Mutts Nuts
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El-Abd or Dunk ?... you decide
- Thread starter Marshy
- Start date
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- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,645
El Abd & Greer, as it will be for the opening game unless injuries dictate otherwise.
Dunk came in last season and started fantastically, he had a few real quality games and we were all raving about him. His form tailed off slightly after September though, coincidentally or not just as the team went through a bad patch. That was when his lack of experience showed and he made a few mistakes. He also picked up an awful lot of bookings- one or two were unlucky, but most were inevitable and the result of being caught out by more experienced players.
None of that means he won't come back stronger and turn out to be an excellent player, but I know I was relieved when El Abd was fit again, as I thought Dunk needed a break.
The other thing that puzzles me on here is people raving about Dunk's distribution. Sure, he's confident on the ball and doesn't tend to give it away at the back (neither does El Abd), but he has far too much a tendency to go for a Gerrard style long pass forward, which is almost certain to concede possession with our midget strike force. I found it immensely frustrating last season at the number of times Dunk whacked it forward when he could have looked for a player close to him. I'd have thought that would have influenced Poyet's decision to go with El Abd as much as anything.
For what it's worth I think Grant Hall could be better than either in the end, and the idea of Elphick in the Championship frightens me a little, as he was easily our weakest centre half in League One.
Dunk came in last season and started fantastically, he had a few real quality games and we were all raving about him. His form tailed off slightly after September though, coincidentally or not just as the team went through a bad patch. That was when his lack of experience showed and he made a few mistakes. He also picked up an awful lot of bookings- one or two were unlucky, but most were inevitable and the result of being caught out by more experienced players.
None of that means he won't come back stronger and turn out to be an excellent player, but I know I was relieved when El Abd was fit again, as I thought Dunk needed a break.
The other thing that puzzles me on here is people raving about Dunk's distribution. Sure, he's confident on the ball and doesn't tend to give it away at the back (neither does El Abd), but he has far too much a tendency to go for a Gerrard style long pass forward, which is almost certain to concede possession with our midget strike force. I found it immensely frustrating last season at the number of times Dunk whacked it forward when he could have looked for a player close to him. I'd have thought that would have influenced Poyet's decision to go with El Abd as much as anything.
For what it's worth I think Grant Hall could be better than either in the end, and the idea of Elphick in the Championship frightens me a little, as he was easily our weakest centre half in League One.