Lerma

[PatrickA]

A word of acknowledgement for Lerma's contribution which to my mind is often overlooked because he doesn't have the passing range of Wharton, Hughes and Kamada and because he's rarely first choice in the current set up.
He's been very good for us over the period since he joined, both in midfield and defence.
In fact Guehi was barely missed when Lerma has stepped in for him in the back 3 and that's quite an accolade.

There's not many midfielders who would be able to do that.

Damsgard has been the creative hub for Brentford this season and Lerma barely gave him a kick.
He continually won possession and played simple passes to keep us ticking over.
Not eye catching perhaps, but critical to the solidity of the performance .
Added to this he is excellent in the air and has the weapon of the long throw.
I don't think all these attributes will be easy to replace as a squad member.

 

[Team of the (20)80s]

Fully agree, I wouldn’t start him alongside Hughes against a team we need to break down… but his value against sides trying to break us down is considerable.

 

[sprites]

I echo this sentiment. Great teams are built on players like this, those without ego who can be relied upon whenever called up. He was excellent yesterday and will become increasingly important as fixtures pile up.

 

[MrRobbo]

He was brilliant, some neat touches and ultimately helped in breaking them down.

 

[taylors lovechild]

He's like a salmon. He can outleap almost anyone, as seen with his headed assist for JP. I think he's a good shout for starting in games against more physical and direct teams like Brentford and Everton.

 

[Boydie]

Great topic

I had never been a huge fan of Lerma in midfield - but thought he was immense when he slotted into defence

However, hearing Ollie talk about saving him for this "set piece clash" - and then Lerma executing the plan PERFECTLY on Saturday (which I think was his best game for us) is HUGE credit to both him and OG

And the fact that we now have a strong enough squad to set up differently for different games is a revelation! - although I would still rather OG uses our subs on the 70min mark rather then 89!?!? - and poor Uche didn't even manage to get on the pitch on Saturday!

 

[mtp1958]

the enigma that is Lerma we had another player called Jeffery schlupp who was a enigma , when good he was good when bad he was awful , just need JL to score , but would say his defensives quality's is a little better than Schlupp very good cover in back 3 , have always liked Lerma from the off

 

[Plumpton eagle]

Great topic

I had never been a huge fan of Lerma in midfield - but thought he was immense when he slotted into defence

However, hearing Ollie talk about saving him for this "set piece clash" - and then Lerma executing the plan PERFECTLY on Saturday (which I think was his best game for us) is HUGE credit to both him and OG

And the fact that we now have a strong enough squad to set up differently for different games is a revelation! - although I would still rather OG uses our subs on the 70min mark rather then 89!?!? - and poor Uche didn't even manage to get on the pitch on Saturday!

I think evidence of that ability is how well he did when he came on for Guehi in the cup final. He slotted seamlessly into a back 3 (5?) after about 60 minutes. They went on to face 30+10 minutes of intense city probing and pressure. As I remember he didn't put a foot wrong during that time.

 

[silvertop]

A word of acknowledgement for Lerma's contribution which to my mind is often overlooked because he doesn't have the passing range of Wharton, Hughes and Kamada and because he's rarely first choice in the current set up.
He's been very good for us over the period since he joined, both in midfield and defence.
In fact Guehi was barely missed when Lerma has stepped in for him in the back 3 and that's quite an accolade.

There's not many midfielders who would be able to do that.

Damsgard has been the creative hub for Brentford this season and Lerma barely gave him a kick.
He continually won possession and played simple passes to keep us ticking over.
Not eye catching perhaps, but critical to the solidity of the performance .
Added to this he is excellent in the air and has the weapon of the long throw.
I don't think all these attributes will be easy to replace as a squad member.

No coincidence he was Bournemouth POTY before we got him. Still surprises me we got him at all.

 

[silvertop]

Fully agree, I wouldn’t start him alongside Hughes against a team we need to break down… but his value against sides trying to break us down is considerable.

Who would you start? I don't know. Seems Palace's Achilles heal (as Larnaca proved).