Wayne Bridge, case for the defence

[barney8]

and dont forget we finished 10th last season and we were 3rd from bottom at Christmas! our January signings must have been pretty good!

We finished ninth the season before last and we were third from bottom at christmas. Our summer signings must have been pretty awful.

 

[Biggsy1]

Now a lot of people on here and various other forums have been having a go at Bridge,and frankly i've had enough.
1.Last season if you remember on the left was him and Robbie, now i love Robhino but he didn't excalty bust a gut to track back did he? And that left bridge woefully exposed on the left(i think Evra or Cashley would of struggled)
2.joining in jan didn't help,had no time to settle in, not 100% match fit after not playing regular for Chelsea(which wasn't his fault)

Now this season i feel he will be a key player for us as hes settled in,had a full pre-season and most importantly with the signing of Barry COVER, as Barry is left footed and will cover for Bridge when he makes runs down the left(which Robbie never did)
People' Bridge is an ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL and for 12M we got a really good deal like Barry
This season i'm sure we will see the real Wayne Bridge and he is a class act
Right rant over

(now where's that tin hat!!)

Well said fella, me and my pals have discussed just this, he aint a bad player and hopeully will have settled now and will show us what he's made of!

 

[levets]

He is on about the oppositions right full back, that should be Robinho's job to mark, that is how 4 3 3 works.

That might well be, but you conveniently ignore my other points about the fella. Robby's the easy target to blame and you all do it. Bridge is never blamed for his poor positioning, lack of tracking his man so he knows where he is around the pen box, never blamed for being too easy to get around, never blamed for not putting in a tackle.

Neds always covers him and that never gets mentioned. I don't know what you lot see in Bridge. I really don't.

You have to wonder why he was edged out at Ch£l$ki and out of his England place.

Because he's better going forward than back... Is the correct answer.

Disagree with all your points except 1. Yes he is better going forward than defending and the reason for that is simple... He joined Southampton as a left winger and was converted to a full back. So his natural game is to go forward.

Now.. on to his defending. One thing about Bridge is he NEVER dives in and gets skinned. A lot of the goals that were conceded and 'put down to Bridge' (wrongly), came from crosses that were put in from deep... (Stoke being the exception that I remember)... Is that not the role of the left Defensive midfielder? With barry in the midfield now, Bridge will shine.. He is a class act and is an England international.

 

[sweep]

I expected better of him, although he likes to get forward the end product was generally poor last season. Defensively he was woefull, lack of cover doesn't cut it I'm afraid, most times he was one on one with an attacker he allowed a cross or pass into our box, usually by simply stabding too far off.
Has to improve or he will be benchwarming again.

 

[Bigga]

That might well be, but you conveniently ignore my other points about the fella. Robby's the easy target to blame and you all do it. Bridge is never blamed for his poor positioning, lack of tracking his man so he knows where he is around the pen box, never blamed for being too easy to get around, never blamed for not putting in a tackle.

Neds always covers him and that never gets mentioned. I don't know what you lot see in Bridge. I really don't.

You have to wonder why he was edged out at Ch£l$ki and out of his England place.

Because he's better going forward than back... Is the correct answer.

Disagree with all your points except 1. Yes he is better going forward than defending and the reason for that is simple... He joined Southampton as a left winger and was converted to a full back. So his natural game is to go forward.

Now.. on to his defending. One thing about Bridge is he NEVER dives in and gets skinned. A lot of the goals that were conceded and 'put down to Bridge' (wrongly), came from crosses that were put in from deep... (Stoke being the exception that I remember)... Is that not the role of the left Defensive midfielder? With barry in the midfield now, Bridge will shine.. He is a class act and is an England international.

As I've said earlier, Robby wrongly gets blamed for not covering when, really, that was Nigel's job.

But, yeah, you're right. Bridge never dives in and gets skinned. He stands off and gets skinned!! He gets treated like a step child in a LOT of games and although those moments don't all lead to goals, they lead to potential threats on goal. Ned has to cover that. Is that acceptable to you?

Fine, he can put in a cross, but that's not his first job, is it...?

Ash Cole's first job is defending, second is supporting the attack IF he has the opportunity, not the other way around. THAT is the reason why he took Bridge's position at the Rent Boys and England.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

[He gets treated like a step child in a LOT of games and although those moments don't all lead to goals, they lead to potential threats on goal. Ned has to cover that. Is that acceptable to you?

This doesn't make any sense.

As i said earlier, the fullback needs to get forward in a 4-3-3. For me it isn't so much about Robinho not tracking back, its about how often he loses posession in an attacking position. This can leave us exposed to counter attacks on that side.

When you talk about Nedum you make out as though he is some poor unfortunate victim of Wayne Bridge's gung-ho play. He's not, he's just doing his job. As is Bridge.

 

[mblue]

i thought he had an alright start, new club, a very attacking left side to our team, so naturally the opposing team will then counter down that side, they probably watch previous games to work it out. but of genuine mistakes and ability last year, it shouldnt be wayne bridge who is taking stick, it was dunney who didnt have the best of seasons.

you say neddum was covering for bridge, well all the games i watched he was covering for dunney.

 

[Cully]

Bridge will prove his worth this season. We need him bombing down the wing getting the ball in to big Ade and he will know that Barry is a clever enough player to fill in behind him.

Barry is key, but Bridge will be Englands left back in the world cup mark my words.

That's the spirit, very positive.

 

[ello_jo]

Great OP, to be honest I slagged him last year but i think everybody should get a pre season before they get really judged. With Barry, he could be a clas act, heres hoping!

 

[levets]

Disagree with all your points except 1. Yes he is better going forward than defending and the reason for that is simple... He joined Southampton as a left winger and was converted to a full back. So his natural game is to go forward.

Now.. on to his defending. One thing about Bridge is he NEVER dives in and gets skinned. A lot of the goals that were conceded and 'put down to Bridge' (wrongly), came from crosses that were put in from deep... (Stoke being the exception that I remember)... Is that not the role of the left Defensive midfielder? With barry in the midfield now, Bridge will shine.. He is a class act and is an England international.

As I've said earlier, Robby wrongly gets blamed for not covering when, really, that was Nigel's job.

But, yeah, you're right. Bridge never dives in and gets skinned. He stands off and gets skinned!! He gets treated like a step child in a LOT of games and although those moments don't all lead to goals, they lead to potential threats on goal. Ned has to cover that. Is that acceptable to you?

Fine, he can put in a cross, but that's not his first job, is it...?

Ash Cole's first job is defending, second is supporting the attack IF he has the opportunity, not the other way around. THAT is the reason why he took Bridge's position at the Rent Boys and England.

Bridge never dives in and gets skinned. He stands off and gets skinned!!
=====

Missed the point shocker!!!

Where did I mention Robbie? Oh and did you miss where I referred to the role of the defensive midfielder?

The reason why Cole took his position is that he is a better fullback.. Bridge is the 2nd best in the country.

Try to see beyond Bridge's fee and his salary... It clouds your poor judgement!
Then again I respect your opinion... ;-)