Vincent Sasso

[Beauchief Owl]

Sasso is an enigma. He is the best ball playing CB on the books and he helps up the tempo in games. He is also more of a goal threat than either Lees or Loovens, but then the vast majority of CBs  at this level are.

 

On the other hand, he always has a costly mistake in him. The defending at Leeds where he ducked and allowed the ball to fall to Wood in front of goal was probably the single worst piece of defending by a Wednesday defender this season. He also lost the ball at Forest in attempting to shepherd the ball out which cost a goal. Not costly, but it could have been had we not won 2-1. Finally the red card at Villa and the subsequent three match ban could have derailed us. A decent third choice CB but we really need another quality CB alongside Lees if we are to challenge again. That being the case Sasso would then be fourth choice and may well have opted to go elsewhere if given the choice.

[1867Heaven]

Thought he'd been released?

[Mr. Tom]

1 hour ago, Beauchief Owl said:

Sasso is an enigma. He is the best ball playing CB on the books and he helps up the tempo in games. He is also more of a goal threat than either Lees or Loovens, but then the vast majority of CBs  at this level are.

 

On the other hand, he always has a costly mistake in him. The defending at Leeds where he ducked and allowed the ball to fall to Wood in front of goal was probably the single worst piece of defending by a Wednesday defender this season. He also lost the ball at Forest in attempting to shepherd the ball out which cost a goal. Not costly, but it could have been had we not won 2-1. Finally the red card at Villa and the subsequent three match ban could have derailed us. A decent third choice CB but we really need another quality CB alongside Lees if we are to challenge again. That being the case Sasso would then be fourth choice and may well have opted to go elsewhere if given the choice.

 

All valid points of course, but I think with Sasso you have to temper criticism with the fact that whenever he plays, he's always going to be kind of rusty in terms of full matches and important fixtures. With that caveat in mind, I think he came in out of the cold and did very well.

 

[Beauchief Owl]

1 minute ago, Mr. Tom said:

 

All valid points of course, but I think with Sasso you have to temper criticism with the fact that whenever he plays, he's always going to be kind of rusty in terms of full matches and important fixtures. With that caveat in mind, I think he came in out of the cold and did very well.

 

The errors I outlined were not a result of such rustiness IMO. Indeed Sasso did have a run of matches.

The lapses of judgement against Leeds and Forest were basic errors that schoolboys should not be making, whilst the red card at Villa was a reckless tackle in an area of the pitch that posed no danger arising from a poor first touch. 

[BFNB]

one day looks good the next day shocking, no consistancy.

rather have a commanding ball winning midfielder and play Hutch back there

[wexowl]

1 hour ago, Beauchief Owl said:

Sasso is an enigma. He is the best ball playing CB on the books and he helps up the tempo in games. He is also more of a goal threat than either Lees or Loovens, but then the vast majority of CBs  at this level are.

 

On the other hand, he always has a costly mistake in him. The defending at Leeds where he ducked and allowed the ball to fall to Wood in front of goal was probably the single worst piece of defending by a Wednesday defender this season. He also lost the ball at Forest in attempting to shepherd the ball out which cost a goal. Not costly, but it could have been had we not won 2-1. Finally the red card at Villa and the subsequent three match ban could have derailed us. A decent third choice CB but we really need another quality CB alongside Lees if we are to challenge again. That being the case Sasso would then be fourth choice and may well have opted to go elsewhere if given the choice.

 The Leeds goal down to language difficulties    Loovens, Dutch, sees cross coming over and momentarily caught off guard says Oh phuc...! Sasso, French , thinks he means duck ....

[Mr. Tom]

1 minute ago, Beauchief Owl said:

The errors I outlined were not a result of such rustiness IMO. Indeed Sasso did have a run of matches.

The lapses of judgement against Leeds and Forest were basic errors that schoolboys should not be making, whilst the red card at Villa was a reckless tackle in an area of the pitch that posed no danger arising from a poor first touch. 

 

Aye fair enough - I suppose my comment was more a reflection of the fact that I've always felt just as happy to see Sasso's name on the team sheet as I have most of our other backline options, and yet he does always seem to have come under closer scrutiny than the likes of Palmer or Pudil to me. But yes, you're right, the red card in particular was daft even if it'd been his first game in a decade!

[oh_weds_we_love_you]

4 hours ago, Holmowl said:

Very much hope Sasso stays. Huge promise.

 

The biggest complement we can pay him is that in the 12 games he played in the second half of the season the results were top class.

 

23 points (almost 2 per game!!!)

18 goals for (more than the season average)

11 goals against (less than the season average)

 

We saw ricks from Lees, Loovens and Hutch at CB. Remember how flakey Tom was for the early season! Sasso made a couple too, but as someone else pointed out he had to be rusty.

 

We all moan about speed. Well Vincent is a proper athlete. Covers the ground far quicker than Glenn. Very physical in the tackle, but a very clean tackler. I was yards away from several tackles he made at Forest and I was hugely impressed with how quickly he got out to the touchline when Hunt was beaten, and the sharpness and precision of his tackles.

 

Apart from his two superb goals v Blackburn, anyone remember his bullet header home to Wolves. On a day when we were utter tripe, he almost secured us three points but for a brilliant finger-tip save. He is a real goal-threat.

 

As a third or fourth choice CB he is quite something. I thought he was unlucky to lose his place, though we did get even better defensively once Glenn came back.

 

I know many of you think we need better, but in Lees, Loovens, Sasso and Hutch I think we are blessed with CBs.

 

Excellent post.

 

Just two slight changes for me. I think we need an upgrade on Loovens, who can drop to 3rd choice. Hutchinson would stay in central midfield.

 

Shame to see Sasso leave, but I wonder if the decision was his - he can go elsewhere and get much more game time. I see no logical reason for us to let him go otherwise because he's excellent cover at this level.

[SiJ]

I like Sasso. 

 

Good back up  and actually the best footballer we've got at the back. 

 

Hes still pretty young too. Hope we sign him up for another 12 months. 

[mike312]

I like Sasso, as others have said he is the best CB we have with the ball. He has a mistake in him but no more so than Loovens.

[Lord Snooty]

1 hour ago, Beauchief Owl said:

The errors I outlined were not a result of such rustiness IMO. Indeed Sasso did have a run of matches.

The lapses of judgement against Leeds and Forest were basic errors that schoolboys should not be making, whilst the red card at Villa was a reckless tackle in an area of the pitch that posed no danger arising from a poor first touch. 

 

I'd argue that judgement and decision making , mental sharpness and thinking in the game , is as equally likely to get rusty as first touch and match legs.

The footballing brain needs to be kept as peak as the feet.

[Guest Grez Bez]

Happy with him as a 4th choice but always has a mistake in him.

 

I'd love a  commanding centre half with great presence; someone to really lead the line. We are missing leader IMO

[EcclesallOwl]

Currently our best centre back

[N0rtherner]

Seen a few too many games where he makes really weird calls, like ducking under a ball that he should really clear instead of letting it bounce dangerously in the box, or not being coordinated with the defensive line... if we were to get another quality defender, I would let him go now that he's out of contract, and rather focus on Lees, Loovens and the new one + Hutch on backup so that we could put three offensive midfielders up front and still field Hutch.

[Beauchief Owl]

2 hours ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I'd argue that judgement and decision making , mental sharpness and thinking in the game , is as equally likely to get rusty as first touch and match legs.

The footballing brain needs to be kept as peak as the feet.

I'd argue that as a defender "If in doubt put it out" when defending a ball inside your own penalty area under pressure. This is basic, basic defending. That Sasso actually ducked away from a cross at Leeds was absolutely awful and to allow an opponent to steal a ball and turn it back across the penalty area, as at Forest, is bad decision making anytime when clearing it would have been both an easy and a sensible option. Both instances, as with the red card, are indefensible for a professional footballer playing at Championship level IMO. I'm old school in that I like to see defenders first and foremost defend, especially  in the penalty area.

[Lord Snooty]

1 minute ago, Beauchief Owl said:

I'd argue that as a defender "If in doubt put it out" when defending a ball inside your own penalty area under pressure. This is basic, basic defending. That Sasso actually ducked away from a cross at Leeds was absolutely awful and to allow an opponent to steal a ball and turn it back across the penalty area, as at Forest, is bad decision making anytime when clearing it would have been both an easy and a sensible option. Both instances, as with the red card, are indefensible for a professional footballer playing at Championship level IMO. I'm old school in that I like to see defenders first and foremost defend, especially  in the penalty area.

 

I have no issue at all with booting the ball into the back of the stand. Brought up that way myself.

And I never said that he shouldn't have booted it out as far as I know....?

I think I said that decision making and mental sharpness can become rusty through match practise...

 

 

[owls_wawaw]

I really hope he gets another year. he certainly deserves it. the more he played the better he became. I know Lees is a quality centre back but without loovens he doesn't look as good and the pointless headers and poor distribution is evident to see. hutch needs to be centre back from now on and push on in this role and sasso, let's not forget costing nothing, will be a stupid loss when loovens is looking more like his age every season, even though still a great captain. I also remember against Huddersfield when they were having the penalty huddle he was right in there with the boys and was crying out for someone to join the huddle but they never came whoever that was. keep sasso please my Wednesday love gods

[Beauchief Owl]

5 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

I have no issue at all with booting the ball into the back of the stand. Brought up that way myself.

And I never said that he shouldn't have booted it out as far as I know....?

I think I said that decision making and mental sharpness can become rusty through match practise...

 

 

Correct, but you did infer that his mistakes, which I specified, may have been through lack of match practice. I'm simply saying that those errors were not IMO, and simply down to poor defending at a very basic level. I actually like Sasso as a third or fourth choice CB but if you are there as back-up you have to be up to speed when called upon for action and TBF he had a reasonable run of games and still made these mistakes.

[Lord Snooty]

2 minutes ago, Beauchief Owl said:

Correct, but you did infer that his mistakes, which I specified, may have been through lack of match practice. I'm simply saying that those errors were not IMO, and simply down to poor defending at a very basic level. I actually like Sasso as a third or fourth choice CB but if you are there as back-up you have to be up to speed when called upon for action and TBF he had a reasonable run of games and still made these mistakes.

 

True.

As have they all.

 

I still think a there is a practical need for some form of reserve team football, and not just having the odd over age cameo to help the kids out.

 

[Beauchief Owl]

32 minutes ago, Lord Snooty said:

 

True.

As have they all.

 

I still think a there is a practical need for some form of reserve team football, and not just having the odd over age cameo to help the kids out.

 

I agree, the old Central League was excellent in this respect.