He’s always shown glimpses of what he’s doing now, but now he’s showing what a bit of stability and confidence can really do.
Unpopular (AKA fickle) opinion time on AWB.....
- Thread starter Nou_Camp99
- Start date
Unpopular opinion right now: I think we should use this resurgence to fetch a good fee for him and get someone with even more potential in an attacking sense. If we could make an Everton or West Ham pay £30m for him then that's a good deal for us.
I've seen enough of AWB not to suddenly rethink whether he actually suits this sort of side well enough (vagaries of form aside), or whether he's better suited than Dalot even.
But good form should still be rewarded so Dalot should have a tough time getting back into the side.
Provided we don't jinx AWB, that is.
But good form should still be rewarded so Dalot should have a tough time getting back into the side.
Provided we don't jinx AWB, that is.
He was wack. Just good in one on ones
That's what I thought, first time in ages I actually see players improve after joining us.
What a tackle. Wow.
stop looking for a right back, awb is the man
Some great defending against Zaha tonight, with two exceptional tackles. However, in the first half palace was giving him space and he couldn't do anything.
Yeah, thought our right side was pretty quiet and a bit uninspiring tonight. Bit of Antony too i suppose.
I think the wider team works better with Dalot simply because he's better in the middle of the field. Wan Bisakka has always been borderline decent around the opposition box but just progressing the ball up the field is still pretty weak, even in the form of his life. Bit more time and it might come together but i think hes just a good player that doesn't quite fit. Nice covering tackle at the end, mind you.
glad he is returning to form
This exactly.
Can't take all these posters seriously when they're doing u-turns praising him for things a few of us could clearly see even when the guy was at his worst. He's always been a good dribbler, and very press resistant.
Actual coaching is turning him into a footballer. Still a long way to go, he's still naive positionly, but hopefully he can continue to improve all over the pitch.
Good "defender" but he was just as bad on the ball yesterday in transitions & attacks. The only reason this has gone unnoticed is because the whole team was like that in the 2nd half.
Strongly disagree with this. There was a reason that every team's pressing trigger was AWB and there was a reason we were so weak under pressure.
He's definitely improved, though, in the sense that his first touch actually takes him in a direction as opposed to using his first touch to put the ball at his feet and then deciding which way to go. This saves valuable seconds which allows him to escape the press which he has done to good effect over the past few games.
Don't forget Rashmartiany and Shamaranesaka
He's the least press resistant player in our squad. There's a reason he's targeted as a pressing trigger for the opposition.
He's in good form now, but let's not lie about his ability. He's not shown anything we didn't already know. He's a good 1on1 defender who is limited on the ball.
He's probably earned himself a squad position if he wants it, but Dalot will rightly be back in the starting lineup when he's fit.
Right now he's shown nothing that revolutionary to what he did when he was in good form under Ole. He's playing with much smarter players, playing better passes and putting him in less trouble. I'm not saying we stop looking for a new RB off the back of these displays. I'd love to see him continue this form and improve, but I think the naivety and issues are still mostly there defensively.
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The trigger was Lindelof would have the ball and he would move in AWB's direction and then underhit a pass to him and by then he was surrounded....not happening while Victor is on the bench.
No, he wouldn't have.
Even if that were true, AWB would stand there with his body facing straight in towards the middle and use his first touch to place the ball at his feet, giving the opponents ample time to scuttle over there and put him under pressure at which point he'd have no option but to panic and boot the ball to the other team or play it back to the defenders.
Hardly something that would be hard to work on though mate?
His faults are minor compared to the guy who was in front of him today.
He totally outplayed Zaha to the point where Zaha went over to Shaws side to get some joy (which he didnt). If you assume Zaha is one of the better attacking wide players in the PL then AWB did a great job on him. Cafu he may not be but he is a perfectly functioning right back and based on that performance would get into most teams in the PL. Exceptions being City, Liverpool, Chelsea maybe - so not a bad player all in all.
I've already said in this very thread that he has improved that aspect. The guy I responded to argued against AWB being a press trigger for us over the past few years.
But like I've also said in this thread, I think his ceiling is limited because he still looks clumsy technically despite making much better decisions with the ball nowadays, and we should use this resurgence to fetch a good fee for him and invest that in someone with a higher ceiling and better attacking output. I've seen people recommending Malo Gusto and his statistical profile looks a lot like Hakimi. If he's as good as people say then a player like that would be ideal to replace AWB with, especially if we don't need to pay more for him than we'd receive for AWB from Everton or a team like that.
He struggles with Antony. With neither one willing to commit and get at a defence, it's not a great duo.
Wan Bissaka looks rejuvenated to be fair, particularly defensively.
Wan Bissaka looks rejuvenated to be fair, particularly defensively.
I thought he played well last night and is definitely improving but I’d still have Dalot as first choice when he is back. There isn’t much in it though now which is good.
Dalots improvement this season was impressive but AWBs is something else, really hope he can keep this up. Amazing what proper coaching and team set up can do along with a bit of confidence. Buzzing for the lad.
I think ETH has fixed the concentration/lack of focus issue and so we are seeing the defensively good AWB now. To be fair to him he has nifty footwork in right spaces surprisingly but it's his use of the ball that is the issue. He is very Chris Smalling like when it comes to distributing the ball and that really holds him back. He would otherwise be a great right back if he was good with the ball.
But what a tackle that was. Tackle of the season.
But what a tackle that was. Tackle of the season.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYehmXKC/
Loved this interview with Zaha almost as much as I loved the tackle.
Loved this interview with Zaha almost as much as I loved the tackle.
Came 2nd with McFred
Come on, man.
Dalot has done it over four months, defensively and offensively, for both club and country. We're at what, five games with AWB? I agree AWB has been great these last five games but I can't agree that less than half-dozen games supercedes a half-season of quality on both ends of the field.
Very impressed by AWB lately, hopefully he can keep it up and claim the RB spot full time with Dalot pushing him.
When you take in where they started from I think it does. I’m just saying who improved the most this season not who is the better player etc. Wan Bissaka didn’t even look like a PL player not long ago.
Perhaps it's more noticeable now that he's in overall good form, but skills like this are not things a player goes through his entire youth and early adulthood lacking and then suddenly improves on in a few games.
Got any stats to back this up?
That's a pretty ludicrous claim to make about a player we've seen team after team target with their press over the last few years.
All for giving the guy his due but lets not ignore reality to do so.
Whether it's ludicrous or not is subjective - you may not agree with my opinion, nor I with yours. However, what is particularly relevant is that I made this exact same claim at the time, so I have been quite consistent in my opinion that he is press resistant. This in comparison to posters who find it plausible that a professional at the highest level only just learned how to beat the press 5 games into a new manager's regime.
Does that not sound ludicrous?
A much better claim would be that perhaps he lost some form and confidence for some time, while the ability was always there.
I don't think that he necessarily lacked the skill to do it (I mean, it's just about rotating your foot and adjusting the amount of force you put into the touch), it's more to do with the fact that his previous coach never demanded that type of thing from him (due to not being able to see it as a problem) whereas his current manager is meticulous and has great attention to detail, even when it comes to fringe players apparently. However, the lack of basic technique compared to other members of this squad is evident when you see him dribble with the ball. It can obviously be improved upon, but not even EtH is going to make him dribble like Messi over the course of his adult playing career.
Why would I need stats? Stevie Wonder would be able to establish him as a weak point. I suggest you pay attention during our games against high pressing teams and how they swarm AWB and the right flank when he's playing.