[Phil Whalley]

Originally Posted by football19

Interesting comment that Phil, "specialist fullbacks", is that so we conceed less goals or we score more goals?.Putting my impartial head on for a minute,this could be a good debate.
I personally feel its a mith that statement and most of the prem league fullbacks started out as wingers so they are obviously good attacking,but most can't defend.
England's two fullbacks,Cole and Johnson,are they really good defenders?,
With fullbacks have caught your eye both offensively and defensively in the last couple of seasons?
To me it's how the coaches want you to play that really counts,if they say stay back ,you do !

Hi Mr W

Definitely so that we are less vulnerable against sides who attack us with pace and width.

Agreed that there’s nothing wrong with asking players to develop some utility to their game, but only if it complements their natural playing strengths. I take your argument that many full-backs start out as wingers, but the likes of Cole (a very good defender) and Johnson (less so) have been playing full-back for years now, and those who convert successfully have at least some of the ingredients that make a good full-back.

The problem I highlighted with our squad is not just that we are asking players who have never played at the back to play there, but that they don’t have the assets in the locker to do the job. This isn’t a criticism of any given player – it’s hardly their fault that they’ve signed on as a forward and then look out of sorts at right-back or left midfield.

Also, by playing these lads out of position, we are compromising the effectiveness of the system. Take Lee Molyneux – incidentally (like Jacobson before him) an example of an attacker with the basic requisites to get by as a full-back. That left-midfield berth is made for him. He was our best creative player at Dagenham when he was given license to run at them. He does a good job for us at left-back, but consequently we struggle to get behind teams down the left as we don’t have any other left-sided players who can offer that combination of flair and work-rate that the system needs – what Rommy gives us down the right.

It’s frustrating because we have the makings of a good side, but I worry that we might pay for not plugging these obvious gaps.