I just want to remind everyone, Kyle Walker starts for City and I don't think many rate him going forward. The problem with AWB is he was complete overhyped by certain posters before he was signed. The second I read the forced TAA comparisons I knew this would happen. He's a good a player and even though he may never have the right foot of TAA he can definitely be a first-teamer for a title-challenging side.
Unpopular (AKA fickle) opinion time on AWB.....
- Thread starter Nou_Camp99
- Start date
That's just incorrect.
Valencia was a brilliant right-back for a few seasons for us... if AWB could reach that level we'll be laughing.
It's funny now we're resorting to shitting on one of our better players to just keep feeding the negativity. Fair enough were not doing well, but AWB is no where near the source of the issues.
He's made to look worse by our attackers never being in the right position in the box. It can be taught, look at City, look what Pep has done with Sterling, they always have people there for the tap ins, we never do.
Yes but you don't have to spend £50m to get a lot better than we had, when what we had was Ashley Young.
It's like saying £50k for a Vauxhall Corsa is justified, because you've been riding a bicycle for your entire life.
I have to be honest, he was far better for Palace than he’s been for us.
I agree, he also had a decent shot yesterday. It may be a touch blinkered and a cop-out but I'd prefer not to judge his attacking prowess until he's playing in a better more proactive side. It's clear he's not some barnstorming Carlos/Cafu-type but he does get forward, his passing is ok and he's not as allergic to assisting and shooting as he's being made out to be.
We are a better structured team than you are, that makes a hell of a difference. Not a better team obviously, just better structured and that allowed him to shine with us. There is a proper player in there, he just needs consistently good coaching and a club willing to show some patience. The patience part is all on you lot. His potential is massive.
This
AWB is not the finished article, if the rest of the team were being coached correctly into a proper unit in a system that worked, and AWB was not progressing then I would be worried about him.
But the team are not being coached in anything resembling a unit so when (eventually) a proper coach comes in then we can see if an improvement takes place.
Quite frustrating because he had better returns in attack for Palace. He was meant to be given more attacking freedom here but has he? Would he deliver if he was?
I'm not sure. I really like him, but at the moment it's another player that isn't going to improve our football much. That might change with some more buys and a better system.
I'm not sure. I really like him, but at the moment it's another player that isn't going to improve our football much. That might change with some more buys and a better system.
Like plenty of our players, he'll look better under a proper coach and manager.
Lucky for us he is only 22, tackling wise he is top-notch, attacking wise, a slug going over salt comes to mind, but as I would like to reiterate he is 22, so he does have time to improve, the question should be, do we have the coaching staff to actually improve him as a player?
AWB is fine, he's tidy in possession and has had the better of almost every winger he's face so far this season. He's only going to get better as he gets a settled relationship with someone in front of him. As for crossing, it's not his fault we don't have a player in the squad breaking their neck to tap in the amount of balls he puts across the 6 yard box. Literally one of our least problem positions in the squad.
You know things aren’t going well when the Cafe starts wondering if he’d be more useful in a position he’s never played before.
Without a doubt no.
It doesn't work like that anymore, no winger is good enough to take on a defence alone, we need a quality fullback to create overloads.
I thought Aarons was impressive as an attacking RB and a lot more than AWB but I think we forget AWB was getting rave reviews as a defender while at Palace and that is why we went and bought him.
Dalot was rated as the best young RB in Europe according to Jose so I think he should be given the chance as well.
I would have thought that the reason Porto sold Pereira to Leicester was because they knew they had Dalot but we jumped in and found the clause in his contract and exploited it.
Dalot was rated as the best young RB in Europe according to Jose so I think he should be given the chance as well.
I would have thought that the reason Porto sold Pereira to Leicester was because they knew they had Dalot but we jumped in and found the clause in his contract and exploited it.
Totally agree with all of this.
Wrong mentality to be hoping for something when you bought a player for 50m.
50m is established players level of money. Not someone you have to give 3 years and hope he'll improve
I'm not overly concerned. Attacking play may not be his greatest strength but he's obviously not totally incapable of it. It's just that we are such a mess of a team, devoid of any cohesive attacking moves that I think he looks worse than he really is. I could be wrong but I'd rather judge him when he is part of a functioning unit.
The thing is AWB is also prone to lapses of concentration in defence. Especially his positioning which cause us a few goals already. Attacking wise he also need to improve massively to justify his 50mil price tag.
Having said that I think with his physical attributes he can grow to be a very good RB as he is only 22.
Having said that I think with his physical attributes he can grow to be a very good RB as he is only 22.
He really needs to evolve his attacking game if he wants a long term career here.
What really baffles me is that he started as a winger. Man he must have been the worst winger ever! Its all a problem of recruitment yet again. It was obvious he was a great defender but not good on the ball. They must have sat down and decided that this was ok. Why? Because we restricted our targets to young and British. And when you exclude 90 percent of the market you have a small pool of players to choose from and AB was the best choice. Same as Maguire.
I find his positioning to be poor, hence the number of tackles he HAS to make. If he was in better positions he would cut the ball out or even cut the passing lane before it becomes an option.
He is always too far forward and therefore needs to constantly chase back.
It is hard to judge his attacking ability though because we are so poor at it as a team, that even if he creates a chance it isn't converted.
He is always too far forward and therefore needs to constantly chase back.
It is hard to judge his attacking ability though because we are so poor at it as a team, that even if he creates a chance it isn't converted.
He's not good enough on the ball for the wide open space at full back where he has the touchline at his back and everything is in front of him, so let's play him in central midfield?
One thing that has really shocked me is that Wan Bissaka is a converted winger. Whoever decided to convert him deserves a medal because he must have looked an abysmal winger.
This. We have far bigger problems. (although I don't think he's a problem at all anyway)
Most people didn't want Max Aarons when the links came because we'd gotten AWB!
Aarons would look shite in this team, when will people learn we need tactical change, a complete overhaul of how we approach playing football.
I would personally have liked to keep Rafael.
He can, but he's obviously not like Alexander-Arnold or Trippier in attacking areas. He can dribble his way past, but his delivery isnt particularly good
It's becoming more apparent by the weeks he's a very limited attacking footballer.
Fair enough he can tackle but as a threat going forward he's so limited.
Fair enough he can tackle but as a threat going forward he's so limited.
That was never true. Some quote is attributed to Maldini and people take those words as some sort of bible.
Players will have to make tackle no matter how good their positioning is. That quote might be true only for CBs and even for them it's half truth.
I agree that £50M is a lot to pay for a fullback as an upgrade to sley Young. But due to him being young and British we had to pay a high fee.
I think he'd benefit greatly from having a proper right winger playing in front of him. Not every top team has to have TAA and Robertson going forward. He is still young and still learning the position really. We know he's great in the tackle and a good athlete but he does need to work on his positional play a bit. That's the case for virtually every RB of his age in world football though.
He's not great going forward but I don't think he is the donkey some people are making him out to be. As I said if he had a proper winger to work with and overlap I think he'd be much more comfortable. It would also help if our players had any idea how to move and get into the box for crosses. It's very difficult to pick out a quality delivery when there are no targets to hit!
He's not great going forward but I don't think he is the donkey some people are making him out to be. As I said if he had a proper winger to work with and overlap I think he'd be much more comfortable. It would also help if our players had any idea how to move and get into the box for crosses. It's very difficult to pick out a quality delivery when there are no targets to hit!
Having to make a tackle is 1 thing but being in the position to have to make 30+ after 14 games is excessive when you think that 2nd behind him is Ndidi who is the DM for 2nd place in the league.
The ball is always getting in behind him, whether on the floor or 9ver his head and he is always chasing back.
He is a FB which means he always faces wingers/FBs one vs one. He can't intercept, no one can. Only way to win the ball is by tackling or just blocking the passing lane and making someone else to win the ball.
If we had an actual RW he'd be just grand. He's solid defensively, good enough for a top4 side. He's being asked to be something he isn't, simple as that. Whether he SHOULD be that something for £50m is another question.
One of the best defensives RBs in the league.
If we get a proper RW, we will hardly notice his short comings in attack.
If we get a proper RW, we will hardly notice his short comings in attack.
AWB is the least of our worries I think currently. Not really missing creativity from him up top and he looks like a decent defender. We don't seem to be conceding due to a lack of quality in his area, Sort the midfield out and perhaps get a top right winger in (although I am quite happy with James) and we'll be very happy.
Not sure - if we get a proper RW we’ll more likely end up incredibly frustrated that he’s being supported by such a mediocre full-back who prevents him getting the most out of the position.