Robbie Boy
Full Member
Im asking because in my opinion his defensive game/work rate is one of the main reasons he starts so if you dont buy his workrate im genuinely curios to see the reasoning from your perspective
Dont think you can find stats for that, the only stat that could help a bit is distance covered but even that doesnt tell you the full story as that covers the whole running and not just defensive one.
I've said plenty of times that he's alright defensively. Up until recently I could see what he could bring sometimes: pressing defences, getting himself about and finding little pockets of space. But recently, he just seems to be doing absolutely nothing. I honestly thought his tracking back was atrocious last night and it's like he went into hiding.
As I've said before; his defensive attributes should form a part of his game, but right now, they are his whole game. His output for an attacking player is nowhere near acceptable. For instance, I can see why he started against Chelsea - not saying I entirely agree - but I can see why. In those games he's a tactical pawn and that's fine. In home games like against Swansea he shouldn't be near the first team as he simply isn't good enough as an attacking outlet and those kind of games are where we've dropped so many needles points this season.