Full back (right & left)

[Satoshi]

Forward might be a position that it is a bit more difficult to coach than the others, the best forward tend to be quite blessed physically.

Our coaching and player development has really picked up in the last decade or so - credit to all those involved. But it's hard to coach someone to be an Ibrahimovic, Haaland or even a Mitrovic.

Encouraging Balkan immigration maybe our best route.

 

[accies1874]

Really impressive first start from Josh Doig. Not sure if it was opponent-specific, but Verona wanted to push their wing-backs incredibly high in and out of possession to just let the 3 CBs deal with Sampdoria's forwards. I don't think this naturally suited Doig as he's brilliant on the overlap and might have had too much space to deal with defensively and too many decisions to make (as seen with Sampdoria's goal), but he managed to be their best attacking outlet throughout and especially in the second half once he started getting to link with his teammates on the left and receiving switches from the right. 

He won't be in the September squad but I like him as a player and still think he could be the best bet as a natural Tierney backup. 

[Loominous]

21 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

He won't be in the September squad but I like him as a player and still think he could be the best bet as a natural Tierney backup. 

Thanks, that was interesting as I wasn't aware that he'd played let alone scored.

What's your opinion of Liam Cooper, Scott McKenna and Jack Hendry's performances as LCB during Scotland's June internationals and how do you think Josh Doig might compare to them if he was involved as a backup to Kieran Tierney?

[accies1874]

5 hours ago, Loominous said:

Thanks, that was interesting as I wasn't aware that he'd played let alone scored.

What's your opinion of Liam Cooper, Scott McKenna and Jack Hendry's performances as LCB during Scotland's June internationals and how do you think Josh Doig might compare to them if he was involved as a backup to Kieran Tierney?

They can replicate Tierney in some ways but not his regular overlapping, and that's such a key part of our game that we can't/don't use when he's not there. Doig's confident, his dribbling is good, he's decent physically and good on the overlap. Still question marks over his crossing and passing, but having a runner from LCB would help the team get back to what they're good at. 

He's obviously not a Tierney talent, who Strachan of all people was confident of playing out of position against England at 20, but he could turn out to be an option that doesn't nullify us quite so much. 

I know he played left of a three for Hibs last season but not sure I saw any of the games he played there. 

[2426255]

7 hours ago, accies1874 said:

having a runner from LCB would help the team get back to what they're good at. 

I thought Hendry did this well in the Armenia away game.

Hendry was also there to offer support against aerial balls targeted against Greg Taylor although Taylor coped quite well without his help. 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by 2426255

[accies1874]

Given Alexander-Arnold's form and Klopp rotating his full-backs a wee bit more, Ramsay must be gutted as he'd almost certainly have got some minutes already this season if fit. 

[accies1874]

Josh Doig starting in the Stadio Olimpico at 5pm on BT Sports 2. 

[Jambomo]

4 hours ago, accies1874 said:

Josh Doig starting in the Stadio Olimpico at 5pm on BT Sports 2. 

How did he get on?

[accies1874]

How did he get on?

Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit

Can't talk about his performance without mentioning the match as a whole. Verona seem to play with a high-pressing man-marking system that almost always saw Doig push up into the LW position to mark Lazio's RB. The issue is that Sarri's football is pretty good at manipulating that kind of pressing and Doig was up against a rapid RB who also looked to drag him up the pitch for a midfield runner to get behind.

So it was a tough shift for him, especially when he had to get into a race with Lazio's RB but he handled that quite well. His use of the ball was sloppy (can't cross and inconsistent passing) which led to the first goal with a miskick from him on the halfway line. There were a few occasions where teammates were looking for a long pass in behind but you could tell he didn't trust himself to play it.

[Jambomo]

30 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit

Can't talk about his performance without mentioning the match as a whole. Verona seem to play with a high-pressing man-marking system that almost always saw Doig push up into the LW position to mark Lazio's RB. The issue is that Sarri's football is pretty good at manipulating that kind of pressing and Doig was up against a rapid RB who also looked to drag him up the pitch for a midfield runner to get behind.

So it was a tough shift for him, especially when he had to get into a race with Lazio's RB but he handled that quite well. His use of the ball was sloppy (can't cross and inconsistent passing) which led to the first goal with a miskick from him on the halfway line. There were a few occasions where teammates were looking for a long pass in behind but you could tell he didn't trust himself to play it.

Cheers. Sounds like a tough night but hopefully he keeps getting a chance there and improves.

[2426255]

53 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit

Can't talk about his performance without mentioning the match as a whole. Verona seem to play with a high-pressing man-marking system that almost always saw Doig push up into the LW position to mark Lazio's RB. The issue is that Sarri's football is pretty good at manipulating that kind of pressing and Doig was up against a rapid RB who also looked to drag him up the pitch for a midfield runner to get behind.

So it was a tough shift for him, especially when he had to get into a race with Lazio's RB but he handled that quite well. His use of the ball was sloppy (can't cross and inconsistent passing) which led to the first goal with a miskick from him on the halfway line. There were a few occasions where teammates were looking for a long pass in behind but you could tell he didn't trust himself to play it.

Your performance reviews are always quite detailed and the context is appreciated!

[2426255]

Really liked this written press article on Greg Taylor.

Quote

Greg’s playing out his skin. I obviously worked with him closely at Kilmarnock. He’s good.

When he moved to Celtic, he had some early criticism, but I know his character. He just dug in, learned a way to play and I know the current manager is very happy with him. He’s improving all the time Greg, which is great to see. I always thought he would. I remember quite early days after I took over at Kilmarnock. I took him all the way up to Ross County and left him on the bench. Stuart Findlay was playing left-back and got injured after half an hour. I sent Greg on and he did really well. I said to him after the game “Well done, that was good” and he said, “I’m not going back out the team again, gaffer” and he was right. He’s a good character.

That’s what you want. Players who are always willing to meet the challenge head on. Greg’s always done that. Even on his Scotland debut I threw him in against Belgium away. We lost the game but he acquitted himself really well against Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne. That’s just the type of player he is and I hope he can stay on the same level.

Steve Clarke

 

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/steve-clarke-lifts-lid-on-greg-taylors-celtic-rise-as-scotland-boss-recalls-kilmarnock-turning-point-3842126

Plus

Quote

It’s easier for Kieran to play there in terms of energy expended. You can control yourself a little bit more as a left centre back rather than going down the wing as a left wing back but that’s something the coaching staff and myself will discuss before deciding which way we’ll play.

Aaron’s at Brentford doing really well. I’ve seen him and he’s been good. He and Nathan Paterson at Everton are both playing week in, week out. Greg is on fire at Celtic. So I’ve got good options at full-back.

Steve Clarke

https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/21400288.greg-taylors-fire-celtic-man-contention-replace-liverpool-left-back-andy-robertson-scotland-side/

Edited September 14, 2022 by 2426255

[Quentin Taranbino]

Have been massively impressed with Hickey these last two games.

I was one of those (and I'll put my hand up) who doubted his ability to play on the right after predominantly being successful for Bologna on the left but he has settled in with Brentford and Scotland on the right with ease.

He doesn't quite have the drive and energy that Patterson brings but I think his passing and link up play is better.

Great option to have in the squad

[accies1874]

He's done well as a full-back. He's really different to the full-backs we usually see for Scotland as he's not particularly marauding but is next-level technically. His wee shimmies to get out of sticky situations and drive inside are delightful. You still need to work around his lack of direct creativity by giving folk to link with, but he's coming on well. 

The way he's developing, he looks destined for a top club very soon, but just need to see how he does across a full season in the Premier League. 

[MarkoRaj]

Seems to be a cursed position for us right now. 4 premier league full backs on the treatment table

Tbf Taylor has come on leaps and bounds under postecoglu and Ralston is pretty dependable. Hopefully at least one of Tierney or Hickey make the game on Wednesday though 

[Ro Sham Bo]

Patterson out for a maximum of 5 weeks according to Everton, so not nearly as bad as it might have been for him.

[accies1874]

Calvin Ramsay is now training with Liverpool's first team after his injury. Obviously don't know how close he is to playing, but they've got nine games in October so it'd be great if he's fit enough to get some minutes in there. Failing that, they have have a League Cup game against Derby at the start of November.

[Pie Of The Month]

Lovely goal from Doig.

 

 

[2426255]

4 hours ago, Pie Of The Month said:

Lovely goal from Doig.

 

 

Great goal, nice technique and control - reminds me of Tierney's volley against Ukraine that the keeper saved. Did he play well aside from his goal? Thanks for sharing.

[accies1874]

It's some job he has to do. He was definitely more reserved this time as Pereyra for Udinese was pushed really high on the right pinning Doig back, but he also often had to follow Pereyra or others around the box and into midfield. This can obviously be risky and I think he was at fault for the equaliser as he lost focus just for a split second and didn't switch his marking quick enough. It's a really tough system that will take a bit of getting used to, so you're gonna see mistakes like that. Other than that, I thought he mostly defended well. 

His carrying is brilliant and he's got a terrific engine, but his inability to cross is gonna annoy me. Needs to improve massively in that area. 

It's been a promising start though.