Brandon Williams

I haven't seen him enough in defending. But going forward & overall general passing play + his movement, I'm impressed with him. We have so many young talented full backs in our academy. Brandon is one of them, can play both sides & it looks like he's the U23 captain at such a young age (captain material probably?).
 
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KennyBurner said:
this 1000% I loved how he constantly bombed forward on the overlap. Its what we need against shit opposition. I wonder though if he can keep it up for a whole 90 minutes?

Also is he defensively sound?
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I've watched him a couple of times, he is a last minute tackle type of player, his cover play is pretty good as well and he has no problems kicking out if it's needed.
 
He was asked to defend only a few times and got a yellow for his first proper challenge. Going forward he had a lot of energy and space as Rochdale gave up the wide areas. He'll be asked to defend a lot. Also, he got sucked into the center of the box during Rochdale's goal (his positioning wasn't good, he was practically on the goal line) and was caught under the cross and wandered in front of Romero's path going across the goal. Goal was more Pereria not marking the RB close enough and Williams no where in position to defend a far post cross.
 
I like him. He's a real strong aggressive character, a natural leader and a talented footballer. The type of guy who would rather die than lose a game. We need more players with his mentality in the first team.

Is he ready for the premier league right now? Absolutely not. He has heaps to learn before he can defend at that level. He's rash and is still learning how to position himself. Experienced premier league players would take the piss.

That said I'm delighted to see him get a few minutes in the first team. Should give him huge motivation to keep learning. It will be interesting to see how much he can progress in the next year. Young won't be around too much longer so he potentially has something big to aim for.
 
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edcunited1878 said:
He was asked to defend only a few times and got a yellow for his first proper challenge. Going forward he had a lot of energy and space as Rochdale gave up the wide areas. He'll be asked to defend a lot. Also, he got sucked into the center of the box during Rochdale's goal (his positioning wasn't good, he was practically on the goal line) and was caught under the cross and wandered in front of Romero's path going across the goal. Goal was more Pereria not marking the RB close enough and Williams no where in position to defend a far post cross.
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Regarding your first point, looked to me like he slipped
 
edcunited1878 said:
He was asked to defend only a few times and got a yellow for his first proper challenge.
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I actually don't think that was a "proper" challenge. He slipped and clattered the other player.

He was decent at defending, making the right calls when he needed to. Was daydreaming during the AWB clearance situation.

Energetic going forward, making great overlapping runs but didn't do much with the ball when he got it. I don't beleive he tried to cross even once.

Overall, a good debut. I`m sure he was nervous and can perform better and we should give him more playing time.
 
I don't know whether he will be good enough but I love players like him. Always makes the overlapping runs, plays with intensity and option for the player in possession.
 
I thought he had a good debut.
Our goal came thanks for him charging forward and intercepting a pass in midfield.

Always happy to see our youngsters doing well. Hopefully has a future with us, but no doubt he has it to succeed as a pro
 
SteveW said:
I like him. He's a real strong aggressive character, a natural leader and a talented footballer. The type of guy who would rather die than lose a game. We need more players with his mentality in the first team.

Is he ready for the premier league right now? Absolutely not. He has heaps to learn before he can defend at that level. He's rash and is still learning how to position himself. Experienced premier league players would take the piss.

That said I'm delighted to see him get a few minutes in the first team though. Should give him huge motivation to keep learning. It will be interesting to see how much he can progress in the next year. Young won't be around too much longer so he potentially has something big to aim for.
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Sounds like Rafael and I loved Rafael.
 
Why in the name of God almhighty would we waste time and wages on Young when we have this kid? Is he there yet? Of course not, but he is no worse than Young and has great potential if we invest game time in him. I don't want to see Young play again instead of this kid.
 
Get him involved, he looks a prospect and good competition for shaw. If he's not going to get minutes this season he may benefit from a good loan spell
 
Really like what I saw from Brandon. Unlike some others he did not look like he had stage fright playing for the first team. Considering our left back options are Shaw, Young and Rojo, I am praying this kid really kicks on.
 
Kostov said:
Why in the name of God almhighty would we waste time and wages on Young when we have this kid? Is he there yet? Of course not, but he is no worse than Young and has great potential if we invest game time in him. I don't want to see Young play again instead of this kid.
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Agreed.
 
Good debut. Looked at sea for their goal though. Would like to see him eased into the side.
 
Nick7 said:
Good debut. Looked at sea for their goal though. Would like to see him eased into the side.
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Not a shock though. First time and all. Only one from the left who actually hit a cross first time
 
Williams looked like a right-footed left back to me, is that correct? Not really sure about him, to be honest.
 
pocco said:
Good debut for him. I think we need to see him whipping in some crosses with his left foot if he's to play LB for the first team.
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Going by U23s and for youth teams, he used to whip nice crosses with this left foot and that was his weaker foot.
 
edcunited1878 said:
He was asked to defend only a few times and got a yellow for his first proper challenge. Going forward he had a lot of energy and space as Rochdale gave up the wide areas. He'll be asked to defend a lot. Also, he got sucked into the center of the box during Rochdale's goal (his positioning wasn't good, he was practically on the goal line) and was caught under the cross and wandered in front of Romero's path going across the goal. Goal was more Pereria not marking the RB close enough and Williams no where in position to defend a far post cross.
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That was a very harsh booking to be fair.
 
pocco said:
Good debut for him. I think we need to see him whipping in some crosses with his left foot if he's to play LB for the first team.
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He crosses a lot with his left foot in the reserves. Similar to Dan James, he rarely cuts back and crosses on his right, he runs full speed and crosses while running which is perfect. I actually thought he was left footed the first few times I saw him until I paid more attention.

He has really good stamina at reserve level and bombs up and down like that all the time, so i'm sure he could do a similar job in the mens game once up to speed.

I think he has a really bright future.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
Not a shock though. First time and all. Only one from the left who actually hit a cross first time
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Yeah I agree. As I said, I'd like to see him introduced slowly into the first team, it was an encouraging debut but you know how these things can go. I don't think he looks ready to be a regular but he definitely looks like a player that those kind of opportunities will help him.
 
Wenger yesterday said we need an overlapping fullback - Williams has the potential to be that but he must improve his defending first
 
He looked good yesterday with the exception of that unnecessary challenge. Hopefully we’ll see more of him.
 
dev1l said:
Wenger yesterday said we need an overlapping fullback - Williams has the potential to be that but he must improve his defending first
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Overlapping fullbacks can work better with 3 central midfielders. One holding and the other two working the channels. When you overlap and overload, at least one player will be closest to the halfway line and has to be aware of covering the space behind them when possession is lost to enable the fullback to get back into position while the holding mid or CB covers. You leave yourself a bit too open with two pivots and wanting to having overlapping FBs.

Williams has the burst to go forward, similar to Shaw, when there is amply amount of space ahead. But when teams have the depth and quality to change up the tactics and peg a fullback towards their own half (e.g. Wolves and Adame Traore), you're gonna have to have a good defensive discipline and awareness of space to be an outlet/show for a pass and understand how to pass forward against your near touchline without giving up possession so easily.
 
Adam-Utd said:
he slipped
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He was too close to the ball carrier and didn't have to be that close which caused him to be out of control, thus slipping. It was rash and it's something he's a bit known for in the lower levels. No need to make excuses for his shortcomings at the moment. They are what they are and he will work on them to improve. He'll get the time and patience unless Dalot and Shaw continue to be injured, then he'll get to play when others aren't available during fixture congestion.
 
#07 said:
Really like what I saw from Brandon. Unlike some others he did not look like he had stage fright playing for the first team. Considering our left back options are Shaw, Young and Rojo, I am praying this kid really kicks on.
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I agree. He looked very comfortable. I hope to see him again soon.
 
roonster09 said:
Going by U23s and for youth teams, he used to whip nice crosses with this left foot and that was his weaker foot.
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Adam-Utd said:
He crosses a lot with his left foot in the reserves. Similar to Dan James, he rarely cuts back and crosses on his right, he runs full speed and crosses while running which is perfect. I actually thought he was left footed the first few times I saw him until I paid more attention.

He has really good stamina at reserve level and bombs up and down like that all the time, so i'm sure he could do a similar job in the mens game once up to speed.

I think he has a really bright future.
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Yeah I have heard that he's good with his left aswell. I think if he can show that in his next outing then he'll really push himself into the picture. I'm just unsure as to how much Solskjaer rates Shaw and whether he'd be willing to push Williams when Shaw is back. We'll see what happens. Either way, he deserves a start vs AZ.
 
Kid has been awesome for 19 years old, debut at Old Trafford, with 0:0 and pressure on. Sure, made a mistake or two, but Pogba made a few and he is 100m player with World Cup behind. So, I would forget errors and say kid took pressure on and produce solid display. Proved himself and probably earned at least one more game in Europa League or FA Cup.
 
Alemar said:
He shall start against Arsenal.
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Along with Mejbri and every other teenager who impresses you I’ve noticed.

Williams is terrible defensively and will struggle against Arsenal. Great going forward admittedly, but is very rash, one of a few players shown straight reds at youth level, and is an extremely reckless tackler.
 
Rozay said:
Along with Mejbri and every other teenager who impresses you I’ve noticed.

Williams is terrible defensively and will struggle against Arsenal. Great going forward admittedly, but is very rash, one of a few players shown straight reds at youth level, and is an extremely reckless tackler.
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He's got shades of Varela to him. Wonderfully energetic player who is exciting going forward and very eager in the tackle. Too eager though and are positionally lacking. A few appearances and they're suddenly better than England internationals and then one performance against a top winger where they are shredded to pieces and they are complete shite who should never play again. Even see it with Chong, and the downfall of a defender is far bigger.

He's an exciting player who I like but there are too many parts of his game that make him a long way off senior PL football for me. He has huge defensive and temperament issues that need to be solved
 
First full game for the senior team today. Wasn't perfect but overall he had a good game. Hopefully we ll see more of him during the year or on loan
 
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