I think the key is to manage players. You have to appreciate football is not Fifa and just because you have a player with great skill doesn't mean you can just negate other aspects of the game. They are also not computer programmed data, they are people. If they are struggling defensively it will have an impact on the all round performance. The player needs to be managed properly and put on in situations where they have the best opportunity to show their ability.
So far it's hard to argue Silva isn't doing this. Walcott didn't have a great game yesterday, but watch his defensive work closely and you can see why he is an important player for us. He played an important role in limiting Chelsea's dangerous side. He works hard defensively, got the fitness, intelligence and experience to do so. I'm not sure that will ever be Lookman's game and currently he is a bit of a luxury, however a luxury that can have a big impact going the other way.
For me he was managed perfectly yesterday. When the pace had slowed and Bernard had tired he put him on. We needed a bit of a kick going the other way and we had a solid foothold in the game. He then quickly played another centre back behind him which meant Lucas Digne could look after the left side and he had more freedom. He was very dangerous in that time. He will have gained enormous confidence from it as opposed to the impact that may have been coming his way if we had lost the game in part down to his defensive ill-discipline.
As long as young players are involved most will be happy with this. I suspect Lookman will be much the same.
Couldn't disgree more.
If Walcott had defended the way he did yesterday in previous matches we would probably be sitting 6th now.
'He works hard defensively, got the fitness, intelligence and experience to do so.'
C'mon Catcher, you can't be serious.
Its not that he defended superbly against Chelsea, rather his positioning was much better.
It allowed the rest of the midfield and backs to set better lines.
I was surprised at first that he wasn't taken on, 1v1 more by Alonso and Kovacic.
But looking at it closely, the lads set up so well behind/across from him Chelsea were forced to recycle more often than they would have wanted.
But when it comes to 1v1, 2v2 and tracking players, Walcott is not 'an important player for us'. He's been more of a liability. Its not his natural game.
Silva has managed him very well in the last two matches, and for that Walcott had one of his better games. And not surprisingly results have been different.
Lookman is a very different story. The boy is becoming a man. Yesterday was an attempt at a mature performance, and he did it well.
In the short time he was on his defensive positioning was more difficult than Walcott's. The left side was much more open, he had to cover a lot more space, he worked well with Digne, Sig and Mina. If he keeps going this way, as he makes some tackles and gets his confidence up, he's going to be a better defender than Walcott has been, or ever will.
