✍ Alex Král

[funky chicken]

I honestly don’t think he’s done too badly when he’s played. He was good at Old Trafford and when he came on against Rapid Wien. He didn’t have an awful lot to do away at Genk when he came on and it can’t have been easy passing the ball forward against Dinamo Zagreb, with the lack of movement from the forward players. Poor young Perkins was anonymous in the 2nd half!

Remember, in the 2 games he has started he’s played alongside an aging Noble. He hasn’t played in our strongest team yet, alongside Rice &/or Soucek. That’s when to especially judge him.

[My_Sobriquet]

I honestly don’t think he’s done too badly when he’s played. He was good at Old Trafford and when he came on against Rapid Wien. He didn’t have an awful lot to do away at Genk when he came on and it can’t have been easy passing the ball forward against Dinamo Zagreb, with the lack of movement from the forward players. Poor young Perkins was anonymous in the 2nd half!

Remember, in the 2 games he has started he’s played alongside an aging Noble. He hasn’t played in our strongest team yet, alongside Rice &/or Soucek. That’s when to especially judge him.

This is how I see it too.

My only real criticism is his choice of pass at times is wrong. Low percentage forward balls when we are prone to a quick transition.

The kind of thing you can get away with in lower standard football but is routinely punished in the premier league.

I would imagine this is one reason Moyes hasn’t trusted him in the Prem yet, that and the fact he hasn’t needed to with Soucek and Rice being ever presents.

[funky chicken]

My only real criticism is his choice of pass at times is wrong. Low percentage forward balls when we are prone to a quick transition.

The kind of thing you can get away with in lower standard football but is routinely punished in the premier league.

True. But that arguably also depends on who he plays alongside and the responsibility he’s given in the team. If he had to play alongside Rice for example then he wouldn’t need to worry about passing the ball forwards too much. As Rice is more than capable of doing that. It once again boils down to my point of who he’s playing alongside. Taking gambles with his passes alongside a player of Rice’s quality is a bit different to doing the same alongside Grandpa Noble, who won’t be able to chase back.

It’s also about building relationships with the players he’s playing alongside. He’s not always on the pitch with the same players. He needs to learn what type of runs they make, when the right time is for himself to run forward etc. The more consecutive games he can play the more confident I am sure he’ll get.

[honkytonk]

I honestly don’t think he’s done too badly when he’s played. He was good at Old Trafford and when he came on against Rapid Wien. He didn’t have an awful lot to do away at Genk when he came on and it can’t have been easy passing the ball forward against Dinamo Zagreb, with the lack of movement from the forward players. Poor young Perkins was anonymous in the 2nd half!

Remember, in the 2 games he has started he’s played alongside an aging Noble. He hasn’t played in our strongest team yet, alongside Rice &/or Soucek. That’s when to especially judge him.

I agree with this. I dont think Noble helped him much on Thursday either.

[funky chicken]

When Rice inevitably picks up his 5th yellow card soon then we’ll especially get to test my theory if Moyes selects Kral over Noble. Which to be fair, I don’t think he will do. But, if Moyes does, he’ll then get to play alongside Soucek in a much stronger starting 11 than the team he is use to playing in.

[honkytonk]

When Rice inevitably picks up his 5th yellow card soon then we’ll especially get to test my theory if Moyes selects Kral over Noble. Which to be fair, I don’t think he will do. But, if Moyes does, he’ll then get to play alongside Soucek in a much stronger starting 11 than the team he is use to playing in.

Based on the way Noble played on Thursday, im not sure he should get the gig if/when Rice is banned. I thought he looked slow and ponderous. Of course he has been written off before but I thinks it time Kral gets a shot

[Scratchy]

He looked alright on Thursday. He put some tackles in, did some good things in possession but was a bit sloppy at times. For a back up defensive mid it's what you'd expect. He is currently far more influential on a game that Noble.

[prophet:marginal]

Bottom line for me is that the first 11 at the point of his initial signing was probably the best we had had since Payet joined in Bilic's first season.

It was always going to be a bit of a mission for him to get into the team and shine as if he was to the manor (park) born. And it has led to a small handful of performances where he no doubt steels himself to avoid doing anything calamitous. His positional play needs to be mastered first. He'll be on the pitch to offer a first line of defence in front of the other defenders and seems capable of breaking up play etc.

His problem is that Soucek has quietly but comprehensively adopted the role of narrowing down the passing lanes that opponents need to basically get the ball past the Ricek pairing that has done us so proud.

In effect, Kral will be stepping into some pretty hefty shoes in centre midfield, if and when he plays. It took even Declan some time to acclimatise to that area of the pitch and to get his passing game going. Same surely goes for Kral?

[El brooko79]

Must be getting a game this weekend if Soucek and Noble are out?

Leeds will be far busier than Norwich and use the ball better.
Might need his energy and physicality. Plus his aerial presence.

If he can't get in now that must be it.

[paulhs1]

Must be getting a game this weekend if Soucek and Noble are out?

Leeds will be far busier than Norwich and use the ball better.
Might need his energy and physicality. Plus his aerial presence.

If he can't get in now that must be it.

I reckon Noble was ahead of him in the pecking order last night and probably the same for Saturday.

[fjthegrey]

I'm just going to assume this bloke has looked as pony in training for us as he did at the Euro's, and is not going to be a West Ham player beyond this season.

I think if we had any intention of keeping him we'd have seen him a bit more than we have.

Squad status = emergency backup, David Martin level.

[S-H]

Nah, Leeds is the perfect game for the same midfield as last night if you ask me.

Moyes clearly isn't convinced, so I think he will name and unchanged side.

[BobbyMooreLower]

With Noble and Soucek likely to both be out again at the weekend I’d expect the midfield to be the same as it was Vs Norwich.

Kral is only there just in case we get a midfield injury crisis & to be frank I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the starting 11 vs leeds. They will not stop running and we need players comfortable in possession to be playing

[paulhs1]

He didnt get a look in last night. It's not gonna happen for him is it?

[rudekid]

We were chatting about this last night. My optimistic hope is it's all part of Moyes' masterplan and that keeping him on the bench ensures when he gets minutes he will up his game to make the most of them. I really don't think he's looked to bad when he's played so I hope it's just Moyes easing him in. It Benny bloody ages to start getting regular action.

[StevePottsGoalsReel]

We were chatting about this last night. My optimistic hope is it's all part of Moyes' masterplan and that keeping him on the bench ensures when he gets minutes he will up his game to make the most of them. I really don't think he's looked to bad when he's played so I hope it's just Moyes easing him in. It Benny bloody ages to start getting regular action.

I think this is pretty likely.

The other possibility which occurred to me is that we have an obligation to buy after X appearances and, if so, Moyes is not going to stick him on for 5 mins here and there and risk triggering a deal by default if he's still on the fence about the permanent signing.

[wolf359]

He didnt get a look in last night. It's not gonna happen for him is it?

Obviously not impressing Dave in training, thought it would have been a perfect game for him yesterday against the weakest (league ) opposition of the season at home. But if Dave said 'no' so who are we to judge?

[sendô]

He didnt get a look in last night. It's not gonna happen for him is it?

I wondered the same. He's looked decent enough when he's got on the pitch, but honestly he's played so little it's hard to be certain.

[NWhammer]

He didnt get a look in last night. It's not gonna happen for him is it?

When I watched a Nowrich counter attack breeze past Lanzini around the 80th minute I thought the same

[rudekid]

I also think Moyes might have wanted to try that formation as we played more like a 4-1-4-1 last night so that might be why Lanzini got the nod ahead of Kral. I hope we see him Sunday though and it turns out he's another Soucek.