The Fullbacks

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Ive just come across an excellent analysis on Twitter which made me think this is worth its own topic.

Both of our fullbacks are getting a lot of criticism this season so helpful to see some facts behind it. Myself I take some of these analyses with a pinch of salt but they are useful in gaining some perspective when a lot of fans have a habit of naming player x as either brilliant or shit.

There are a number of points here. Firstly Christie’s stats look pretty decent. In terms of sheer number of crosses he is outstanding and accuracy isnt that bad, maybe we need to focus more on why our forwards arent getting on the end of them. Defensively Christie does OK too. 

Ribeiro on the other hand I had thought had gone backwards this season and the stats bear that out, it is most alarming to look at his defence contribution vs average. Possibly the rumours of his departure this summer affected his form or maybe Hughtons style of play doesnt suit him as well as Lamouchi’s. Whichever if Bong does well in the next 3 games he is going to struggle to get back in.

The final thought is how do the fullbacks for this season compare to last when both were excellent. This is slightly unfair because Lamouchi relied very heavily on his fullbacks breaking and getting forward quickly, it helped that in Cash he unexpectedly discovered a player born for that role. Hughton doesn’t rely on fullbacks attacking as much but you could argue that is because they are less effective than last season and is also a reason why our overall performance is worse.

Thoughts?

[wassy04]

Ive just come across an excellent analysis on Twitter which made me think this is worth its own topic.

Both of our fullbacks are getting a lot of criticism this season so helpful to see some facts behind it. Myself I take some of these analyses with a pinch of salt but they are useful in gaining some perspective when a lot of fans have a habit of naming player x as either brilliant or S**t.

There are a number of points here. Firstly Christie’s stats look pretty decent. In terms of sheer number of crosses he is outstanding and accuracy isnt that bad, maybe we need to focus more on why our forwards arent getting on the end of them. Defensively Christie does OK too. 

Ribeiro on the other hand I had thought had gone backwards this season and the stats bear that out, it is most alarming to look at his defence contribution vs average. Possibly the rumours of his departure this summer affected his form or maybe Hughtons style of play doesnt suit him as well as Lamouchi’s. Whichever if Bong does well in the next 3 games he is going to struggle to get back in.

The final thought is how do the fullbacks for this season compare to last when both were excellent. This is slightly unfair because Lamouchi relied very heavily on his fullbacks breaking and getting forward quickly, it helped that in Cash he unexpectedly discovered a player born for that role. Hughton doesn’t rely on fullbacks attacking as much but you could argue that is because they are less effective than last season and is also a reason why our overall performance is worse.

Thoughts?

Controversial opinion but I've thought for a while Christie has been alright, he started pretty badly but in the last few months his defending has seemed better. His crossing isn't too bad, Ribeiro on the other hand, his crossing in particular has gone very backwards.

Both still areas that feel like can be improved on in the summer though

[Paplane]

You could see by Ribeiro's mad moment on Wednesday that he was struggling to hold it all together. CH was bollocking him from the very off, he obviously got more of the same at HT. Britt was winding him up and he snapped in sheer frustration at the end. I'd personally like to see how Bong could bed in now he has 3 games to get established, partly becuse of Ribeiro's form of late but mostly because most fans, pundits and Vrentzos had written him off.

[Username]

Perhaps Vrentos trying to force a move upon Ribeiro has had a negative impact?

[Tricky]

A good subject for a debate SM and one I think will be interesting in individuals takes on our defenders.

Last season, as you have pointed out, we had Matty Cash, who has stepped up to the PL remarkably well. That was always going to be a poisoned chalice for whoever stepped in to replace Matty, particularly in the fans eyes.

Christie has done a reasonable job, under those circumstances. He has been caught out of position a few times, but surely that is a gamble that has to be considered if CH wants his full backs pressing high up the pitch to support attacks!

Ribiero I feel needed dropping TBH. He seems far more erratic of late and has on more than one occasion gotten away with some clumsy challenges. He is often considered the weak link targeted by opposition sides. Whether that is down to him actually being a weak link or most sides strength is down their right flank is something I do think we need to consider when suggesting he is being targeted. 

Both have been accused of poor crosses into the area. But are they poor crosses or is it just the fact that the crosses are put in and there is nobody in the box to connect with them. Is that the fault of the full backs or is that the fault of the forwards and midfield for not getting into attacking positions? 

Why does our lone striker spend so much time out on the wings? We have wingers that are supposed to be playing out there. We have full backs who are expected to play out there. This would suggest to me that we concentrate too much of our time and possession in wide positions instead of attacking through the middle. Why is that? A lack of a skilled play maker in the centre of midfield is obviously one reason. When young Alex has drifted inside and has got he ball, he has not been afraid to run at defenders. The problem here is he does not get the support from fellow players when this happens and he either ends up losing possession or he has to play the ball backwards.

For me, our problem is a poor midfield. Yates, who is dogged and determined seems afraid to push forwards with the ball. he is often looking at playing the ball sideways or backwards to ensure a safe pass. He seems to lack the vision to play a defence splitting pass for our forwards to chase onto. Ben Watson was a master at that last season and would often get Lolley running onto it thus producing some delightful counter attacks.

But back on track. I feel it is a little unfair that our full backs get as much stick as they do, especially when they are called upon so often to provide the support in attack. Maybe if there was less reliance on them going forwards and more work put in by the midfield, our defence would shore itself up again nicely

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

He was only asked if he wanted to go to Olympiakos with Silva, don't think anyone was forcing him. He then got injured and when he recovered he was back in the team.

[Paplane]

He was only asked if he wanted to go to Olympiakos with Silva, don't think anyone was forcing him. He then got injured and when he recovered he was back in the team.

I suspect there was probably more to it than that Sniff. My theory is that, as overseas imports, he and Silva were being paid peanuts compared to the others and wanted an equitable uplift only to be told that they had to move to Greece to get it. Silva complied and took the money, Ribs dug in. Pure guess work on my part.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

He didn't deserve a pay rise even if it were true.

[Paplane]

He didn't deserve a pay rise even if it were true.

Depends how much he was being underpaid. I thought he did OK last season to be honest but if he asked for a big big pay rise them maybe Vrentros knows a bit more about football than is made out.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Vrent-zos.

Vrentzos.

Or perhaps we can just call him IV if it makes it easier (Ioannis Vrentzos).

[Salvatore Matrecano]

He didn't deserve a pay rise even if it were true.

Why? By common consensus Ribeiro was one of our star performers last season. No idea what wage he was on but he was outstanding at times and Im sure he was / is one of our lower paid players. The problem now is that this season he is having a far tougher time and his performance on Wednesday was diabolical. Think Forest would do well to unravel why and see if we can get him back to his best before we write him off.

[ThePromisedLand]

Vrent-zos.

Vrentzos.

Or perhaps we can just call him IV if it makes it easier (Ioannis Vrentzos).

Vrentzos.
Vrentos.

Freeman.
Freedman.

What’s another letter matter  :P