Joao Carvalho

[PsychoStanleyStone]

Good to hear the players are actually being coached though

I've held back on these stats, until the mood became more positive, as I wanted fans behind the club, rather than squabbling over an individual, but our #10 is 8th, in this squad, when it comes to shots per game, behind Yates & Guédioura, amongst others.

A #10 should be top 5 in that stat, & certainly not behind deeper sitting midfielders & he's 9th in passing accuracy, another area he should be top 5.

In terms of actual number of passes he averages 32, which is 12th.

Of course a #10 isn't just about creativity, if you defend from the front, as all teams should, a #10 is also key to keeping the opposition locked in. Look at the game Monday night, Murphy & Yates shut down Huddlestone & because of that 60% of Derby's possession was with their defensive players, in their defensive third of the pitch, effectively neutering them.

Our #10 comes 16th in our squad when it comes to average tackles per game, 22nd when it comes to interceptions (Ryan Yates has already made more in total, in 20 games less), & Carvalho is 18th when it comes to blocking the ball.

He's also 3rd in our squad when it comes to being dispossessed, & 2nd when it comes to losing the ball through bad ball control.

  following the post on Carvalho I felt someone had to challenge this. I respect all opinions, but I also recognise the potential for borderline indoctrination to filter in. For the record, I loved watching Carvalho play, but 100% support MON and the more pragmatic approach required to achieve what we all want. I hope this doesn't sound like a personal attack, it is not meant too, but I like this forum and don't want to see it slide down a slippery slope.
Hand grenade dropped, off to get ready for my train now......

Zico, I've been pondering this debate for the last 24 hours, I like it, NG3 put up some stats and opinions and you have challenged, we could do with more of this although I find this forum extremely informative, as in the information to posts ratio is extremely high compared to lost the plot and others.

Most importantly, despite our appreciation for the quality and depth of analysis NG3 puts in, we all, hope to high heaven, probably including NG3, you are right, because if you are right we are going to see a phenomenal player, I appreciate the argument that Forest produced some the best performances with him in the side earlier in the season.  

Regards the stats, they aren't good, to the contrary quite condemning, but although they are interesting I prefer to bury my head in the sand and ignore them and hope the guys game comes together and 1 or 2 assists or a goal or some skill or effort will do me.  Basically he could influence a game dramatically but the stats over the season won't move much.  It could be a run off the ball that takes the defenders away, or good passes that show as intercepted or failed but the team mate really should of anticipated and been on the front foot.

As you can see, I know diddly, I see very few games, besides Derby and WBA games which I loved, any others were on very poor streams.  I do know we have 33 players, probably the biggest squad in the league and I can't remember who half of them are.  I hope there are a few secret weapons buried in there, maybe Pele, Appiah, Aransiford? or something can be done to get the squad into cohesive lethal combination.  Or just a horrible set of thugs who win ugly, i'll take either.  No reason Carv can't contribute significantly.

The worry I have isn't just adapting to the English championship but for the young Portugese in Nottingham with £20k to spend on fun every week, there are a lot of snares, vices and distractions, however much potential a guy has and however much you spend, you cannot guarantee they will not be tempted and corrupted by the dark side.  That is the thing about Yates and Worrall they were settled in the area and happy to totally focus, even working with less natural ability but more focus and passion maybe?

We have plenty of players who seem totally focussed on the cause, but I don't know if everyone is totally bought in yet, having a too big a squad could possibly be slightly counter productive to a focussed team spirit.  I'm thinking if we do stumble across a secret weapon it will more likely be Pele or Appiah, hopefully both.