The Mail Bag
Left out, not left back
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Having breathed a long sigh of relief that we finally made a significant signing in Fellaini, I ? like most blues ? have spent most of today trying to work out our new first-choice team. One issue I can't get to grips with though from reading other posts is the obsession with putting Lescott in at left back.
Joleon is a good central defender, bought as a good central defender and drafted into the England squad as a good central defender. Our deficiencies at the back at the start of this season have been, in my opinion, mainly due to the lack of midfield cover in front of him and Yobo. However, there is an element of shakiness in his game shown in the two home defeats so far.
Yet a lot of writers seem to think that the best way of shoring up the defence is to bring Jags back into the centre and shunt Lescott to left back. Why?
He was used there out of necessity rather than choice last season when Baines and Valente were injured. OK, he did a fair job, but if we are to make the most of our season, we need all our players playing at the top of their games in their natural positions where they can make the most of their talents.
If, as many people seem to think, Lescott's form is shaky, then isn't it better to drop him and bring Jags in to replace him ? with Moyes getting hold of him and bringing him back to top standard on the training pitch before playing him again?
After all, we do have a decent player in Baines who ? given a decent run ? will, I think, prove why he was rated so highly when we signed him.
Shifting Lescott around to mask poor form seems to me the actions of a manager happy to have a player be bigger than the team. And while beggars can't be choosers, I'd still rather we had players in form in the team - and those not on form working their arses off to prove they deserve to get back in.
Chris Brown, Posted 02/09/2008 at 22:10:15
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...I do, however, have to disagree with you My Good Man, on your first sentence of the final paragraph.
"Shifting Lescott around to mask poor form seems to me the actions of a manager happy to have a player be bigger than the team."
That to me is the action of a good manager who has to cover the teams deficiencies with an outside the box idea...Players were injured or underperforming, Something’s gotta give.
Jason, I agree with your lineup except for Neville. I’d put in the Dane...couldn’t possibly be worse than Phil "The Thrill"
He has a great reputation for being here there and everywhere and is technically good which is a bonus obviously but the thing that we have been missing out on for years is the fact he is a big powerful and domineering midfielder..
I had first heard about him just before last season ended when Everton were linked with him but since the months past I forgot about him until Standard played Liverpool..
I was so impressed with Fellaini that I instantly mentioned the fact as to why we never pursued an interest in him because he simply dominated Liverpools midfield and I havent seen Gerrard kept so quiet for a long time..
Another thing that was impressive was the amount of headers Fellaini won against their defence, Carragher in particular..
Too often last season when we played against the top four we were easilt muscled out of things and bullied and that has snowballed into this season especially against Pompey..
But the arrival of Fellaini and also I am told Castillo is far from being a slouch and has 33 caps for Ecuador so he has sampled playing aginst the likes of Brazil and Argentina time and time again.. The arrival of these two gives me some real hope of us having a bit of muscle and athletism in the middle of that park that so often lets us down..
Fingers crossed we can get all our best players fit and firing and I hope we can get Saha fit also as he can be a fantastic striker if we can get and keep him 100%..
Heres hoping to a big upturn in fortunes..
The reason why Lescott should be moved to left back again is because he excelled there last season - he even notched 10 goals.. before we had Yak, how many other players have we had in the past 10 years that have scored into double figures??
05/06 - beattied got mor than 10goals
06/07 - Andy Johnson got more than 10goals
So before we had Yak 3 out of the 3 previoyus seasons we had a player who scored 10 or more.
I for one agree totally. Lescott to LB, Jags to CB.
Similarly, what’s the point for playing Saha if he’s never to return.
Last summer we needed to strengthen our midfield and Moyes spent £6million on another bloody defender. We are still short of numbers in midfield despite signing Felaini and Castillo and in my opinion Moyes should be looking to sell Baines to bring in another decent midfielder.
The team for me would be for the IMMEDIATE future: Howard; Neville, Yobo, Jagielka, Lescott; with a midfield of Arteta, Fellaini, Castillo or Osman, Baines; and Vaughan and Yakubu up-front. Castillo was signed as the natural replacement for Carsley and Fellaini would take the weight off Arteta and maybe provide protection too...
Baines deserves his place at the present time. I agree defensively Lescott is better but Baines put more decent crosses in than I've seen from anyone playing on the left... unfortunately we had no one to convert them. Let Cahill and Peanuts fight for their place and not just move back as soon as they are fit ? they should start on the bench as subs until they are proven match-fit.
Apparently he?s been playing through the pain barrier, so I?m sure our ?problem? will be solved now with Jags taking his place at CB whilst Yobo recovers.
Whilst Baines impresses me going forward I?m not convinced he?s strong enough defensively, but let?s wait and see eh?
Defensively he is poor, his positioning is shit and he got bummed by Johnson last weekend. I would play him left midfield but work on the final ball.
No wonder he had a bad game, it must have been distracting with Johnson?s attentions :0)
My thinking is while the midfield is light keep the back four solid and at least get some draws or cagey one-nils instead of getting pumped.
Lescott has been making some indivual errors but his defending throughout the 90 minutes hasn’t been bad, he kept Defoe and Crouch quiet for alot of the game. Concentration has let him down at key times.
Baines on the other hand hasn’t made any indivual mistakes that have led to goals but he is unsettling the back four. He’s small, his positioning is poor and he gets left for dead by half decent wingers, he really does need to work on his defending as we are getting hit and miss performances, excellent going forward and very poor defensively.
Lescott at left back gives you the full package, defensive quality and drive going forward. His crossing isn’t always great but other than that he’s top notch, the best left back at the club without a doubt and he fits into our system.
It’s should be back to basics really, Neville, Yobo, Jagielka and Lescott should be the back four. Simple as really.
Couldn’t agree more. I would certainly agree that Yobo & Lescott have been far from convincing so far but the complete absence of a midfield has been a major factor in their poor showings. The back four that started against Portsmouth is our strongest, Jagielka should be no more than cover for the centre of defence & should be kept as far away from the middle of the park as possible.
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1 Posted 03/09/2008 at 07:02:29
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Still, 10 goals a season is too good to miss. My day’s worth as a blue:
Howard
Neville - Yobo - Jags - Lescott
Castillo
Arteta - Cahill - that Fella bloke - Pienaar
Yakubu