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Whitbread and the defence situation


ChaddesdenRam

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But when he is at left back he has much better passing completion statistics. His distribution from CB is poor but that's not his position. In the games I have seen Albentosa play he has had poor distribution in all of them. 

Either way whether Forsyth is bad or not is irrelevant. Maybe Albentosa is the second worst defender at passing the ball then. Still I haven't been impressed with him defensively or with the ball. 

If other fans rate Albentosa and want him to play that is fine with me I just think Keogh and Whitbread would be much more solid than having Albentosa in there. 

​I think Albentosa has come in at a bad time. We're shipping goals at the minute, with or without Albentosa being present. That's not going to do much for his confidence. I also imagine Keogh isn't the best CB partner when you're new, it doesn't look like he knows what he's going to do until he does it. Not saying that Keogh is a bad defender, just that it's been a bit of a baptism of fire for Albentosa. 

I think we'll probably see what he's capable of next season when he's a little more settled with the squad, got a better grasp of the language and better chemistry with the other defenders.

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If people don't appreciate how good Dawkins is after today then they meet will. Only player that never wasted possession. Only player that looks tiredly comfortable on the ball when Hughes is missing. The way he flicked it over an oncoming Brentford players head before playing a simple pass was great. Every one else yesterday would have just panicked and volleyed it clear. 

 

Lingaard played a pass 5 yards behind Dawkins yesterday and the bloke behind me was adamant it was Dawkins' fault... 

​If we're winning the game that's fine but in a game where we need to create chances, Dawkins looking decidedly hesitant over what to do with the ball before finally deciding to pass the ball backwards to the defence, is not what we needed...

We sorely missed Hughes yesterday, his calming presence in midfield and his ability to dictate play left the midfield looking lost. Once he is back in the side and Martin returns to match fitness, all will be well (hopefully)!

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Am I the only one that remembers the abuse aimed at Whitbread for passing sideways and backwards. 

I don't mind who plays. But they'll all get slated after a very short while

The memory span on a football fan is amazing isn't it haha, Whitbread is now going to be the saviour even though he was deemed not good enough earlier on in the season!

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If people don't appreciate how good Dawkins is after today then they meet will. Only player that never wasted possession. Only player that looks tiredly comfortable on the ball when Hughes is missing. The way he flicked it over an oncoming Brentford players head before playing a simple pass was great. Every one else yesterday would have just panicked and volleyed it clear. 

 

Lingaard played a pass 5 yards behind Dawkins yesterday and the bloke behind me was adamant it was Dawkins' fault... 

Irony being that the lad behind me berated him for "fancy stuff". was it fancy or was it simple mathematics? You are 6 foot tall, I flick the ball 10 foot up and over your head. You ain't winning it. 

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This is how I see it IMO

In regards to Albentosa I think it is more of a communication issue at the minute to be fair to the player. I watched him closey at Wigan and yesterday against Brentford and he was trying to organize the back line to be fair but quite a few times (Keogh in particular) waved him away or just ranted back (I actually like Keogh but he just needs to keep a calm head).

I think Albentosa will come good and if you can naturally read the game well you don't need to be fast paced ( stimac was not blessed with fast pace to be fair but was excellent at reading the game). 

Whitbread looked comfortable when he came on and looks calm which is what we need but does he have a full match fitness for 90 minutes... If he does I would start him against Blackpool with Keogh.

I am more concerned with our midfield being honest without Hughes...

 

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Am I the only one that remembers the abuse aimed at Whitbread for passing sideways and backwards. 

I don't mind who plays. But they'll all get slated after a very short while

​Not far from the truth. I remember I wasn't only one who rated Whitbread earlier. Just can't remember who the other guy was.

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Am I the only one that remembers the abuse aimed at Whitbread for passing sideways and backwards. 

I don't mind who plays. But they'll all get slated after a very short while

​Not far from the truth. I remember I wasn't only one who rated Whitbread earlier. Just can't remember who the other guy was.

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The memory span on a football fan is amazing isn't it haha, Whitbread is now going to be the saviour even though he was deemed not good enough earlier on in the season!

The difference then was the teams performance was at a higher level, Whitbreads weaknesses was perhaps showing at that moment when others were in form and confident.

We are in a different situation now, round pegs square holes, players out of form or Whitbread?

You decide, I know what I would do

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​If we're winning the game that's fine but in a game where we need to create chances, Dawkins looking decidedly hesitant over what to do with the ball before finally deciding to pass the ball backwards to the defence, is not what we needed...

We sorely missed Hughes yesterday, his calming presence in midfield and his ability to dictate play left the midfield looking lost. Once he is back in the side and Martin returns to match fitness, all will be well (hopefully)!

Silly to suggest possession retention isn't as important when losing as when winning. 

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The memory span on a football fan is amazing isn't it haha, Whitbread is now going to be the saviour even though he was deemed not good enough earlier on in the season!

​I agree that fans have short memories, but there's a colossal difference in calling for Whitbread to play at CB instead of a LB/LM and calling for better central defenders to start ahead of him last autumn.

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Am I the only one that remembers the abuse aimed at Whitbread for passing sideways and backwards. 

I don't mind who plays. But they'll all get slated after a very short while

​This.

Plenty of people saying we didn't need him and should never have renewed his contract. Now after 20 mins or whatever it was, let's throw him in because he looks better than our other defenders. And if he fails at least we can boo him and slag him off on the forum. 

 

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I've always thought Whitbread was good even as others slagged him off on the forum at the start of the season.

Yes on the ball Whitbread isn't the best and he does pass it sideways and backwards a lot. However defensively he is solid which is what we need at the moment. 

Oh also, he's better than Forsyth at CB so he should play vs Blackpool whether he was good at the start of the season or not. 

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Silly to suggest possession retention isn't as important when losing as when winning. 

​Not silly at all, you can keep the ball going forwards as well...

My point wasn't disregarding the fact that retention is important, it was more pointed towards Dawkins' negative play and lack of creative edge. I remember countless occasions where he has received the ball in space and instead of running down the wing or advancing the play, he has instead dwelled on the ball and then turned and passed back to a defender, thus killing any momentum gained up until that point.

When he does that, it's incredibly frustrating!

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