Thanks mate.
Sorry if I've missed this bit, but how do you think Robertson's performances in a vastly more compact, defensive system at Hull translate to performances for us?
I noticed that Robertson made 1.81 interceptions a game for Hull, but I imagine that's partly due to having a more passive brief over there. For us, he'll be expected to do a lot more going forward, which I'd think would change the way he would play substantially?
Sorry I missed this before, working this past week.
I think in terms of what defenders do, that can be dictated by system and team than anything else. For example, Spurs as an entire team average 8 interceptions per game. Which means if you play full back for spurs you won´t get anywhere near how many Robertson has. Whereas West Ham average 16 per game.
I think this is due to how the teams defend. I am noticing a trend between passive defence (West Ham, Hull, Man United, Arsenal) and active defence (Spurs, Liverpool).
The more aggressive you press, the less interceptions you have. This is because you tend to force recoveries (sloppy passes direct to an opponent) rather than interceptions (player moves into the path of a pass) when pressing. Whereas in a more passive defence, you are mostly trying to stay compact, in shape and therefore can easily pick off a passing in tight passing lanes. Of course you can still see the individual behind the system. Davies and Rose look entirely different in their defensive numbers for example. Likewise Monreal and Gibbs (although I think that´s because the former is a very good player and the latter is a very shite player). Likewise Moreno-Flanagan-Milner-Clyne. They all look very different.
You can see, for example, Flanagan & Moreno tend to do actions that involve charging the ball. Tackles & Interceptions. Whereas Clyne is the opposite - he will keep his position, rarely foul, rarely be beaten, has lots of recoveries, blocked passes etc. Milner is a little of both. Robertson shows as a Clyne-like fullback in terms of approach to defending, which I think is a good thing. I haven´t looked at attacking numbers. I wanted to compare the Trippier, Davies & Alonso numbers from their old systems to new to see if there is an obvious trend.
I havent seen anything that concerns me though about Robertson. I was worried he was reckless in the penalty area but he had two moments last night and seems to favour not committing to trying to win the ball in a bad spot. Very encouraging.