[Brighton] RDZ post-match

[Weststander]

Unfortunately, part of me is starting to think this too. Hopefully I’m wrong, but he seems different the last month or so and some of this interviews have seemed a bit moody and with hidden messages. Hope he’ll cheer up and get back seemingly to his old self when the squad starts to return to fitness.

The same here, to me RDZ doesn’t show the unwavering exuberance and passion for our football that he did. A catalogue of injury setbacks likely to be the reason, and then we didn’t acquire any like for like replacements at the beginning of the month. I watched him on Monday evening, he was fairly passive, not demonstrably living through our errors in play. A quiet bench, it was O’Neil performing all the RDZ-esque antics.

 

[Weststander]

Gilmour is a defensive midfielder in my eyes.

But he's not got the profile of a 'ballwinner' like Caicedo and Bissouma which confuses people a bit. But looking at the top teams in the division the way Rice, Rodri, Enzo, Mac Allister, Tielemans etc play is not so different.

Basically what I'm getting at is people are overly obsessed with Caicedo

The first 4 there are fantastic ball winners and shield the back 4, Rodri possibly the best at that in world. MacA asked to sit deep this season. They also have a great psss.

Gilmour doesn’t have the attributes to protect our defence. He’s creative and sets a rhythm.

 

[Justice]

Italians are passionate people we often see the gaffer either on a high or a low after games and by the next presser he’s calmed down again.
All this talk of him moving on he’s not exactly barn storming wins it’s been very average in the league.

 

[Sheebo]

Strange response. The guy is a moron. Drink driving is one thing, but driving to pick up a mate who has just been nicked for drink driving whilst you’re drunk yourself isn’t the smartest thing is it? And I might not be perfect but I have never done this…..or wiped my arse with a twenty pound notes for that matter.

Only strange to you after your previous posts at everyone who dares speak their mind, it all just seem strange.

1) non story JOKE probably:
“The photo was taken in the privacy of my home around eight months ago as a joke to wind up a mate, who I had just won a personal bet with,” Ridgewell said.

2) It doesn’t sound like he was drunk. Went to help a mate, may have had a drink and thought he was under the limit. Admittedly didn’t do breathalyser and US law is just the road side tests they do - so maybe was close. Case was dropped.

The above are not the same as your narrative and don’t make the bloke a complete twat - they’re both out of context with the stories you’ve made. Be nicer and don’t judge everyone

 

[Sheebo]

Do you think so? I’ve always thought he looked moody and a bit unhappy in interviews. Thought he was just going for some Italian mean guy style, he generally looks happier when you see stuff like photos from training ets.

I hope not but I have a niggle. I may be wrong, or it’s staring us all right in the face - hopefully the former…!

 

[chaileyjem]

The first 4 there are fantastic ball winners and shield the back 4, Rodri possibly the best at that in world. MacA asked to sit deep this season. They also have a great psss.

Gilmour doesn’t have the attributes to protect our defence. He’s creative and sets a rhythm.

Because he’s a different type of player or because he’s not , in your view , up there with some of the best midfielders in the world (fair enough) still doesn’t mean he’s not a defensive midfielder.

That’s where he plays - 15 starts this season with Gross - or are we playing without one. ?

 

[macbeth]

Because he’s a different type of player or because he’s not , in your view , up there with some of the best midfielders in the world (fair enough) still doesn’t mean he’s not a defensive midfielder.

That’s where he plays - 15 starts this season with Gross - or are we playing without one. ?

think everyone’s arguing semantics here when that’s clearly not the overall point. take the iconic barca team of the late 00’s and early 10’s, for example. gilmour is very much our xavi, i think the point being made is that we’re very clearly missing our busquets.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Only strange to you after your previous posts at everyone who dares speak their mind, it all just seem strange.

1) non story JOKE probably:
“The photo was taken in the privacy of my home around eight months ago as a joke to wind up a mate, who I had just won a personal bet with,” Ridgewell said.

2) It doesn’t sound like he was drunk. Went to help a mate, may have had a drink and thought he was under the limit. Admittedly didn’t do breathalyser and US law is just the road side tests they do - so maybe was close. Case was dropped.

The above are not the same as your narrative and don’t make the bloke a complete twat - they’re both out of context with the stories you’ve made. Be nicer and don’t judge everyone

It wasn’t this, more the snide and totally unnecessary last sentence you typed. As you say, be nicer.

PS case was dropped due to a procedural technicality not because he was under the limit.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Because he’s a different type of player or because he’s not , in your view , up there with some of the best midfielders in the world (fair enough) still doesn’t mean he’s not a defensive midfielder.

That’s where he plays - 15 starts this season with Gross - or are we playing without one. ?

Look at the stats I posted above. A defensive midfielder by definition should win duels, screen the defence and contribute with defensive actions. Gilmour is being asked to do this but it is not his natural game. He’s a deep lying playmaker being asked to double up as a defensive midfielder.

In fact, look at how he compares to Baleba who has the skill set of a defensive midfielder but doesn’t have the technical ability of Gilmour.

 

[sydney]

i obviously missed something and am missing something ....loads of teams missing players due to 2 international tournaments and then when it looks like Sima might be a good recall he goes and tears a quad which is not good , speaking from experience thats 6 months min....so no wonder he's frustrated , what is the DUI bickering about..?

 

[Weststander]

Because he’s a different type of player or because he’s not , in your view , up there with some of the best midfielders in the world (fair enough) still doesn’t mean he’s not a defensive midfielder.

That’s where he plays - 15 starts this season with Gross - or are we playing without one. ?

Yes. Instead going for a fluid CM.

Unless Baleba or Dahoud play, I think Milner has played there eg Luton second half.

 

[The Fits]

Strictly speaking inverted wingers don't necessarily play on the opposite wing to their dominant foot. An inverted winger is someone who starts in (or at least moves into) a more central position. So if you split the pitch widthways into 5 sections a traditional winger will start wide in 1 and 5 whereas inverted wingers are more likely to take up 2 and 4.
It simply means a winger that is comfortable coming further in field than you'd expect from a traditional 4-4-2 bred player. (Remember back in the day a winger was literally a runner, trying to get as wide as possible and beat their full back.) There's no reason why a right footed player can't do that from the right. Obviously it creates different problems for full backs- you'll want to encourage a left footed right winger to go wide whereas a right footed player playing in an inverted way will look to cut inside as much as possible but always has the option to take the ball out wide. A truly exceptional footballer playing on the wing of their dominant foot could create even more problems- they'll be looking to cut inside but the full back also knows they can skin them out wide and delivery crosses.
Then there's inside forwards. The position where a lot of the best players of the last few decades have played. Salah is obviously the outstanding example in the Prem. Clearly the focus is on his goal scoring contribution over everything else.
I think that we think RDZ is tied to this idea of wingers playing on the opposite side because up until his injury March and Mitoma were the outstanding players in those positions and are both essentially elite players there. But we've seen Lamptey often coming on as a much more traditional winger on the right, Adingra has looked excellent on the right, and Facundo plays a far more orthodox IW role, essentially adding numbers in the middle of the pitch.

Anyway, the point of all this waffle is that RDZ is more flexible than most. He doesn't seem to see players being fixed to any one position (compare it to Liverpool or Arsenal where you can pretty much pick their team and the players roles).
Whether or not he prefers inverted wingers, traditional wingers, inside forwards, left footed, right footed, that's not really the point. What we are missing is players in those positions who are genuinely comfortable there. Players who make the correct decision. Players who can create out wide, score coming in field and (probably) most importantly have pace (or in March's case the ability to beat the last man).
What we need right now is one of those players. A March, a Mitoma, an Adingra, probably an Enciso and possibly a Sarmiento. Any of those 5 right now on either flank would make us a far more dangerous team.
Given at least two of them are back soonish I'm not sure it's the priority RDZ seems to think. We can't have a team full of wingers. We just have to ride this spell of injuries and internationals out. Come February things will look a lot healthier.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

It wasn’t this, more the snide and totally unnecessary last sentence you typed. As you say, be nicer.

PS case was dropped due to a procedural technicality not because he was under the limit.

I recall also that Liam Ridgewell is mates and business partners, with John Terry.

 

[Weststander]

Look at the stats I posted above. A defensive midfielder by definition should win duels, screen the defence and contribute with defensive actions. Gilmour is being asked to do this but it is not his natural game. He’s a deep lying playmaker being asked to double up as a defensive midfielder.

In fact, look at how he compares to Baleba who has the skill set of a defensive midfielder but doesn’t have the technical ability of Gilmour.

Gilmour on that graphic is offering next to nothing on duels and defensive actions.

A different game in many respects to Rodri, Rice, Endo and (2023/24) MacA.

 

[Sheebo]

It wasn’t this, more the snide and totally unnecessary last sentence you typed. As you say, be nicer.

PS case was dropped due to a procedural technicality not because he was under the limit.

Yes - view the Barton thread and you’ll remember why you get treated as you treat others who dare voice an opinion different from you. That’s why out of context my response looked unnecessary eh…

 

[The Fits]

Like whom ?

I'd imagine the charismatic Will Still, very impressive duo of Rob Edwards and Kieran McKenna and the superstar Reuben Amiron are all being looked at as part of a very big list. I think one thing we can be sure of is that when RDZ does leave(and I don't expect that to be soon) there will be a very impressive and well researched list to choose from.

 

[The Fits]

And Gilmour is not a defensive midfielder. He's a playmaker. He wants to be on the ball dictating play, making forward passes NOT having to worry about making tackles.

 

[rogersix]

He is clearly unhappy. But he's toned it down now. Feels like he's resigned to the fact that the club can't match his ambitions. Bit of a shame. Hopefully he gives us a chance in the summer to add some more of the quality he wants. But I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves.

Always look on the bright side Dwayner!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I recall also that Liam Ridgewell is mates and business partners, with John Terry.

That's a major red flag right there

 

[Reddleman]

Seeing West Ham sign Kevin Phillips is another reminder of how weak we are in centre midfield. They now have him, JWP, Soucek and Alvarez. Four really solid experience midfielders.

We have Gross and Gilmour . Baleba isn’t ready and Dahoud is completely out of the picture.

It’s no wonder RDZ is feeling a touch irritable.