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Back Four debate now settled?


robglosta

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On Russell... Somethings gotta give when it comes to players, otherwise they'd be playing above us. 

I'm not saying there's nobody better out there. There might be a player who uses the ball better, but doesn't get into good positions or see much of the ball. 

Nobody's perfect at this level, so you've gotta see which is more important, which for me at the minute is Russell's general buzzing around style of play. 

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2 hours ago, drgoodspeak said:

Agreed. Only weak link for me now is Russell.

Nah. Played well again.

2 hours ago, robglosta said:

Can anyone now see any merit in not going with this, for any game scenario we might come across:

Christie Keogh/Shackell Forsyth

All four are playing out of their skin - I thought today was one of the most composed performances I have seen from Foz. 

 

I think that's been clearly the pick from day 1. Surprised how much Warnock's played to be fair.

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Calm down everyone. I'm not making anyone a scapegoat, we won, remember?

My point is that after the summer transfer, if we had to further strengthen anywhere in January, my thought would have been fullbacks. This is not the case for me now. If I had to improve the team anywhere I'd be looking at another wide forward and at the moment Russell, Ince and Weimann can be improved on. I singled Russell out as he is the one that frustrates me the most. He does all the good work and then never seems to do the right, and obvious, thing.

Before anyone else starts sighing into their dinner (or cornflakes), remember how tight this league is. It's pointed out in another thread that tiny margins might make the difference in getting into the top two. For all his running yesterday, and I'm not talking about his miss here, better use of the ball could have brought more rewards. We should always be aiming for improvement and I've no doubt that's what the coaching staff are constantly striving for.

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4 minutes ago, drgoodspeak said:

Calm down everyone. I'm not making anyone a scapegoat, we won, remember?

My point is that after the summer transfer, if we had to further strengthen anywhere in January, my thought would have been fullbacks. This is not the case for me now. If I had to improve the team anywhere I'd be looking at another wide forward and at the moment Russell, Ince and Weimann can be improved on. I singled Russell out as he is the one that frustrates me the most. He does all the good work and then never seems to do the right, and obvious, thing.

Before anyone else starts sighing into their dinner (or cornflakes), remember how tight this league is. It's pointed out in another thread that tiny margins might make the difference in getting into the top two. For all his running yesterday, and I'm not talking about his miss here, better use of the ball could have brought more rewards. We should always be aiming for improvement and I've no doubt that's what the coaching staff are constantly striving for.

Calling someone who is making a decent contribution a weak link is scapegoating in my book.

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14 minutes ago, drgoodspeak said:

Calm down everyone. I'm not making anyone a scapegoat, we won, remember?

My point is that after the summer transfer, if we had to further strengthen anywhere in January, my thought would have been fullbacks. This is not the case for me now. If I had to improve the team anywhere I'd be looking at another wide forward and at the moment Russell, Ince and Weimann can be improved on. I singled Russell out as he is the one that frustrates me the most. He does all the good work and then never seems to do the right, and obvious, thing.

Before anyone else starts sighing into their dinner (or cornflakes), remember how tight this league is. It's pointed out in another thread that tiny margins might make the difference in getting into the top two. For all his running yesterday, and I'm not talking about his miss here, better use of the ball could have brought more rewards. We should always be aiming for improvement and I've no doubt that's what the coaching staff are constantly striving for.

Complaining about forwards in after we've just won 3-0 is an odd one. 

A lot of people see the noticeable stuff, goals, assists a good run past a defender. One thing they don't notice a lot is the effect that a good hard working forward has on the opposition. After Russell's early form, team's have clearly started paying more attention to him, and as such he's not making as noticeable a contribution. What is interesting though is since that, the other forwards have gotten more time and space, as well as the midfielders, to do some damage. 

If a forward looks ineffectual and we've failed to score, there's a problem. If they look ineffectual and we've stuck 3 past the opposition, it's well worth having a deeper look into the effect they have on the opposition's defensive structure. 

It's a lot like the flak the defence copped last season, when the bigger issues were with our style of play, and how much space we gave defenders to run at our defence. 

The key stats though. At the moment we sit equal 4th in the table on points, equal 4th in the table on goals scored (Fulham are top with 26) and 3rd on the table on goals conceded. We actually sit above the league leaders in terms of goals scored and goals conceded. We're third on goal difference as well, with only Middlesbrough and Hull above us. 

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I'm guessing there is no debate over the back 4 if we're talking Russell being the weakest link?

Funny how quickly things can change in football, this time last year a topic on the defence would have stretched over 20 pages of Keogh is useless or later on Christie.

Will we take lessons from this? A player having a bad run of games doesn't make them useless, rubbish, worst ever player to wear a Derby shirt, they are simply out of form.

I will also say this in an attempt to leave my Johnny alone and back on the defence, Warnock is not rubbish, useless or the worst player to wear a Derby shirt as well. 

It takes time to build on the pitch relationships, an understanding how each other works. Warnock has played just 4 games more than Butterfield who is just starting to settle in, Warnock hasn't had a run of games in the team and a different centre back beside him this season.

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