Llera gets a lot of stick BUT .......

Oggy Red

Yesterday, I thought Llera was a total Colossus. Won everything in the air, even won stuff he had no right to win, came trundling through midfield scattering opponents in his way, took a viscious free kick from the edge of the box that brought a great save from their MOM keeper (from which Sodje rammed the loose ball into the net for the disallowed goal), and amongst other good work, sent Sodje away for the equaliser.

This bloke really wants a place in the side.

Parky said afterwards:
"At Southampton away in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Miguel Llera was probably our best player, so it was a tough decision [to leave him out v MK Dons] as I've got three very good centre-backs.

"All I can say is Miguel's attitude has been incredible in training. The lads love him; he's a real character and he'll probably be playing this week as Sodje will be suspended. Then he will have a good chance to stake a claim.”

PragueAddick

Interesting post and good news.

Imnot Athletic

Are Alicante, Gimnastic and Hercules mainly on the plains in Spain?

Thought he coped with the conditions especially well, with some excellently timed sliding tackles. His crossfield balls out to Sam on the right were weighted perfectly.

These days, players are coached to say the right things to the media, so talk is cheap. But the fact that earlier in the season, he was prepared to play with a nasty head injury, coupled with the reports of him out running last Sunday to keep up his fitness speaks volumes to me.

The Red Robin

Good thread. He can be a bit erratic but overall he's a good player and some of his passing was superb yesterday, considering the conditions. I sometimes think he may be better suited at left back but I suppose Parky would rather have him at centre half due to his height and heading ability.

Leroy Ambrose

I think most of the time he's a liability, but he has undoubted ability in the air, will always be a threat from set pieces in the opposition box and can ping some useful diagonal balls out of defence. I would never play him in the side ahead of Sodje or Dailly, but he's a useful squad player - and seems to be one of those that will always graft to try and win his place back (rather than sulk and moan about it when he's dropped)

ValleyGary

Llera did not play well against Southampton. The first 20 minutes he was awful.

I personally dont rate him at all, but if he played well yesterday (i wasnt there) then well done and fair play.

Choice

I got his shirt at the end but it shrunk a little on the dashboard heater going home lol

Scoham

He's a good squad player at this level and has the right attitude and character. He will make mistakes, but so do our other defenders. I don't think Sodje is levels above Llera as sometime suggested. He has pace which Llera doesn't, but then he can't pass the ball out like Llera can and doesn't have his height.

thenewbie

Llera definitely has a part to play in the season and I don't think he's as bad as Colchester made him look and sadly thats what hes being remembered for most of the time. Didn't see him yesterday but from what has been said it seems that he really is a proper Charlton player in attitude, detirmination and ability (or lack thereof. ;-))

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: ValleyGary[/cite]Llera did not play well against Southampton. The first 20 minutes he was awful.

I personally dont rate him at all, but if he played well yesterday (i wasnt there) then well done and fair play.

That's a fair comment, ValleyGary. I wasn't at Southampton, so I could only pass on Parky's quote on the OS yesterday.
Although if Parky thinks he was our best player on the day, then personally I'm happy to accept the opinion of the manager who's spent more than 20 years in the game as a professional.

[cite]Posted By: choice DJ[/cite]I got his shirt at the end but it shrunk a little on the dashboard heater going home lol

I'd forgotten about Llera coming right up to the fence behind the goal and tossing his shirt into the crowd. The shirt was so wet he struggled to get it off as the fabric stuck to his skin.

So you got it, DJ? Nice one!