Junior Firpo

[Jammy 07]

Think we can forget Junior being available to play against Watford as Domican Republic face Peru in the early hours of Wednesday morning (GMT) and Skyscanner is showing it's an 8 hour flight from Lima to JFK and then a further 7 hours back to London.

The lads going to be in no fit state to play Friday night.

[Cjay]

Defended reasonably well yesterday Firpo.

[DDB220]

Defended reasonably well yesterday Firpo.

He was decent, but those clips do not tell the whole story, he got skinned a couple of times and committed an industrial type foul, which earned him a card early in the game, he also fluffed a a free header in front of goal.
I get he is doing a decent job, I just do not get carried away by his performances because his side of the pitch is provided extra attention to minimise his exposure to one on one situations. Cry was deeper than him quite a few times when we played out from the back, which is a sign post regarding keeping him in areas where he is most comfortable.

It works at this level and that is what counts.

[The Subhuman]

Good enough for the prem for me... though unsure he'll be at Leeds next season. Good to see him lauded though he's played better this season without getting a vid

[Sean_Nile]

Firpo comments after the game... Looks like there is illness in the team.

'I've been with a fever [for] three days, I've been ill today, a few lads were feeling the same, we have a little bit illness in the squad," Firpo added. "This shows how important it is to be ready, everyone was ready. Everyone was living everything, including myself, including Jaidon [Anthony] who was ill.

"As I say a few lads were ill, including myself, I was about to throw up in the second half. It was tough."

[Cjay]

He won't ever be a great defender, he can defend well, but his positioning can be questionable at best.

But he didn't earn his move to Barcelona as backup for Jordi Alba because he was good defensively.

He earned it because he was good offensively.

Well.

He now has 7 open play assists this season in the league and the best minutes to assist ratio of anyone in the squad.

Better than Jimmy, James, Georgie, all of them.

Funny old game.

[The Subhuman]

He won't ever be a great defender, he can defend well, but his positioning can be questionable at best.

But he didn't earn his move to Barcelona as backup for Jordi Alba because he was good defensively.

He earned it because he was good offensively.

Well.

He now has 7 open play assists this season in the league and the best minutes to assist ratio of anyone in the squad.

Better than Jimmy, James, Georgie, all of them.

Funny old game.

I've said it multiple times, best passer of a ball at the club. He's a pure wing back. He's defended much better of late but slid back to poor v Boro, though if he was ill that would explain some of the lethargy

I have him on 9 assists

[1964white]

I've said it multiple times, best passer of a ball at the club. He's a pure wing back. He's defended much better of late but slid back to poor v Boro, though if he was ill that would explain some of the lethargy

I have him on 9 assists

Was Junior poor defensively last night?

Yes, Jones got the better of him two or three occasions, but I thought he did well after scrutinizing a replay of his game.

Defensively
5 defensive headers
4 blocks
2 tackles
2 defensive clearances
1 interception

Offensively
4 runs
3 excellent passes
1 sublime cross
1 decent pass
2 assists

I enjoyed Firpo's overall performance.

[The Subhuman]

Was Junior poor defensively last night?

Yes, Jones got the better of him two or three occasions, but I thought he did well after scrutinizing a replay of his game.

Defensively
5 defensive headers
4 blocks
2 tackles
2 defensive clearances
1 interception

Offensively
4 runs
3 excellent passes
1 sublime cross
1 decent pass
2 assists

I enjoyed Firpo's overall performance.

He was slower than usual, especially to react. He did end the game well including a good clearing header. Thought he got himself in the wrong position several times and of course he had a chance to get a tackle in for their opener, being ill may have slowed his reactions though.. so there's that

I was the only Firpo fan on the forum for a long time so it's not any kind of anti Firpo bias here. I just thought compared to recent defensive performances from him it was a bit off

[Phild]

Simply not a defender to turn to when backs are to the wall
Allows his man way too much time to receive the ball
Never seems to show any urgency
I guess his offensive offerings compensate somewhat

[DDB220]

Was Junior poor defensively last night?

Yes, Jones got the better of him two or three occasions, but I thought he did well after scrutinizing a replay of his game.

Defensively
5 defensive headers
4 blocks
2 tackles
2 defensive clearances
1 interception

Offensively
4 runs
3 excellent passes
1 sublime cross
1 decent pass
2 assists

I enjoyed Firpo's overall performance.

My view on his performance was also that he had a good game.

I was concerned how he would perform defensively without the assistance of Kamara who tends to provide initial defensive cover for him on the left. If you watch the defensive dynamics during a game with Kamara present - junior stands off and Kamara initiates first contact if he is in a position to do so, which I would suggest is about 80% of the time.
Firpo was still doing this on occasion against Boro whilst there wasn’t anyone initiating that first contact with their player on occasions. Archie in theory would be expected to do so if he was playing like Kamara. But he wasn’t, hence Firpo was playing as a more traditional FB.

I thought Firpo did well despite the odd lapse in positional and defensive duty related concentration.

The way he played against Boro far exceeds any of his previous performances for me as he was fulfilling both defensive and offensive roles at a good standard. His distribution was pretty much excellent.

Whether Farke goes with this system again on Friday is anyone’s guess. He may revert to Archie at RB with the Firpo , Kamara & Cry triangle on the left.
If he does watch how his role defensively is covered by Kamara and Amps as he has a licence to get forward and provide the overload option. Some get dizzy with the plaudits when he does this.

[1964white]

My view on his performance was also that he had a good game.

I was concerned how he would perform defensively without the assistance of Kamara who tends to provide initial defensive cover for him on the left. If you watch the defensive dynamics during a game with Kamara present - junior stands off and Kamara initiates first contact if he is in a position to do so, which I would suggest is about 80% of the time.
Firpo was still doing this on occasion against Boro whilst there wasn’t anyone initiating that first contact with their player on occasions. Archie in theory would be expected to do so if he was playing like Kamara. But he wasn’t, hence Firpo was playing as a more traditional FB.

I thought Firpo did well despite the odd lapse in positional and defensive duty related concentration.

The way he played against Boro far exceeds any of his previous performances for me as he was fulfilling both defensive and offensive roles at a good standard. His distribution was pretty much excellent.

Whether Farke goes with this system again on Friday is anyone’s guess. He may revert to Archie at RB with the Firpo , Kamara & Cry triangle on the left.
If he does watch how his role defensively is covered by Kamara and Amps as he has a licence to get forward and provide the overload option. Some get dizzy with the plaudits when he does this.

I shall watch with a keen eye

[Prisoner37]

He won't ever be a great defender, he can defend well, but his positioning can be questionable at best.

But he didn't earn his move to Barcelona as backup for Jordi Alba because he was good defensively.

He earned it because he was good offensively.

Well.

He now has 7 open play assists this season in the league and the best minutes to assist ratio of anyone in the squad.

Better than Jimmy, James, Georgie, all of them.

Funny old game.

Against Leicester Junior turned up on the right wing, we now call him the defender without portfolio.

He is kind of cool though and with all them assists he must be forgiven the occasional defensive lapse.