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lake district canary

Bennett or Martin?

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People see different things in players. It''s always been so. I remember there were so many who believed Askou was better than The Doc and Spillane was better than Martin. I have to wonder what those opinions were based on but people see what they see.
This comparison is not so straightforward because the two players have very different attributes. I guess I slightly favour Martin because we seem to attack much quicker and hold a higher line when he''s  playing.

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@westcoastcanary

Yeah I''m calling bs on that one too. I remember having discussions on here that we were conceding quite a few goals from crosses either last season or the season before when Ruddy was in goal.

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I prefer Bennett as I think he does the simple things better- he wins headers, makes blocks and isn''t shy about just getting rid in dangerous situations. He needs a leader next to him but I think Klose is good at keeping him organised and focused. Being good in possession is nice but I don''t think a club at our level needs two ball playing defenders.

Martin is too often out of position and is quite poor in the air- he used to be able to bail himself out due to being a bit quicker than most centre backs but as he gets older he is getting slower.

Technically Bassong is the best of the three but you can''t rely on him- he usually has a couple of fairly major brain farts a game and the higher we go the more costly those are. I think you can tell Neil just doesn''t trust him anymore as a reliable starter.

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]People see different things in players. It''s always been so. I remember there were so many who believed Askou was better than The Doc....I have to wonder what those opinions were based on but people see what they see.[/quote]In my case NN, it was simply down to watching both of them, and oddly enough I can''t remember many games (if any) whereby we conceded a pointless foul or even a goal because Askou was out of position and simply resorted to bear-hugging the opposing striker, whereas I remember seeing that almost every game in Doherty''s case.It''s funny that although Askou was a complete unknown (outside of Denmark), and went back to being a complete unknown after his spell with us, yet I still felt more confident in his defending that Doherty''s, because Doherty almost ALWAYS had a bad error in him - didn''t matter if it was the first minute or the last, he''d inevitably screw up and if we were lucky it wouldn''t cost us, but all too often it did. The real shame was that as an overall defender he was probably better than Askou, but that overly physical approach combined with the errors just made him a liability IMHO. Full credit to him for coming back from the brink under Lambert, but in truth was extremely glad when he moved on - only to replace him with a higher class of defender prone to moments of inattention in Bassong a couple of years later [;)]

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Another vote for Martin.

Never been a fan of Bennett, he hasn''t improved since we bought him. He''s also neither a great defender nor a great ball player. He''s, imo, a bog standard Championship defender.

Martin, who I prefer at FB and Bassong should both be starting before him at this level.

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Bennett gets my vote

more a stopper who can play against a rough and ready striker

On sat against Cardiff someone reporting on the match said AN brought martin in to cancel Lambert threat out ,

Bennett would have been better against lambert as he enjoys a battle

Not the best ball player martin is better but huth is not ball player either just gets on with the simple things

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I think anyone who reads this board regularly will know without doubt that Martin is far superior.

As a scapegoat.

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[quote user="Nuff Said"]I think anyone who reads this board regularly will know without doubt that Martin is far superior.

As a scapegoat.[/quote]

With very good reason if he plays as a centre back

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For those who do not rate Ryan Bennett, I trust they noticed last night that for the last quarter of the game Martin was all at sea against the Wigan winger and on numerous occasions Bennett''s no nonsense approach got us out of trouble. I actually think Bennett''s distribution is just as good and I notice that he is often looking to play the ball behind the full backs. I also observed that at the end of the game many of our players were shattered but Ryan calmly walked of the pitch by himself as if to say - well I paced myself. OK if only for 45 mins.

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Or the flip of that is, the other lads have died for the cause and Bennett has taken it easy.

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Bennett the more rugged, dominant defender, Martin the more mobile. Not too much difference in distribution, Martin probably shades it.

Really hard to decipher between the two. Think we will eventually see Martin settle down alongside Klose as our main pairing - but personally I prefer Bennett overall.

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[quote user="Hank shoots Skyler"]Bennett the more rugged, dominant defender, Martin the more mobile. Not too much difference in distribution, Martin probably shades it.

Really hard to decipher between the two. Think we will eventually see Martin settle down alongside Klose as our main pairing - but personally I prefer Bennett overall.[/quote]Bennett every time, especially in our current set up - he''s a natural centre-back and on the  mobility front where the defence is concerned we have the strong attacking qualities of Pinto, Brady & Olsson.For me it''s a question of Pinto or Martin and the latter is a more than capable replacement for the former when he''s sidelined.  

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If you were to punt a ball at goal and say, stop this or you''ll lose the game, Bennett would cry ''YES BOSS'' and find a way to get his head in front of it. Martin would be side-skipping cautiously.

If you were playing a lesser, more defensive side at home and you knew keeping it on the floor and utilising clever movement would get the win, Bennett would still cry ''YES BOSS'' and thump the ball out for a goal kick. This is where Martin''s receptiveness to instruction and tactical play will win through.

It''s quite a nice mix to have, at this level.

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Bennett for me too, thought him and Klose were developing a decent partnership. I prefer Russ as rb so would use him as cover for Pinto.

But what do I know lol

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Klose now has 17 appearances for us and the most "consistent" starting partner has been Bennett for 11 of those games, 4 for Bassong and now 3 for martin.

The longest run has been with Bennett at the start of this season, a whole 5 consecutive games, although the last 2 have seen most of the game with bennett due to injuries. Beyond that his longest consecutive partner was bassong for kloses first three games for us.

It highlights what we already knew, this isnt about who is the best partner for Klose, but who is the least worst; its a position up for grabs and none have been good enough even in the champs to call it their own.

It may also explain why Klose is not performing as we had hoped since his injury; in a position where its about team work and partnership he has yet to build up a good understanding. For the champs I stick by my Martin claim as being the least worst option for the team.

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Cannot believe there are still people on here that thinks Martin is a better centre half than Bennett. Yes sometimes Bennett kicks long but don`t all centre half do that at times, get rid etc. If you watch him closely more often than not he tries to find a pass. We are talking centre half here not defender!!

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I don''t think anyone complains about Ryan Bennett ''getting rid'' when that''s what''s needed. Klose and Martin do the same, after all. It''s when it''s completely unnecessary and we surrender possession for practically no reason.

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Parma spotted and expanded on the effect playing RM at CB has on our attacking abilities, insomuch besides ''using'' the ball to greater effect he comes wider allowing Pinto to move further up field, therefore increasing the speed we can attack down the right and putting another player in our midfield. This of course means the CDM has to ''mind the gap'' and be ready to drop in to central defence if the ball is unexpectedly lost.

Last Tuesday, when Pinto had to go off and RM moved to RB, with Ryan B coming into CB, that option was cut off, not just because Pinto was missing but because RM could not start as far forward as Pinto was able to, because he didn''t have the cover he himself provides Pinto.

So, in conclusion, Pinto being injured had quite a dramatic impact on our attacking ability, allowing Wigan more opportunity to take a hold in midfield, which of course raises another discussion re the Tettey substitution, therefore my preference would be for RM to partner Klose (it may well also give Klose a greater feeling of security knowing he had a ball playing CB as partner) and interestingly enough RM won more aerial duels than Ryan B on Tuesday.

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Bennett has been awful all season

You have to be joking. Furthermore Bennett is more of a CB than Martin. Martin is not physical enough, gets caught out of position and is too slow. The first job of a CB is to DEFEND!

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But Bennett''s positioning is hardly his strong point? The only thing he does better than Martin in is aerial battles.

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]Football is a team game and teams defend and attack as a unit. [/quote]Quite right Nutty, but didn''t you mean "should"? [;)]

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[quote user="westcoastcanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"]Football is a team game and teams defend and attack as a unit. [/quote]Quite right Nutty, but didn''t you mean "should"? [;)][/quote]
[Y][:)]

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I''m really confused by the idea that we play a defender ahead of another because of his ability to win more headers.

Especially when you look at who has been playing center back when we have conceded headed goals or from swung in corners recently.

Basically - when we have had Bennett and Klose at CB.

Whilst I like Bennett, he really isn''t the future and he really isn''t the player so many believed he would become. Don''t get me wrong, he is a decent player. But I think his positioning can be a bit suspect at times, something I feel Martin is better at IMHO.

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