Finn Azaz

[S-Clarke]

Just now, saintant said:

This is one of biggest and most basic problems - can we please get a coach in who knows about playing between the lines. The reason we never found him is because the rest of the idiots are not used to and have no clue how to play between the lines. I imagine Azaz was pretty baffled and not a little frustrated to play alongside others with no basic appreciation of how the game is meant to be played. Will Still needs to get this sorted and quickly.

Jander seemed quite willing to play between the lines when he came on, it's Downes and Charles who are pretty much robotic 6's and crab players. You only need 1 of those in a side.

[saintant]

Just now, S-Clarke said:

Jander seemed quite willing to play between the lines when he came on, it's Downes and Charles who are pretty much robotic 6's and crab players. You only need 1 of those in a side.

Yes and he is clearly a good footballer. However, all our players should be well versed and capable of picking up pockets of space between the lines and looking to pass to team mates who have done so. Do none of them ever watch good sides and see what they do. Even Pompey players were far better at it than our lot. 

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Yes and he is clearly a good footballer. However, all our players should be well versed and capable of picking up pockets of space between the lines and looking to pass to team mates who have done so. Do none of them ever watch good sides and see what they do. Even Pompey players were far better at it than our lot. 

We're too slow when we're on the ball, so those pockets get filled quite quickly. That's our biggest problem, certainly in the first half. Half the time I have no idea WTF we're waiting for when we're on the ball.

We have footballers who don't act quickly with the ball, they favour retaining it and standing on it for a bit, and thus the chance slides away. We've got to move it quicker and with zip to really make the most of players like Azaz/Fellows/Archer etc.

It's not just CM which is the problem, our CB's and Manning in particular are particularly guilty of it. In terms of CM Charles is probably the more athletic and stronger of the 2 I'd say, so if we partner him with someone who is more capable of moving the ball quickly then we may start to get some positive outcomes.

[saintant]

4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

We're too slow when we're on the ball, so those pockets get filled quite quickly. That's our biggest problem, certainly in the first half. Half the time I have no idea WTF we're waiting for when we're on the ball.

We have footballers who don't act quickly with the ball, they favour retaining it and standing on it for a bit, and thus the chance slides away. We've got to move it quicker and with zip to really make the most of players like Azaz/Fellows/Archer etc.

It's not just CM which is the problem, our CB's and Manning in particular are particularly guilty of it. In terms of CM Charles is probably the more athletic and stronger of the 2 I'd say, so if we partner him with someone who is more capable of moving the ball quickly then we may start to get some positive outcomes.

We are slow but a lot of that is down to the fact that players do not pick up the space between the lines and so the guy in possession is looking for non existent options to make a simple pass. The player is then forced to dwell on the ball and we become ponderous and slow to move forward. It is easily rectified but the players need intensive coaching because most of them just don't seem to get it. The good sides always have players between the lines and fizz the ball to them at pace. We plod around and either hit slow passes or lump it long. 

Edited September 14 by saintant

[davefizzy14]

From what I saw today Azaz is clearly a quality player. We simply have to get him on the ball to create. There were a couple of times when he played a precise pass through to Archer. 

Edited September 14 by davefizzy14

[sledger]

we move the ball so slowly teams can organise against us,neither downes or charles move the ball quickly forward,quite happy to play safe back and sideways.Other than not playing stupid passes in our own 6 yard box i see little change from last years tactics.

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

6 hours ago, sledger said:

we move the ball so slowly teams can organise against us,neither downes or charles move the ball quickly forward,quite happy to play safe back and sideways.Other than not playing stupid passes in our own 6 yard box i see little change from last years tactics.

Yep, agree. 

We take ages to pass it around, gives the opposition plenty of time to reset.

So frustrating.

[Alanh]

12 hours ago, saintant said:

Yes and he is clearly a good footballer. However, all our players should be well versed and capable of picking up pockets of space between the lines and looking to pass to team mates who have done so. Do none of them ever watch good sides and see what they do. Even Pompey players were far better at it than our lot. 

This.  The most frustrating thing all afternoon was watching Flynn Downes getting into positions where he could not receive the ball becuase he was marked or there was an opponent between him and the ball. That issue was fundamental to the problems we had until he was subbed off.

[kitch]

9 hours ago, sledger said:

we move the ball so slowly teams can organise against us,neither downes or charles move the ball quickly forward,quite happy to play safe back and sideways.Other than not playing stupid passes in our own 6 yard box i see little change from last years tactics.

100% agree. We are SO ponderous. We've got the most one-footed player you've ever seen at LB, so when 50% of the moves seem to start there, it's no wonder things get 'recycled' back to the keeper. Unless there's an easy pass on for Manning, he always turns and goes back to a CB or to the keeper. Eventually it ends up with the RB before being worked back into the middle, only yesterday the only thing there was in the middle was blue shirts. So, it goes back to a CB and they pelt it, meaning creative players like Azaz watch it fly over their heads.
Manning's less ponderous when it's in the opponent's half, possibly because there's less risk involved? Who knows!

We've made some great signings this summer, but so far the ghost of Russball is still ingrained in too many players.

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, kitch said:

100% agree. We are SO ponderous. We've got the most one-footed player you've ever seen at LB, so when 50% of the moves seem to start there, it's no wonder things get 'recycled' back to the keeper. Unless there's an easy pass on for Manning, he always turns and goes back to a CB or to the keeper. Eventually it ends up with the RB before being worked back into the middle, only yesterday the only thing there was in the middle was blue shirts. So, it goes back to a CB and they pelt it, meaning creative players like Azaz watch it fly over their heads.
Manning's less ponderous when it's in the opponent's half, possibly because there's less risk involved? Who knows!

We've made some great signings this summer, but so far the ghost of Russball is still ingrained in too many players.

Jelert could be a good shout there, he's a full back capable of playing both sides so is comfortable on both feet.

We need to phase ourselves away from the Downes/Mannings, as they are literally conditioned to be slow and ponderous. 

[kitch]

18 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Jelert could be a good shout there, he's a full back capable of playing both sides so is comfortable on both feet.

We need to phase ourselves away from the Downes/Mannings, as they are literally conditioned to be slow and ponderous. 

Yeah I did wonder about Jelert. Haven't seen anything of him though.

[swannymere]

We are essentially a new team with that many players coming into the squad, to expect them to have some understanding of each others strengths straight away is unrealistic. I think we'll be gelling sooner rather than later but i agree that the derby was very disappointing in terms of going forward.

Edited September 15 by swannymere

[Dusic]

I think some of it is confused instruction. After the game Still clearly said, and Bazunu repeated it, that the plan for the first 10mins was to not take risk, to play it in behind their defence to stretch them and then after that try to find the pockets to play in.

In reality we played hoofball whenever we did have it early on to the point that it was about 6 or 7 mins in before we actually strung a sequence of 5 or 6 passes together, and on the rare occassions we did it produced our best moves.

There were multiple times the ball went to our CBs and instead of chesting down and playing they just punted it forward. Felt sorry for Archer as the service he got was non-existent.

We know THB is good at breaking lines from CB, his passing numbers for that even last year were very strong and we also know Downes excelled playing a high risk playing out from the back style. They can do it.

Yesterday they were told not to play for the first 10mins and it basically handed the momentum to Pompey, took the energy out of the crowd and we didn't recover.

I get that we don't want to go back to RM style passing across the back for the sake of it, but equally any good side passes the ball well - whereas we seem to be hellbent on being direct without really having any control or purpose to it.

[saintant]

15 minutes ago, Dusic said:

I think some of it is confused instruction. After the game Still clearly said, and Bazunu repeated it, that the plan for the first 10mins was to not take risk, to play it in behind their defence to stretch them and then after that try to find the pockets to play in.

In reality we played hoofball whenever we did have it early on to the point that it was about 6 or 7 mins in before we actually strung a sequence of 5 or 6 passes together, and on the rare occassions we did it produced our best moves.

There were multiple times the ball went to our CBs and instead of chesting down and playing they just punted it forward. Felt sorry for Archer as the service he got was non-existent.

We know THB is good at breaking lines from CB, his passing numbers for that even last year were very strong and we also know Downes excelled playing a high risk playing out from the back style. They can do it.

Yesterday they were told not to play for the first 10mins and it basically handed the momentum to Pompey, took the energy out of the crowd and we didn't recover.

I get that we don't want to go back to RM style passing across the back for the sake of it, but equally any good side passes the ball well - whereas we seem to be hellbent on being direct without really having any control or purpose to it.

Spot on. I was surprised when Still said pre match that we intended to play long at the start of the game because it made no sense. He and the team paid for that tactical mishap and we never recovered from the shocking start to the game which resulted and, as he said himself, we wasted the first 45 minutes. This was not what I expected from Will Still and hopefully he's learned a big lesson.

[benjii]

14 hours ago, saintant said:

We are slow but a lot of that is down to the fact that players do not pick up the space between the lines and so the guy in possession is looking for non existent options to make a simple pass. The player is then forced to dwell on the ball and we become ponderous and slow to move forward. It is easily rectified but the players need intensive coaching because most of them just don't seem to get it. The good sides always have players between the lines and fizz the ball to them at pace. We plod around and either hit slow passes or lump it long. 

It looked like our set up was very deliberately though. 

Our XI is full of internationals and experienced players. I'm not buying that they were bemused by coming up against the Blue Few running around a bit. They are being sent out with stupid tactical plans by a coach who seems out of his depth. I'm also fed up of seeing Lallana's stupid Monster Munch facing gurning at the camera from the bench. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

Neil Maddison now working in player support at Middlesborough discusses Finn Azaz on BBC Sounds from 7m30s

[Willo of Whiteley]

2 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Neil Maddison now working in player support at Middlesborough discusses Finn Azaz on BBC Sounds from 7m30s

Does he discuss how non-attacking he is as an attacking player?

[Patches O Houlihan]

44 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Does he discuss how non-attacking he is as an attacking player?

Surely in order to be an effective attacking player you have to receive the ball from time to time - maybe it would be fairer to be critical in a months time when the team has worked out how to do that properly. I agree it's not been a flying start but having listened to that piece and then the 40 minute one he appears to be a streaky player who needs support to perform.

I appreciate there is a chicken and egg thing with supporters needing to have something to cheer, but his history and stats tell us there is a player here so I think he is worth the benefit of the doubt for the time being. 

Also I believe he is mostly a provider of intelligent key passes to others rather than a do it all on his own type.

Edited September 26 by Patches O Houlihan

[AlexLaw76]

He is a proven player in a system that plays 3 at the back

He is a proven player for a team challenging for the playoffs

We, like with many players, are simply struggling to put a cohesive team out there, which completely sits with the manager.

[east-stand-nic]

23 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He is a proven player in a system that plays 3 at the back

He is a proven player for a team challenging for the playoffs

We, like with many players, are simply struggling to put a cohesive team out there, which completely sits with the manager.

This is how I see it, not just in the case of Azaz but so many players we seem to sign, with proven backgrounds who then turn out shite for us. We seem to have a knack of taking the baller out of a footballer.

[Patches O Houlihan]

10 minutes ago, east-stand-nic said:

This is how I see it, not just in the case of Azaz but so many players we seem to sign, with proven backgrounds who then turn out shite for us. We seem to have a knack of taking the baller out of a footballer.

I've definitely seen this. But sometimes I think it is because a manager has asked a player to drop their preferred game and been coached to play 'their' style (Ralph & Russ).

Will Still seems to favour 'just be you, do what you do'. Which you could certainly see creative players really enjoying. But you might also see it taking a little longer for everyone to join the dots to work out what works well - particularly when we have had half the squad change this summer. 

[Greedyfly]

55 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

I've definitely seen this. But sometimes I think it is because a manager has asked a player to drop their preferred game and been coached to play 'their' style (Ralph & Russ).

Will Still seems to favour 'just be you, do what you do'. Which you could certainly see creative players really enjoying. But you might also see it taking a little longer for everyone to join the dots to work out what works well - particularly when we have had half the squad change this summer. 

Well that's just sensible.  Knock it off.

[SouSaint]

Well he looks fucking wank. 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, SouSaint said:

Well he looks fucking wank. 

WTF? He played well in the first half I thought. Played some nice forward passes to Fellows and Arma. OK the miss was a shocker, but he's hardly alone in that. 

[Turkish]

There is a player in there they’re just not on the same wavelength at the moment. I thought he was good against Hull trying to make things happen but players round him were like statues. He’ll come good

[Patrick Bateman]

2 hours ago, SouSaint said:

Well he looks fucking wank. 

He looked okay I thought, I was watching him as the 'Boro fans were giving him stick - he just tried TOO hard with the extra touch at times.

[Football Special]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

There is a player in there they’re just not on the same wavelength at the moment. I thought he was good against Hull trying to make things happen but players round him were like statues. He’ll come good

I agree, Boro fan I know says he's not quick and won't do a lot on his own but can pick a pass and needs good movement around him 

[Harry_SFC]

2 hours ago, SouSaint said:

Well he looks fucking wank. 

Bit OTT. He's definitely got some technical ability but does lack physical attributes. 

[stknowle]

I thought he was handy against the ball and all that.

11 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

He looked okay I thought, I was watching him as the 'Boro fans were giving him stick - he just tried TOO hard with the extra touch at times.

I thought he looked tidy against the ball.

[Saint NL]

His job is to make things happen and feed the strikers.

Our strikers are beyond shit, only Arma looks like he knows where the goal is.

Today, Stewart seemed to drop deep a lot, hard for Azaz to setup someone who is behind him

[Willo of Whiteley]

I mean, he was definitely targeted somewhat, he fluffed one big chance but aside from that I thought he created a few good opportunities and through balls.

Only other thing I noticed was that he would drift wide a lot, he is definitely better in the centre.

Not the worst performance but moving the right way.

[Toadhall Saint]

15 hours ago, SouSaint said:

Well he looks fucking wank. 

Fishing

[Hodgey]

Boro fans are certainly split on him - the general consensus being he is a bit of a luxury player but when on form well worth it but tends to go missing against the better teams.
I expect us to have similar opinions and him to split the fan base (which most creative players do). As long as his goals/assists output is something like last season I think it’s money well spent to get us out of the division, but Prem is a step up too far.

[Badger]

Have only seen him play live in one match, the skates game. Difficult and too soon to judge.

But a fleeting thought during the match was tgat here’s a bloke who came with a good reputation as a bit of a stand out at his previous club(s). Will Saints get the best out of him or play him out of position from where he’s made an impact before ? If we do then it could be like Alan McLoughlan  with an extra ‘0’ on the purchase price. 
 

I’m expecting him to get among the goals once he’s in more of a settled side. Would be better if he had a couple of striking options in front of him mind. 

[SaintNewForest]

Seems to be the newest whipping boy, particularly with Stephens, Bazunu, THB & Smallbone not in the side or elsewhere yesterday.

[gio1saints]

I did notice he went quite deep a few times to collect the ball and the CB’s obliged - sign of increasing confidence in him by teammates. If he’s going to be our make something happen man that’s important and does not come overnight. And something Which, quite frankly, we’ve not had for a long time. I mean- we even whooo and waah when Shea takes the ball forward past his man occasionally so fuck knows what fans are going to be like if Finn clicks! 

Edited September 28 by gio1saints

[Wade Garrett]

I thought he was ok yesterday.  Came deep to pick up the ball a lot.  
Archer should be our first-choice centre-forward, by default.  The two of them need to build up an understanding.  That only happens by playing together.

[Harry_SFC]

54 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I thought he was ok yesterday.  Came deep to pick up the ball a lot.  
Archer should be our first-choice centre-forward, by default.  The two of them need to build up an understanding.  That only happens by playing together.

Agree with this. He's the best of a bad bunch. 

[tdmickey3]

On 27/09/2025 at 16:59, SouSaint said:

Well he looks fucking wank. 

Go and have a wank, sounds like you need it

[OldNick]

I cant recall many players who hit the floor running and being perfect in the erly days. Fans seem to expect aplayer to fit in straight away.

You can see he has a good brain and presses plus good interplay. He will turn out to be a top player for us, just be patient

[Patches O Houlihan]

7 min interview with Adam Blackmore