So he can actually cross well
Looking forward to his improvements.
Looking forward to his improvements.
29
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Clean sheets
- 18
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 4
- Yellow cards
- 9
- Status
Thought he was good going forward today. When he's in position near the by-line, his attacking play is quite decent, can shift and put a cross in. It's when he picks the ball up around the half way line and has the midfield and defence line in front of him. He struggles to attack any space, and his dribbling is awkward and clumsy and he sort of dribbles towards the corner flag or takes too long to get it out of his feet.
I think his recent performances are a good example of how Ole is changing this team. The club knew when they bought him they were buying an outstanding defender, but as is evident with a lot of your signings at the moment they also knew he was young and needed to develop other parts of his game. That has clearly happened, i think that's his second assist? His forward play is improving rapidly, he showed some real class moments in the Sheffield game. He is showing all the potential to become an absolutely world class RB.
People complaining about his attacking prowess, must see the improvement and understand that he is still young but he is developing very quickly
People complaining about his attacking prowess, must see the improvement and understand that he is still young but he is developing very quickly
Exactly my thoughts. While it would be nice for his dribbling/passing when picking it up from deep to be better, it's important to separate one from the other. And I think today he got way more opportunities to run at the defense/get crosses in today not only because SHU was so defensive, but because have an inside forward like Greenwood playing on the right forced the defense to squeeze much narrower. With James against Spurs, they could just mark him out of the game or let him sit on the touchline until him or AWB fecks up.
Sancho plays much narrower than James, he's not a touchline hugging winger like James despite being right footed so I think there's a good chance he could work on the wing with AWB and they could open up space for each other through dribbling/linkup.
He's learned to cross the ball a bit but his dribbling is still super awkward. I guess an assist here and there will do, more than we get on our other side from Shaw.
Pleased to see him get another assist tonight,I am well aware that he will never have Trent's attacking output but that side of his game is improving.
Wouldn't be surprised to see us sign a more attacking RB in the future with AWB moving info CB
Dribbling isn’t that important.
For what it’s worth, Laird is that good Williams couldn’t get in the team and had to retrain as a left back to get a game in the reserves. Now he’s in the first team due to not enough options at LB and Shaw not being great. Laird would already be in the first team if it wasn’t for an injury this season. He’s also the reason there’s noise about selling Dalot.
That was his third assist I think. All of which have come since boxing day, which would support the point that he's improving.
Interesting point
I do feel AWB could play centre back however given the composition of the team our full backs are brought primarily to be very good defenders.
Liverpool have Trent and Robertson who are much better than our fullbacks at attacking however our Trent and Robertson are in midfield with Pogba and Bruno.
In all honesty I prefer our current method great defensive full backs who are good at attacking. We could improve Shaw and Lindelof defensively.
I feel our transfer needs are the below in that order.
Sancho>CB>CDM>LB
If we could do two of the above next season we should challenge, I have no doubt in that.
Liverpool have Trent and Robertson who are much better than our fullbacks at attacking however our Trent and Robertson are in midfield with Pogba and Bruno.
In all honesty I prefer our current method great defensive full backs who are good at attacking. We could improve Shaw and Lindelof defensively.
I feel our transfer needs are the below in that order.
Sancho>CB>CDM>LB
If we could do two of the above next season we should challenge, I have no doubt in that.
The kid is great. He is no Trent in attack but he gets the job done.
You're absolutely right, I've just realised I could have just glanced at his stats at the top of this page!
More assists this season than the likes of Walker, Alonso and Pereira (the Leicester one not ours)
GIve him a chance, Alexander Trent Arnold got just one assist in his first season as a first team player in 19 appearances. The following season he got 12 in 29 appearances and this season he has 12 again in 31 appearances.
I know AWB is a few months older but this is his first season at a big club and he has 3 so far, let's see how he develops over the next couple of seasons. Some of the skill he's recently shown going forward has been excellent and I would expect his figures to improve dramatically.
I don't think he will ever have Trent like numbers but he can contribute differently. Not that I think AWB's dribbling is on the same level as Evra for example but Patrice contributed in attack enormously despite having very little assists. AWB can develop his ball carrying ability and he will be an asset. An asset in his own way that the team will use.
I think you are probably right, I just see the Trent Arnold comparisons as a bit unfair on AWB, ATA has had three seasons to grow into that Liverpool team, whereas AWB has just had the one. I think there are a lot of players in your team now that will grow together over the next 3 years and the ceiling is very high for all of them. I really think Utd are in a great position going forward at the moment.
3 assists for the boy now I believe off the top of my head. Newcastle, Chelsea and Sheff Utd. Very good return for a full back not named Trent/Robbo.
I think he needs to improve his composure on the ball and his passing a bit which I think he is working upon and hopefully he continues to develop as he has shown marked improvement this season itself . Assists and crossing aren't the only metric to judge how well a fullback contributes toward the attack.
I wouldn't say unfair, Trent just set such a high bar, he is a great talent himself. And yes you are right about many of our players and when we play like this Ole seems like the right fit to make the most of it. Let's see how we end this season first.
I find it difficult to imagine him ever playing CB, even in a back 3. I think his best defensive skills are perfect for a RB. I think he'd struggle in the air and positionally at CB.
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He's had a great first season at United. The stick he was getting after the Spurs game was so unfair. Last night was more like the AWB we seen just before lock down.
You are contradicting yourself and though I agree he is ill suited to Cb position can't see him succeeding there.
His performance was night and day compared to when he is coupled with James out there. Having someone tucked inside just allowed him the space to go and make something happen.
Was impressed how both he and Shaw helped maintained our attacks. If both of them can develop more consistent crossing of quality then I think we’ll be ok.
Bissaka does seem to be improving all the time, I thought he had wasted that moment just before the assist to Martial. Standard Valencia technique but without the danger to the oppositions shins.
Was impressed how both he and Shaw helped maintained our attacks. If both of them can develop more consistent crossing of quality then I think we’ll be ok.
Bissaka does seem to be improving all the time, I thought he had wasted that moment just before the assist to Martial. Standard Valencia technique but without the danger to the oppositions shins.
TAA is a player with outstanding technique and strikes a ball better than most. Look at his freekick last night, unstoppable. Unfair to ask AWB to reach those levels but he will still give us plenty of attacking outlet if he plays like he did yesterday. When he gets in advanced positions he does put in some lovely crosses.
The key here though is TAA is protected massively by Liverpools pressing. TAA in our team wouldn't look half as good and would get skinned all the time.
For our team right now AWB is perfect, I actually think once we get Sancho he will stay wider right and be left 1v1 with the defender, and AWB will tuck in similarly how City use their fullbacks to stop counters, he'd be the perfect player for that role.
I meant for a full back
One of his best attacking games for us, posed more of a threat on his flank than Shaw did on the left. I do agree with those above, I think he could partner Maguire at CB if given time to transition.
Why should that happen though ? No reason for that.
His biggest weakness is positioning in the box so I reckon he'd be a calamitous centre back
He doesn't look anything like a centre back though. Just being good defensively doesn't mean you can be a centre back.
A CB in a 3 perhaps but never in a 2. Think he could do a similar job to what Shaw does in the back 3 but honestly he's so good at destroying wide men why bother?
Eventually when he slows down he might need to adapt how he plays a bit.
Eventually when he slows down he might need to adapt how he plays a bit.
Another player that is improving under Ole.
He has some weaknesses and he is working on them. He is already one of the best defensive RB's in the world.
I think we are blessed to have Laird as his back-up. I think the LB position might be a similar scenario in that our first 11 full back is pretty good at defending whereas their replacement is better going forward.
Suggestions to put him next to Maguire are hilarious though.
He has some weaknesses and he is working on them. He is already one of the best defensive RB's in the world.
I think we are blessed to have Laird as his back-up. I think the LB position might be a similar scenario in that our first 11 full back is pretty good at defending whereas their replacement is better going forward.
Suggestions to put him next to Maguire are hilarious though.
My thoughts exactly
He puts the fear of god into the hearts of most wingers, I wouldn't want to sacrifice that anytime soon
Iron Wall Berserker
Because Laird is potentially the kind of modern attacking Fullback we've been missing, and AWB has the attributes that would compliment Maguire and will never be a truly great attacking RB, so we could solve a couple of this teams weaknesses without spending another penny.
Agreed. His biggest strength is being able to isolate his attackers out wide when they try running at him because that's the role of the winger, most modern tactics would fall flat if your striker just started sprinting at the two CBs.
- Status