[Remember the geese]

He is miles better than Dalot.

Wrong.

 

[RyRy11]

Doing good the last few games, I'd keep hold of him unless we get a decent fee and the last two games should boost other teams' interest.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Two games on the bounce and both very good encouraging performances. I still say Dalot is 1st choice and slots back in at RB when he’s fully fit but credit where it’s due, he’s done really well in Diogo’s absence.

 

[El Presidente]

He is a good player who struggled a season where everyone struggled. Not surprised he has come back playing his way back into the team, but I assumed he wasn't given a fair chance. Hopefully he'll continue like this because we've missed him. He is miles better than Dalot.

Imagine having eyes and building such an opinion.

 

[jesperjaap]

He is a good player who struggled a season where everyone struggled. Not surprised he has come back playing his way back into the team, but I assumed he wasn't given a fair chance. Hopefully he'll continue like this because we've missed him. He is miles better than Dalot.

As further posts allude, you are pretty much alone with those thoughts.

I do however agree with you, I also think he is a much better right back than Dalot. Someone I see said about levels and not reached the levels Dalot has this season, what? Dalot has done well but people are making out as if he is being world class or something.

I think the problem with AWB wasnt just his performance levels, his tactial nouse, positioning and decision making....the main things he has needed to improve on....regressed a lot last year, when the year before there were signs of them improving and it was obvious Ragnick really didnt rate him and it appears at the moment Dalot is rated by ETH.

I still rate him, my main gripe is from his body language and expressions, kind of looks like he isnt mentally switched on and sharp to the game and wonder if that may have soemthign to do with him not progressing?

I feel with the investment and lack of progression and Dalot takin ghs chance that Dalot if he continues has nailed the number one spot from Bissaka, still think tahats wrong....however I do now think neither of them are the right first choice for us as there are some real quality young right backs out there, so I still see Dalot beinng a number two

 

[Glorio]

Been very good over 2 games, offensively and defensively

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

You can see the weaknesses clear as day (positional, aerial, passing), but for what he can do, he’s been very good these past two games. He’s at his best when he’s comfortable dribbling out of pressure because he’s actually decent taking players on. It’s also notable how much better he looks when he can lay it off to Varane, Eriksen, Casemiro etc instead of McTominay, Maguire, an injured Rashford.

 

[Lights Out]

I prefer him to Dalot.

8/10 tonight

 

[Zoo]

Gets a bad wrap but he has a lot of qualities.

 

[MikeKing]

Nah, that’s completely wrong.

They’re very different players but Dalot has hit levels this season that we haven’t ever seen from AWB.

Good to have some competition for places though. I wouldn’t be getting rid of him just yet.

Hmm. I haven't seen levels from Dalot that have impressed me. In a vacuum sure, he hit some form and stability which is an improvement from previous seasons, but not a huge fan of his abilities. AWB has proved far more in terms of value to the team, be it in terms of game saving blocks and recovery runs and his tremendous consistency.

Dalot has 1 assist in 13 games this season. The season we got second place, AWB missed only 4 games, bagging 2 goals and having 4 assists.

He played a few games with the likes of Pereira, Mata and Lingard on his side. He lost form and motivation last season and didn't look good at all but this "not a footballer in a million years" is as predictable as it is hyperbole. He has made it as a footballer, and those who haven't gets bitter. I guess a lot of people just never liked him, and I don't get that. He has a presence when he plays, good in the press, aggressive, quick feet, great agility and body control. Tackles, passes, runs, crosses. Great determination. He usually gets the ball out wide and manages to keep the ball in play, which is not always an easy thing to do but really important if you want to keep possession. He gets himself and others out of tricky situations using his agility, body faints and speed to make a bit of room for himself.

 

[Isotope]

Poor man marking. But he looked a lot mobile.

 

[Bondi77]

You can see the weaknesses clear as day (positional, aerial, passing), but for what he can do, he’s been very good these past two games. He’s at his best when he’s comfortable dribbling out of pressure because he’s actually decent taking players on. It’s also notable how much better he looks when he can lay it off to Varane, Eriksen, Casemiro etc instead of McTominay, Maguire, an injured Rashford.

And getting under hit passes from Lindelof when the opposition were on him before he had even controlled the ball.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Hmm. I haven't seen levels from Dalot that have impressed me. In a vacuum sure, he hit some form and stability which is an improvement from previous seasons, but not a huge fan of his abilities. AWB has proved far more in terms of value to the team, be it in terms of game saving blocks and recovery runs and his tremendous consistency.

Dalot has 1 assist in 13 games this season. The season we got second place, AWB missed only 4 games, bagging 2 goals and having 4 assists.

He played a few games with the likes of Pereira, Mata and Lingard on his side. He lost form and motivation last season and didn't look good at all but this "not a footballer in a million years" is as predictable as it is hyperbole. He has made it as a footballer, and those who haven't gets bitter. I guess a lot of people just never liked him, and I don't get that. He has a presence when he plays, good in the press, aggressive, quick feet, great agility and body control. Tackles, passes, runs, crosses. Great determination. He usually gets the ball out wide and manages to keep the ball in play, which is not always an easy thing to do but really important if you want to keep possession. He gets himself and others out of tricky situations using his agility, body faints and speed to make a bit of room for himself.

“Tackles, passes, runs, crosses”

Are you just naming what a fullback is supposed to do? AWB is clearly poor on the ball in possession, especially when pressed. He’s a terrible forward passer and clearly doesn’t trust himself in that sense.

He clearly is a good tackler and is athletic as a 1v1 defende. He even can put in some nice crosses. But preferring him to Dalot given Dalot’s performances this year (don’t cite assists, we don’t ask our fullbacks to cross as much) and in the WC is just strange unless you are just a life long AWB fan

 

[MikeKing]

And getting under hit passes from Lindelof when the opposition were on him before he had even controlled the ball.

Exactly. That will make any player look bad tbf.

 

[Raven]

Another good performance, happy for him.

 

[Lewnited]

Glad to see him doing well... Definitely has issues positionally but he also has some useful attributes. He isn't a great passer of the ball but he's quite capable of carrying the ball well. He has an unorthodox but effective style of dribbling and very good pace.

 

[MikeKing]

“Tackles, passes, runs, crosses”

Are you just naming what a fullback is supposed to do? AWB is clearly poor on the ball in possession, especially when pressed. He’s a terrible forward passer and clearly doesn’t trust himself in that sense.

He clearly is a good tackler and is athletic as a 1v1 defende. He even can put in some nice crosses. But preferring him to Dalot given Dalot’s performances this year (don’t cite assists, we don’t ask our fullbacks to cross as much) and in the WC is just strange unless you are just a life long AWB fan

Do you watch entire games or just highlight clips? There's countless of evidence of him passing well combining in attack, he is better in than aspect that Dalot. Dalot has stronger semi long passes, but it's not like AWB can't hit them at all. If you reduce him only to his athleticism that's you doing that, he is a lot more to me and two seasons ago he was the age Dalot is now, and I much prefer that season to the one Dalot is having this year.

 

[Telsim]

Better than I expected, but let's not forget he has played against two pretty bad teams.

 

[izec]

He will turn to shit, give him another 5 games and he will run out of steam. I know my AWB. He is way below Dalot, always will be. Just not good enough of a skillset.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Promising couple of games.

 

[sincher]

Whatever happens, he is a good player and it is good to see him play for us again.

 

[Guapa]

Done well these last two game if he can keep it up maybe he can stick around and we can focus on that striker at least until the summer.

 

[city-puma]

I would imagine he has some personal and mental issues to overcome. He now get the opportunity to really put those negatives behind.
I hope he can keep this up and continue learning and applying himself to ETH’s thinking. With two young RBs, they can challenge themselves and each other. It will be great to the team.

 

[Sylar]

Overall a good game. saved by the offside for their goal because his marking was atrocious, but that's not something we haven't seen before. We've seen better teams exploit that and his positional play when defending.

However he did well so happy for him.

 

[Red-17]

Deserves a shot to earn a spot in the squad just as everyone else from last season does. There were definitive signs of improvement in his overall game prior to last season where he was awful, but all of our fullbacks (and most players to be realistic) were awful. If you had never watched Luke Shaw prior to last season you wouldn't rate him either based on last years performances. He's not going to be a world class player ever, but he is much better than what many have pegged him at. He is actually quite a solid dribbler and decent under pressure (better than Dalot I would argue) at retaining possession via quick passes/linkups.

In terms of our 4 fullbacks, I would say Malacia is the one I am most worried about mainly because of his physical limitations. He is clearly step slower than the other 3 which makes it harder for him to dribble out of pressure, and he is definitely a bit weak still in physical duels, but there is time for him to improve those areas for sure.

 

[SWE-Chucky]

ETH seems to have his way to handle player that he feels are out of form, not performing,or just not yet suiting system.
First of all, he won't criticize them in public or directly to the press, he often just mention that the player is ,for example not ready to play yet, or have a smaller injurie or "in worst case2 that the player is on a on a personal training schedule to faster get to know the system he wants the team to play and he is often "blaming" the system because it requires a lot of the players, often mentioning that it requires much more from the players, but when it comes to be 100% disciplined when defending, that all 10 players have direction how to act when to defending and that the offensive part is more disciplined for GK, back four and the deep playing CMs (Casemiro and Eriksen mostly) because he said it's impossible to know what will happen in the final part of the offense so those 4 upfront play with almost no clear directives more then were their position should be when we are starting the attack from the back.

I believe this way of handling the press and not calling out players without them having misbehaved completely idiotically (read Cristiano), is a great way to build up a trust between the staff and the players is great and we can finally focus on playing football and the behave like reality show or Gossip Girl TV-show. .

Also this way doesn't put more pressure on the player then necessary, like Sancho right now, that is according to many medias on "a special" program like both Dalot, Rashford, Varane, Martial and even Casemiro the first weeks when he joined and didn't play much. All of these players have turned out to be key players for the team and Varane, Dalot, Casemiro and Rashford playing on the highest level together with some others. Not saying he made Casemiro or Varane this good, they have been among the best players in their position for years. But how he has helped Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Eriksen and even De Gea to play on the top of their game and turned Dalot to one of the best RBs in the world and helped Garnacho take 10 steps in the right directions is impressive, I believe that when Sancho is back and ready to play RW that Antony might be the next one to get his to get some speciell extra training to fit in to the team even better.

Sorry for this long text but hopefully someone gets my point or disagrees so we can discuss the subject (someone could be even kinder and gift med a late Christmas gift i you find the post worth a "LIKE" and make me full member since i have 9 and 10 is needed,)!

MERRY CHRITMAS AND F´GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!

 

[Greck]

As further posts allude, you are pretty much alone with those thoughts.

I do however agree with you, I also think he is a much better right back than Dalot. Someone I see said about levels and not reached the levels Dalot has this season, what? Dalot has done well but people are making out as if he is being world class or something.

I think the problem with AWB wasnt just his performance levels, his tactial nouse, positioning and decision making....the main things he has needed to improve on....regressed a lot last year, when the year before there were signs of them improving and it was obvious Rangnick really didnt rate him and it appears at the moment Dalot is rated by ETH.

I still rate him, my main gripe is from his body language and expressions, kind of looks like he isnt mentally switched on and sharp to the game and wonder if that may have soemthign to do with him not progressing?

I feel with the investment and lack of progression and Dalot takin ghs chance that Dalot if he continues has nailed the number one spot from Bissaka, still think tahats wrong....however I do now think neither of them are the right first choice for us as there are some real quality young right backs out there, so I still see Dalot beinng a number two

Dalot has been an integral part of our buildup. People aren't making it up. One of the major differences is how their possessions come about. Dalot is actively entrusted with ballcarrying responsibilities in the first two thirds and his hyperactive overlap is why Antony always seems to have space despite everyone knowing he wants to use his left. This matters against tougher teams. Against the likes of Forest a Malacia and AWB fullback pairing are enough but it makes a huge difference when there's an actual midfield battle.I'll trust ETH's judgment here but AWB still has someway to go displacing anyone.

 

[Ludens the Red]

It’s amazing what being dropped can do to your performance levels. Thought he was really good going forward. Was always looking up, didn’t fall into his default sideways passing. Overlapped and underlapped well. Don’t know why it’s taken this long for him to show some bollocks but long May it continue.

 

[Blood Mage]

His best performance in a long time last night but his clumsiness on the ball was still evident throughout. Dalot will always be the better player.

 

[Biggins]

Diogo is much better than AWB but the version of AWB that we saw in the last two games is not too shabby. He could be a very useful squad option if he can maintain this level.

 

[Ekeke]

Good game, never going to please some posters but I'd suggest most of those arent worth listening to.

I think Dalot is better especially coming off his Portugal form. Better in the air, and he's improved to being a tough tackling fullback himself and a bit more quality going forward.

If he stays fit and can perform more like his recent performances than his performances last season he'll be good competition for Dalot's starting place

 

[led_scholes]

When Dalot was not playing and we wanted to get rid, AC Milan was interested. When AWB is not playing, only Crystal Palce is interested. There is a reason and I still find baffling that some people say he is miles better than Dalot, while Dalot has been preferred even over Cancelo.

Good performance yesterday, and AWB has his potential, but his potential is the one of 15 million at max. He is not a top 10 full back in the pl. He is going to have a nice career in the PL but nothing spectacular.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

When Dalot was not playing and we wanted to get rid, AC Milan was interested. When AWB is not playing, only Crystal Palce is interested. There is a reason

They are both their former clubs?

 

[golden_blunder]

He was decent today but to say I'm worried by this is an understatement, there is obviously no money for a new right back and I really do not think ETH would play him if there was an option of signing someone.
So we're stuck with him and for the style of football we try to play he will not be the solution, let's all hope someone likes him enough to take him off our hands with a semi decent bid.

Dalot is injured, money or no money, someone had to play RB

 

[Sammy McIlroys fan club]

When Dalot was not playing and we wanted to get rid, AC Milan was interested. When AWB is not playing, only Crystal Palce is interested. There is a reason and I still find baffling that some people say he is miles better than Dalot, while Dalot has been preferred even over Cancelo.

Good performance yesterday, and AWB has his potential, but his potential is the one of 15 million at max. He is not a top 10 full back in the pl. He is going to have a nice career in the PL but nothing spectacular.

I agree with this completely, AWB is currently back up to Dalot and will be all season. What he has shown however is that he is a competent back up which allows for rest and rotation for Dalot. It also adds a little to AWBs value if we decide to offload him in the summer. I think £15m is on the low side for an established premier league player, we should be looking £20-25 but given how bad we are at transfers and our ridiculous wages £15m is probably more realistic.

 

[golden_blunder]

And getting under hit passes from Lindelof when the opposition were on him before he had even controlled the ball.

Yes thank you. I thought I was the only one seeing it!

 

[Shane88]

He's a bizarre player. There are few better than him when facing up a winger but positionally on crosses and long diagonals, he's a mess.

Also, he's actually a very good dribbler but passing and the final ball are so often very poor.

 

[Dan_F]

ETH seems to have his way to handle player that he feels are out of form, not performing,or just not yet suiting system.
First of all, he won't criticize them in public or directly to the press, he often just mention that the player is ,for example not ready to play yet, or have a smaller injurie or "in worst case2 that the player is on a on a personal training schedule to faster get to know the system he wants the team to play and he is often "blaming" the system because it requires a lot of the players, often mentioning that it requires much more from the players, but when it comes to be 100% disciplined when defending, that all 10 players have direction how to act when to defending and that the offensive part is more disciplined for GK, back four and the deep playing CMs (Casemiro and Eriksen mostly) because he said it's impossible to know what will happen in the final part of the offense so those 4 upfront play with almost no clear directives more then were their position should be when we are starting the attack from the back.

I believe this way of handling the press and not calling out players without them having misbehaved completely idiotically (read Cristiano), is a great way to build up a trust between the staff and the players is great and we can finally focus on playing football and the behave like reality show or Gossip Girl TV-show. .

Also this way doesn't put more pressure on the player then necessary, like Sancho right now, that is according to many medias on "a special" program like both Dalot, Rashford, Varane, Martial and even Casemiro the first weeks when he joined and didn't play much. All of these players have turned out to be key players for the team and Varane, Dalot, Casemiro and Rashford playing on the highest level together with some others. Not saying he made Casemiro or Varane this good, they have been among the best players in their position for years. But how he has helped Rashford, Martial, Bruno, Eriksen and even De Gea to play on the top of their game and turned Dalot to one of the best RBs in the world and helped Garnacho take 10 steps in the right directions is impressive, I believe that when Sancho is back and ready to play RW that Antony might be the next one to get his to get some speciell extra training to fit in to the team even better.

Sorry for this long text but hopefully someone gets my point or disagrees so we can discuss the subject (someone could be even kinder and gift med a late Christmas gift i you find the post worth a "LIKE" and make me full member since i have 9 and 10 is needed,)!

MERRY CHRITMAS AND F´GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!

That is the normal way of managing any employee who isn’t at their best. It’s so basic and hopefully everyone can see why Rangnick was an absolute mess for us. He did almost the opposite of that.

As for AWB, he deserves to stay in the squad unless we get a good offer. Dalot offers far more to a dominant team, don’t quote me assist stats, we don’t play like Liverpool. I predict we’re very unlikely to see much out of Antony playing in front of AWB, he seems like a really hard player to form a partnership with, mainly due to it seeming like not even AWB knows what he’s going to do next.

 

[PlayerOne]

Good since the world cup, makes a good back up but I would still sell up of we get a good offer and we have someone else lined up. On current form someone will surely take a chance on him

 

[DJ_21]

Been solid on his 2 games back. 2 clean sheets, 1 assist. Can’t ask for much more. He’s added attacking to his game before Trent’s added defending to his.