10 Jan 2025 18:36:48
Decent piece from Dylan Penketh today regarding Alvaro Carreras.
He does focus on the much-overlooked importance of balance, which is especially important for a team that seeks to apply an aggressive press.
The more assertive the press, the greater the need for the team to act and react as a unit - something better understood and delivered when the lines and individual dynamics are clearer.
For example - Dalot on the left.
When on the right, he can rely upon his instincts to 'sniff out' a movement in play where he might make himself rather useful. However, he's a right side allrounder - decent in defence and decent in attack, but not particularly exceptional (in the context of elite-level football) at either. That simply decent level is reduced on the left side because he's not got his head around it and that does affect the balance.
Now, I'll explain my perspective.
When I first met my wife's extended family in Spain, they found it hilarious that my driving there was so clumsy - it's not much better now, just a little less pathetic.
Just imagine how keen I am when they come to visit us ???.
For anyone not familiar with driving on the wrong side, your instincts stumble you through with the grace of an Autumn Budget - it's just horrible.
Now if cars on a dual carriageway were players, you'd see the spaces and read the flow, but everything you do when leaving the sliproad will feel unnatural - weird even - meaning that your instincts will be stunted and everything happens just that tiny bit slower.
That tiniest little bit of slowness might impact the balance of the traffic flow - the very same applies to our team when a RB is playing LWB.
It's really not difficult to understand - a LWB should absolutely be the priority signing and Alvaro is the 'no-brainer' option.
10 Jan 2025 21:23:24
Drive on the wrong side for long enough and you become natural at it, especially if you start at an early age.
10 Jan 2025 22:19:35
It's kind of obvious that we are lacking a natural left sided wingback.
Even those who need braille can see it.
Alvaro Fernandez would be a fairly cheap and obvious fix, as long as he wants to rejoin that is.
Although the club might have an eye on a player with higher potential that they feel is attainable.
11 Jan 2025 03:25:21
But yes we do need a natural.
However I still maintain that in the modern age all players should at the very least be two footed if not naturally left or right sided.
11 Jan 2025 12:11:08
Like Antony!
11 Jan 2025 12:18:02
Keefy
Where would the line be drawn on that one? Also, how does one qualify what two-footedness is?
Are you suggesting that kids should learn to be ambidextrous as soon as they can through the respective education structures or do you think that the academies should impress the principle of muscle intuition upon older kids who have already been the subject of development of a dominant side?
I used to be almost entirely left-handed, but could play (equally poorly) with both feet. I worked on my own muscle intuition when I learnt my core skills relevant to Carpentry and Joinery - ambidexterity is very useful for many trades - but it took many years for me to attain a decent level of dexterity and legible writing ability with my right hand.
Now, given that I have since developed a decent degree of ambidexterity, one might think that using my right hand would feel as natural as using my left, but no, it doesn't. As much as using my right hand is now little fuss, it still doesn't feel as natural. It's difficult to articulate, but there's just that little tiny degree of subconscious hesitance that will always be there. That does sometimes affect, in very small measure, quality, speed and the general flow of task performance. I've never tried to encourage any of my team to develop ambidexterity because I'd rather they'd focus on developing their more natural skills.
To actually maximise the potential of true ambidexterity, the only real solution is developing it from early ages and, unfortunately, that would add 'unnecessary' stress upon a teacher's ability to educate the kids on life's more essential things.
I concur that, in the modern age, elite-level players should be more two-footed, but I believe they themselves should look to put the hard yards in for that gain. If those players don't decide to do that, but excel with other things, is it really so productive to focus on improving a very difficult weakness at the expense of time devoted to developing the abilities that are more natural to them?
11 Jan 2025 17:47:23
I never understood why you drive on the wrong side in GB.
11 Jan 2025 18:33:03
Round pegs in round holes. It's a problem we have had at Utd for years. When Shaw is fit he adds an extra dimension to our play on the left wing precisely because he is naturally left footed.
11 Jan 2025 21:30:49
Yeah that’s a bit far Ork.
I merely suggest that the selection criteria should expect a certain level of ability to play with two feet.
It is almost universally accepted that unless you are above a certain height or can run a certain speed then you will most likely be overlooked. Unless you are exceptional that is pretty much the case. A similar expectation could be put on ability to use both feet. Jeepers it’s what we do, kick a ball!
Antony is the very case in point. Shocking that someone who is bang average with one foot gets a gig.