Joe Riley

Paul Tierney was another from the Old Trafford gash conveyor belt , he was one of the worst left backs I've seen at City and we've had a few !!!

 

The problem with their crappy youth system that produces endless reams of bad young players is, if they come with a good rep, our fans genuinely rate them as better than they are.

Some used to swear Eddie Johnson had ability. Some think Riley must need a chance and can't be infinitely worse than Chicksen and Wood. Yet there is no evidence to suggest that all.

They are two of the worst players we have ever had.

 

Connor Wood is no where near one if our worst ever players based on the little we have seen of him.

 

I'm on about Riley. Wood is used in positive terms as a comparison.

 

The Man United sweeper system, suck up all available children who show some ability, then have their confidence sucked out of them if they cannot develop at the rate they want, then spew them out to all in sundry for a fat loan or selling fee with the Man United logo on. As ppl have mentioned Man United like others are only interested in their brand, and keeping the share holders happy.

I would be extremely cautious about taking on young players from the top league, West Ham have been the exception, they actually sent us two very good young players. The Udders sent us another one this season. Not that we are in the market anymore.

 

There isn't an argument that Connor Wood is better than Chicksen.

Chicksen is a significantly superior defender to Wood, that's a given, there's strong video evidence to it, it's been outlined on this very forum, AND every manager in the building has agreed with that.

To suggest Wood is better than Chicksen shows a near-complete lack of understanding of football. The only argument for Wood is age, and the idea he could develop into a better player (very unlikely IMO).

You just literally have to watch games and highlights.

Chicksen gets pelters when he tries to block a cross but fails.

Connor Wood, in the same scenario, is literally never anywhere near the winger - ever. Like, nowhere near. 10 yards away. For all his ability, he has no positional sense, cannot operate across a back line, playing as a 'wing back' didn't necessarily help that of course, but his ability to keep up with League One wingers is virtually non existent.

All the stats from the entire season simply outline quite dramatically how we concede far more goals with Wood in the team than Chicksen.

But one by one, people with poor judgement will say "Stats don't prove anything", "highlights don't show the full story", "managers just need to give him a chance", etc, etc, etc. God himself could come to earth and say look, it's a fact, Chicksen is a better player than Wood, and there'd still be some sort of excuse as to why they couldn't accept that reasoning.

 

Both Chicksen and Wood are very poor defenders, neither can stop a cross and neither have any sort of positional awareness. I'm not sure how you can say Chicksen is a superior defender when I cannot think of a single defensive quality he's even remotely average at.

But for me Wood is still a better player. Going forward, Wood is much more effective than chicksen. He has more pace, more comfortable when in possession, more composure and an ability to beat a man which chicksen definitely doesn't have. He also doesn't bottle out of challenges like Chicksen and isn't pushed over by a light breeze.

 

You say 'neither have any sort of positional awareness', but if that was the case both highlights and the relevant statistics would be vaguely similar for both.

They're not even close.

Chicksen is generally always close to the winger. Wood is not.

There is a massive gulf between the two in this regard.

Chicksen gets pelters for not roaming forward, and that probably informs the opinion that Wood is better going forward - but also explains why he is half a mile away from the action on many occasions - ie, MIA. No coach who understands the game is going to tolerate that level of absence, which is why Wood is a distant number two for Collins, Hopkin and now Bowyer.

 

Chicksen is the favourite scapegoat of fans which is over exaggerated however when he was injured wood filled in and in my opinion unjustly lost his place when Chicksen returned. He then played pretty well left midfield. He is unlucky not to have played more

 

Wood is a better player, Issue closed,

 

Riley looks like another typical academy player churned off the conveyor belt but watching him you're not sure what he actually is in terms of position. Maybe he was another caught up in the Edin Rahic shitshow but in the games he contributed to in terms of minutes played he never finished one, mostly hauled off around half time. I dare say its too early to write him off but I'm struggling to see how you fit him in to a first eleven.