Interesting you say that. I agree about the passing quickly and accurately but the the four automatically promoted sides from the two tiers above us all had defenders who pushed forward and caused problems, be it from wide areas or centrally. Sheffield United were the masters of this all season and always had centre-backs overlapping.
I'd imagine that their defenders were pretty decent with the ball at their feet as well as pushing forward well. At our level, you'll probably only get one or the other in general. There is usually a reason why players are appearing at a particular level and it isn't too common to unearth one who should be playing higher.
I'd personally prefer to have a solid defender who can pass it quickly and effectively to the (hopefully) more creative players further upfield. Not a problem with them pushing forward when possible (Pearson used to surge forward quite well at times, for example), but I think you will probably lose more opportunities because of slow and inaccurate passing than from not having a defender further upfield.
I do think that the difference in quality between the 3rd and 4th tier seems to be a lot bigger than it was in the past. Makes sense if you assume that the better British players displaced by foreigners in the PL (and increasingly the Championship) will be working their way down the divisions. Unfortunately, not enough good players around to make parity between L1/L2!
My palace supporting in laws claim RHJ is signing for them
Colchester.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,teach a man to fish and you give him an excuse for him to escape from the wife and kids for the weekend and drink lots of beer.
RHJ was signed by Slade and then sent immediately on loan to Chester....brought back and played sporadically inbetween injuries....if that is his last 2 seasons then no wonder he maybe fancies a change nearer to his "home".
Shame as i liked the look of him and seemed like one of the players who had the adaptability Jolley is maybe looking for in his defensive systems.
RHJ gave his all and was versatile but simply not good enough with the ball at his feet in terms of crossing or passing to make it worthwhile playing a central back 3 in order to shoehorm him into the starting 11. Good enough as backup full back and general cover for a promotion chasing side but thats about it. Not a starter. Definitely wish him the best tho and he is young enough to be getting better
RHJ chose to leave, I'm guessing Whitmore's the same.
But if he really wanted them then you would have thought they would have been given some kind of incentive to stay ie an improved contract. I'm sure that MJ would have planned for this and have some kind of contingency option in mind.
The Future is Black & White. "The commonest thing on this planet is not water , as some people believe, but stupidity ". Frank Zappa
Whitmore was a "head it, kick it" defender who'd put his body in front of anything and throw his head into aerial challenges. But I didn't think there was ever any thought or direction on where he was actually heading the ball. Can do better.
Hall-Johnson is a funny one because he was a key part of our 3-5-2 system actually being effective and working. When playing as one of the 3 centre-backs that is, not as a wing-back. Has never really been trusted with a proper run of games I don't think, and never seems to last 90 minutes either. I actually think his physical attributes make him seem a much better footballer than he actually is. And if he didn't cover ground as well as he does, we wouldn't think much of him. Technically very limited I think, poor passer of the ball, not much game intelligence and despite one or two good games as an overlapping centre-back, poor end product in the final third. Again, can do better.
"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one."
Whitmore was a "head it, kick it" defender who'd put his body in front of anything and throw his head into aerial challenges. But I didn't think there was ever any thought or direction on where he was actually heading the ball. Can do better.
Hall-Johnson is a funny one because he was a key part of our 3-5-2 system actually being effective and working. When playing as one of the 3 centre-backs that is, not as a wing-back. Has never really been trusted with a proper run of games I don't think, and never seems to last 90 minutes either. I actually think his physical attributes make him seem a much better footballer than he actually is. And if he didn't cover ground as well as he does, we wouldn't think much of him. Technically very limited I think, poor passer of the ball, not much game intelligence and despite one or two good games as an overlapping centre-back, poor end product in the final third. Again, can do better.
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