chunkygull wrote:agreed!
a professional footballer, playing in midfield especially, should be able to perform at least a minimum level of all the basic aspects of the game. to be a pro in whichever division is an exceptionally high standard and i can never understand it when a player is deemed unable to do certain basics, if they cant, then how the hell did they make it as a pro.
Exactly. One would expect a certain minimum level of all round ability from a professional player which marks them out as better than, for example and no insult intended, Western League (or whatever its called now) players.
Too many people seem to forget that as a L2 team we will mostly have players that are L2 standard. They will have parts of their game which are good enough for a higher level. Equally, their all round game will not be good enough for a higher level otherwise they would be playing there (or stepping up soon, see Sharpe, Thomas, Elliot etc etc).
To use Manse (who is an excellent pro IMO) as an example, no one can fault his tackling to win possession and getting his foot in to spoil opposing attacks, working box to box and as we saw a couple of seasons ago getting in the right position to find the back of the net regularly. If he could also ping a pinpoint 30 yard pass all the time as well, he wouldnt be playing at this level, he'd be a couple of levels higher. Its all about compromises in L2 so we will have players who dont have all the weapons in their locker.
You could equally use Howe as another prime example. If his all round game was good enough (ie curbing his temper and upping his workrate) as his ability to finish at times, he would be in the Championship
The manager, rightly or wrongly depending on your outlook, has decided the way he wants his team to play, and if that means he wants his CMs to be primarily physical ball winners with a lesser emphasis on the ability to ping a long pass then so be it.
Apathy Rules...............it's ok though, nobody's that fussed about it........