Louis Sibley - make or break season?

[TheHomunculusLives]

I think this season could be make or break for Sibley as a Derby player. For whatever reason, he's never kicked on from his outstanding early performances in the first team, but with the departures this summer, he has a great opportunity to establish himself as our first choice attacking midfielder. Ability-wise, he should stand out at League One level if given the opportunity to play regularly, but I fear that if it doesn't happen for him this season, at 21 we might need to accept he isn't going to be the outstanding player at Derby we hoped he could be.

[jono]

4 minutes ago, TheHomunculusLives said:

I think this season could be make or break for Sibley as a Derby player. For whatever reason, he's never kicked on from his outstanding early performances in the first team, but with the departures this summer, he has a great opportunity to establish himself as our first choice attacking midfielder. Ability-wise, he should stand out at League One level if given the opportunity to play regularly, but I fear that if it doesn't happen for him this season, at 21 we might need to accept he isn't going to be the outstanding player at Derby we hoped he could be.

I really hope so. I have reservations about how easily he can be dispossessed but he is talented and will grow stronger. One thing for sure, he has always looked committed and hungry. 

[Wolfie]

He'll get the game time this season. I just hope he's not as easy to wind up and stop getting so many bookings etc.

[LazloW]

If he’s still here, then I agree. He should be a class above technically than many players in League 1. He is ‘eased’ off the ball too easily though. Might work against him in what I assume (perhaps unfairly?) is a more physical league. 

[duncanjwitham]

I suspect how well he does is in large part down to which striker we end up with.  If we get a battering ram type, that he can run off, he could be very effective.  If we end up with a smaller, mobile type (like Plange), I suspect we'll get bullied a bit up front and end up opting for a more physical midfield than Sibley.

[therealhantsram]

Neither Cocu nor Rooney have trusted him. For all his talent there is clearly a temperament issue on the field. 

But you can say the same for Lawrence and he got lots of game time.

When asked about Sibley both Rooney and Cocu hinted at problems in training and wanting players to work hard every day. That's where it seems the issues lie. Wonder if Sibley will get the message this year...?

 

[Magicman]

Needs to develop a right foot and improve awareness in the box as he gets caught on the ball. 

[Seth's left foot]

He needs a run of games which he’ll surely get with our lack of players now.

 

[Ambitious]

21 minutes ago, TheHomunculusLives said:

I think this season could be make or break for Sibley as a Derby player. For whatever reason, he's never kicked on from his outstanding early performances in the first team, but with the departures this summer, he has a great opportunity to establish himself as our first choice attacking midfielder. Ability-wise, he should stand out at League One level if given the opportunity to play regularly, but I fear that if it doesn't happen for him this season, at 21 we might need to accept he isn't going to be the outstanding player at Derby we hoped he could be.

If you build around Sibley at this level then you've got a chance to win any game. No question his performances dropped off a cliff under Rooney, but he was still extremely outstanding in his handful of PL2 performances. 

He is such an outstanding player and if Rosenior gets a tune out of him then he could well be the catalyst for everything we want to achieve next season. 

He was 18/19 getting double marked in the Championship under Cocu. The good Rooney did for the club is undoubted, but it never clicked with Sibley at all. Players were given far more opportunities than him and performed far worse. No surprise that results dipped when we started to lean on him far less too.

He's a special footballer. 

[Day]

1 minute ago, Wolfie said:

He'll get the game time this season. I just hope he's not as easy to wind up and stop getting so many bookings etc.

This is one of my concerns with him, you don’t want to tame his aggression, but it needs to be controlled aggression.

His discipline record isn’t great at all.

Championship -  15 cards in 2880 minutes, card every 192 minutes.

Premier League 2 - 16 cards in 3110 minutes, card every 194 minutes.

U18s Premier League - 11 cards in 1804 minutes, card every 164 minutes.

If he was to play every 4140 minutes of League 1 football, with a card every 194 minutes he would be looking at 21.

Now obviously he would pick up suspensions with that, you pick up a one match ban for 5 yellows in 19 games, the a 3 match ban if he was to pick up 15 yellows.

So take away that one match suspension which he would be nailed on for early on and the further 3 match ban, that’s 3780 possible minutes of injury free  League 1 football. 19 cards if he was to pick one up every 194 minutes.

Last season, Luke Leahly led the league with 14 cards playing 3780 minutes of football, card every 270 minutes.

tl;dr Sibley needs to dial it back a bit.

[SamUltraRam]

Sibley's style is a bit old school, head down and run at opponents, which might work well in League One.

My issue is that when he was playing for the u23s he was always in central midfield but in the 1st team he's played out of position too much for my liking

I think he could have a great season if played correctly

[Ilsonram12]

Burnley just signed twine from mk dons, a CAM who scored 20 and assisted 13, only 22, for £4mill

Not saying that's what Sibley should be doing this season, but that's his position we know he can play ie milwall away

[S8TY]

Sibley does need to be more disciplined on the pitch and thought Rooney would be good for him but don't think Wayne trusted him

What worries me is if Sibley can't reign it in a bit with Rooney being manager will Rosenior be able to instill some discipline into his game will Liam get the respect of Sibley to actually control himself a bit because there is a player in there but no good if he's suspended or causing us to go down to ten men ....big season for him this one and think L1 is where we will see him hopefully at his best 

He is another player who needs to buckle down and show what he can do but if hes not trusted he is another player i can see moving on 

[RoyMac5]

Thought he looked to be getting the hang of things, towards the end of last season. He was a bit lightweight and seemed lacking in stamina, but I think he's dealing with it by growing up! Looking forward to a really good season from him.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Hopefully he matures and becomes a mainstay this season.

Problems like attitude, discipline and training ethic in a 20 year old can be overcome.

 

[Asanovic70]

 Sibley needs a run in the team, he probably knows that a lot is up to him now & the relationship he forms with Rosenior. It may be a case that as a more creative footballer, he has to take some punishment & learn not to always react which is a back-handed compliment that other players are struggling to cope with him.

I think Sibley may have been one of the victims of the restrictions we faced, we had to play with two holders/defensive oriented midfielders (4-2-3-1) in order to make us competitive & not get overrun (pragmatic) with the emphasis on matching our opponents in terms of work-rate, & Rooney preferred the experience of Ravel Morrison to both Sibley & Watson.

Morrison's departure could offer Sibley an opportunity. If you look at their appearances last season, RM about 25 starts, Sibley 11 (15 subs appearances). As for his disciplinary record, one red was rescinded (WBA) & Morrison was guilty of as stupid a challenge & overreaction (Forest, away) as any shown by Sibley.

 I like to think he will step up. His position is difficult as a creative player who is being asked to influence the game on a consistent basis. He may get more time to do this in League 1.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Asanovic70

[vonwright]

Fingers crossed for him (and us). I've had an uneasy feeling for a while that if he isn't given space, he isn't very effective, and that other clubs worked that out quite quickly after his initial purple patch as an unknown. Hopefully he'll get a bit more time and space in League One because if he does, he's going to score goals.

  

[May Contain Nuts]

All the training ground guidance in the world isn't going to quell his propensity to pick up up yellow cards.

I keep seeing posts about how easily pushed off the ball he is, but I feel some of that is already a consequence of the way he's been handled - if he comes onto the pitch with so much in his head about toning down his aggression and playing it safe going one way it's going to have a knock-on effect going the other, if he's mentally 'neutered' he's going to be less determined to scrap for the ball when someone comes in to try to take it off him.

The only way it happens is on the pitch, when he starts to see real-life consequences of his actions, letting team-mates down after finding himself suspended via accumulation of yellows, rash challenges leaving the team with 10 men for the remainder of game etc.

Just let him out there and let him play his natural game - the benefits will far outweigh the drawbacks over time.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Coconut's Beard

[Yani P]

Hopefully he can show the talent we know he has..if he was good enough last year he would have been a permanent starter but he wasn't.. he fell well down the pecking order of young talent for whatever reason..just hope he sees this as his season and kickstarts what could be a top career.

[Srg]

He needs to play. He got lumped into the boat of needing to do something ridiculous in 5 mins off the bench to even be considered for the next game. Take last season where he played amazingly and won the game vs. Peterborough, kept the shirt as Lawrence was banned in the next game, and got subbed off at half time with the whole team being bad. He needs to play, he's the best attacking talent currently in the squad. Not bothered about his disciplinary record, 1 red that got rescinded is nothing. Let the kid play.