this season, i have lost count of the number of times he has been out of position given the attacking player to much time on the ball who has then gone on and scored, made a foul in a dangerous area that has led to a goal, been on the wrong side of an attacker when he is jumping for a header resulting in another goal, why does wilkins still keep playing him? Watch this Saturday when Crewe score i bet El Abd is the last player who can prevent a goal.
How many more points will this donkey El Abd cost us............
- Thread starter scouse23
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He was our best defender against Huddersfield.
Mendoza
NSC's Most Stalked
What winds me up is that he cannot head the ball where he thinks the ball is going to go as he has a massive toblerone on the top of his head.
He PERSISTS with the long ball over the top to the left wing everytime he gets the ball - it NEVER works as Cox is 4ft3
It is never his fault when something goes wrong
He is more of a liabilty at full backs than at centre back, but still shouldnt be allowed to backpass where ever he is
and worst of all I see him everyday as he lives across the road
Titus El Bramble II
He PERSISTS with the long ball over the top to the left wing everytime he gets the ball - it NEVER works as Cox is 4ft3
It is never his fault when something goes wrong
He is more of a liabilty at full backs than at centre back, but still shouldnt be allowed to backpass where ever he is
and worst of all I see him everyday as he lives across the road
Titus El Bramble II
Welcome Mr Scouse. I see that your very first post is a moan. You'll fit in well here.
Right - I'm not really going to try to refute the basic fact that El Abd can be a bit, well, rubbish, and have been heavily critical of him myself in the past.
On recent form though, I'm not sure he deserves singling out. At centre-back at least, he's been reasonably effective.
Also, as a fellow rubbish defender, I would argue the validity of your last point [above]. Being the defender who reads the game well enough to regularly find yourself in the last position to 'prevent a goal' doesn't make you a bad player.
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
This season he's been man of the match (IMO) about 4 or 5 times. Since the absolute stinker against Leeds he really has worked hard to improve his positioning and concentration. And in fairness, DW has played him all over the back four. That can't be easy either.
I, too, have been very critical of him but think that he shows all the signs of maturing into a very good centreback.
I, too, have been very critical of him but think that he shows all the signs of maturing into a very good centreback.
jonny.rainbow
Well-known member
- Oct 29, 2005
- 6,989
El Abd is blossoming into the next Laurent Blanc. Give him time.
Agree with the sentiment, but would tone it down to this;
I, too, have been very critical of him but think that he shows all the signs of maturing into a centreback.
withdeanwombat
Well-known member
Not as many as the assinine Dean Wilkins.
BobbySmith
New member
I was going to start a post like this, he makes at least 2 bad mistakes every game I have seen this year and sometimes gets away with it and sometimes does not. Yeah in some games he has played really well for 89 mins, but always has major lapse of concentration. I would play Butters in his place as he does not make many mistakes.
to be fair to him , he has had some major critism this season but has bounced back pretty well and although seems to have 1 major cock up a game which occasionally gets punished , I think he is pretty solid overall. Put it this way , If he was Lynch and playing like he is , he would be getting rave reviews
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,449
care to count how many times he is out of position due to covering another player who is nowhere to be seen? care to count how many positions he has played in the season?
Guy Fawkes
The voice of treason
- Sep 29, 2007
- 8,387
he will cost us about the same number of points as any other player, you could say that about most players, they have passes that go astray, or fail to win tackles , etc,
This just stinks of some so called fans who are focusing on him and slate him when he makes, but there is a different attitude towards other players when they make a mistake, as all players do.
For example, Guy Butters not running back into position when the ball goes past him when he plays, or the errors Lynch made which cost us 2 goals at home recently, or midfielders poor passes which lead to dangerous counter attacks.
It is completely counter productive to criticise the players because why try to destroy a players confidence and make them more nervous and self conscious (and therefore more likely to make a mistake), especially as he is a player we rely on.
He has been very solid, made far more saving tackles and great blocks, (for which he gets little or no credit for on here, he is also passionate about playing for this club.
Get off his back, he has been one of our better players, he's still learning, and only going to get better. Rio Ferdinand at Man U used to make lots of mistakes too, but would you say he shouldn't play for them because of that, especially as he is one of their better players, and also he too has improved his game.
saltash seagull
New member
he should have been banned from backpasing a long time ago!
and have to agree about being less of a liabilty at centre back as well
Well said Mr Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes
The voice of treason
- Sep 29, 2007
- 8,387
Butters does make mistakes, and has no distribution skills apart from hoofing it up field. He also lacks pace and this costs us far more goals than the El-Abd errors ever will, All Butters does is to be able to defend a ball hit in the air over a long distance, he is unable to stop players from going past him when they have the ball at their feet (as seen in the championship countless times) and if he does go past him, he can't recover his position, forcing other defenders out of position to cover him, and his l;ack of pace also means that the defence has to play far too deep, meaning that the side has too much distance between defnce and midfield, and then midfield to the forwards, meaning it is harder to sustain pressure on the opposition, a quicker backline means we can push our defence up the field, therefore getting more support for an attack.
Butters has been a good servant to the club, but unfortunately time has caught up on him and it is time for him to go.
Against Forrests quick forwards, in the home game a few weeks ago, our defence was struggling to cope with their pace, yet their were some idiots who wanted Butters brought on, and to have El-abd taken off, even though El-abd was our best defender, and it was Whing and Richards who were struggling, and they believed that Butters pace would be the difference, just because they dislike El-Abd, and not because of what he actually does on the pitch, which is what actually counts
Father Jack
New member
- Aug 21, 2005
- 1,708
A good back up shouldn't be starting though
Basil Fawlty
Don't Mention The War
Should be playing at full-back not centre back, always makes long balls into the left channel for Cox to run onto. But Cox never will win anything in the air, and it didn't work against Cobblers on Tuesday. We need to go back to passing the ball on the deck, instead of the long ball system.