RR Fan Letters: “Forget physicality - Sunderland need to sign and develop technical players!”



Onien, the attacking midfielder who's biggest attributes at playing right back is his breaking forward and arriving at the right time for crosses coming from the other side. The O'Nien who gets dragged towards the ball and is poor positionslly? You want that guy playing in the position that requires the most discipline and the least forward play in the team?

Why? It seems that position is the opposite of what he's good at
 
I don't think he's done anything to prove he should be playing in the middle. energy is what honeyman offers and still gets slated. RB does him favours as positionally its easier and he only really needs to be aware of 1 man which he does lose occasionally. in the middle there's an awful lot more happening and I think honeyman is more aware than he is, albiet some times limited with what he does with that awareness.

I'd keep playing him RB. he's good at it and growing into the role each game.
 
Want to see him play as a box to box midfielder, that's what we signed him for. He obviously must have talent in the midfield otherwise we wouldn't of signed him from Wycombe.
 
Gatesy said:
Maybe a top DM needs to be like that and he does have time to improve his passing but how many players in L1 can you honestly say are top passers of the ball. He would allow the team to push up and stop sitting so deep which was our biggest problem last year. Work on his passing and he could do well there IMO.
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He’s 24. His basic skills aren’t going to improve drastically from this point.

beam1234 said:
Flanagan is a RB
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He may have played there in the past, but on the basis the tin man from Wizard of Oz is more mobile I’m going to go on record and say I never want him to play there for us.
 
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Dont think hes currently got a good enough combination of strength, distribution, or quality to sit in midfield and control it from a deep position. He maybe could occupy a role further forward using his energy and ability to run onto things in the final third, but I don't think he's got enough creativity, vision or quality to support the front man in the way we want and what Honeyman has been criticised for.

I'd like to see him improve and prove me wrong if given the chance, but as likeable as he is then he's just not that good and for me that's why he's been shoe horned into right back.
 
Gatesy said:
Maybe a top DM needs to be like that and he does have time to improve his passing but how many players in L1 can you honestly say are top passers of the ball. He would allow the team to push up and stop sitting so deep which was our biggest problem last year. Work on his passing and he could do well there IMO.
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agree with you to a point but I'm not saying he has to be a top passer just be able to move it quicker and in a more confident fashion than at present.

I love the lad and he has been a real positive in our season but just don't think personally that he is ready to play that pivotal role for us, just a personal viewpoint.......if he does get put in such a role I hope he can pick it up and do as well as he has at RB
 
Charmless Man said:
He’s 24. His basic skills aren’t going to improve drastically from this point.



He may have played there in the past, but on the basis the tin man from Wizard of Oz is more mobile I’m going to go on record and say I never want him to play there for us.
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I'll hazard a guess the same thing was said about Ian Wright before he got picked up at the age of 23...

one footed wonder said:
agree with you to a point but I'm not saying he has to be a top passer just be able to move it quicker and in a more confident fashion than at present.

I love the lad and he has been a real positive in our season but just don't think personally that he is ready to play that pivotal role for us, just a personal viewpoint.......if he does get put in such a role I hope he can pick it up and do as well as he has at RB
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I agree but as I pointed out, this is League 1 and he doesn't have to be great, or even good at everything to be a good player at this level. Cattermole, contrary to popular belief, is a very good passer of the ball and tackler but, he just doesn't have the mobility to be an effective DM anymore. I would say knowing how to be a bit niggly, with tonnes of energy and we know O'Nien can tackle are more important attributes to have in that role at our level. I mean, how many midfielders at L1 level are quality passers of the ball? Not many I would guess.

Appreciate your viewpoint, everyone see's things differently. I just see him as that energy we need in front of the defence to get them moving forward, rather than sat back.

parsonjohn1985 said:
Onien, the attacking midfielder who's biggest attributes at playing right back is his breaking forward and arriving at the right time for crosses coming from the other side. The O'Nien who gets dragged towards the ball and is poor positionslly? You want that guy playing in the position that requires the most discipline and the least forward play in the team?

Why? It seems that position is the opposite of what he's good at
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Can't honestly say we've seen him play that AM role though can we and when he did come on in midfield in the early part of the season he was chastised for his poor lack of control and the ball running away from him. I would say his best attributes at RB last season were his fitness which enabled him to get up and down the pitch and as you say, arrive at the right time for crosses but I also thought he was good and strong in the tackle. Put him in the middle to break down play, he's a midfielder anyway so knows what being a midfielder is about, positionally wise and just because he's in a DM role doesn't mean he can't get forward when we're on top of the game. How many goals did Catts score this year?

I'm sure people on here still think we're in the PL and expect everyone to be able to play to the standards of Kante and Fabinho! Not necessarily aimed at you pal but this is L1 and players have their limitations in this league.
 
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Gatesy said:
I'll hazard a guess the same thing was said about Ian Wright before he got picked up at the age of 23...


I agree but as I pointed out, this is League 1 and he doesn't have to be great, or even good at everything to be a good player at this level. Cattermole, contrary to popular belief, is a very good passer of the ball and tackler but, he just doesn't have the mobility to be an effective DM anymore. I would say knowing how to be a bit niggly, with tonnes of energy and we know O'Nien can tackle are more important attributes to have in that role at our level. I mean, how many midfielders at L1 level are quality passers of the ball? Not many I would guess.

Appreciate your viewpoint, everyone see's things differently. I just see him as that energy we need in front of the defence to get them moving forward, rather than sat back.


Can't honestly say we've seen him play that AM role though can we and when he did come on in midfield in the early part of the season he was chastised for his poor lack of control and the ball running away from him. I would say his best attributes at RB last season were his fitness which enabled him to get up and down the pitch and as you say, arrive at the right time for crosses but I also thought he was good and strong in the tackle. Put him in the middle to break down play, he's a midfielder anyway so knows what being a midfielder is about, positionally wise and just because he's in a DM role doesn't mean he can't get forward when we're on top of the game. How many goals did Catts score this year?

I'm sure people on here still think we're in the PL and expect everyone to be able to play to the standards of Kante and Fabinho! Not necessarily aimed at you pal but this is L1 and players have their limitations in this league.
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He was alright against sheff wed.

Playing dm does mean you can't get forward, Cattermole wasn't playing dm most of the season. The furthest forward your dm should be when you have attacking full backs is about where leadbitter was when he shot in final
 
Decent backup for Honeyman's role with his energy but not good enough to replace Cattermole in midfield and definitely not a DM.

Lovely feller and I hope he improves to the point where he might fit in centrally more regularly but for me, RB is where he fits best right now.
 
Could see him coming good further forward.

Not a DM in a million years for me but lad has a knack of positioning himself to score and can finish. Sort of what I hoped Honeyman would do this season
 
If he was going to get a chance in midfield he'd have got it ahead of Power when he got his chance in that advanced position.

More than once Ross has said he's playing at right back because he sees that as his best position.

I'm of the opinion we need a proper right back like. Can't fault O'Nien for effort and on the whole he does a good job there, likeable lad, has the right attitude, but at times he's not quite sure where he needs to be or who he needs to track. Played best with Flanagan alongside him and O'Nien said himself Flanagan would talk him through games.

Don't think we'll get a proper right back though. Whether we think they're any good there or not Love, O'Nien and Flanagan are all able to play there. Doubt it's seen as a high priority position to replace.
 

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