- Jan 11, 2013
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Your level of knowledge on the subject far exceeds mine, but I think you leave out/don't expand upon other strengths - he is adept at playing little give and go's, working in tight space, and he can work either wide or pop up and find pockets of space centrally to contribute. Plus his sense of adventure and he is willing to get really high up the pitch. Whilst he hasn't shown his dribbling ability much so far in his first team outings (probably a mix of the higher levels of opposition, confidence, and teams sitting back against us so less space), those things I list he has shown in his last couple of cameos, even at left back, such as the goal he got.
Purely as a guess here, going on the little I know of how professional players see the game and what they rate in others, those aspects - the close control, ability to work in tight spaces under pressure - they'll respect that and see he is comfortable and trust him.
I of course agree on all of that. I did undersell him, I think what I tried to answer was what was the main thing that stands out and catches the eye, or why might people rave about him. I think that dribbling personally, is the skill that gets you off the feet, and you think WOW, which I assumed is what he wanted to know. All those bits you said are true being able to turn out of pressure or trouble and intelligent attacking play and linking, which is probably developed from his time as a striker and knowing what to do in the final third, something a lot of FBs struggle with. You are right though, he has shown some of those aspects of his play, my fear is just that people watch him, and think, I don't get the hype he isn't doing anything impressive. Kind of like when Onomah is stuck on the wing, and people are waiting to see a trick, or him start dribbling at people which he isn't going to do, and then wonder what the point in him his.
He is also a hardworker, and I think the biggest compliment I can probably pay him at the moment, is that in both England games and the few games he's played for us out of position he has still looked the part