THE FUTURE’S BLEAK looks at Paul Lambert’s central defensive options following the arrival of Daniel Ayala from Liverpool.
The arrival of Daniel Ayala could be bad news for Leon Barnett, or alternatively it could be bad news for Ward and Whitbread depending on Lambert`s Plan A.
In Whitbread, Ward and even De Laet, we have defenders who can, and want, to keep the ball on the deck, much like Ayala has been brought up to do. Short passes being stroked about, and any long ball is done so with a desired target. Not quite to Fox`s sixpence accuracy, but as well as any centre-back at our bottom-mid Premier League status.
They`re not just ball players, they`re body-on-the-line, win every header players too. Even if they are prone to the odd lapse, over-confidence even. But it`s refreshing to see a comfortable defender.
Big man Barnett on the other hand focuses on winning everything. And he succeeds on the whole. Plus, one of his strides is around six for the average human so he makes up for lapses with his speed and last-ditch blocks. Unlike his partners, his lapses come from not an over-confidence but lack of comfort on the ball.
I`m not lumping him in with the 50p-footed Doc, a hoof merchant of the lowest order, but he looks it compared to whoever is next to him. Arguably he`s our best defender, but as an all-rounder he falls short.
The truth is, no-one will be left in the cold. We`ve got defenders for all occasions and we`re always without one each week for some reason or another. So the arrival of Ayala is nothing but strengthening the ranks.
My starting pairing? Any of the above will do just fine.
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