The Matt Targett Thread | Page 19 | Vital Football

The Matt Targett Thread

We offer nothing on the left side with him there. No out ball down the channel, no pace to get past anyone, he just stops and turns inside or backwards. Quite sad to see how bereft he looks now. Good pro and will always do his best with no histrionics but Digne cannot get here quick enough .
 
Melon Donkey said:
We offer nothing on the left side with him there. No out ball down the channel, no pace to get past anyone, he just stops and turns inside or backwards. Quite sad to see how bereft he looks now. Good pro and will always do his best with no histrionics but Digne cannot get here quick enough .
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It's like a lot of them Melon, reached a point where they are not likely to get any better to take us where we need to be. Say thanks and move on.
 
Good pro? Yes, undoubtedly. Upgrade on Neil Taylor? Yes, definitely. Can we find someone better, especially to suit the new manager's way of playing? Yes, we can, but I also want to stay grounded in case we don't get Digne. Targett's not terrible and we have to be careful what we wish for.....
 
Am I the only one who didn't think Targett was poor? Some mistakes yes, some crosses should've been better yes, as solid as last season, no.

Player performances are being judged by the result, we bossed them and without brown paper bags would've won and the players would be lauded.

There's always better, but this isn't FIFA with a cheat code.
 
mike_field said:
Am I the only one who didn't think Targett was poor? Some mistakes yes, some crosses should've been better yes, as solid as last season, no.

Player performances are being judged by the result, we bossed them and without brown paper bags would've won and the players would be lauded.

There's always better, but this isn't FIFA with a cheat code.
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I thought he looked incredibly wobbly the first 15 minutes, much more so than everyone else who also started slowly and poorly. Got better as the half went on. I'm certain Gerrard made a tweak to pull him out of the line of fire in the second half. Targett just seemed anonymous and rarely mentioned in the second half. All I can remember him doing was sweeping up misplaced passes and long balls from Utd. I think Gerrard may have just told him to hang back and gave Ramsey/Watkins/Buendia more license to not track back.
 
mike_field said:
Am I the only one who didn't think Targett was poor? Some mistakes yes, some crosses should've been better yes, as solid as last season, no.
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On reflection he was no better/worse than Cash last night, but I maintain that he looks extremely short of confidence now (he should probably also stay away from Villa forums).

The bigger issue is that he's becoming a scapegoat, I do think that Young should start before him at the moment, but he's also not worse than a couple of others.
 
A strong attacking full back who can hit the by-line for the course of a game would create significantly more changes for Ings in particular, and I think we could score more goals. The problem with Targett is that it’s either fitness/poor diet related (which I can’t see being the issue) or genetics, and he just isn’t built to be a sprinter/athletic type. His running style from an angle from behind is very different to any footballer, he runs with his feet facing quite far out, it’s very unusual. I sit (stand) in L8 so am often looking at him directly from behind and it’s one of those things you can’t not notice.

The downside of that is I do think Targett is a very solid defender, with excellent technique, so I’ve also no doubt we would concede more.

I would try and keep Targett in the squad, as he’s proven he can perform at this level and tactically there are games you’d start him.

I don’t want this to comes across as scapegoating, but we are going to have to be ruthless if we want to reach the next level, otherwise we’ll be relying on a starting line up with the likes of Targett, Mings, Cash, Marv, Ollie to take us to the next level but the reality is they not all of them will be able to. Signing better players might ironically kick them on in terms of their game.
 
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danvilla2 said:
I would try and keep Targett in the squad, as he’s proven he can perform at this level abs tactically there are games you’d start him.

I don’t want this to comes across as scapegoating, but we are going to have to be ruthless if we want to reach the next level, otherwise we’ll be relying on a starting line up with the likes of Targett, Mings, Cash, Marv, Ollie to take us to the next level but the reality is they not all of them will be able to. Signing better players might ironically kick them on in terms of their game.
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Yeah I agree with this 100%. We do need to replace Targett with an upgrade, but there is still a role for him in the squad.
 
sirdennis said:
I thought he was awful last night. Plenty of space in front of the full back yet he didn't have the pace to exploit it and consequently our attacks stalled.

He is a solid pro , but in this system , our full backs have to pretty much play like wingers.
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Been awful since he signed that new long term deal - makes you wonder whether he needed to repeat his decent season to get that deal - someone we will get our money back and certainly a decent squad player at best
 
He doesn't offer enough threat going forward that it pins back the opposition right back, which doesn't only affect us offensively but defensively as well. We need a left back who has their right back worried about them too much to attack all the time.

Targett needs a more traditional team that plays with wingers and he'll do well in it. I don't see him changing from what he is at this point.
 
IMO I think the biggest change is that he doesn't have Jack in front of him anymore. For a lot of teams the fear of Jack going forward brought more attention to him than to Targett which allowed him a bit more space and he also relied on Jack to get him space to move forward. No one else that has played in front of him allows for that nearly as much.

Cash on the other hand seems to have better players in front of him, more covering speed, and the "I don't get a F***" attitude that allows us to push up the right more than we do the left.

I like Targett but I do believe he is ripe for replacement for if nothing else time to work on adjusting his playstyle somewhat.
 
mike_field said:
Am I the only one who didn't think Targett was poor? Some mistakes yes, some crosses should've been better yes, as solid as last season, no.

Player performances are being judged by the result, we bossed them and without brown paper bags would've won and the players would be lauded.

There's always better, but this isn't FIFA with a cheat code.
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I think he's not a great fit for the way that Gerrard has set us up, but no he's not/wasn't poor - just not great.
I think there's a tendency amongst fans to write players off after a few shaky moments, or if they aren't suited to a particular playing style. Targett was the players player of the season last year and was outstanding, with and without Grealish in the team. This year he's had a change of playing style under a new manager and about ten different players on the left playing in front of him. he hasn't been as good, but he certainly hasn't been terrible.
Gary Williams was an absolute shambles in the 79-80 season, but was outstanding once the team was more settled and Tony Morley started playing the way that Ron Saunders expected him to.
 
Platypus said:
He doesn't offer enough threat going forward that it pins back the opposition right back, which doesn't only affect us offensively but defensively as well. We need a left back who has their right back worried about them too much to attack all the time.

Targett needs a more traditional team that plays with wingers and he'll do well in it. I don't see him changing from what he is at this point.
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Yes he's not exactly a bad player and one who I believe belongs at this level but he lacks two things we need given the system we have, athleticism and a consistent delivery.
 
We're now in a position where we have good back up for this position. Highly likely he will want to leave in the summer but Digne and Targett is very good depth.
 
I'm confident that the arrival of Digne will show Matty T that he needs to improve on the offensive and positional aspects of his game. Then we will have real competition at LB which can only be a good thing all round.
 
Minty55 said:
I'm confident that the arrival of Digne will show Matty T that he needs to improve on the offensive and positional aspects of his game. Then we will have real competition at LB which can only be a good thing all round.
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Matty T was fine last season with YKW sliding him in to space and had his best season with us. Now that we have the Magician filling that same role, I can see Matt Targett getting back to somewhere near his best as an attacking force. I don't see it that Lucas Digne is a certainty for the position although he currently sits in pole position. I think that fans overlook the combination of players who create overloads and space for others and judge players purely on what is before them. I listened to a Gerrard interview and he was talking about body shape and stuff I hadn't even dreamt of when identifying quality.
 
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