Chris Wilder on defensive experimenting and making most of Dael Fry's strengths [Gazette]

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Chris Wilder on defensive shuffling and experimenting and making the most of Dael Fry's strengths​

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Chris Wilder wants his back three to be flexible to move into the various different roles, which is why we saw plenty of shuffling among the centre-backs in Wednesday night's defeat to Barnsley.

Dael Fry and Paddy McNair made their first starts of the new campaign alongside Anfernee Dijksteel in a backline that, personnel-wise at least, was more akin to what we'd become used to seeing last season. But tactically it started differently, with Dijksteel in the centre of the three and Fry to the left.

Throughout the summer Wilder has been clear in his aspirations to have more balance by fielding a left-footer on that side of the back three. As such, Fry has had to sit on the bench for the first two league games, while Marc Bola has played the left-sided role with new signing Darragh Lenihan preferred in the centre for his leadership and orchestrating abilities.

In the cup clash with Barnsley, Fry started on the left, then switched briefly to the right, before eventually settling back into the central role that he played so often last term. And with a key game against Sheffield United coming for which any new recruits are unlikely, as well as other unique challenges Boro will face over the course of the season, Wilder admitted the cup game against Barnsley was an ideal opportunity to do some experimenting.

Asked about it after, he said: “Dael can play left and played there a bit during pre-season. Anf can play left and right, and Paddy has played right tonight and left all last season. They’re versatile players, and I thought their play and their attitude was really good.

"It sometimes doesn’t help Dael from the middle to get out of defence because it can expose him from a defensive point of view and makes him defend one versus one. His strengths are: on the ball he’s fabulous, he’s totally committed, he didn’t lose a header all night… but you also want him to get better at certain aspects.

"We want Anf to get better with the ball too, so that’s why he played through the middle. You know what you get with Paddy. We’re open to flipping it around, and they might have to do that if we have certain situations we have to deal with."

The positives of balance are seen more when Boro are in possession and attacking, with the issue of stronger foot not one that massively impacts them when defending. With a stronger opponent in Sheffield United to come on Sunday, it will be interesting to see if Wilder sticks with Bola for the balance, or looks to shore up his backline with Fry.
 
all well and good having versatility in defence but thats not the problem at the moment, we cant go into the sheff utd game with McGree partnering Howson in midfield he must change that, even if his options are limited. We will get battered against a really strong midfield in sheff utd if he plays mcgree centrally, he needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat tactically, but I am not sure he is capable.
 
all well and good having versatility in defence but thats not the problem at the moment, we cant go into the sheff utd game with McGree partnering Howson in midfield he must change that, even if his options are limited. We will get battered against a really strong midfield in sheff utd if he plays mcgree centrally, he needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat tactically, but I am not sure he is capable.

There are absolutely no other options in midfield, unless you count McNair.
 
yup they're a good side we have to have our best defenders on the pitch McNair on the left, Fry central and Lenihan on the right would be my thinking
Give Dijksteel a go at DCM?

I sort of assumed McNair and Bola coming off early meant they are most likely to feature on Sunday?
 
Someone mentioned at the game that Bola came off with an injury.
Ah, I didn't realise that. not a huge loss, he's not been brilliant and you would assume McNair will start then. Leaves us even lighter on the bench though. I assume Bilongo will step up to cover McNair and Giles.
 
Ah, I didn't realise that. not a huge loss, he's not been brilliant and you would assume McNair will start then. Leaves us even lighter on the bench though. I assume Bilongo will step up to cover McNair and Giles.
Is Bola likely to be out - or was he taken off as a precaution?
 
yup they're a good side we have to have our best defenders on the pitch McNair on the left, Fry central and Lenihan on the right would be my thinking
I'd go Lenihan central, Mcnair RCB and Fry LCB. With Lenihan and Mcnair, that is their optimum positions in Wilders formation and tactics. With Fry at LCB yes you do lose something going forward and in possession, but against sheff utd and given our start to the season i think its important to get a solid as possible base from those 3 centre backs.

This season there is also the added benefit of having Giles as LWB which should lighten the load on the overlapping left centre back to be a threat going forward.
 
I'm only hoping it's a bit of kidology. He talked about Watmore's injuries pre Barnsley then played him
I think he played him because the league cup is meaningless for him, he is more interested in keeping his league players fresh and injury free. Watmore will not start on Sunday
 
With Lenihan and Mcnair, that is their optimum positions in Wilders formation and tactics.
It probably is best for Wilders tactics, but maybe not for their strengths. It's clear to me off the first couple of games that Lenihan liikes to be aggressive and attack the ball. He isn't the type to be calm, read the game and cover for his LCB and RCB, he's far more likely to want to get stuck in and attack the ball. You can't have your central, covering CB doing that. If he's going to be central he needs to learn to be a bit more passive and read the game better. As a RCB he can attack the ball all he wants, he will have cover behind. Of course he isn't anywhere near as good a passer as McNair so for a wilder team he doesn't fit that role so well
 
I would try Dijksteel in midfield instead of mcgree, I do worry we might get spanked 3 or 4 if we don't more solid defensive shield in midfield.
I don't get what you're suggesting? Dijksteel in midfield? In Howson's position or McGree's position in the left of the 3? I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that Dijksteel has the composure to play in tight areas of the midfield.
 
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Playing random fullbacks in midfield never works well. I remember it was a favourite tactic of Southgate and we all remember how that turned out.

I agree with @wilkos_perm that I have seen nothing from Dijksteel to suggest he is a midfielder.
 
Dijksteel actually started off as a defensive midfielder for charlton and was shifted to right back half way through his first season
 
I don't get what you're suggesting? Dijksteel in midfield? In Howson's position or McGree's position in the left of the 3? I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest that Dijksteel has the composure to play in tight areas of the midfield.
I'd try Dijksteel in howson's position and push Howson further forward instead of mcgree.

Thought being that then you have a designated player to break up play in dijksteel whilst also having howson who will cover more ground defensively than mcgree does.

The vast majority of our play is going to come from our wide players or mcnair stepping into midfield so in my view we need 2 defensively minded CMs, howson and tav mostly worked, howson and mcgree doesn't work, why not try howson and dijksteel?
 
Playing random fullbacks in midfield never works well. I remember it was a favourite tactic of Southgate and we all remember how that turned out.

I agree with @wilkos_perm that I have seen nothing from Dijksteel to suggest he is a midfielder.
I don't think it was a tactic of Southgates, he just didn't have the midfield numbers available to him, so little choice.

As for Dijksteel, it wouldn't be a random FB, a bit like Julio Arca, he was originally a CM who got moved to FB because of injuries in his previous club, but all his youth career and early pro career was CDM.
 
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