Sussex Shrimper
Manager
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2004
- Messages
- 1,674
I started to think that this might be a good idea last season, and our acquisitions over the summer have only strengthened my belief. My reasoning is as follows...
While I still believe that JCR's overall contribution to the side is a positive one, we all know that he doesn't provide an end product as often as he should. I think that one of the main reasons for this is that he almost always tries to do the exact same thing - beat the defender to the byline. I'm sure that this doesn't escape the attention of opposing scouts and he often finds himself running out of room and conceding goalkicks. This would be less of an issue on the left, as when he moves to cross with his right, he is not running out of space if the defender reacts. It would obviously make it harder for him to put in early, quick crosses on the run, but how often does JCR do that anyway?
The left and right fullbacks that we have seem to operate in different ways when we are going forward. Both Gilbert and Francis like to overlap, which would suit players like Gower and Black who aren't averse to tucking in infield, whereas Che and Hammell are more the sort who like to back up and support the winger - again this might suit a winger with more explosive pace like JCR, who would have the option of turning and laying the ball back for an easy cross. I certainly think that we would maintain a better shape with Gower/Black tucking in and lending an extra body in the middle when need befrom the right, as when they do it from the left we are often simply left with no width on that side.
If there's a downside, I suppose it's the possibility that moving to the right might decrease Gower's ability to get goals a bit, but I'm not convinced that this would be all that severe in effect. I certainly think that we'd gain more by having both of our wingers in positions where I really believe they could be effective than we'd lose by doing so.
While I still believe that JCR's overall contribution to the side is a positive one, we all know that he doesn't provide an end product as often as he should. I think that one of the main reasons for this is that he almost always tries to do the exact same thing - beat the defender to the byline. I'm sure that this doesn't escape the attention of opposing scouts and he often finds himself running out of room and conceding goalkicks. This would be less of an issue on the left, as when he moves to cross with his right, he is not running out of space if the defender reacts. It would obviously make it harder for him to put in early, quick crosses on the run, but how often does JCR do that anyway?
The left and right fullbacks that we have seem to operate in different ways when we are going forward. Both Gilbert and Francis like to overlap, which would suit players like Gower and Black who aren't averse to tucking in infield, whereas Che and Hammell are more the sort who like to back up and support the winger - again this might suit a winger with more explosive pace like JCR, who would have the option of turning and laying the ball back for an easy cross. I certainly think that we would maintain a better shape with Gower/Black tucking in and lending an extra body in the middle when need befrom the right, as when they do it from the left we are often simply left with no width on that side.
If there's a downside, I suppose it's the possibility that moving to the right might decrease Gower's ability to get goals a bit, but I'm not convinced that this would be all that severe in effect. I certainly think that we'd gain more by having both of our wingers in positions where I really believe they could be effective than we'd lose by doing so.
