Winter Transfer Window Thread | Page 18 | Vital Football

Winter Transfer Window Thread

I am very at ease with Edun, I like him and think hes a very good player I couldnt see Ma or Jez taking him on without having the potential to kick on To be fair hes taken on a unatural role as in Lb , I think left Rb and Lb are becoming a more specialised position . Will probably stay as Lb until we get a genuine Lb, The one who im interested in is Max melbourne not sure whether hes had injuries or just hasnt been able to nail a role, The squad has been put together with a lot of thought and on a reduced budget, We will have hiccups but to be expected , Hopefully we can keep going forward and keep the Manager backroom staff the board and fans and enjoy the ride,
 
nlondonimp said:
18 when he signed for Swindon. They were top 4 all season - comparable to our position now. That’s 30 games in a top four team at 18. 30 games is more than any other left back, so I would call that first choice. And 20 more two seasons later. Which puts him way ahead of Edun, at a younger age, which is the point I was making, do you not think?
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Yes I see your point, i think it’s not always easy to compare players just on age though. Style wise Toffolo was very similar to Sam Habergham whereas Edun at the moment plays like a midfielder playing full back. This isn’t a criticism as when he pushes forward he can see passes like a midfield player should do but he often attempts those same passes in defensively dangerous areas. Overall I think most posters on here are a bit over critical of Edun, I don’t really see him as an obvious weak point in our team and he is learning his role all the time.
 
PerthImp said:
Wouldn’t disagree that he has the potential, but then ‘potential’ is the most used word in the game (look at Chapman, and other young players released by Lincoln over the last few years).
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Potential is alright for about a month to a good number of fans.

Significant improvements usually take a good deal longer.

Chapman has just turned 20, Edun is 22.

Our stand out player Jorge Grant is 26 and has only really started to fulfil his potential in the last 6 months.
 
nlondonimp said:
18 when he signed for Swindon. They were top 4 all season - comparable to our position now. That’s 30 games in a top four team at 18. 30 games is more than any other left back, so I would call that first choice. And 20 more two seasons later.
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To be pedantically accurate, according to his Wikipedia entry Toffolo was 19 when he joined Swindon on loan in October 2014.

He joined Scunthorpe on loan at around the time of his 21st birthday in 2016. He spent the rest of the season on loan with them, appearing in a total of 22 league matches.
 
Merthyr Imp said:
To be pedantically accurate, according to his Wikipedia entry Toffolo was 19 when he joined Swindon on loan in October 2014.

He joined Scunthorpe on loan at around the time of his 21st birthday in 2016. He spent the rest of the season on loan with them, appearing in a total of 22 league matches.
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Thanks, my mistake. Although the topic was whether he was more experienced at a younger age, and at this level, and at left back, than Edun, which he still was. I was defending toffolo against a post that suggested Edun had eighteen months to improve to toffolo‘s level. As we stand today Edun [22] is at least 18 months behind where toffolo [19] was with Swindon. I accept that it is not all about age, hopefully the original poster can accept that it is not all about age as well. different characters mature at different ages. )))
 
johnolbe said:
This isn’t a criticism as when he pushes forward he can see passes like a midfield player should do but he often attempts those same passes in defensively dangerous areas.
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That is a really good point that I hadn't considered: a forward pass from a midfielder in a more advanced area carries very little risk and could create a goal; the same misdirected pass from a defender often results in a goal conceded. Being primarily a midfielder, Edun is likely to play exactly that kind of pass. I suppose the challenge for him is to learn to think like a defender and distribute the ball accordingly.
 
Interestingly, if Bridcutt had gone for the short pass to the Lincoln player in front of him on the six yard line, instead of trying to clear it (we will ignore the delay for the purposes of making a point) we would not have conceded against Peterborough.

Sometimes, tippy tappy is actually the way to go.
 
cherryexile said:
Interestingly, if Bridcutt had gone for the short pass to the Lincoln player in front of him on the six yard line, instead of trying to clear it (we will ignore the delay for the purposes of making a point) we would not have conceded against Peterborough.

Sometimes, tippy tappy is actually the way to go.
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If he'd done either instead of dithering we wouldn't have conceded. Sometimes any decision is better than no decision...
 
Generally speaking it helps when you kick the ball it goes to a player in the same colour shirt as the kicker. Long or short back or forth side to side. First half the blue shirts put a blue magnet on the ball as every time it was kicked by a red and white shirt it stuck to a blue shirt. I think the polarity was reversed second half.
 
Scotimp said:
That is a really good point that I hadn't considered: a forward pass from a midfielder in a more advanced area carries very little risk and could create a goal; the same misdirected pass from a defender often results in a goal conceded. Being primarily a midfielder, Edun is likely to play exactly that kind of pass. I suppose the challenge for him is to learn to think like a defender and distribute the ball accordingly.
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If you watch the next game, you will see that, left or right, whenever the full-back has possession, there are a number of regular passes that the team try to make available (and therefore the full-backs are looking for). The first type is back to either centre-half (who drop back for the purpose), the second is up the line for the winger and the third is inside to either the deep midfielder, further forward to the attacking midfielder, or more dangerously to the centre-forward running back. We don't tend to play a long ball over the top for a forward to run on to, or to challenge for a header.

It is Edun's ball inside to the centre-forward, or the attacking midfielder that seems to get intercepted when he isn't on his game. Whether the direction is off, or it is under-hit, if an opponent comes onto one of these balls, they are naturally moving toward the D and pressurising our defence. These are the situations that look the worst, where we have to rely on the deep midfielder or the centre-halves to win the ball back.

It is clear though, that these are the balls that MA wants us to try and play, in order to switch play, open up a ball down the line, or just move into the next third. It seems to me that Edun is 'on message' and looks good when it goes right and a bit of a plonker when his first 5 passes go astray as they did against Posh.
 
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I think to be fair to Edun some of his qualities that go unmentioned really help the way we play and what we expect from the full backs. Our full backs often receive the ball under pressure and he generally has a really good first touch, he has good agility and dribbling ability that helps him get out of the tight press and move us up the pitch. Often once he beats that press he can create a 2 on 1 situation down the left flank and ultimately Johnson can do his thing. Yes forward passing, timing and choice of pass, can improve but I expect it will do with more time on the training ground (don't forget this has been limited by the amount of games).

He's doing well for a CM playing at LB. The biggest thing I would like to see him improve is his defensive positioning and when to attack the ball versus when to drop as he gets caught under diagonal balls fairly regularly but he's left back in the team that is top of the league which speaks for itself. One or two things to improve and hopefully this time off will help him address these things.

Don't get me wrong though Toffolo is a great player and a natural left back who would thrive under this system but he's gone now.
 
cherryexile said:
If you watch the next game, you will see that, left or right, whenever the full-back has possession, there are a number of regular passes that the team try to make available (and therefore the full-backs are looking for). The first type is back to either centre-half (who drop back for the purpose), the second is up the line for the winger and the third is inside to either the deep midfielder, further forward to the attacking midfielder, or more dangerously to the centre-forward running back. We don't tend to play a long ball over the top for a forward to run on to, or to challenge for a header.

It is Edun's ball inside to the centre-forward, or the attacking midfielder that seem to get intercepted when he isn't on his game. Whether the direction is off, or it is under-hit, if an opponent comes onto one of these balls, they are naturally moving toward the D and pressurising our defence. These are the situations that look the worst, where we have to rely on the deep midfielder or the centre-halves to win the ball back.

It is clear though, that these are the balls that MA wants us to try and play, in order to switch play, open up a ball down the line, or just move into the next third. It seems to me that Edun is 'on message' and looks good when it goes right and a bit of a plonker when his first 5 passes go astray as they did against Posh.
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Better analysis than I could have made.

On the positive side, it may pay dividends in the longer term having a genuine footballer at left-back; there will probably be more tears in the shorter term while he learns the role.
 
I think we should bring in a proper right back and left back for the run in. players that are championship class that will be with us next season, with one eye on us getting promoted. Neither position has anyone performing well enough to ever be in the top 3 or 4 when we come to rating the players. Edun did it recently against poor opposition. Eyoma has got better and better, and would be good cover as right back and centre back.
 
azz_88 said:
He's doing well for a CM playing at LB. The biggest thing I would like to see him improve is his defensive positioning and when to attack the ball versus when to drop as he gets caught under diagonal balls fairly regularly but he's left back in the team that is top of the league which speaks for itself. One or two things to improve and hopefully this time off will help him address these things.
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That seems to be noticeably improving. What really stood out for me at Wimbledon, Edun was left exposed 2 on 1 at one point. Earlier in the season he'd have gone to the ball carrier and been cut out by the pass to the free man with a high risk of a good goal chance. This time he stood off slightly, covering the man in possession but aware of the player outside, waited for the pass and was then able to close down the free player, channelling the ball out for a throw, it was a top class piece of defending.
 
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