
Well done Dale.
However he was outstanding today, I lost count how many times I said 'well done Dale' to myself in the first half alone, along with Green was the best player on the pitch. Long may it continue.
However, Yesterday I thought he looked superb. Couldn't fault his performance and got my vote for MOTM. Got to thinking that this may have been down to us playing a 5 man midfield, which maybe suited his game more?