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Christophe Berra


davew

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It seems Berra has been consistently good for Ipswich for a while now.

10 games into the Championship season and whoscored.com rates him as the best player in the whole league.

According to their system Berra has won man of the match 5 times in 10 games.

More MOTM awards than any other player (Chris Martin is second with 3).

Is it time for Berra to be given another chance?

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IMHO Berra always came in for more flack than he actually deserved, and always suspected that it was playing beside Gary Caldwell that was the problem, as the two of them just did not link up well.

Problem is, who do you drop? Martin and Hanley have been great together since they were put together.

Norwich are looking good in the Championship, so with Martin in the heart of their defense, and he seems to guide Hanley through games to the point that Grant is starting to look less and less like the bombscare he was when he first got his chance.

Berra will have to wait for his chance, but does not look like it is coming any time soon and even then its a case of him having to work hard to keep it.

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IMHO Berra always came in for more flack than he actually deserved, and always suspected that it was playing beside Gary Caldwell that was the problem, as the two of them just did not link up well.

Problem is, who do you drop? Martin and Hanley have been great together since they were put together.

Norwich are looking good in the Championship, so with Martin in the heart of their defense, and he seems to guide Hanley through games to the point that Grant is starting to look less and less like the bombscare he was when he first got his chance.

Berra will have to wait for his chance, but does not look like it is coming any time soon and even then its a case of him having to work hard to keep it.

Really? I think Hanley is a bit of a bombscare to be honest & a very average centre half. I dont think Berra is much better TBH, but if Berra was to come in for Hanley it wouldnt worry me in the slightest

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Really? I think Hanley is a bit of a bombscare to be honest & a very average centre half.

Remember, Hanley is only 22 (think a lot of people think he is much older than he really is, as he seems to have been about for ages!) and is still about 4/5 years from reaching his playing peak.

He is still prone to the odd Bombscare moment, but these are becoming less and less..... even when you watch him playing, you can see he always take a quick look over his shoulder to get orders/reassurance from Martin.

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I've always thought Berra gets more stick than he deserves. I think he is probably better than Hanley is right now but Hanley is the long-term centre-back for us.

A back 5 of Hutton, Hanley, Martin, Berra & Robertson could work but these aren't the games to experiment.

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Problem is, who do you drop? Martin and Hanley have been great together since they were put together.

I would say they've been decent together.

For me, I think it would be Martin.

He's a good defender, and he can play the ball out from the back, but at the end of the day he's a good right-back and an average centre-half.

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Please explain why Greer is bad, given that the 4 games he's started for us were a clean sheet agains the USA, a clean sheet in Norway, a clean sheet in Poland and a draw with Nigeria?

I think far too many people just don't like that he's 33 and for them he's not a glamorous name.. so berate him for no other reason than that.

He's been a solid option for us. I'd like to think the fans would at least give him some respect for that. He's not a long term option, no one is suggesting he is, but he's come in and done a job in a problem position for us, and if 75% clean sheets is bad by your reckoning then i can see you having a miserable time watching basically any football anywhere.

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Please explain why Greer is bad, given that the 4 games he's started for us were a clean sheet agains the USA, a clean sheet in Norway, a clean sheet in Poland and a draw with Nigeria?

I think far too many people just don't like that he's 33 and for them he's not a glamorous name.. so berate him for no other reason than that.

He's been a solid option for us. I'd like to think the fans would at least give him some respect for that. He's not a long term option, no one is suggesting he is, but he's come in and done a job in a problem position for us, and if 75% clean sheets is bad by your reckoning then i can see you having a miserable time watching basically any football anywhere.

Statistics can sometimes be misleading.

Fair play to Greer for turning up and all that but he's been all over the place in the games he's played. He was poor against Poland and Norway in particular. Always five seconds behind everyone else, poor tackler, out of position a lot and gave the ball away a fair bit. The other defenders and Marshall were left under a lot of pressure at times thanks to his mistakes.

Edited by ErsatzThistle
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Aye, forget 3 straight clean sheets, dont' trouble yourself with facts and results, it was nothing to do with him.. just buy into the ethereal 'he put other people under pressure'.

As I said, it's misleading just to take those results at face value.

By using your same logic we should never give Marshall a game again because we were on the receiving end of some heavy beatings whilst he was in goal, despite him not being at fault for many of the goals conceded. The fact Greer played when we kept three clean sheets doesn't tell the whole story.

Yes the team done well to get those two results but as anyone who watched the games against Poland and Norway knows, Greer was poor. Norway should have won that game over there easily had it not been for Marshall). Clearly other defenders have to take some responsibility but the fact of the matter was Greer was at fault for a lot of their chances.

He's not good enough.

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I've always thought our centre halfs in general get more stick than they deserve. Especially the Burley and Levein years when they either had little protection or were expected to defend for most of the match.

Berra is decent. Like Hanely and Martin has as many good games in him as he does bad ones. Wouldn't be too upset if him and Martin started.

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Greer I have no major problem with being in the squad...... he is only going to get used in friendlies and major emergencies, and when he has been called upon, though maybe not Beckenbauer, has actually looked ok.

Strachan is not building his defense around him, so he is not in Strachans long term plans, just a player he feels safe with that he can call upon if needed.

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Strachan is not building his defense around him, so he is not in Strachans long term plans, just a player he feels safe with that he can call upon if needed.

This all over. As a back up player he's good enough and he's done alright when he's been put in.

Continually banging on about Norway's mislead too. No one came out of that game covered in glory, we were pretty rubbish all over the pitch, and lucky to get a win. Suddenly it's all greers fault that the entire team didn't perform and only he's not god enough. ok.. that's logic i can get behind.

I'd agree that "Statistics can sometimes be misleading", but when the statistic is clean sheets, it's a much harder one to argue with.

You can argue that he's not played great in those games if you like, but the original accusation that hes bad and to deny that he's played a part in keeping those 3 clean sheets in the 4 games he's played is just disrespectful to someone who's come in done a job for the national side.

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Continually banging on about Norway's mislead too. No one came out of that game covered in glory, we were pretty rubbish all over the pitch, and lucky to get a win.

Used very lightly I would say, with "ploughed field" more fitting.............. Bryson had a nightmare, Anya was very subdued, and really hardly any players covered themselves in glory in that game (expect Marshall)

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This all over. As a back up player he's good enough and he's done alright when he's been put in.

Continually banging on about Norway's mislead too. No one came out of that game covered in glory, we were pretty rubbish all over the pitch, and lucky to get a win. Suddenly it's all greers fault that the entire team didn't perform and only he's not god enough. ok.. that's logic i can get behind.

I'd agree that "Statistics can sometimes be misleading", but when the statistic is clean sheets, it's a much harder one to argue with.

You can argue that he's not played great in those games if you like, but the original accusation that hes bad and to deny that he's played a part in keeping those 3 clean sheets in the 4 games he's played is just disrespectful to someone who's come in done a job for the national side.

I said fair play to Greer for turning up if you actually bothered to read my original posts. No ones faulting the guy for turning up and I'm sure as hell he's really proud to have played for his country but I'm not the only one who thought he's been poor in the games he's played. Clean sheets or not he's out of his depth at international level.

I beg to differ on "disrespecting him", that would involve making fun of his appearance or personality. To point out the obvious fact that he's not up to international football is fair comment.

Anyway considering the amount of money he makes (and has made) I don't think he would give a flying feck anyway about what someone on a fitba forum thinks of him.

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I said fair play to Greer for turning up if you actually bothered to read my original posts.

hush yourself. I read your posts as is blindingly oibvious. go back to my original post and see i was replying to the guy who said he was a bad player.

if that's the kind of pishy comment you want to make, get of your horse and take your own advice by reading people posts.

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Used very lightly I would say, with "ploughed field" more fitting.............. Bryson had a nightmare, Anya was very subdued, and really hardly any players covered themselves in glory in that game (expect Marshall)

Bryson showed in that game why he isn't an international midfielder and why the championship is his top level

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Anyway considering the amount of money he makes (and has made) I don't think he would give a flying feck anyway about what someone on a fitba forum thinks of him.

You'd be surprised.

I like Greer. The more he's in the squad, the more training gear I may get :ok:

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Its good that there is competition and cover for centre halves but Hanley and Martin should be first choice for the Georgia game.

I like Hanley. He's ugly. Back when we used to qualify for tournaments we had our fair share of munters. These days our players all have haircuts and a full set of teeth. Hanley and Brown should strike fear into the opposition.

That said Martin is the better centre half so if Berra merits a start its Hanley's place he should take.

And didn't Greer fall over and take an age to get up when Nigeria scored their late equaliser?

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