Josh Acheampong

Really want to see more of him. He has pace to burn, which covers so much in the PL. But beyond that, he is technically very good, strong and appears to read the game. Not sure what else you'd want, but no reason why he can't go to the top of the game.
I'd like him to be a bit crisper and more accurate in his passing and general distribution. That can only come from game time and developing relationships. I get the manager's wish to have a solid centre back pairing but how Gusto plays ahead of Josh defies all logic for me. I fail to see what Gusto offers going forward that Josh isn't already geared up for and defensively Josh is literally head and shoulders above the weak, ineffective Gusto.

Yes he may well end up a world class CB but there is still the perfect opportunity for Acheampong to cement his place in the side now.

 
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Josh is still only 19 and he is a very gifted player, able to play RB and LB as well as his preferred position as CB. With our current injuries in the DM area maybe he could play there? He certainly has the close control and the speed to be useful in that position.

 
Josh is still only 19 and he is a very gifted player, able to play RB and LB as well as his preferred position as CB. With our current injuries in the DM area maybe he could play there? He certainly has the close control and the speed to be useful in that position.
People said the same thing about Chalobah given his time at Lorient.

You can't just take someone and put them in midfield in the most fast paced league in the world. They can get away with it in a league where players actually have loads of time on the ball, but in the Premier League you always need to know what you are going to do before you receive the ball.

Close control and speed don't really mean anything if the player doesn't have the awareness or positional understanding of where to be and where to transition the ball next.

 
People said the same thing about Chalobah given his time at Lorient.

You can't just take someone and put them in midfield in the most fast paced league in the world. They can get away with it in a league where players actually have loads of time on the ball, but in the Premier League you always need to know what you are going to do before you receive the ball.

Close control and speed don't really mean anything if the player doesn't have the awareness or positional understanding of where to be and where to transition the ball next.
True. Absolutely true. But his ability to play anywhere along the backline makes him a more viable candidate. I am not saying that he should play there, but with our current injuries in CM/DM he might be an option? Josh seems more Like Reece James than Chalobah. Josh is a very intelligent and intuitive player. Or we play 3 CBs? We are on the verge of a DM crisis if Santos is out.

 
Gusto and Neto must be the thickest footballers we've had in a good while.
I would imagine that the club probably employs someone to dress Delap and make sure he has his boots on the correct feet. Trust me before the game begins that's not Delap leading the mascot onto the pitch.

 
thank god we didn’t get Jezza Jacket
He's just so composed on the ball. That 360 spin he did looks great when it comes off, but I don't think I want to see that sort of thing from our defenders. Even if it comes off 9 times out of 10, that one time could lead to a counter, taking out both him and in this case Caicedo in the process.

He should be playing more, because it's game experience like this which is essential to his development.

 
True. Absolutely true. But his ability to play anywhere along the backline makes him a more viable candidate. I am not saying that he should play there, but with our current injuries in CM/DM he might be an option? Josh seems more Like Reece James than Chalobah. Josh is a very intelligent and intuitive player. Or we play 3 CBs? We are on the verge of a DM crisis if Santos is out.
I'm fully in the camp of turning Achaempong into an Ivanovic esq RB.

 
A shame but Josh didn't do himself any favours last night. Similar to being a keeper, you make one mistake and it can be the deciding factor in the whole game. He went on a fantastic run and was generally safe last night, but had a brain fart and didn't clear the ball when he should have.

He's young, this is an important lesson. Hopefully he takes it on and improves off the back of it.

 
I think we should keep him at RB for a bit until he gets a bit more experienced. CB is a thankless task as one mistake can kill you.
Agreed. Generally how it works when easing in young defenders who can play multiple roles, we did similar with Gilchrist.

In Josh case though I actually think he has more potential at RB with how good his passing and dribbling is, seems a bit wasted at CB.

 
A shame but Josh didn't do himself any favours last night. Similar to being a keeper, you make one mistake and it can be the deciding factor in the whole game. He went on a fantastic run and was generally safe last night, but had a brain fart and didn't clear the ball when he should have.

He's young, this is an important lesson. Hopefully he takes it on and improves off the back of it.
I will be really disappointed if Josh isn't selected for the next few games. We have to stick with him and let him flourish. He was only part responsible for that goal last night after Trev had already messed up, Caicedo switched off (perhaps well aware he had already given away 1 penalty) and then Sanchez rushed out to add to the chaos. IF Josh had played more up to now, maybe he would have dealt with it better. Overall. I still think he had a good game and no way should he be dropped or rested after last night.

 
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I will be really disappointed if Josh isn't selected for the next few games. We have to stick with him and let him flourish. He was only part responsible for that goal last night after Trev had already messed up, Caicedo switched off (perhaps well aware he had already given away 1 penalty) and then Sanchez rushed out to add to the chaos. IF Josh had plated more, maybe he would have dealt with it better. Overall. I still think he had a good game and no way should he be dropped or rested after last night.
Looked to me like Sanchez was calling the ball as his but the others were panicking instead of listening.

 
I will be really disappointed if Josh isn't selected for the next few games. We have to stick with him and let him flourish. He was only part responsible for that goal last night after Trev had already messed up, Caicedo switched off (perhaps well aware he had already given away 1 penalty) and then Sanchez rushed out to add to the chaos. IF Josh had played more up to now, maybe he would have dealt with it better. Overall. I still think he had a good game and no way should he be dropped or rested after last night.
I really like Josh, but think ultimately he had the best chance to clear the ball and failed to do so - tried to be a bit too cute and I'm sure he'll learn for next time. He could have booted it either way, but tried to shield the Leeds player aside which ended up ballsing it up and stopping Sanchez claiming it.

 
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