Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,460
Well of course - the role wasn’t there before Hürzeler took over. It was the role I was referring to in Hürzeler’s system not who Smith was as a player before Hürzeler.
I agree he is probably closer to anyone else at the moment on paper but I think he has some weaknesses in his defensive play and has no experience of playing a CB at the pace he will need, especially against some of the more highly agile forwards in the EPL. Is he fit at the moment? - He missed the end of last season with a ‘thigh problem’ so condition could be an issue - He ticks a lot of boxes potentially but I can’t see him just stepping into a CB hybrid role without some disciplined development training, (that Hürzeler could provide). Happy to wait and see what he can do at our level but yes - even if he ends up being a rotating player for Billy Gilmour or Gross, he’d be a great addition to the squad.
Perhaps we're overthinking it and we already have the perfect option in Dunk.
This is how we set up against Palace and Dunks heatmap, and that went well.