[Albion] Dunk's low driving cross-field pass

[brightn'ove]

Just to play devils advocate, perhaps Dunks skills are not what England need?

We are moving away from the long ball style, so his beautiful raking passes are not needed.

And his last ditch blocks and tackles are classed by some as him 'not being in the correct position' to intercept the ball cleanly.

Paulo Maldini said “IF I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake.”

and Xabi Alonso said “I don’t think tackling is a quality. It is something you have to
resort to, not a characteristic of your game.

“How can that be a way of seeing the game? I just don’t understand football in
those terms.

“Tackling is a last resort, and you will need it, but it isn’t a quality to
aspire to, a definition.

“It’s hard to change because it’s so rooted in the English football culture,
but I don’t understand it.”

Those passes from dunk aren't long balls, they are pinpoint accurate laser passes. They sometimes barely go above head height.

 

[GT49er]

Those passes from dunk aren't long balls, they are pinpoint accurate laser passes. They sometimes barely go above head height.

There are still those who firmly believe that if the ball travels more than ten yards, and not on the ground, they are watching a version of Sunday morning park football.

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

If everyone could play like Paolo Maldini there'd be no need to quote him.

Funnily enough, when Dunk brings the ball out of defence, he does remind me of Maldini.

Looking at his stats on Sqwaka, comparing him with John Stones and Gary Cahill, he beats them both on interception stats, performing as many interceptions as the two of them put together. So Maldini would be impressed.

 

[Sheebo]

If so he is not far wrong

I'm mates with John Stones yes, he's in my wattsapp group and was the only one of my mates to rate himself higher than Dunk.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Funnily enough, when Dunk brings the ball out of defence, he does remind me of Maldini.

Looking at his stats on Sqwaka, comparing him with John Stones and Gary Cahill, he beats them both on interception stats, performing as many interceptions as the two of them put together. So Maldini would be impressed.

So he brings the ball out of defense like Maldini, makes more interceptions than England's two first choice defenders, throws himself in front of shots a la John Terry and Jamie Carragher and can ping inch perfect 50 yard passes. Southgate's a Palace **** isn't he?

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

So he brings the ball out of defense like Maldini, makes more interceptions than England's two first choice defenders, throws himself in front of shots a la John Terry and Jamie Carragher and can ping inch perfect 50 yard passes. Southgate's a Palace **** isn't he?

Yes he is.

But looking through all of Dunks stats, the one that stands out against him is fouls committed. This may be down to the amount of defending he is forced to do, but it is almost certainly going to count against him. In these days of forensic analytics, giving away free kicks around the box is a big black mark in the negative column. However, I do think he has improved massively in this regard, but he is still way behind Stones and Cahill when it comes to fouls.

 

[GT49er]

Funnily enough, when Dunk brings the ball out of defence, he does remind me of Maldini.

Looking at his stats on Sqwaka, comparing him with John Stones and Gary Cahill, he beats them both on interception stats, performing as many interceptions as the two of them put together. So Maldini would be impressed.

Not trying to downgrade Dunk's performances this season - he's done excellently - but you have to accept that stat might be because he's had twice as much defending to do compared to the other two.
Anyway, according to Sky, Southgate has said he knows what his world cup squad will be, so that's almost certainly it for Dunk and England, for this season anyway.

Edit: hadn't noticed he post immediately above.