RSL in the WSL Part 18
Right Backs
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RSL in the WSL Part 18
Certainly nothing screams “great post” like a discussion of right backs, right?
As you probably already know, we’ve had a bunch of problems at the right back position so far this season. We’ve got one player who is good, a kid who is really unproven, and a new signing who just played horribly in our FA Cup game.
One of the problems we’re running into is finding players who can actually play effectively in our tactic. The right back position calls for a complete wingback playing on a supporting (not a defensive) instruction. It’s not easy finding players capable of playing that position who are willing to play for a low-reputation team like ours.
The truth is that the complete wingback positions are absolutely essential to this tactic. With poor players, like the players we have, we wind up conceding large numbers of goals due to their inability to effectively get back to help with defensive duties. With good players, however, these complete wingbacks allow us to transition quickly from defense to offense, catching our opponents flatfooted with strong and surprising counterattacking play.
Hugo Oliveira
Oliveira is clearly our best player at this position. He’s got a great personality, has excellent statistics, works hard in training, and is going to be our number one choice for the time being.
He’s also played poorly lately, as you can see. It’s going to take some patience.
We picked up Oliveira cheaply, paying only £105,000 to get him from UD Oliveirense. Again, I think these statistics will improve once he has a bit more experience.
You know that I love my consistent players, though I worry when that consistency constantly gives us low ratings. He should improve quickly once he is off injury.
Yep – another young player on a cheap contract. I can seriously see him becoming a star, assuming that the board doesn’t dismiss me outright before then.
Oliveira is going to play quite a bit more than that, believe me. We’re going to rely heavily on him.
Alexandru Sabangeanu
Sabangeanu is still sort of a mystery to all of us – even to me. I found him while looking at free agents not long after the end of the transfer window.
As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot to be excited about in terms of ratings. I am concerned that he won’t improve much beyond this, since he is already 19. However, there also aren’t a ton of red flags, and I think he was worth the price.
It looks like Sabangeanu had been away from football completely for a little while before we picked him up. Still, free is better than nothing – if we do wind up selling him in a few years, we’re guaranteed to make a profit.
These ratings are fairly preliminary, of course. He does have a good personality, though, and I know for a fact that players tend to develop quickly in Football Manager until they hit 21 years old or so. You never know – this deal might be better than it looks now.
As you can see, we are hardly paying him anything at all.
Yeah, there’s not much to see here – this is after a single game, which he wasn’t really fit for.
Todor Papazov
And now comes our Bulgarian youngster. Papazov really isn’t good enough to play at this level yet, but he is willing to learn. I like the personality and the determination, and am really impressed by the progress he has been making so far. We probably should have started him ahead of Sabangeanu in Almeria, actually.
We picked Papazov up for £300,000 from Lokomotiv Plovdiv – maybe a higher fee than you were expecting. He hasn’t been great so far, but I am convinced that he’ll turn into a great player before you know it.
As you can see, Papazov has made quite a few improvements over the past few months. I expect this to continue, and am still delighted with the signing.
This is no surprise, and you should get used to seeing things like this. He costs us nothing.
All things considered, this still isn’t horrible. He needs to work on his passing, yes – but he is a good defender and tackles well. This doesn’t look like the stat line to me of a 16-year-old who is in completely over his head.
Other Right Backs
We’ve got quite a few young players capable of playing right back waiting in the wings. It’s too early to say who will be good enough, though I’ve always got a bias towards professional players like Barrientos and Sargsyan. If Papazov continues to struggle, they just might get the nod before the end of this season.