I get Walker - he’s a fine rb with lots of experience… but Trippier and James? Seriously?
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Rio Ferdinand posted this on his twitter in early April (I think that was about a fortnight after TAA was dropped from the England squad?). He defended TAA strongly.
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I wont post it because it’s dumb as shit, but Mark Ogden had a terrible take on ESPN yesterday.
- He started by calling Trent the best RB in the world and emphasized how important he will be in the team being dangerous with the ball.
- He then said that if they get through the group their next game is likely to be against good opposition that you might not want Trent playing against because of his defensive limitations, so you’d probably play Walker or Tripper instead.
- He then said that he hopes Trent is picked for the squad though because if not it will indicate that Southgate is making “safe” picks, and you don’t win anything with “safe players”.
- It ended without him being able to connect the dots with his own failure of logic.
I think Trent does still need to continue to work on his defending. His 1-1 defending has improved a lot in the past 2 seasons, which is why he does pretty well in those stats comparisons, but it’s work as a part of a back 4 where he still needs to improve, which you’re not going to see represented on a list of tackle % stats. But he’s still the best we have, and by some distance.
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I am shocked.
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Trent is fantastic defensively. What people are making mistakes on is that INTENTIONALLY Trent is not always in the “solid” defensive positions that people expect him to be in because our team tactics require Trent to be in a different position with one of the CMs to take up the defensive tasks people expect Trent to be doing and therefore assess Trent as failing. James, Trippier and Walker are not better defensively than Trent. Walker plays in a more defensively structured set up which makes him look more “solid” and traditional. James and Trippier are awful defensively. That’s ignoring the offensive side of things. But if I had to choose a RB out of those 4 to go up against the top class wide players in international football, I’d pick Trent who has already dealt really well with those very same wingers.
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That fat knob with the beard is basically the sum of all idiots in England… “He can’t defend” and repeats it over and over… How they get to air their views when they have zero understanding of basic footballing principles is beyond me.
When you have Rio, who was a world class defender telling you how good Trent is, I’d probably listen.
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He’s insufferable that fella. I’ve just made the mistake of visiting his twitter, it doesn’t get any better.
Well, until I found out he’s now suffering from tinnitus. Even his own ears have had enough of listening to his shite.
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Sorry that just isn’t true. There are plenty of criticisms of Trent about situations in which he’s in a decent enough starting position but doesn’t respond the way he needs to. You may have different reads of those situations, or you may not think that in the grand scheme they are bad enough to worry about given who good he is at everything else. But pretending like the only criticisms of his defending are from people who misunderstand him and his responsibilities of condescending BS.
As I said, he has become much better at the sort of defending of situation that happen right in front of him (1-1 type stuff), but he is a very real sense still learning to be a FB.
Do you believe Trippier or James are any better at those elements though? It’s OK to believe Trent isn’t perfect defensively, but making out he is some kind of liability compared to the others is bollocks. Walker may be a little more solid, although I believe some of that is the tactical set up, but Trent is as good or better defensively than Trippier and James. It’s an outdated opinion that he’s some form of defensive liability and the other options are safe.
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Is there gambling going on in this establishment?
Mark my words, this 2020-21 season will be the making of TAA into an all-rounded player. He has had to curb his attacking and help more at the back. Klopp has given interviews about TAA getting more leadership experience and Trent has been communicating more with Nat/Rhys in sorting out the defensive side of things.
This will bring more nous in the tactical side of his game, and will be demonstrated over the next (many) years.
As for Southgate, he’ll probably treat TAA as a yo-yo. One start, one off the bench, and one not in the team.
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Agree, Trent’s positional awareness at times needs a lot of adjustment, he just doesn’t see the danger and is therefore out of position.
But still the best RB in the country with what he offers as a complete package.
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Not really football related but there is an article by Trent in today’s Guardian:
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Reports he might miss out on the England squad. Crazy if true.
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Trent is a generational talent and would be picked by (almost) every other country.
Such a pity that he is English.
I really feel for him.
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Brilliant …
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Hahaha. That’s a good one.
(and I listened to the one on no morals Kane. That was really good too.)
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If this is true I feel really sorry for him because, no doubt, he would love to go and will be choked to miss out, given he’s one of the best footballers on the planet. But this says a lot more about Southgate and the England set-up than it does about him. It says they’re a shower of fucking shit who will never win anything, with or without that complete chump who manages them. I haven’t seen a single England game since that 4-1 defeat by Germany at the World Cup. I don’t know how many hours that equates to, and I can’t remember what I was doing instead, but I guarantee it was a better use of my life than watching that squad of cunts 
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I forgot Kieran Trippier existed.
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