Re: Lee Carsley plans to keep things simple

Quote
Charlie Woodford
You're right, and Shotton seemed to manage OK

however, Harry bombed Roberts out of the team admitting he'd affected him by asking him to play on the right, whilst at least twice on Saturday Morrison made passes with his right foot, whilst on the left side of the pitch, which went straight out of play

Anybody who's a professional footballer (defender or not) should be able to pass (or clear) the ball with their stronger foot on either side of the pitch. There's no logical reason for the ball to go out of play even if the player is on the opposite side of the pitch to their starting position. It's just a poor pass or a miskick but it shouldn't have anything to do with which side they normally start or play on.

If a winger is out of position on the 'wrong side' of the pitch, he might struggle to whip an outswinging cross in along the byline and be forced instead to cut inside and use his inside foot to cross. But you wouldn't blame his current position for the ball going out of play.

There might be an increased chance of a miskick or losing possession or something, but my point still stands - not all footballers are ambidextrous and not all of them are capable of playing the Ajax system (playing adequately in every position on the pitch, interchangeably) - but still - they should be able to cope with being on the opposite side as a centre half for a period in a game, for a whole game or even for a whole season if need be - they just need to train for it.

It shouldn't make that much difference, except as in Roberts case they might look a little uncomfortable for a few games at competitive level until they have adjusted by training there for a few weeks coupled with some game time - but that uncomfortableness shouldn't be an excuse for failing in their key defensive duties or continually kicking the ball out of play. I think Harry was making excuses because one of his key signings wasn't settling in and was looking very uncomfortable for some reason.