O'Shea

[ElectroClaret]

Really hoping this lad improves, and fulfils the potential that the management evidently saw in him, because at the moment he's nowhere near PL standard.

Unfortunately, bearing in mind the injury problems we have in central defence at the moment, he (and al-dakhil) are having to fill in for the unfit guys, so maybe it's a little unfair to have a go.

Be a good Championship player though.
Hope we don't have to find out.

[jedi_master]

He has been a real disappointment to me (he's not alone, so not wanting to single him out specifically - but as the thread is about him...!) considering he is 24 and has experience under his belt. He actually looked really decent in pre-season so I was quite optimistic/excited to see him. It's a huge step up of course it is, but he has looked really below the standard even for a promotion chasing Championship side in my opinion. He would have been bench at best last season from any permutation of our centre back pairings, even when Taylor was there.

One of my starkest observations of him is that whilst he always competes aerially, he struggles to clear the ball with his head. He often loops it vertically above him (almost 'scalping' the ball as opposed to using his forehead). This has happened in the majority of games and invariably puts us under pressure with the second balls.

I think £7m for what appears to be an incredibly average Championship defender is looking a poor deal. As a squad player it would perhaps be palatable, and maybe that is what he is really seen as (i.e, 4th/5th choice). It's under more magnification due to him starting most weeks because of our chronic injuries in that position. It also has to be in our minds that the lad has stepped up a league into a team that simply cannot defend and is getting hammered every week - he will himself be finding this tough mentally as well as physically one would think.

[ClaretAL]

I believe he is very capable at RB and I think we should give him a go when our first choice CB's return. He would be perfect in the pivot and gives flexibility if we decide to go to a back 3/5 in a match. For me Roberts does not offer anything and Vitiniho looses the ball way to easily.

[KRBFC]

Doesn’t help he’s constantly playing in different formations next to different personal, we badly need a settled back four but injuries have crippled us in defence.

He might be good next to Beyer given a run, sadly we just haven’t been able to build cohesion in defence at all.

[SalisburyClaret]

Definitely needs an experienced partner guiding him. He’d be fine alongside Mee or Tarky. At the moment it looks like too much too soon - as with many of the others.

[aggi]

I think this may be one where people are just underestimating how much a decent championship centre-half costs and the gap between a decent championship defender and a decent premier league defender.

According to West Brom fans I know he was good for them and stats seem to bear that out.

We sold Bobby Thomas for a couple of million and he hadn't played a single championship game, it's not that surprising that O'Shea with ~ 100 top end Championship/Premier League games cost £7m.

If you want a bit of depth at centre half then that is the kind of fee you'r probably going to have to pay. Hopefully a bit more of a settled defence and we'll start to see a bit more from him but I can understand why we signed him.

[Anthonini]

I see potential in him. Give him a few games next to Beyer or Delcroix and protect Al Dakhil because he's been a weak link too often this season. Great talent but we need some stability right now which O'Shea will bring. Strong in the air and his passing is improving.

[Hedontplayforyou]

I would like to see him given a go at full back too. Roberts is struggling and Vitinho is frightening and fills me with dread. He’s clearly struggling at the heart of the defence but possibly out wide it could bring us a bit more joy.

[spt_claret]

Can't understand the calls for him at full back, seems like trying to accommodate him more than anything.
He's not fast enough, not going to be a threat going forwards, struggling enough with defensive duties in the middle let alone fullback which is harder to defend as both in the Prem and in our system.
He's what he is. A decent to pretty good Championship defender who's been forced into the key centre back role by injury. Dakhil has far more potential,Ekdal is miles better at everything except pace, Beyer is miles better all round.
Unpopular opinion is I think we're seeing pretty similar to what we'd have seen if we'd signed Bellis. Maybe Bellis would have done a shade better but he was a flatterer a lot of the time.

[jlup1980]

Can't understand the calls for him at full back, seems like trying to accommodate him more than anything.
He's not fast enough, not going to be a threat going forwards, struggling enough with defensive duties in the middle let alone fullback which is harder to defend as both in the Prem and in our system.
He's what he is. A decent to pretty good Championship defender who's been forced into the key centre back role by injury. Dakhil has far more potential,Ekdal is miles better at everything except pace, Beyer is miles better all round.
Unpopular opinion is I think we're seeing pretty similar to what we'd have seen if we'd signed Bellis. Maybe Bellis would have done a shade better but he was a flatterer a lot of the time.

THB wasn't convincing last season and nowhere near as good as some seem to think. Yes he could pass a ball but he had all the time in the world to make those passes. I actually thought he stood on the ball for far too long and would have been regularly caught out the PL, similarly to how we've been caught out a few times this season in CM.

It was clear that Beyer was head and shoulders above him. And you have to remember that playing CB for us last season was about as easy as it gets. THB wasn't the answer in the summer, certainly not for £20m, so I can see why we went for O'Shea instead. However, O'Shea is showing the gulf between the leagues. He was decent for WBA last season but he's basically the new Kevin Long.

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

I’m thinking the recruitment team thought they were onto a winner at £7m or £9m but he is not showing to be anything like as good as THB who was quoted at £15m which would have been better value. He’s looking like a less impressive Kevin long by the week. Left Tarks completely unmarked last night which is crazy.

[Hedontplayforyou]

To be honest it’s between him and Al-Dakhil at full back for me just to move one of them out of the firing line and relieve Roberts and Vitinho of their duties for a while because neither have been close to adequate thus far. Al-Dakhil is quicker, had a nightmare against spurs but I think would bring us some recovery pace in the middle if he inverted .

[THEWELLERNUT70]

I have a Baggies mate who I've known for over 30 years and when he signed for us spoke very very highly of him when we had a chat. There's no doubt imo there is a player in there but I do think he perhaps at this moment in time needs firstly a stable defensive unit and secondly an experienced CB that's a talker ( in the Mee mould which at this moment in time we don't have unfortunately)

The idea of playing him at right back is a good idea too imo but I'd be tempted to play Roberts in front of him just to make us a bit more solid out of possession

[mdd2]

I think these young players are perhaps getting worse because their confidence is getting blown away by the easy defeats we are suffering. Hardly looked like winning any of our home games as we were easily turned over by all except Utd and apart from Forest and Luton I believe our away defeats have been easy wins for the opposition

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

He is what he is a bog standard Championship centre half. A bit like Kevin Long ok for one off’s but you are going to struggle when they end up playing more.

[claretspice]

I don't think that O'Shea has done too much wrong, possibly until the last couple of games when there's been alarming signs of confidence collapsing more generally. He's stepping up to a much higher level (the gulf between the Championship and Premier League is now clearly vast) and the fact the back four has changed around him (and he's personally been moved around a lot) plus the fact that our set up hasn't protected him very well in front and has also exposed space behind, hasn't really given him much of a chance.

One particular observation. He and Al Dakhil both look significantly more comfortable to me on the right side of the back four. This often provokes scepticism, but I've a firm view that quite a lot of centre backs at the top level have a strong preference for one side or the other (e.g. because they're very one footed, or simply because they've always played there so the set up of the pitch from that side is more natural). O'Shea has been moved to the left to accommodate Al Dakhil, and I wonder if that has been a particular problem in the last few matches when the partnership has clearly not looked especially secure.

[Carwin261]

I think these young players are perhaps getting worse because their confidence is getting blown away by the easy defeats we are suffering. Hardly looked like winning any of our home games as we were easily turned over by all except Utd and apart from Forest and Luton I believe our away defeats have been easy wins for the opposition

Lack of confidence is an horrible thing ,I know the difference when I play golf ,on a good day you hit the ball and don’t even think about ,on a bad day you think you’ll never hit the ball again ,imagine being a footballer and unlike golf there’s somebody trying to stop you playing well.

[Den_Perry]

At this level you just can’t play two young inexperienced players together in the centre of defense. It’s as simple as that. I’m sure both Al-Dakhil and O’Shea would be more that capable when paired with someone like Tarkowski for example.

[DocSavage]

Got to say I’ve seen nothing about O’Shea that makes me think he’s anywhere near premier league quality. Al-dahkeel has his pace as a saving grace but is scared of his own shadow. We can only hope beyer and ekdal make good recoveries

[Dark Cloud]

Almost certainly wasn't signed to be playing every week and to be at the heart of a hugely under pressure Premier League defence. Injuries have forced an unwelcome situation whereby he's having a baptism of fire along with his extremely young and green defensive partner and unfortunately his confidence will surely be draining away with every defeat.

[DCWat]

I think this may be one where people are just underestimating how much a decent championship centre-half costs and the gap between a decent championship defender and a decent premier league defender.

According to West Brom fans I know he was good for them and stats seem to bear that out.

We sold Bobby Thomas for a couple of million and he hadn't played a single championship game, it's not that surprising that O'Shea with ~ 100 top end Championship/Premier League games cost £7m.

If you want a bit of depth at centre half then that is the kind of fee you'r probably going to have to pay. Hopefully a bit more of a settled defence and we'll start to see a bit more from him but I can understand why we signed him.

Did we have to pay that with McNally already on the books? Both seem to have earned similar plaudits in the same division, last season.

That 7 million quid would have been better spent elsewhere, from what I’ve seen so far (in terms of O’Shea’s performances and in terms of the obvious shortcomings elsewhere in the squad).

We have to trust Kompany on this, but the defensive displays that we have seen so far don’t offer much in the way of confidence.

When the options become available, I wouldn’t mind seeing how he performs at right back. He’s reasonably pacy and looks to be OK with the ball at his feet - a possible way to bed him in a little more gradually?

[ClaretAL]

Did we have to pay that with McNally already on the books? Both seem to have earned similar plaudits in the same division, last season.

That 7 million quid would have been better spent elsewhere, from what I’ve seen so far (in terms of O’Shea’s performances and in terms of the obvious shortcomings elsewhere in the squad).

We have to trust Kompany on this, but the defensive displays that we have seen so far don’t offer much in the way of confidence.

When the options become available, I wouldn’t mind seeing how he performs at right back. He’s reasonably pacy and looks to be OK with the ball at his feet - a possible way to bed him in a little more gradually?

Totally agree.

[Dark Cloud]

What the f*** is up with Ekdal??? The more he doesn't play the more I feel he's our best player by miles and the one who could just save us. I think it's a psychological thing!! (In me, not Ekdal!!)

[FCBurnley]

Who in our current squad is PL standard or could be in the near future ?
Muric is
Trafford future
Beyer is
Berge is close
Benson if fit
Zaroury future
Koleosho future
Foster it fit but clearly has issues
Ekdal hopefully

Any others ?

[kaptin1]

What the f*** is up with Ekdal??? The more he doesn't play the more I feel he's our best player by miles and the one who could just save us. I think it's a psychological thing!! (In me, not Ekdal!!)

All players that aren’t playing seem to get better and better in the minds of fans. Danny Karbassyoon is up there with Messi and Ronaldo…

[RicardoMontalban]

Who in our current squad is PL standard or could be in the near future ?
Muric is
Trafford future
Beyer is
Berge is close
Benson if fit
Zaroury future
Koleosho future
Foster it fit but clearly has issues
Ekdal hopefully

Any others ?

I think the majority are, or could very soon be. That’s not the issue. We’ve just got some very glaring gaps in some positions, or nowhere near enough in others.

[DCWat]

What the f*** is up with Ekdal??? The more he doesn't play the more I feel he's our best player by miles and the one who could just save us. I think it's a psychological thing!! (In me, not Ekdal!!)

It’ll be interesting to see how he performs at this level, whenever he is back. His lack of pace might prove to be a problem, though he should help us out aerially.

After such a lengthy lay off, he will of course return to the squad as the best Swedish centre half in history.

[lucs86]

Fullbacks are our main problem this year, in that we don't have any good enough to progress the ball out of our own half, either by inverting or going down the line (VK was clearly never a fan of Taylor for this).
The only way that repurposed centre halves O'Shea, AAD or Delcroix are going to help or be any more effective than Roberts and Vitinho is if we change approach and play a flat/defensive back 4, like Hodgson often does.
I think we should do this but I don't think VK does.