The fullback situation
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:50 pm
I've said it in other threads all over the forum. It's the one area of the team that still concerns me. I think we're as good as anybody else in the other areas of the pitch. However I've always had doubts as to whether whether our fullbacks are of the required standard to be in a championship winning side. In modern day football, the fullbacks are absolutely vital, not just defending, but also in an attacking sense. They also have to be comfortable on the ball. When I watch Bosingwa and Cole and Chelsea, they virtually play as wingers for most of the game. Same with Evra and Neville at United and Sagna and Clichy at Arsenal. I just don't think our guys are at the same level in a footballing sense.
Listen I'm not having a go at any of them. I mean our defensive record has been impressive this season with only Chelsea conceding less. To be honest, I haven't really understood the slating that Dossena has been getting on here. He hasn't been directly at fault for goals, and seems to link well with Riera, or whoever else has been stationed on the left. Granted he looked a touch short on match fitness and pace in preseason, but even though he looks a relatively solid guy, he seems to have a yard or two of pace about him now the season has got going. To make a final judgement on Dossena after 7 games is laughable, but he looks like he's none too sprightly, although on the positive side, he seems eager to get forward and does seem to have the strength that Rafa likes in Premiership defenders.
Aurelio I quite like but he did have a very poor game the other day, SWP was the main threat for them and he had the beating of him everytime. He also can't stay fit for more than three games at a time. I've never been 100% convinced by him though. He's comfortable on the ball and has a decent incisive pass/cross in his locker, but lacks killer pace and is suspect defensively, particularly with his positioning. The fact that he plays one week and Dossena the next seems to suggest to me that neither is particularly good enough to nail down that left back spot as his own. Ask yourself, we let Stephen Warnock go for peanuts and he is now an established Premiership player. Are either of these two better than Warnock? Or even Riise, who got absolutely slated in his last year at the club?
On the right, with Finnan gone and Degen injured, Arbeloa is our only option (Carragher is no longer an option with Skrtel injured). I like Arbeloa, but I don't see him as being anywhere near as good as Steve Finnan was a couple of years ago. Ok he's reliable and will get forward when he can, but generally his delivery into the box is nothing short of woeful at times. Degen I've not seen anywhere near enough of to comment.
On a positive not though, seeing as this is a fullbacks thread, has anyone noticed how much further upfield we seem to be setting our play this year through the fullbacks? You'll rarely see either Arbeloa or Dossena/Aurelio receive the ball inside our own half when we are holding possession. It appears we're pushing them far further foward and they're offering a far greater threat in the final third than previous year.
The main question is though, in the long term, are any of them good enough?
Listen I'm not having a go at any of them. I mean our defensive record has been impressive this season with only Chelsea conceding less. To be honest, I haven't really understood the slating that Dossena has been getting on here. He hasn't been directly at fault for goals, and seems to link well with Riera, or whoever else has been stationed on the left. Granted he looked a touch short on match fitness and pace in preseason, but even though he looks a relatively solid guy, he seems to have a yard or two of pace about him now the season has got going. To make a final judgement on Dossena after 7 games is laughable, but he looks like he's none too sprightly, although on the positive side, he seems eager to get forward and does seem to have the strength that Rafa likes in Premiership defenders.
Aurelio I quite like but he did have a very poor game the other day, SWP was the main threat for them and he had the beating of him everytime. He also can't stay fit for more than three games at a time. I've never been 100% convinced by him though. He's comfortable on the ball and has a decent incisive pass/cross in his locker, but lacks killer pace and is suspect defensively, particularly with his positioning. The fact that he plays one week and Dossena the next seems to suggest to me that neither is particularly good enough to nail down that left back spot as his own. Ask yourself, we let Stephen Warnock go for peanuts and he is now an established Premiership player. Are either of these two better than Warnock? Or even Riise, who got absolutely slated in his last year at the club?
On the right, with Finnan gone and Degen injured, Arbeloa is our only option (Carragher is no longer an option with Skrtel injured). I like Arbeloa, but I don't see him as being anywhere near as good as Steve Finnan was a couple of years ago. Ok he's reliable and will get forward when he can, but generally his delivery into the box is nothing short of woeful at times. Degen I've not seen anywhere near enough of to comment.
On a positive not though, seeing as this is a fullbacks thread, has anyone noticed how much further upfield we seem to be setting our play this year through the fullbacks? You'll rarely see either Arbeloa or Dossena/Aurelio receive the ball inside our own half when we are holding possession. It appears we're pushing them far further foward and they're offering a far greater threat in the final third than previous year.
The main question is though, in the long term, are any of them good enough?