Why does he say it

[70's Mike]

In tonights Echo Wotte describes Smith as having "world class" abilities.

Now i understand bigging the lad up at Staplewood and SMS , but in the press ?

I honestly believe that he is just humping pressure on the lad with fans expectations being increased and then we he does not perform we gets abuse.

Please Mark KEEP your opinions in house

[bjk]

If he's world class then why did Arsenal get rid of him.

[DaveyR]

Maybe he is world class in something!! Just not football.

[saint_mears]

Nothing special and Nathan Dyer would of been more useful.

[londonsaint1604]

I thought he was rubbish on tuesday. He's quick and looked dangerous going forward at times but he was always trying to beat the full-back and losing the ball rather than just getting a cross in. He was being played on the wrong side to be fair, I don't understand why Wotte didn't switch him with BWP.

[John B]

Wotte works with him everyday and obviously sees that with the right environment can flourish.

 

 

Kevin Davies was released by us and is now one of the Premiership's top scorers.

 

 

Just because a player is released by one club does not mean with the correct direction he will not flourish.

[forever a red and white]

yet smith has not flosurished here has he, hes been useless, poor delivery, no right foot and little end product, and he doesn't track back enough, perhaps he will improve but we can;t rely on that with five remaining games or so

[John B]

yet smith has not flosurished here has he, hes been useless, poor delivery, no right foot and little end product, and he doesn't track back enough, perhaps he will improve but we can;t rely on that with five remaining games or so

 

Well the coaching staff see something in him.

[70's Mike]

Wotte works with him everyday and obviously sees that with the right environment can flourish.

 

 

Kevin Davies was released by us and is now one of the Premiership's top scorers.

 

 

Just because a player is released by one club does not mean with the correct direction he will not flourish.

 

 

Agreed but my point is , do these silly comments, even allowing for the language difference, really help the players development

[eelpie]

Some good touches at Watford and he was lively, but he gave the ball away too many times for our current plight. Hardly world class.

[eelpie]

Well the coaching staff see something in him.

 

What the coaching staff see and what we see on the pitch are worlds apart.

[Born In The 80s]

Smith is easily the most frustrating player in our squad. It is clear that he does have something about him and could be a top class player. He has all the right attributes to be a great winger (dribbling, crossing etc.) but unfortunately he hasn't quite done it for us yet this season.

 

For me, i have no idea why he is being played on the right. He is completely left footed and IMO has the pace and ability to be able to beat defenders on the outside and get to the byline. There are clear comparisons with Fabrice Fernandes. However, Fernandes was arguably one of the most skillful we've had in a very long time and used to beat defenders with his skill as opposed to his pace. Smith, isn't this kind of winger in my opinion. He isn't skillful enough to cut inside and sell the few dummies and curl a cross in like Fernandes did. He does however, possess pace. I'd get him on the left and tell him to play a more direct style (run at defenders like aaron lennon as opposed to running down the line and then looking to cut in like fernandes).

 

I think if Wotte uses him correctly, he could be a very useful player for us.

[Bailey]

So we have the new Robben in Holmes, our own version of Torres in Bradley Wright-Phillips and now Smith is being described as 'world class'. We'll walk this league!

 

Seriously though, I can see what Wotte sees in Smith. He's quick, likes to run at defenders and has a good delivery on him. However, he's quite weak and gets pushed off the ball way too easily. He needs to improve his work rate but there definitely is potential there.

 

I think Smith's attitude sometimes holds him back too, as he often looks a bit arrogant. Smith would have made more of an impact at Watford had he played down the left flank. He kept cutting inside onto his favoured foot and the Watford defence had him sussed out pretty quickly. I don't understand why we insist on playing a left-footed player down the right and a right-footed player on the left. Very frustrating!

 

We are at our most dangerous when we get to the byline and swing some balls into the box, so why we play players on the wrong side, forcing them to cut inside, is beyond me! I reckon Saga would score more goals that way too, Euell as well, because there would be more for the strike duo to feed on.

[Saint_clark]

I thought he was rubbish on tuesday. He's quick and looked dangerous going forward at times but he was always trying to beat the full-back and losing the ball rather than just getting a cross in. He was being played on the wrong side to be fair, I don't understand why Wotte didn't switch him with BWP.

 

This is the most important thing to consider. If I was playing on the left hand side of midfield, there's no way I would embarrass myself trying to cross with my left foot.

[derry]

very good corner for the first goal.

[Smirking_Saint]

Smith is easily the most frustrating player in our squad. It is clear that he does have something about him and could be a top class player. He has all the right attributes to be a great winger (dribbling, crossing etc.) but unfortunately he hasn't quite done it for us yet this season.

 

For me, i have no idea why he is being played on the right. He is completely left footed and IMO has the pace and ability to be able to beat defenders on the outside and get to the byline. There are clear comparisons with Fabrice Fernandes. However, Fernandes was arguably one of the most skillful we've had in a very long time and used to beat defenders with his skill as opposed to his pace. Smith, isn't this kind of winger in my opinion. He isn't skillful enough to cut inside and sell the few dummies and curl a cross in like Fernandes did. He does however, possess pace. I'd get him on the left and tell him to play a more direct style (run at defenders like aaron lennon as opposed to running down the line and then looking to cut in like fernandes).

 

I think if Wotte uses him correctly, he could be a very useful player for us.

 

Completely agree with this, good post.

 

Don't understand why we don't keep things simple, and so play BWP on the right and Smith on the left ??

 

Personally from what i have seen i don't rate him but i agree he has pace and his delivery isn't too bad, Wotte is just making him look bad by playing him out of position (bit like poor JT at charlton)

[Chez]

He (Smith) clearly can dribble the ball and he looks to have the confidence to go at the fullback. I perhaps have been overly harsh on him seeing as he's only been here 5 minutes, but if you are not going to work back, tackle or head then you aer going to have to be bloody effective when you do get on the ball and so far he has done nothing.

 

I'd like to add that on all the occasions that I have seen him he had been very lightweight and often appear to have not switched onto the game at all (not on his toes, not hungry for the ball etc.).

 

I've watched Dyer a few times for Swansea and he hasn't suddenly become a world beater. He still falls over his own shadow, can't kick it 30 yards and more often than not runs straight into the defender. He's scored a couple of goals but I wouldn't start worrying that we have some world beater out on loan when he should be here.

[rpb]

In tonights Echo Wotte describes Smith as having "world class" abilities.

Now i understand bigging the lad up at Staplewood and SMS , but in the press ?

I honestly believe that he is just humping pressure on the lad with fans expectations being increased and then we he does not perform we gets abuse.

Please Mark KEEP your opinions in house

 

To be fair he says that he shows world class ability in training and now needs to show it where it matters. Your take on the Echo piece glossed over the last bit.

[70's Mike]

To be fair he says that he shows world class ability in training and now needs to show it where it matters. Your take on the Echo piece glossed over the last bit.

 

My point still stands how does Wotte saying this in public help Smiths development , it just piles on pressure