[scottsati]

do you reckon its a good idea to mess with players, their positions, capabilities etc?? was thinking about rafael, the guy is fantastic going forward yet defensively way off...now should we try and work on this part of his game maybe dulling his attacking senses or should we maybe consider moving him further up the park and letting his natural insticts take over while playing someone behind him.

he one example there are others, rooney for example been played in different positions. i think sometimes it can succeed and we can change a player for the better, sometimes i think it goes t**s up thoug- think messing alan smitha around was an umintigated disaster. giggs moving inside wasn't anything radical just a reflection of his age and seemed like a natural thing , so should we tinker to much with players positions and capabilities? does it work or not?

 

[red dave]

If you refer back to my thread where I qouted a formation I thought would benefit us you will see I have Rafael and Evra futher forward than 3 central defenders.

This would allow them to bomb forward without worrying about there defence rolls so much. It would also free up Ronaldo to cause mayhem on either wing or central postion .

 

[peterswellman]

Rafael is still a young lad. He'll learn a lot from Gary Neville and has said in the past Neville is always directing him where he should be positioned. I think he'll be a great servant to the club. Leave him at full-back.

I'm not a huge fan of changing peoples positions, unless you have no choice(eg Keano, Giggs). It's difficult to teach a old dog new tricks. Look at Anderson though, he used to be a striker an out-and-out attacking midfielder. It's crazy to think that, look at his shooting.

 

[-zuco-]

I think it can have some success, but it's quite rare in my opinion. Thierry Henry is the best example I can think of as a success. He played as a winger for Juventus, then Arsene Wenger bought him and turned him into a world class centre forward.

I don't think we should mess with Rafael though, his attacking is great, but we've also seen some great defensive play from him. He's still very young and will learn a lot from Neville and Brown, positional sense, when to attack, when to defend etc. When he improves his defending he'll be one of the best attacking full backs in the world.

 

[peterswellman]

I don't think we should mess with Rafael though, his attacking is great, but we've also seen some great defensive play from him. He's still very young and will learn a lot from Neville and Brown, positional sense, when to attack, when to defend etc. When he improves his defending he'll be one of the best attacking full backs in the world.

He'll learn alot from Evra too. Evra imo is the best full-back in the world right now. Guy is brilliant, brilliant signing for us.

Evra>*

 

[-zuco-]

He'll learn alot from Evra too. Evra imo is the best full-back in the world right now. Guy is brilliant, brilliant signing for us.

Evra>*

It baffles me how he isn't first choice left back for France

 

[peterswellman]

It baffles me how he isn't first choice left back for France

Who starts there? That's just wrong.

 

[piazza]

It baffles me how he isn't first choice left back for France

Domenench or whatever his name is, picks guys based on Astrology and stuff like that half the time.

 

[-zuco-]

Who starts there? That's just wrong.

Abidal usually starts. they also have Clichy who is another quality left back, but not better than Evra.

 

[red dave]

Abidal usually starts. they also have Clichy who is another quality left back, but not better than Evra.

Evra was first choice in the summer Im sure they have been playing Abidal in the centre and Evra left back .

I read before that Clichy cant get a lookin for france.

 

[peterswellman]

Clichy or Abidal aren't a patch on Paddy. He has it all.

 

[MsUnited]

Having versatile players only allow the team to alter and change the formations and be able to change the whole aspect of the game.

 

[peterswellman]

Having versatile players only allow the team to alter and change the formations and be able to change the whole aspect of the game.

Versatile players are one thing but that's not really the poing here.

 

[MsUnited]

Versatile players are one thing but that's not really the poing here.

"do you reckon its a good idea to mess with players, their positions, capabilities etc??"

Isn`t that called versatility?

 

[peterswellman]

"do you reckon its a good idea to mess with players, their positions, capabilities etc??"

Isn`t that called versatility?

I thought we we're more looking down the route of changing their positions, rather than adding more versatility. Like for example, we discussed Rafael, if we were to move him to winger, it would be pointless reverting him ever back to full-back. His positional sense would be totally gone.

Same goes for Anderson, you ever think he'll play striker for United?

 

[scottsati]

I

Same goes for Anderson, you ever think he'll play striker for United?

lol for a laugh please let that happen

 

[peterswellman]

lol for a laugh please let that happen

A little bit of me would die inside if that happened.

 

[MsUnited]

I thought we we're more looking down the route of changing their positions, rather than adding more versatility. Like for example, we discussed Rafael, if we were to move him to winger, it would be pointless reverting him ever back to full-back. His positional sense would be totally gone.

Same goes for Anderson, you ever think he'll play striker for United?

Maybe not a striker, but being a versatile player means being able to perform a wide variety of skills and should that do any harm to a young player like Ando?

 

[peterswellman]

Maybe not a striker, but being a versatile player means being able to perform a wide variety of skills and should that do any harm to a young player like Ando?

Would prefer him just to actually work on his shooting rather than any other skill. Have you seen him shoot? It needs some amount of work.

 

[MsUnited]

Would prefer him just to actually work on his shooting rather than any other skill. Have you seen him shoot? It needs some amount of work.

Yes, agree. And being an attacking midfielder makes it more and more important for him to improve his shooting. Scoring his first goal will make him more and more confident in front of the net, it`s a matter of when will this happen. Hopefully soon enough.
Anyways, back to the subject; Versatility is nice to have on players, but having a specified role which you are brilliant in is a must. You cannot be Jack of all trades, i don`t believe that makes a successful player. Having your role whilst you're able to perform in different ones when needed, makes a whole player.
Just my opinion.