Andre Wisdom & Ryan Bennett

[Thirsty Lizard 3,227]

An excellent team performance today with everybody playing their part. A special word for these two though.

Was really impressed with Wisdom - very solid defensively and got better as the match went on. A danger going forward too and showed real pace, power and skill on the ball.

Bennett (along with Bassong) made Giroud virtually anonymous today. Bennett''s return to the team has coincided with a big defensive improvement. Hopefully he can get a good run of games now and mature into the commanding and classy centre half which he has always had the potential to be.

[Fuzzar 1,880]

Agree with all of that Thirsty; they were both magnificent.

[Grant Holts Moustache 113]

Bennett was very impressive and is forcing me to change my mind on his ability. Looked very commanding and made some very important interceptions and tackles on the few occasions Arsenal threatened.

Agree with Wisdom defensively but am not overly impressed going forward. He had some good opportunities to put the ball in but mainly made poor decisions.

[birchfest 401]

But for that almighty cock up for the goal we were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet, kept Ozil, Sanchez and Giroud very quiet! If we could just tidy up those momentary lapses of concentration we could see a real solid back four.

[grefstad 0]

Wisdom is a player which can frustrate. Today he was brilliant. On other days, he seems to be totally out of it.

He has the physical attributes to be a top defender, probably both as a fullback or as a centreback.

As a fullback, he has pace, he is strong, and he has got a decent size/frame, so not easily passed.

But his downside is that he is not the smartest player around. If he was more clever, he would be playing for Liverpool. When they let him go, it was for a reason.

His crossing leaves a lot to be desired sometimes. Today he had a great cross where Wes should have scored, but also some wasteful ones, especially one in the second half which he skied.

I think if he is given games and time, he will be sharper, and develop into a kind of right back we want.

He has enough pace to play comfortably in a high backline, when we are pressing, and is solid/powerful enough to comfortably win his challenges when we are playing deep.

And I like that he is composed in his tackling (i.e not making reckless sliding challenges).

Imho, Wisdom is right now our best right back. Whittaker will struggle to get a game for a while.

[iron_stan 0]

bennett has bags of potential and just needs a run in the teamwisdom is defensively ok but doesnt really offer much technically going forwardwe havnt had a decent right back since we had naughton on loan and even he was played out of position

[Prince of Darkness 0]

Both brilliant recently lets get shot of Whitaker and Martin in January and get some decent defensive competition into the club

[Indy 3,504]

Totally agree, also Bassong looks so much more assured with Bennett.

Brady was on another level today.

Great all round performance.

[Yellow Wal 316]

iron_stan wrote the following post at 29/11/2015 9:00 PM:

bennett has bags of potential and just needs a run in the team

wisdom is defensively ok but doesnt really offer much technically going forward

==================================================

Yes Stan, fully agree.

[mrs miggins 0]

Have said since the start of the season the main problem with our team was the RB/CB pairing between Whitts and Martin. It''s nice to see that AN is a manager that is willing to change not only his tactics but his team selection when things aren''t going right.

I still think Russell Martin could do a job at RB, but Wisdom has played well since he''s come back into the team (after a poor start) and I''m looking forward to seeing this back 4 develop.

[Lessingham Canary 108]

Bennett never put a foot wrong, Wisdom defensively sound, but when it comes to his crosses into the box they are rushed, if he could take time to pick his target he would be......................... probably back at Liverpool

[It's Character Forming 1,213]

[quote user="Lessingham Canary"]Bennett never put a foot wrong, Wisdom defensively sound, but when it comes to his crosses into the box they are rushed, if he could take time to pick his target he would be......................... probably back at Liverpool[/quote]

You got it. I think today we had our best back 4 out and they stood up very well against some world class attackers.

Personally I would be starting Rudd behind them but that''s just my opinion.

[nutty nigel 7,968]

Bennett played well today. Probably the best of a back four who all played well. Since we shipped 6 at Newcastle we''ve conceded 5 goals in 6 games. And have defended well as a team. The back four should all play next week but I''m not going to assume anything about team selection, just trust the manager.  

[westcoastcanary 173]

It''s been my opinion all along that our fragility in defence has been principally down to two factors:

(a) insufficient protection provided for the back four by the midfield; and (b) weak goalkeeping. AN''s change of tack has addressed (a) but he hasn''t yet bitten the bullet as regards (b). Furthermore, by selecting Wisdom and Bennett rather than Whittaker and Martin I think he has diminished our fluency in turning defence into attack. So, change of tack good, but still questions selection-wise.

[Making Plans 957]

By far the best options we''ve got

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

West coast ,, it''s not the personnel that has changed attacking fluency ,, it''s the tactics that AN has employed to stop us losing games ,,, as he has clearly stated . Keep up .

[Jim Smith 2,682]

[quote user="westcoastcanary"]It''s been my opinion all along that our fragility in defence has been principally down to two factors:

(a) insufficient protection provided for the back four by the midfield; and (b) weak goalkeeping. AN''s change of tack has addressed (a) but he hasn''t yet bitten the bullet as regards (b). Furthermore, by selecting Wisdom and Bennett rather than Whittaker and Martin I think he has diminished our fluency in turning defence into attack. So, change of tack good, but still questions selection-wise.[/quote]

I agree to a degree with both your (a) and (b) but the Whitaker/martin RB/RCB combo was definately a (c). As good as Whitaker can be at times going forward i have always considered him a liability defensively. He gets done by any winger with any pace and he also gets caught out of position a lot. That, coupled with Martin not having the natural positional instincts of a centre back and also being iffy in the air was causing us quite a few problems.

Bennett may not be as silky on the ground as Martin but he is an old school proper centre back who wins virtually everything in the air and takes no nonsense. He''s looked very good since coming in.

I also slightly disagree with you re Wisdom. yes he looks a bit awkward at times and he displays a "safety first" approach which means we have lost a little bit of our attacking fluency down that side but I actually thought he got forward quite well against Arsenal and caused them quite a few problems. Wes should have scored from his cross in the first half and he made some good runs forward in the second. I therefore don''t think he''s as bad going forward as is made out but then also i don;t care if he''s not as good going forward a Whitaker if he can actually do his main job properly which is to defend.

I hope the last hour or so of yesterday is the blueprint moving forward, at least against the bigger sides. I think the first half an hour yesterday and also how we played at Chelsea was actually too defensive and saw us sit off them too much. It smacked a little of a loss of confidence in comparison with the early part of the season which I was worried about because we''ve actually played very well in the vast majority of our games and it would have been a real shame to see that all thrown out of the window due to some fairly avoidable defensive frailties. We can''t do 100% Pulis "park the bus" style football because it negates too many of our strengths and we always have a mistake in us. We are far, far better adopting a positive approach to games. All he needed to do was drop Whitaker and Martin and instil a bit more discipline in the full backs and the defensive midfielders.

[grefstad 0]

Another thing:

With Wisdom staking his claim with solid displays, it gives AN less reason to leave Redmond out of the starting XI for certain games, as Wisdom is more able to hold his own defensively than Whitts is.

That may give us the attacking impetus of Redmond on the right, which can be vital in some games, example being Watford away.

This will also leave Howson to his more accustomed role centrally, not having to fill in as a makeshift rightmid to protect a weak rightback.

[AJ 1,381]

Wisdom has taken time to adapt to our style of play but he is looking better with each game. Certainly ahead of Whitts for now, and Benno done nothing wrong to be dropped for Russ.

Good to see AN picking the best 11 bases on being the best 11 and not having favourites.

Takes a strong manager to tell his Captain he''s got to wait his turn, and a strong Captain to accept and support the decision.

Kudos to both men

[westcoastcanary 173]

Barclay seats 48/49 the 3rd wrote: "West coast ,, it''s not the personnel that has changed attacking fluency ,, it''s the tactics that AN has employed to stop us losing games ,,, as he has clearly stated . Keep up."

With respect, it''s you who need to keep up. My point is that precisely because the change of tactics has blunted our attacking threat, we need the greater attacking fluency of Martin and Whittaker in the side.

[westcoastcanary 173]

@Jim Smith

It''s precisely because Ryan is "an old school proper centre back" that, given AN''s tactical reappraisal, I think we need RM back in the side.

Yes, each brings something that the other doesn''t, but the question is which has the qualities we most need given this more cautious approach overall.

I''m looking forward to seeing what AN does next.

[Mr Angry 2,110]

Grefstad, Liverpool haven''t exactly let Wisdom go, as he signed a new 4 year contract in the summer. Does this indicate that they still see him as one for the future? Though I''m not sure whether you can train a player to be more clever.

[mrs miggins 0]

Although some have made the point that Bennett is an old fashioned CB, I would also like to also point out that personally I have been impressed with some of the long range passes Bennett has been trying and succeeding at.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Bennett is a relatively cultured player and I''m delighted that he is now beginning to show some form, I think most of us knew he had it in him but now it''s beginning to show.

I am really chuffed for Wisdom, he came here from WBA with a less than glowing review from the fans and I thought we may have brought in a dud, but he was good going forward on Sunday and even though there were a few wayward crosses the one he put across for Wes was class.

Feeling slightly more confident about the current back four than I have been all season.

[lowlyfendweller 0]

Hasnt he shown us all this before? He just kept getting injured at the wrong time, and for too long to keep a place. He''s solid and can ping a ball and has been a good player for a while now. Let''s see if he can keep his place and/or stay fit for the rest of the season.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Yes poor lad has been plagued by injury, as you say let''s hope for a long run in the team now.

[king canary 9,009]

I think the person who highlighted that the gap between Martin and Whittaker getting exploited is pretty spot on. Bennett naturally covers well and Wisdom is a bit more cautious about bombing forward without cover. Tes he offer less than Whits going forward but he can still get forward and has more pace to cover if he does need to get back quickly.

I can''t see how having Russell Martin in the side gives us more attacking fluidity though. I don''t think his distribution has been amazing this season and Bennett has a better knack for getting the ball away from goal than Martin.

[mrs miggins 0]

king canary wrote the following post at 30/11/2015 8:56 PM:

I think the person who highlighted that the gap between Martin and Whittaker getting exploited is pretty spot on.

---------------------

Finally, some recognition.....sort of. :)

[GJP 79]

Bennett has done alright and having his height has reduced the danger of that diagonal ball that Martin struggles with.

But the stuff people say about him being cultured and can "ping a ball" is a bit of a stretch. He''s fine for safe, sideways passes to Bassong but doesn''t have much in his locker when it comes to playing the ball forward.

[It's Character Forming 1,213]

GJP I simply disagree, he''s one of the more fluent passers of the ball at CB we''ve had recently IMO, improving as he gets more game time. Is RM a bit better at this aspect of the game? Probably and I think this was why AN kept him there last season, and against Champ level attackers RM was not caught out often enough for AN to decide to drop him. The Prem is a harder defensive test and time has shown we need a better all round CB, which is Ryan Bennett.

I really hope he stays fit because without him I worry much more about our defence.