Whitbread and the defence situation

[ChaddesdenRam]

The defence we saw today is not the solution with 4 games (maybe 7) to go.

I thought Whitbread looked really good when he came on and has a good record in a derby shirt even though he's only played 8 games this season. He is also a threat from corners and set pieces and a left sided CB which will help balance out the back 4. 

I don't rate Albentosa from what I have seen of him. He is slow, looks shaky on the ball and his distribution for saying he is from Spanish football is the worst out of all the defenders at the club in fact probably the worst distribution out of any player I have seen at Derby since McClaren took over actually. I don't want to write him off as he only joined half way through the season but he looks like a bad signing.

Obviously Keogh needs to be playing CB. Warnock is poor going forward, Forsyth is a full back not a CB and needs to play there.

Hopefully Shotton will have recovered from his concussion and Christie is available. 

What do we think to this defence, Blackpool is a great game for Christie to build up some confidence:

Christie Keogh Whitbread Forsyth 

 

[RamNut]

Christie keogh whitbread warnock

[Sexydadbod]

Forsyth's head has gone. Think he should be taken out of the spotlight for a few games and be fresh for the play offs(should we get there) Back 3 of keogh shotton and whitbread maybe?

[GeneralRam]

Shotton, Albentosa, Whitbread, Warnock

I'm not a fan of Keogh. Forsyth is ***** and Christie makes stupid mistakes .

[Mr Tibbs]

Shotton, Albentosa, Whitbread, Warnock

I'm not a fan of Keogh. Forsyth is ***** and Christie makes stupid mistakes .

Interested to hear why you're not a fan of Keogh and supposedly are of the other four based on what we have seen. 

[irobinson]

Forsyth's head has gone. Think he should be taken out of the spotlight for a few games and be fresh for the play offs(should we get there) Back 3 of keogh shotton and whitbread maybe?

Agreed his heads gone - I wouldn't play him against Blackpool. I would play Whitbread 

[Southernram1774]

Completely agree about christie and his confidence, hopefully we can leave fozzy out for a bit too, might do him some good.

Blackpool is definitely the game to experiment.

I would argue defence applies to the whole team as sloppy mistakes in midfield contributes and having two strikers leaves the defence with a lack of protection.

My team for Blackpool (assuming all picked are fit):

Grant

Christie (can be very good, better than Shotton regardless)
Keogh (simply can't play RB again)
Whitbread (played well when he came on)
Warnock

Hendrick
Bryson
Ince (only similar player to Hughes)

Russell
Martin
Ward (or Lingard, but not Dawkins, who consistently fails to run with the ball)

[Ramos]

I have always felt Whitbread is a good enough centre half to play a long side a really strong championship centre back and be effective for us. He wins pretty much all his headers, he's good at tackling and comfortable on the ball. I think his obvious partner has to be keogh and like with many I don't think albentosa has looked amazing so far but lets give the guy a chance before we decide he isn't good enough. I'll judge him after 10 games into next season. 

I did argue that we should keep the same back 5 for the rest of the season but after watching the make shift back four today it has definitely made me change my mind. Forsyth and albentosa didn't work great together in the middle and keogh and warnock didn't offer enough of an attacking threat or support. There was a lot of panicking.

We do need a proper right back on Tuesday and I would bring Christie back in even though he has been in very poor form. Hopefully a good game against a poor opposition will help him.

Left back I'm not sure who to go with, Forsyth has been a little hot and cold this season, I felt he started the season where he left off last year, he had a slightly indifferent spell just before xmas when Derby did, but after his goal against Birmingham he didn't put a foot wrong for me until the end of February. And to be fair to him his main error and problem is his passing, he just randomly at some point every game decides to just give the ball away really sloppily so maybe he should have a rest tuesday and we start with Warnock. But I wouldn't be too fussed if he goes back to left back as we miss his attacking support for the winger. 

And finally Rawson has been recalled as I'm sure everyone knows by now, so maybe we will see him on the bench or starting? Probably not but its interesting that we have brought him back

[Bridgford Ram]

Just limiting this to the defence.  

Forsyth should not play for the club again, ever, and should certainly not be brought back for the play offs, should we make it.  

Christie I think could still be a player for us but not this season.

Albentosa I hope is better than he has played so far.  I have said this elsewhere today but we were told that the club has been watching him for 18 months.  I could tell within 90 minutes that he was too slow, uncomfortable on the ball and not good enough.  I can only cling to the hope that the clubs scouting network know more about him than I do.

That leaves us with Shotton, Keogh, Whitbread, Warnock

[AndyinLiverpool]

This has all got a bit silly. With 4 games left and a single slip up potentially costing us a shot the playoffs, people want to experiment. And as for x should never play for us again and y is obviously rubbish, words fail me.

[kingsy1884]

I dont get why everyone has a issue with Forsyth. He is one of the best LBs in the division just look at the stats. I think he was played out of position today at CB but we all know he is a confidence player and the teams looks shot of it. 

Warnock is his back up best to give him a chance to see if he is good enough though i think.

Back to Whitbred yes I thought he looked solid and was always looking to get the ball down a play it. If he is fit get him in.

[ChaddesdenRam]

Just limiting this to the defence.  

Forsyth should not play for the club again, ever, and should certainly not be brought back for the play offs, should we make it.  

Christie I think could still be a player for us but not this season.

Albentosa I hope is better than he has played so far.  I have said this elsewhere today but we were told that the club has been watching him for 18 months.  I could tell within 90 minutes that he was too slow, uncomfortable on the ball and not good enough.  I can only cling to the hope that the clubs scouting network know more about him than I do.

That leaves us with Shotton, Keogh, Whitbread, Warnock

"​Forsyth should not play for the club ever again"

That is ridiculous he has just had to play 2 games at CB. He was a winger until last season. I think judging him at LB vs Blackpool would be fair to determine if he should play in the playoffs. 

I agree with Albentosa, looks like a waste of money unfortunately. Still I will give him time first to prove himself.

[Bridgford Ram]

"​Forsyth should not play for the club ever again"

That is ridiculous he has just had to play 2 games at CB. He was a winger until last season. I think judging him at LB vs Blackpool would be fair to determine if he should play in the playoffs. 

I agree with Albentosa, looks like a waste of money unfortunately. Still I will give him time first to prove himself.

​My Forsyth comment is not based on the two games at CB, it is not even based on the games against Watford and Wolves where he was left back and at fault for goals.  I have never rated him even in a performing team last season.  Not good enough in my opinion.

One of the most infuriating things in football is when he passes the ball down the line and can't keep the bloody thing on the pitch.

[TroyDyer]

Interested to hear why you're not a fan of Keogh and supposedly are of the other four based on what we have seen. 

​Why?

Why is it that any other defender had be an admission but Keogh? Why is he not allowed to be a fan of Keogh exactly?

[TroyDyer]

Completely agree about christie and his confidence, hopefully we can leave fozzy out for a bit too, might do him some good.

Blackpool is definitely the game to experiment.

I would argue defence applies to the whole team as sloppy mistakes in midfield contributes and having two strikers leaves the defence with a lack of protection.

My team for Blackpool (assuming all picked are fit):

Grant

Christie (can be very good, better than Shotton regardless)
Keogh (simply can't play RB again)
Whitbread (played well when he came on)
Warnock

Hendrick
Bryson
Ince (only similar player to Hughes)

Russell
Martin
Ward (or Lingard, but not Dawkins, who consistently fails to run with the ball)

​Best Derby County player today and only player that retains the ball and doesn't give it away constantly. Yep. Please don't let him play again. Put Jamie 'Do nowt then shoot from 40 yards into row z' Ward in. 

[Southernram1774]

​Best Derby County player today and only player that retains the ball and doesn't give it away constantly. Yep. Please don't let him play again. Put Jamie 'Do nowt then shoot from 40 yards into row z' Ward in. 

​Fair enough, I will agree that Dawkins keeps the ball as well as anyone in a Derby shirt (except maybe Martin) and did that well today.

Maybe that was needed in a game where we failed to dominate the midfield - in this case I'm not criticising the substitution today.

I believe that with a midfield 3 (as suggested above) and even more so when Hughesy is back, Dawkins will only be a nuisance to watch as he has no confidence and fails to commit on the wing.

He will do some serious work in the summer to get his confidence back, as he has the potential to be a good player, and could be key next season if we are in the championship.

[ChaddesdenRam]

​My Forsyth comment is not based on the two games at CB, it is not even based on the games against Watford and Wolves where he was left back and at fault for goals.  I have never rated him even in a performing team last season.  Not good enough in my opinion.

One of the most infuriating things in football is when he passes the ball down the line and can't keep the bloody thing on the pitch.

​I will direct you to this link:

http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/7/Seasons/4312/Stages/9156/PlayerStatistics/England-Championship-2014-2015

He is statistically the 2nd best left back in the league and was the best in the league last year. 

Obviously stats can be deceiving and some people like to refer to stats some don't. Statistics don't give the bigger picture on a lot of occasions.

You are perfectly entitled to your opinion on Forsyth but surely he can't be as bad as you make out if he has been an ever present all of last season where we finished 3rd and then all of this season where we have had ups and downs but still been a playoff quality team. Also rarely when he is playing Left Back have I seen him put the ball out of play for a thrown in. 

 

Also one massive factor for Forsyth is that when Chris Martin in on the pitch he plays a lot better. Its been 8-9 weeks since we have had Forsyth at LB and Martin up top as the focal point I think that should be tried vs Blackpool as that is a combination that has served us so well this season and last. 

[Mr Tibbs]

​Why?

Why is it that any other defender had be an admission but Keogh? Why is he not allowed to be a fan of Keogh exactly?

​Such an odd response.

Genuinely interested to hear his views on why he's for him and not any other of our defenders as they're all as bad as each other at the moment. This is no vendetta or even defence of Richard Keogh. Never said he can't be a fan of X player or not.  Why can I not ask a question exactly? Why?

[StringerBell]

​Such an odd response.

Genuinely interested to hear his views on why he's for him and not any other of our defenders as they're all as bad as each other at the moment. This is no vendetta or even defence of Richard Keogh. Never said he can't be a fan of X player or not.  Why can I not ask a question exactly? Why?

Why can't you accept TroyDyers questioning of your question eh?

[Mr Tibbs]

Why can't you accept TroyDyers questioning of your question eh?

​

He's just took a chunk out of the wrong end of the stick, that's all.