Matt Palmer: The Hidden Cost of Being Consistent

[allardyces tash]

This could be taken the wrong way, which I would encourage people to hear me out before assuming I am picking at Matt Palmer.

I just wonder if his consistency in the way he performs and goes about ensuring he doesn't put a foot wrong limits his ability to be a standout for the Man of the Match, at the cost of his creativity?

Palmer is a superb midfielder and by far the best we have had in decades, he does go about the majority of his play quietly and has earned admiration for it. The amount of mistakes he makes is quite rare, and I think it is down to his approach to playing but I do wonder if the same method limits him from being seen as a regular Man of the Match candidate. 

What I am suggesting, is he's safe and at the cost of being more creative which could lead to mistakes, he repeats the same process within games that makes him consistent and the player we all admire but at what cost?

[liampie]

to be honest, i think matt palmer tends to be overlooked simply because of how good he is. how quiet he can be is also something which hinders him from being noticed because fans will notice those who are taking bolder actions. its why alex bass can have a superb game, but its only those matches where he stops a team from winning or drawing that gets him voted as the man of the match. i think we can take some players for granted and palmer is one of them.

we were lost last season without him, hes such an important part and i dont think being named as the man of the match is everything.

you want players to do their role and do it well, which palmer does but its an interesting question.

[Scotty]

Matty Palmer plays the way he does because it suits the way the team is set up.

Under the Brothers, Notts have a distinctive brand of football. The Notts team is built like a machine to play in a certain way. The purpose of each component is to perform in a certain way, in synergy with the other parts.

 

Critics of this style cite the lack of originality and creativity that some players have brought to the role previously. But this is a team game and the team plays in a certain way under a certain purpose, and by and large it pays dividends. In answer to your question, yes perhaps, allowing MP a more individual roll, then perhaps he could deliver a different style, worthy of MOTM awards as an individual, but the bigger picture would fail.  But he is a highly functional cog in a dynamic team. 

It is testament to his style, his intelligence and commitment to the cause, that perhaps he knowingly does this aware that it detract from the potential he could deliver.

Also when certain 1st team parts are not in the machine, as evidenced by DC moving to MK Dons, or Didzy and JJ out injured, then perhaps the machine isn't as good as it can be.  But, by and large, the Brothers system has worked. Long may it do so.

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

Matt Palmer is a great midfielder at this level for Notts. I think he has been one of our most consistent players this season behind Matty Platt, Jacob  Bedeau & George Abbott.

I don't think that we have seen the best out of Matt since he came back from injury though. I also think that playing alongside Ruben Rodriguez & Dan Crowley brought out the best in him.

I'm wondering whether it may be worth bringing in Jack Hinchy to play alongside him & give George Abbott the number 10 role?

[menzinho]

I was chatting about this the other day, and it was highlighted how Palmer as good as he is, never scores and as good as his passing is he doesn't get that many assists either.

But like you say that never made him a bad player, because his role has always been about helping us play out from the back and I don't think there's anyone better than him at this level. I think now because of the loss of Crowley (and with Didzy injured) the No.10 roles have suddenly become an issue. Whitaker as good as he is technically is still learning and makes mistakes. Grant struggles to get involved at times and Edwards has struggled after returning from a long lay-off.

So now we are having to rely on those further back and right now it's only really Abbott breaking forward from midfield to create something and I wonder if we could see more of this from Palmer too at times. When he has space in front of him can drive the play forward, dribble with the ball and drag an opposition player out of position, or can he play a riskier ball in behind earlier... He's definitely capable of doing it.

[Robbie 𝕏 @Robbie_NCFC]

@menzinho I have wondered if Stuart should play Hinchy next to Palmer & put Abbott in the number ten role.

Abbott has the talent to play in that role at this level. Playing Abbott in front of Matt might work very well for Notts.

[menzinho]

Funny how that happened today @Robbie, I thought Hinchy was a tad unlucky to be taken off at half-time as well. I get things needed to change but sadly no-one really performed very well against Wimbledon.

[Pies79]

Yes I agree with you all, Matty Palmer is a great midfielder with the ability to get his foot on the ball and spread the ball around and keep play moving although I do wish and not just of Palmer but the midfield in general,  that we could mix it up a bit and try to sometimes play balls through the channels to players or to run on to or play the odd ball over the top for the forwards to run on to rather than always going out to the wings.

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

I get the reasoning behind the thoughts shared, but Matt Palmer is creative, and the only downside to his game, to me, is the lack of goals from him. Not all midfielders will be goalscorers, but he does everything we would want in a midfielder, and he does that well. I do think he's more overlooked because he is more consistently involved in scoring, but he does make passes which open up the play. A lot of the threaded passes which put someone else through to create an assist come from his forward thinking, so I think this is an element in him not being considered so much as Man of the Match material.

Yet he's usually among my candidates; it's just that I think we rely more on players in different ways, and he's someone who contributes defensively and in attack.

Whereas some other players tend to be more attacking-minded, a fair comparison to me would be just how involved Jacob Bedeau is when attacking. He does both well, yet his overlapping ability and means of getting forward are part of his exceptional game.

Palmer is used more as a player to transition play, to switch things up, and he commands the pace of play. Rather than being energetic, I think we know how important he is to our squad.