The Mail Bag
Right back - who should play there?
Comments (20)
Simple enough... we have three right backs to choose from: Hibbert, Neill and Heitinga.
Hibbert - No doubt I'll be getting responses from Dave Wilson saying this is a blatant attack on him bla-bla.. but all he is, is a good defender, and modern full backs need so much more these days. I think he probably is the best defender, he's a great tackler and a good marker too. But going forward he is woeful... and I think this is down to Moyes.
A few years ago, Hibbert had great potential and there was talk of him being in the England squad. All Moyes needed to do was coach him to attack, improve his crossing ability and the most important... give him CONFIDENCE to go forward. Now, Hibbert is still the same player and hasn't improved much.
Neill — Has undoubted experience in the league and is composed on the ball. Actually has confidence and a good delivery, shown on Sunday with two assists. Quite good defensively but not as good as Hibbert, and he's a dirty player - shown yesterday when he kneed a player while jumping for the ball. Does a lot of mistakes too, where he has given away loads of penalties and sometimes costs goals - evidence of that on Sunday.
Heitinga — not very impressed with him so far I gotta be honest. Is caught out of position too much but he has time to adjust. Great tackler and a great passer, and a good delivery too, but not much pace and marking not up to scratch. But he has time to adjust and maybe will play better afterwards.
My verdict: Neill, simply because he has the experience and is a better all round full back. A modern day full back has got to be a very good threat going forward, where every world class team has got one. Neill is the better all round full back but it is still kinda depressing he is the best we got there.
I think probably by next season, Heitinga will get it there, and Hibbert should always be a squad player, yes he was playing there when we had all the success in the past bla-bla, but i the last 2 or 3 years he has always been one of the main weaknesses of the team.
I mean, look at Bainesy, great going forward and good defensively. If only we had someone like that playing right back!!
Ben Jones, Posted 28/10/2009 at 12:43:38
Comments
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer
John Heitinga is only 25 and will probably make that right-back position his own in the next couple of seasons as he posesses great ball control and long passing along with reasonable tackling.
Hibbert should be a Scunthorpe United reserve player.
In fact, there aren't that many good RBs... even Johnson, who cost £18 million, leaves a lot to be desired defensively.
My biggest criticism of Hibbo is his near-post marking from crosses and his inconsistent delivery of the ball.
Apart from that, he has kept some of the Prem's best wingers in his pocket at times.
For the record, I always said Heitinga was shite... evidenced by 2 abysmal years in the Spanish league, and Neill is now too old for a full back.
Coleman is the future: watch this space.
I would go with Neill to start with and let's see what a bit of competion will do for Hibbo; Heitinga hasn’t got the pace for there.
If you look at the attributes required for that position, Rodwell is probably the closest match.
Lucas Neil is the the best option we have at right back he is a mix of both defence and going forward. He has plenty of experience and you will start to see that he works his arse off for the team.
From what I have seen of Heitinga he can play at right back but I don’t think thats his best position. His game seems better suited to CB. Watching him play there for the Dutch he holds his own in defence but provides very good distribution.
Nothing against Yobo or Distin, but I would like to see a fit Jags and Heitinga paired for a few games. Jags is hands down our best defender, if he has a weakness it is passing the ball out to the midfield. I think playing alongside Heitinga would provide him with some good support.
I choose Heitinga. He doesn’t have much experience marking, because the Dutch system is different, but give him time to learn how it’s done here. And what he brings us offensively is desperately needed. Neill won’t provide that... in 318 games in all competitions, he has nine goals and 17 assists. And he’ll give up more goals on pens than Heitinga will with his loose marking.
I have him playing 489 games with 23 goals. and that doesn’t include internationals. You are right though Mike that Heitinga will probably be the better option in the long run.
My defence of local players obviously pisses a lot of people off, so I will make this my very last - at least on this site.
I have always known there is a culture for slagging local boys this at this club, I have spoken to several players down the years about it and trust me when I tell you,the club knows it too Everton do not have three right backs, Heitinga isn’t one and until Lucas Neill can shed a couple of stone I won't give him any serious consideration, nor will I pay to see him at West Ham (btw ask their fans if he’a any good if you think he’s being judged prematurely).
Before I leave this subject for good, I want to make a point: Our club enjoyed one of our best ever Premier League and FA Cup runs last season, we didn’t have Lucas Neill, Distin, Bily or Heitinga, Coleman wasn’t yet old enough, and Rodwell wasn’t considered ready. STILL we marched on, beating some of the planets strongest teams and surrendering to none. Big Vic, Ossie and Hibbo took dog's abuse. STILL we marched on... Arteta went down, but we STILL fucken marched on.
Well here we are now lads, Hibbert's trying to plug glaring holes right across the back four, Ossie and Vic are not available and we are embroiled in a living fucken nightmare.
In the words of the late Peter Cook: "Any happier? Any Fucken happier?"
Like I say, this is the last time I leap to the defence of our local boys. They clearly have no case to answer.
Seamus Coleman has never been coached properly before he signed for Everton. He’s a raw talent who was signed for buttons. He’s got bags of pace, and it shows you what DM thinks of him by playing him so soon.
Heitinga — slow, bad positioning, not great defensively, great passer.
Neill — Slow, tackling not up to scratch, unfit
Coleman — Doesn’t look like a defender at all.
Neville — Ok defender, Not great going forward, captain.
Hibbert — Good defender, suspect going forward although had improved before his holiday to left back and centre half...
For me, despite us having a load of right backs, Hibbert is still the best option for that position.
He is an old school defender.... and that’s the problem, the game has moved on and he hasn’t unfortunately.
As Dave has said many time, there have been many to come in to take his place but it seems that Tony always ends up back in the team and Howard gets on with his goalkeeping records of clean sheets.
But despite the additions made it seems that Hibbert is still at the top of the bunch for that position...
Strange. Or is it...?
And Dave, I am the one who criticise any player who plays badly. I think I have made a fair assessment on Hibbert, do you not agree? I think criticism on Osman is harsh, because Moyes keeps playing him on the right, when he is clearly better in the middle. Anichebe has played badly in the past, but ever since he was on the right, it was promising.
It’s just a co-incidence that Osman, Hibbert and Anichebe are home-grown players. If they have played badly, they deserve criticism. Simple as that.
I’ve never been overly impressed with Neill’s defensive capabilities... add to that his obvious lack of fitness... and the only conclusion I can make is that the position is Hibbert’s at the moment.
I’m not prepared to sacrifice defensive capabilities for a decent forward pass....
Ben, Never heard you slag any player other than scouse ones, yet there have been plenty of really really poor performances from others. I’d be more than happy for you to point me in the direction of a single post from you that will prove me wrong.
Still like I said, you’ve all got your wish and we are having a nightmare,
Coincidence? You having a laff?
You say "Ben, Never heard you slag any player other than scouse ones, yet there have been plenty of really really poor performances from others. I’d be more than happy for you to point me in the direction of a single post from you that will prove me wrong."
In his article, Ben writes this:
"Heitinga — not very impressed with him so far I gotta be honest. Is caught out of position too much but he has time to adjust. Great tackler and a great passer, and a good delivery too, but not much pace and marking not up to scratch. But he has time to adjust and maybe will play better afterwards"
Not exactly praising Heitinga is he? You have been proved wrong, do I win a prize?
Try to understand the difference between that and constructive criticsm
Prize? you are a prize?
Constructive criticism and a post from you is not possible! I thought that you said that you weren’t going to post on this site anymore? Or was that shite like 90% of the rest of the drivel you spout?
As for taking the bait, I’m a bit bored myself, but the girls in this office are pissing themselves laughing AT you, so keep it coming.
Add Your Comments
In order to post a comment to the MailBag, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.
Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and MailBag submissions across the site.
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
-sm.jpg)
1 Posted 28/10/2009 at 22:10:38
Report abuse
RB? Almost anybody.