Rethinking Player Roles - Who and Why?

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Since watching the Brighton game the other night it’s really come to the front of my mind this idea of do we have some players...

who could be even better if played in differing positions than what we signed them for?

 

Vestegaard for example, during the Brighton game he took a lot of stick - a lot of it deserved, some of it possibly a bit over the top....

 

However he made a few decent forward passes into and through the midfield forward (something Hamza couldn’t quite manage) so it got me wondering if he could have a better role as a CDM with the club? Would allow him more protection behind, in theory he should be physical enough to be a presence there as well. 

 

Another potential example would be Harvey Barnes, the left winger position isn’t here in this system - so could he be better served now as the AMC - or even a Complete Forward similar to Nacho, he’s got a finish to his game and some great footwork.

 

Ricardo has been talked about previously as a potential Right Wing option if we played with such formation.

 

Anyways with those ideas - is there anyone you feel would be better in our team playing in another position? 

[ALC Fox]

Personally I think Luke Thomas's skill set could be more suited to a central midfield position, sort of how Gareth Barry did. Whether that's with a club with our ambitions or not, I don't know. But his passing accuracy is decent and he generally does the basics well. He has energy without being super quick and I reckon he can manoeuvre well in tight spaces.

[MalletFox]

The thought of Vesty playing CDM has just put pay to me getting any sleep tonight!! Why oh why would you even suggest that? He gets walked past in defence, imagine how many times he would be cut out of the game in midfield. Madness!

[TheFiveTime]

Vesteguard in CDM? Look I agree criticism exagerated but that guy struggles to move at cb. Imagine when the play is not just in front of him how hard he will find it to reach the ball.

 

Barnes likes driving at people from wide positions. Suited to a wide role imo. Ricardo isnt quite good enough to be a right winger and his skills involve 1-2s and clever movements from a full back position but I'm sure he could do the job.

 

I was actually thinking Luke thomas defo could fill a cm role myself the other day. He does everything correct and can attack the ball. Arguably his biggest weaknesses are defensive errors/positioning and his crossing both of which are less important in a cm role. 

I'm also glad that we have found perez is not a winger and is much more suited to a position just behind hte striker. He loosk prem quality level in that position which is some good stuff. 

[TAFKA Castroneves]

5 minutes ago, MalletFox said:

The thought of Vesty playing CDM has just put pay to me getting any sleep tonight!! Why oh why would you even suggest that? He gets walked past in defence, imagine how many times he would be cut out of the game in midfield. Madness!

 

Haha 😂 well in good news it won’t happen I’m sure mate 🤣 I can see how right now people would see that as a reach with his general play so far 🤦‍♂️ could be an act of desperation from me, he defo gave me David Luiz vibes from his last year with Arsenal - who himself fell off a cliff as a CB when he didn’t have that pace or support. Ironically David Luiz’s best form in his career came when he was at Chelsea playing as a...CDM. 

 

Clutching at straws maybe, but he did at least play forward unlike Hamza managed 😆 

[volpeazzurro]

28 minutes ago, TAFKA Castroneves said:

Since watching the Brighton game the other night it’s really come to the front of my mind this idea of do we have some players...

who could be even better if played in differing positions than what we signed them for?

 

Vestegaard for example, during the Brighton game he took a lot of stick - a lot of it deserved, some of it possibly a bit over the top....

 

However he made a few decent forward passes into and through the midfield forward (something Hamza couldn’t quite manage) so it got me wondering if he could have a better role as a CDM with the club? Would allow him more protection behind, in theory he should be physical enough to be a presence there as well. 

 

Another potential example would be Harvey Barnes, the left winger position isn’t here in this system - so could he be better served now as the AMC - or even a Complete Forward similar to Nacho, he’s got a finish to his game and some great footwork.

 

Ricardo has been talked about previously as a potential Right Wing option if we played with such formation.

 

Anyways with those ideas - is there anyone you feel would be better in our team playing in another position? 

There may be some ... but none of them in any of those positions. Disaster written all over them.

[shen]

Barnes is pretty limited right now. I don't see him as anything other than a wide forward right now. He needs to develop his upper body physique to be an effective central forward or improve his defending considerably to play as wingback.

 

Ndidi could be very effective as a central defender, which he's already shown he can play. In the same vein, Fofana could be a decent defensive midfielder.

[The whole world smiles]

Not digging him out (there is enough people doing that) but Vestergard would struggle to play Defensive midfield in league 2. 

[TAFKA Castroneves]

6 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

There may be some ... but none of them in any of those positions. Disaster written all over them.

 

Good thing I’m not Brendan Rodgers then mate 😂 feel free to contribute to the convo, “there may be some comment” is rather vague 🤷‍♂️ 

Edited 28 October 2021 by TAFKA Castroneves

[Stadt]

Crikey.

 

Vestergaard in midfield would require some sort of humanitarian intervention on our behalf. Please will our fans stop honing in on one of our player’s attributes and extrapolating that into player y should be played out of position, ahead of players that actually play in that position.

[TAFKA Castroneves]

35 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Crikey.

 

Vestergaard in midfield would require some sort of humanitarian intervention on our behalf. Please will our fans stop honing in on one of our player’s attributes and extrapolating that into player y should be played out of position, ahead of players that actually play in that position.

 

Feel free to follow, “cancel culture” mate 👍 or alternatively “turn off the tv” and go somewhere else in the forum 🤷‍♂️ I honestly, in a soft palmed way only started this topic to engage in some interesting ideas and not to just focus on judging others in a limited and restricted fashion. I’ll give you a like because you’ve contributed a comment, however I would feel it would be a more befitting answer to yourself to suggest an idea you had which could engage a nice conversation 👍 all the best 🦊 

[Nmstry]

With Soumare starting to feel into the CDM role, a defensive three of Evans, Ndidi and one more (Amartey, Soyuncu, Vesty) might be worth a try to see if we can keep a clean sheet.  

[lee7]

2 hours ago, TAFKA Castroneves said:

Since watching the Brighton game the other night it’s really come to the front of my mind this idea of do we have some players...

who could be even better if played in differing positions than what we signed them for?

 

Vestegaard for example, during the Brighton game he took a lot of stick - a lot of it deserved, some of it possibly a bit over the top....

 

However he made a few decent forward passes into and through the midfield forward (something Hamza couldn’t quite manage) so it got me wondering if he could have a better role as a CDM with the club? Would allow him more protection behind, in theory he should be physical enough to be a presence there as well. 

 

Another potential example would be Harvey Barnes, the left winger position isn’t here in this system - so could he be better served now as the AMC - or even a Complete Forward similar to Nacho, he’s got a finish to his game and some great footwork.

 

Ricardo has been talked about previously as a potential Right Wing option if we played with such formation.

 

Anyways with those ideas - is there anyone you feel would be better in our team playing in another position? 

Vestergaard as CDM 

I know that he is not capable of playing in that position without ever having to even trial that option. He lacks agility and speed. The best defensive midfielders such as Ndidi or Kante have that in abundance. 

 

Ricardo is capable of playing right wing. He has the natural ability to ghost past players.

 

I have always thought Barnes would be better off playing centrally just behind Vardy and Iheanacho and could see him causing a lot of problems for opposing teams if he was given a bit of space. 

[Vardinio'sCat]

AMC suggestion...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 29 October 2021 by Vardinio'sCat

[Lichfieldfox.]

4 hours ago, The whole world smiles said:

Not digging him out (there is enough people doing that) but Vestergard would struggle to play Defensive midfield in league 2. 

But he could play goalie in national league....

[Mike Oxlong]

5 hours ago, MalletFox said:

The thought of Vesty playing CDM has just put pay to me getting any sleep tonight!! Why oh why would you even suggest that? He gets walked past in defence, imagine how many times he would be cut out of the game in midfield. Madness!

Agreed. He’d need a mobility scooter just for starters. 

[Lambert09]

I actually think Vardy would do a job at centre back. Tackles better than the lot of them 

[foxile5]

7 hours ago, TAFKA Castroneves said:

Since watching the Brighton game the other night it’s really come to the front of my mind this idea of do we have some players...

who could be even better if played in differing positions than what we signed them for?

 

Vestegaard for example, during the Brighton game he took a lot of stick - a lot of it deserved, some of it possibly a bit over the top....

 

However he made a few decent forward passes into and through the midfield forward (something Hamza couldn’t quite manage) so it got me wondering if he could have a better role as a CDM with the club? Would allow him more protection behind, in theory he should be physical enough to be a presence there as well. 

 

Another potential example would be Harvey Barnes, the left winger position isn’t here in this system - so could he be better served now as the AMC - or even a Complete Forward similar to Nacho, he’s got a finish to his game and some great footwork.

 

Ricardo has been talked about previously as a potential Right Wing option if we played with such formation.

 

Anyways with those ideas - is there anyone you feel would be better in our team playing in another position? 

The issue is, and always will be, that this isn't football manager. 

 

No matter how poor he's been, Vestegaard has had a lifetime of developing a skillset at centerback. He's not suddenly going to become anywhere near capable as a midfielder. 

 

He'll have had thousands of hours of training sessions with defensive units. It doesn't just go away. They're people, not spreadsheets of abilities. Just because he can pass doesn't mean he'll immediately develop the timing and vision of a midfield player. 

 

I can't think of many players that retrained in another position with us and even fewer who were successful at it. 

[Gazza M]

Vestergaard in Central midfield.

[FoxesWalk]

Vestergaard is a great passer and blocker that has an obvious weakness to being dribbled at… maybe he should play as a ball playing centre back with a defensive screen in front of him to prevent him being dribbled at (like for Denmark)… 

 

Part of coaching the team is to have a plan to cover weaknesses of your players and play to their strengths. He didn’t slot straight into our system, and that’s not really his fault. He needs protection to play his game, I blame Rodgers for letting him get exposed, it’s his job to stop it. They’ll get it right. 

 

[volpeazzurro]

47 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

The issue is, and always will be, that this isn't football manager. 

 

No matter how poor he's been, Vestegaard has had a lifetime of developing a skillset at centerback. He's not suddenly going to become anywhere near capable as a midfielder. 

 

He'll have had thousands of hours of training sessions with defensive units. It doesn't just go away. They're people, not spreadsheets of abilities. Just because he can pass doesn't mean he'll immediately develop the timing and vision of a midfield player. 

 

I can't think of many players that retrained in another position with us and even fewer who were successful at it. 

Steve Walsh, Ian Marshall. 

[foxile5]

20 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said:

Steve Walsh, Ian Marshall. 

Definitely on Walsh and Marshall didn't really switch with us, did he? 

 

But they were playing in an entirely different era. No way the over trained professionals are making switches with readiness these days. 

[Duquesne Whistle]

Rethinking player roles

 

Kasper - Should immediately be transferred to the army and put in charge of aiming missiles. Imagine the scores of innocent people saved as Kasper either falls short, into the sea, or the missile sails straight over the target, missing by some considerable distance.

 

Big Jan - Should immediately take out Chinese citizenship, then be cemented in Braggy Park for future use as a 5g mast.

 

Jonny Evans - The new James Bond.

 

Big Dan - Lifetime contract as Filbert Fox with specific task of trolling Chelsea bench and players.

 

Daley-Campbell - Should hire himself out to the likes of Glastonbury and Reading festivals as a brick shithouse.

 

Ayoze - Chief Executive Officer of Marmite Inc.

 

Big Fil Benko - Has already been auditioning for the lead role in the MGM remake of The Invisible Man.

 

Vardy - Whatever role you want. He'll make a decent fist of it.

[HankMarvin]

 

9 hours ago, TAFKA Castroneves said:

Vestegaard

Left back 

 

 

Preferably Left back in Denmark after international duty.

[HighPeakFox]

I expect the guy is in dire need of a few weeks getting properly fit and integrated.