Dael Fry under Woodgate

I think Edmondson has a semblance of a left foot which Fry does not and that is the reason he gets in before him. According to some VDB could be worth a lot of money in the future so we are going to play him before Fry if he is in form.
 
fmttmadmin said:
Fry was put forward for interviews at Xmas time for the media - the only player - so that says something about his standing in the club and with the manager.
But in those interviews he was asked about the backling Woodgate gave him and Fry replied about how grateful he was but said because of that time his fitness was often an issue it was a freget to him that he couldn't totally repay the faith Woodgate had shown in him.
He went on to say felt his fitness levels were now the highest they had been and was looking forward to showing what he could achieve.
Carrick praised him for his early games after his comeback. So, I think we will see him featuring again very soon, perhaps even v Sheff Utd. Maybe Carrick felt he needed the most mobile defenders and believed he was playing them. Or it could just be he thought the Rav/George combination was better on the day. But I do think Carrick has demonstrated many times that he does rate Fry.
It could be that he wasn't absolutely 100% of course,
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Fry also said in that interview, "I had an 8 week setback, so decided to make good use of that time, so I started to eat better and go to the gym more often" - something like that.
Takes a pro footballer to get to 27 before he decides to try to get the best from himself?
Maybe all a bit too cosy at the Boro.
 
Fry has always been a rock. He’s a quality defender. He was getting pelters before his injury because he’s not the best with the ball at his feet so doesn’t fit the Carrick ‘style’.
 
I think we’re making more of the Edmundson for Fry change than is necessary. For me, I see Fry, Rav, Edmundson and Clarke as all being at a very similar level of competence. None of them stand out as being better than the other except Rav, due to his age, has the most upward potential. All are pretty solid most of the time but still prone to some poor passes playing out from the back. I don’t see any one of them as being particularly less error prone than the others. Rav is probably the fastest, Clarke was the biggest threat at corners, Fry and Fridge the best defending the box but it is all fine margins. I also don’t think any are particularly strong leaders. Lenihan was by far the best in this department. The general defensive problems we are experiencing are less to do with individuals per se (although individual errors do play a part) and more to do with how we set up and approach defending as a whole unit.
 
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The difficulty we have is who to play as left sided CB. Fry can't and RVB hasn't been in the best of form so I think that's why Edmondson came in. RDB was preferred over Fry at right centre back.
 
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He's no world beater, but better than Edmundson. It may be the left-side thing - both him and VdB prefer the right. Still totally mystified why we sold Clarke - Derby got a steal
 
I think whatever league we are in next season the defence needs seriously looking at.

Fry in my opinion isn’t reliable enough to be a starter for a team with promotion ambitions.

We need a new right back, likely another LB (to add to our collection) and 2 new CBs. Sadly I think Lenihan will likely retire too.

We will probably sign 5 wingers instead.
 
DanBoro4499 said:
I respectfully disagree with the OP's comment.

I don't think Fry is our best centre back.

He was absolutely hideous on Monday - but i personally think Edmundson is better than him.

I also think VDB is better than him.

Lenihan also (although you can probably exclude him).

Clarke, in my opinion "was" better than him.

Fry is 27 now and while he still has a few years left - his career has almost passed him by. I thought he was destined for the prem when he broke though but he's never really improved.

Decent enough though.
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Personally i think Fry is considerably better than Edmondson and Clarke
 
PensionerCorner said:
Dael was a regular starter when Woodgate was manager, wasn't he?

I know some on here don't have Fry as being of Premier League quality, but for me he's our best CB by far.

You can possibly argue he hasn't progressed over the past couple of years, but that is partly down to injury. I also think it took him longer than many to get used to 'Carrickball' and its only this season where he's trying to play the ball quicker.

My memory may be wrong, but I'm sure Fry was starting most games under Woodgate. Assuming Woody is a fan, you would think he's keen to see him in Carrick's starting XI.

Reflecting on the Sunderland line-up, and the decision to leave a local lad out of a derby...is it just a case that Carrick's isn't as keen on Fry?
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Fry has been a first choice pick for every manager he's played under since his break through. To me that speaks volumes.
 
I've always liked Deal. I did think we would loose him to a better club a few years ago and I agree that he hasnt excelled since arriving on the scene. But the benchmark was already very high.
He's been a mainstay in an ever evolving cohort of centre halves and that doesnt happen by coincidence.
I feel like he's the best defender at the club, and most of the other champo clubs.
 
I don't think any of our CBs are particularly great or bad. They are all decent championship defenders. VDB has the highest ceiling but I think they are all good enough and none of them are terrible. Our problem is what we ask them to do with the ball and how much work we give them off the ball by not protecting them. If you swapped our CBs with Burnley's ours would be keeping clean sheets in Burnley's defence and theirs would be conceding goals in ours. You have to defend as a team. The defenders on their own can't do it. Until we change the way we set up it doesn't really matter who is picked in defence.
 
Nano said:
I don't think any of our CBs are particularly great or bad. They are all decent championship defenders. VDB has the highest ceiling but I think they are all good enough and none of them are terrible. Our problem is what we ask them to do with the ball and how much work we give them off the ball by not protecting them. If you swapped our CBs with Burnley's ours would be keeping clean sheets in Burnley's defence and theirs would be conceding goals in ours. You have to defend as a team. The defenders on their own can't do it. Until we change the way we set up it doesn't really matter who is picked in defence.
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Bang on. It's absolutely not the personnel. It's the system. It always has been.
 
Humpty said:
Bang on. It's absolutely not the personnel. It's the system. It always has been.
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For me it's both ...
You need defensive pace for at least one of your four at the back, especially if your asking one FB to get forward.
One of the three left needs to be rapid , as the gaps are bigger.
You also need defensive pace from the 2 and 3, as all the gaps become bigger on the counter.

I'd agree in principle though.... A lot easier to be CB at Burnley than here with Humphrey at FB.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Some short memories on here. Fry was poor at Preston, not such a long time ago.
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I think he has a season were it just hasnt got going for him, I think he has only made 12 appearances this season. Was he out from Feb 2024 until November 2024 ? We have had quite a lot of players out on a regular and sometimes long term basis. Its almost at Hypochondriac proportions.

I have to tbh I didnt rate the following - Lenihan, Clarke, Edmundson the 2 full backs Ayling (Leeds dont let a good un go but he could help when needed) Djiksteel seemed to have gained fitness and played really well and people were remarking so, but was overlooked by Carrick at times for Ayling. Poor old Engel another who had a big spell out, Giles I didnt want back but he's here so I hope he cuts out the super own goals.
Borges is adjusting and seems a little meek for this division but he may learn.
So Fry and VDB I thought may be a foundation, but they have struggled for fitness VDB seems to be out of sorts atm (every supporter I've spoken to says he is overrated) I think hes decent.
Then the goalkeeping situation goes all to hell.

We all know, looking back at past good Middlesbrough sides we had excellent defenders, the type who were resilient, mostly ever present, CB`s who notched the odd goal from set pieces and always a no nonsense - cross him at your peril player.

We haven't had that sort of defender for a while and if he cant pick a consistent defence and even a goalkeeper we wont consistently keep clean sheets, there's no unit or defence union that has something of a reputation to uphold.

So that's my take why we aren't Real Madrid and why I have unreasonable opinions of our defenders.
 
There is no situation out there that should result in Edmundson being ahead of Fry in the pecking order, when both are fit.

Edmundson isn't good enough to lace Fry's boots.

Fry isn't even one of the best defenders in the league - and yet he is a level or two above Edmundson.

Starting Edmundson on Monday night ahead of Fry was a humongous error by Carrick, and it wasn't an error that needed hindsight neither.

Signing Edmundson to begin with was an error, but to start him ahead of Fry was an even bigger error.

If he starts ahead of Fry against Sheff Utd...then I'm sorry, but even more/bigger questions need to be asked about Carrick.
 
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