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The Liam Polworth Enigma


Robert

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I would not have gone as far as MOM but nobody could dispute his commitment or effort today. He had a very average first 45 mainly because we mainly attacked down the left and the pace of Calder. Polworth improved in the second half as he was given more of a roving role. He has a lovely touch BUT I don't think that you can play Vigurs, Draper and Polworth centrally together. Polworth took over in the second 45 but went a long way to nullifying Vigurs. It looks like a case of picking any 2 from 3 and Polly is in the bronze medal place at the moment. But what about an attacking right wing back ?

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4 hours ago, IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER said:

I would not have gone as far as MOM but nobody could dispute his commitment or effort today. He had a very average first 45 mainly because we mainly attacked down the left and the pace of Calder. Polworth improved in the second half as he was given more of a roving role. He has a lovely touch BUT I don't think that you can play Vigurs, Draper and Polworth centrally together. Polworth took over in the second 45 but went a long way to nullifying Vigurs. It looks like a case of picking any 2 from 3 and Polly is in the bronze medal place at the moment. But what about an attacking right wing back ?

Agreed that Polly is third place at the moment, but if Draper goes (hope not though) he will slot in centrally beside Vigurs and we have other options for wingers. 

A concern for yesterday was how many of our guys got bossed/tossed about by Forfar players. Some of our guys were a bit lightweight and will need to grow a pair / toughen up for the season ahead. Some would last 2 minutes on a shinty pitch!! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Time for Liam Polworth to step up and prove he has got what it takes. He has been patient playing out wide but hopefully now he will given the opportunity to dictate the game from  a central position. The dynamics of the team will change dramatically with no Tansey & Draper , so lets hope for a more slicker midfield and a few more goals from the midfield area.  

  

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1 hour ago, forresjags said:

Time for Liam Polworth to step up and prove he has got what it takes. He has been patient playing out wide but hopefully now he will given the opportunity to dictate the game from  a central position. The dynamics of the team will change dramatically with no Tansey & Draper , so lets hope for a more slicker midfield and a few more goals from the midfield area.  

  

Yes.  This is huge opportunity for Liam to realise his potential.  Having once had a plethora of players who could play in central midfield (Hughes only ever signed midfielders!) we now have a distinct shortage. and the danger here is that Polworth and Vigurs might get complacent if there is lack of competition for places.  In Polworth's case though, I suspect that less competition for places and hopefully a bit more freedom to play in a preferred role will give his confidence a boost.  Getting back to the form he showed early in the 2015/6 season would help to make us a pretty competitive side.

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I agree with you there caleyboy he was really poor yesterday and he was playing in the middle as everyone has been shouting for. Maybe we are all dreaming if we think he's going to be some kind of midfield star. Just doesn't look like it's going to happen 

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He was utterly anonymous yesterday.

We seem to have signed this Trafford guy from Finland, I'd expect him to play in central midfield further up of Vigurs. I had thought that we were wanting a diamond midfield with Vigurs deeper and Polworth attacking but they didn't seem to do that yesterday. . 

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54 minutes ago, ictchris said:

He was utterly anonymous yesterday.

We seem to have signed this Trafford guy from Finland, I'd expect him to play in central midfield further up of Vigurs. I had thought that we were wanting a diamond midfield with Vigurs deeper and Polworth attacking but they didn't seem to do that yesterday. . 

We've been playing a flat 4-4-2.  That type of system was done away with years ago.

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59 minutes ago, Renegade said:

We've been playing a flat 4-4-2.  That type of system was done away with years ago.

Yeah, it was REALLY flat, Vigurs and Polworth didn't drop off or make forward runs. Maybe if you had wide midfielders who could tuck in, a striker who could drop deeper and a centre half who could carry the ball out we could get away with it but we have none of those things.

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On ‎07‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 9:41 AM, bdu98196 said:

Not saying Liam hasn't improved over the years but for almost 3 or 4 seasons now people have been talking about him as a breakthrough youngster, he's still yet to establish himself as a first team mainstay and yet to find a position on the park he can dominate and call his own. While like everyone I want to see him succeed will he make it to the highest levels? Fortunately he also seems to have been given a lot more game time than some other youngsters who have been cast aside by the club after several managers who haven't even given substitute appearance even when we have struggled so badly.

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With Draper and Tansey both gone this is make or break time for Liam.  As you say, he has had plenty of opportunity to shine, but in the last couple of years he seems to have gone backwards.  He now has a better than ever opportunity to show what he can do and playing at Championship level should also help.  If he can't make a position his own this season, then I don't think he ever will.  

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An honest assessment, hopefully he (and the rest of the squad and management) takes that as motivation into the next few games.

If he understands how we are all feeling, he can hopefully translate that on to leadership on the park.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought Polworth had a cracker on Saturday.  Seems to me that he isn't a winger (which we all knew anyway) and he's too lightweight to be in the middle in a 4-4-2.  As part of a midfield trio though, with a man holding, he looked born a-new. 

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51 minutes ago, Renegade said:

Thought Polworth had a cracker on Saturday.  Seems to me that he isn't a winger (which we all knew anyway) and he's too lightweight to be in the middle in a 4-4-2.  As part of a midfield trio though, with a man holding, he looked born a-new. 

He looked comfortable and confident! What a difference 

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11 hours ago, Renegade said:

Thought Polworth had a cracker on Saturday. 

Its been said n here before, every season we see Polly get more and more chastised for his lack of progress or performances then he will have a great game (maybe 1 in 5 or 10) and he will be hailed as a bright hope again. Wont be getting too carried away and will wait and see - bearing in mind we were playing probably the Championship relegation favourites its not necessarily the performance benchmark that will define turning the corner and fulfilling potential. 

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9 hours ago, bdu98196 said:

Its been said n here before, every season we see Polly get more and more chastised for his lack of progress or performances then he will have a great game (maybe 1 in 5 or 10) and he will be hailed as a bright hope again. Wont be getting too carried away and will wait and see - bearing in mind we were playing probably the Championship relegation favourites its not necessarily the performance benchmark that will define turning the corner and fulfilling potential. 

It is true that a lot of players and the team as a whole get judged on their last performance.  All players have games when they are significantly better or worse in one game than their usual level.  I think the situation with Polworth may be different though.  He was actually better against Morton as well as the Brechin game.  With the introduction of Trafford, the manager has put him playing in front of Trafford and Vigurs and this is freeing him up to do what he does best.  In addition, Trafford looks to have a more positive mindset than Draper and the ball is being played to Polworth where he likes it.  I'm optimistic that the improvement in Polworth in the last 2 games is here to stay.

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I am very wary of being negative as we need to be more positive but the biggest issue with polly was the manager. 

Foran took a comfortable premier league team and played people out of position and destroyed their individual confidence. 

You are starting to see the shoots of players confidence grow . The issue is the hugely negative crowd will impact this improvement in polly especially at home where every mistep is magnified and vocalised.

I was embarrassed to be a caley fan sitting near to pollys wife and small child last home game. 

After the best 20 minutes i have seen him play with brilliant runs his first poor pass was met with criminal levels of abuse. 

I think he might play best away from home for the next couple of months until he feels loved and supported as the negative pressure currently tells.

 

 

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