The Wonderkid Tour: Left Backs
RSL in the WSL Part 20
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RSL in the WSL Part 20
Our wonderkid squad tour continues today. We’re going to look at our left backs, which is sure to be popular.
As you can see, the left back position in this tactic mirrors the right back position. We’re looking for complete wingbacks – players who are willing to engage in overlapping with the winger in front of them, and yet are fast and skilled enough to double back to cover.
This isn’t exactly the easiest role in the world to play. You need a player who is offensive minded enough to get an attack going, and yet one who knows when to get back on defense – and who is fast enough to make it work.
As you’ve probably guessed, we’ve got a problem – we don’t really have many players who are quite that skilled. However, we do have some talent in this position that are worth talking about.
Ryan Burke
Ryan Burke is clearly our best right back. He’s got everything I’m looking for. He’s got a great personality, has good stats, is fast, is smart, and keeps improving.
Burke also wasn’t exactly free. He was a late acquisition, a player that we picked up right at the end of the transfer window after discovering that we had more in the bank than we anticipated. Birmingham never really gave him much of a chance, which is perfectly fine in my mind. We’re more than happy to mold him into the player we want him to be.
Yeah, he could still use some defensive work – but he really looks good overall. I’m not seeing any reason for dismay.
In keeping with our overall strategy, we’re not exactly paying him a ton of money for his services. This will increase over time, of course – but he really is a bargain for now.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how he does against actual league opposition, now that we’ve got the silly cups out of the way. I’m seeing really good signs here. He’s one to be excited for, that’s for sure.
Marco Cruz
Marco Cruz is taller than Burke, and is unmistakably a wonderkid. Once again, I’ve only got good things to say about him – even though his only league appearance this year was less than ideal.
At £3 million, Cruz is easily the most expensive player we’ve brought in this season. It brings high expectations, of course, but I really do think this 16-year-old is going to be worth it in the end.
Cruz’ unhappiness with training is concerning; my experience is that this unhappiness is usually a sign of poor professionalism. He’s tall, but he’s not a great aerial presence quite yet. However, he’s still young – he’s got more than enough time to get that figured out.
If you ask me, it’s pretty ridiculous to give a £3 million signing a contract like this. He took it, though, and will be on basically no money until February 2021. I’m not going to complain about that.
And here are his stats so far – including his goal during the FA Cup. Not a bad start to the career, if you ask me.
Davide Antunes
Last but not least, we have Antunes, who is still a little way off from being a starter.
Antunes was another one of our relatively cheap signings. We pulled him off of Varzim for basically nothing.
As you can see, there’s really a lot to like here. He’s got a great personality, is consistent, has excellent leadership skills, and is so young that he’s only going to improve from here on out.
Antunes is also on another one of those practically non-existent contracts, with another extremely low contract coming up next May.
Antunes hasn’t played yet, though, which means there aren’t any match stats to show you. We’ll see him before long, though.
Other Left Backs
We’ve got a number of reserve and youth players who can play left back, as you can see. Some of them, such as Linderoth and Williams, are technically good enough to be in the first team, though I worry that they won’t see any game time if they do move up.
And then there’s Lewis Greene, a name you’ve seen before:
We’ve all got special places in our hearts for those great home-grown players. I thought Greene would be one of them – but his less-than-ideal performances have convinced me otherwise. He is improving, which is good, but I don’t think I’ll ever put him back in the first team.
As you’ve probably already guessed, the problem is right here. I’ve got no time or patience for inconsistent players, no matter how good their future might be. My plan is to sell him as soon as I can – though he is so young that I’ll probably wind up putting him out on loan for a few seasons first.
As you can see here, his stats so far this season haven’t exactly been worth writing home about. That average rating is simply pitiful, and I’m really worried that his best isn’t going to be much better than that.