[Albion] Adam Webster is not a defender: discuss

[Justice]

Can’t ever remember Duffy making runs through the middle of the park like Webster does Accommodating White and Webster seems to be the issue in certain games.

 

[Wellesley]

He flattered to deceive after the restart and I thought he'd turned the corner, but I'm with Super Steve on this. On recent form he's back to being a headless chicken. He looks a bag of nerves and when he goes on one of his runs out of defence, so am I. His passing has been dire for a supposedly ball playing centre back. I'd be much happier with him on the bench. Burn or Veltman would be preferable to me.

 

[keaton]

Then perhaps you shouldn't have started with a load of lies that you'll never back away from.

Webster on a par with Duffy at carrying the ball out - come on.
He only been dribbled past twice this season.
He's 36 accurate long passes to his name.
Over 500 accurate tippy tappy ones.
Nobody is scoring goals this season but he has 3 to his name from last.

This thread wouldn't exist if the team had beaten Southampton, and you want to be taken seriously.

While I agree with most of that, during the last few games but especially Soton, I did think Webster's form was seriously affecting his confidence as he looked pretty lost on the ball and was bringing back memories of Gus and El-abd when teams were very happy to let him have the ball on the halfway line as they knew he couldn't do anything

 

[redoubtable seagull]

He’s a perfectly good defender for a team sitting 16th in the table.

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

How do some dimwits not see it’s our attacking that’s the problem?

0 goals vs Burnley
1 goal vs West Brom
1 vs Palace
2 vs Manchester United (I include this because we should have scored 10 that day)


If you struggle to score 1 goal a game, you’ll find it very difficult to win games in this league. Our shots against/chances given to the opposition are very low, yet somehow it’s our defenders faults?

You're half right, it's not so much attacking but specifically goal scoring. Our attacking stats are fine but we are not getting the goals our performances deserve.

This is down to the whole team. Last season Dunk and Webster scored 3 goals each. This season they have 0.

Unfortunately we score fewer and concede more than our attacking and defending stats predict. Not a good combination.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

Then perhaps you shouldn't have started with a load of lies that you'll never back away from.

Webster on a par with Duffy at carrying the ball out - come on.
He only been dribbled past twice this season.
He's 36 accurate long passes to his name.
Over 500 accurate tippy tappy ones.
Nobody is scoring goals this season but he has 3 to his name from last.

This thread wouldn't exist if the team had beaten Southampton, and you want to be taken seriously.

Putting all of Webster's impressive stats aside for a moment, the bare facts are that we are terrible at defending set pieces and our CB's pose no threat in the opposition penalty area. Nothing is going to change in that respect, as the manager will stay loyal to three players, irrespective of loss of form or particular flaws. We now have a more lightweight side that struggles to contain the muscular threats posed by big opposition CB's and we keep losing out at set pieces.
We will struggle this season because of this and our lack of real firepower upfront.

 

[Lethargic]

I can sort of understand the OPs view although I don't agree. To me Webster does have one major failing in so much as his style of play, he rarely looks comfortable or in control which then gives an impression he make mistake when he doesn't or exaggerates the time he does.
He is a decent player but doesn't necessarily look like one (if that make sense), a bit like Barnes.

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[Seasider78]

Since White and Veltman came in we have not found the right combination or played a consistent back line which must make it hard to build understanding and settle in a position.

Need to decide who the 3 are and which side they operate best at and stick with it.

One of the main reasons the dunk and Duffy combination worked so well is they had built up a solid understanding of each other’s games we need to develop that same understanding with a settled 3

 

[Mo Gosfield]

This is not the time to be digging out our players.

Well....after our worst league start for some time, its only natural that some fans want to discuss and examine where we can improve. The OP wanted to provoke a discussion about a particular player. Nothing wrong in that. We all see players differently. If we were sitting in the top half of the table, I would agree with your comment but football is all about opinions and we aren't exactly ripping up trees at the moment.
Just to ruffle a few feathers a bit more, is Adam Webster really much better than Connor Goldson?

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Thought he was our best defender after the first lockdown. Started the season really well, has had a slight downturn in form recently, but not dreadful by any means.

He is better with the ball than Duffy, but IMO is not great at marking and when faced with any physicality.

Overall good player with ongoing potential for me.


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[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Since White and Veltman came in we have not found the right combination or played a consistent back line which must make it hard to build understanding and settle in a position.

Need to decide who the 3 are and which side they operate best at and stick with it.

One of the main reasons the dunk and Duffy combination worked so well is they had built up a solid understanding of each other’s games we need to develop that same understanding with a settled 3

Agree with this. I think we've far too many central defenders and it's causing GPot problems

Dunk seems immune from criticism which is interesting

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[Neville's Breakfast]

Include stats rather than just your prejudged, prejudiced, anti-Webster pro-Duffy view then ? The debate took the route you started it on.......

In one sense you are right. However stats do not tell the whole story and fans (and management) can form an impression basis the confidence that player inspires in the watcher. That can be something as simple as how they gel with and add to the team as a whole. In Webster’s case I like what he brings and feel the individual errors will decline in number just as they did with Dunk. If [MENTION=13265]Super Steve Earle[/MENTION] has a different feeling about the player I don’t think stats alone are enough to make the claim that he is wrong. I guess what I am saying is that OP ; I disagree with you (rather than saying you are wrong) but there is a perfectly good Webster thread that pops up every time he makes a mistake. I do think these negative thread titles are unnecessary. You could have phrased it as a question regarding our best defensive combination rather than aim it at one player. The same goes for the Solly March thread and that one is particularly ludicrous given that Solly has been one of our best players this season.

 

[dazzer6666]

In one sense you are right. However stats do not tell the whole story and fans (and management) can form an impression basis the confidence that player inspires in the watcher. That can be something as simple as how they gel with and add to the team as a whole. In Webster’s case I like what he brings and feel the individual errors will decline in number just as they did with Dunk. If [MENTION=13265]Super Steve Earle[/MENTION] has a different feeling about the player I don’t think stats alone are enough to make the claim that he is wrong. I guess what I am saying is that OP ; I disagree with you (rather than saying you are wrong) but there is a perfectly good Webster thread that pops up every time he makes a mistake. I do think these negative thread titles are unnecessary. You could have phrased it as a question regarding our best defensive combination rather than aim it at one player. The same goes for the Solly March thread and that one is particularly ludicrous given that Solly has been one of our best players this season.

Agreed......the OP was a directly critical, negative piece. You’re absolutely right re stats, but they do help paint the picture so ignoring them completely (presumably because they don’t fit the thread narrative) doesn’t help any ‘debate’.

Would love to know how these threads make the players feel.

 

[worthingseagull]

"Adam Webster is not a defender: discuss"

Well he most certainly is a defender, just not a fantastic one (and definitely not a £20million record breaking one)

 

[The Brighton Buzz]

If we continue with 3 CB’s, I’d like to see Potter try Veltman, White and Dunk.

Agree with this. Webster is going thru a bad dip in form which coincides with his move to left side of defence. Just think that he is not as comfortable there and I am surprised that Potter has not picked this up. He will come back in favour with fans as he is a useful squad player, but at the moment it should be White Veltman and Dunk.

 

[durrington gull]

On current form, White, Dunk and Veltman should be ahead of him.

This with bells on, must be dropped to the bench on current form

 

[RandyWanger]

... after he has a clean sheet and saves 3 penalties...

If he does, I'll donate £100 to AITC

 

[Biscuit]

I really like Adam Webster, but he's very different to any centre-half I've seen at Brighton. By that I mean he appears to be a confidence player - a trait you'd usually associate with strikers or tricky wingers.

He's clearly good with the ball at his feet, and has a great footballing brain which he doesn't get enough credit for. It's obvious by the way reads the game and he can carry the ball forward so effectively.

I think the confidence element comes in because of his ability on the ball. He wants to pass and move, pick up space and be available etc - but if it doesn't work out, or nerves make his pass a bit short, you can see his head drop. I'm sure Potter will sort this out. He's still relatively young for a defender and I think he'll become a bit more no-nonsense as he matures. There's a time to play and a time to hoof it into row Z.

 

[Marshy]

Good player. Like him a lot.

 

[JBizzle]

I really like Adam Webster, but he's very different to any centre-half I've seen at Brighton. By that I mean he appears to be a confidence player - a trait you'd usually associate with strikers or tricky wingers.

He's clearly good with the ball at his feet, and has a great footballing brain which he doesn't get enough credit for. It's obvious by the way reads the game and he can carry the ball forward so effectively.

I think the confidence element comes in because of his ability on the ball. He wants to pass and move, pick up space and be available etc - but if it doesn't work out, or nerves make his pass a bit short, you can see his head drop. I'm sure Potter will sort this out. He's still relatively young for a defender and I think he'll become a bit more no-nonsense as he matures. There's a time to play and a time to hoof it into row Z.

I didn't think the Southampton game was his best, but I did wonder if the fans were a part of that? It's not a criticism of the fans by the way, just an observation that his best games for us have all been post lockdown and pre-fans returning. More than most he seems to see his confidence drain away as soon he makes a wayward pass and gets steadily more ambitious after