by Vision »
03 Jan 2020 10:00
NewCorkSeth URZZZZ NewCorkSeth "Should we play our best right back when he regains fitness?" Yes. Yes is the answer.
Should we keep a back four that has kept 4 clean sheets in a row? Yes. Yes is the answer
However Yiadom isn’t back for a couple of weeks yet I don’t think so circumstances by then may change
Dont think you will find many top teams that keep playing their back up player when their starter returns from injury based on the team performance. Gunter has done well since being brought back into the fold but that is what you should expect of a back up player.
Yiadom has been one of our most impactful players this season. His defensive statistics line up very favourably with Gunters. His 3 assists only put him behind Swift and Joao in that regard. In fact he is our only defender to have contributed directly to more than 2 goals so far.
Gunter has long been a player I havent rated. He is playing well right now but still hasn't met the standards Yiadom set. The benefits that come with playing Yiadom outweigh the "never change a winning team" myth for me.
2 of Yiadom's 3 assists were 3 yard headers deep inside our own half for breakaway goals against Cardiff. He's got a lot going for him but it's not a stat that's useful when determining how effective he is.
His weaknesses have been hammered to death on here over the years but one of Gunter's main attributes, which gets overlooked a lot, is how he covers his centre halves. This is particularly important in a flat back 4 and it's a very good reason why we've looked defensively more solid of late.
In a 3 centre back system, Yiadoms energy, ball carrying ability and willingness to get into more attacking positions works more in his ( and our) favour.