Marcus Edwards

[Cheshireclaret]

At times, his first touch is poor. He obviously isn't physical, given his stature. He is at very best a top 6 Championship player, he will sink without trace in the Premier League.

You’re not watching the same player as me then. His ability to control a ball, especially when running with it - is breath taking. His low centre of gravity is a joy to behold, so either Marcus Edwards has done something to upset you, or you’re loving on another planet to me!

[BigGaz]

I mentioned earlier in the week that one of the misgivings I have about him is that he isn't much of a fighter. If he loses the ball he doesn't like he wants to win it straight back.

He is talented though and there's no one will else In the league I'd rather have in the league running at a defence when he's on it. Over the past few games he hasn't looked like he wants to run at his man, which is his main strength, and was largely gaffered by 36 year old Craig Forsyth.

Don't know if it's confidence or motivation or what but we need to get him back in the game and trying to run at people because he doesn't offer a right lot else. It's no surprise to me that he hasn't played well these last few games and we've gone back to struggling to make chances.

[Anonymous Claret]

Don't know if it's confidence or motivation.

Or tiredness?

He hadn't played much before arriving here and the Championship is very demanding with lots of games within a short period of time. I am hoping that he will be back to his best on Friday.

[Ampth7]

Interestingly against Norwich as soon as Edwards got the ball in the final third, he immediately had 3 opponents covering his 2 main options of taking on the full back or cutting in on his stronger foot. This definitely nullified him a fair bit, however this should have allowed others more space and time on the ball which Hannibal took advantage of on several occasions.

[fatboy47]

Jeez.....undefeated in god knows how long..playing some cracking football at times...a town not much bigger than Trumpton on the verge of a return to the best league in the world..club and town buzzing...

and people have to post sh1te like that of "goalkeeper".

[Andreshotboots]

I think he'll have much more space against the Blades and therefore be much more of a threat.

Its looking like it's going to be a must win for them so they'll have to take some risks and probably leave players in advanced positions.

[jrgbfc]

I like Edwards, but assuming we go up not sure how much use he'll be next season when its going to be a backs to the wall job.

[Goliath]

I like Edwards, but assuming we go up not sure how much use he'll be next season when its going to be a backs to the wall job.

You'd think we'd use him as an impact sub occasionally. Probably depends if he's a sulker or not as to whether that's a realistic option.

[Ric_C]

He's been poor the last two games. But as I've mentioned before, the opposition are so worried about him, it is no coincidence it has given Pires and Anthony more space to work in. As seen again on friday night.

[Clive 1960]

Class players attract flies i we used to say meaning players doubling up on you, but like other posters have said will free up space for others to exploit...

[basil6345789]

In February I was speaking with in The Algarve a Portuguese man from Porto but a big fan overall. He said that "Edwards plays well for about 5 games then loses interest - a bit like Rashford but he is good". He also said that Amorin will end up managing Benfica, his number one club from childhood through.

[Goalkeeper]

Jeez.....undefeated in god knows how long..playing some cracking football at times...a town not much bigger than Trumpton on the verge of a return to the best league in the world..club and town buzzing...

and people have to post sh1te like that of "goalkeeper".

Please tell me which part of my post isn't true. I didn't see any Premier league clubs trying to sign him. There is a reason for this.

[ClaretAndBlue94]

If we are promoted, our attacking players may have much more freedom to play as defenders will not be doubling/tripling up. Koleosho looked excellent in PL when allowed time on the ball

[CoolClaret]

If you cannot see the direct correlation between the addition & inclusion of Edwards into the team and the margins of our games swinging to wins, then I don't know what to tell you...

As stated earlier in the season, the system was/is absolutely fine; we were creating plenty of 1 vs 1 matchups and getting a spare man free on occasion; we just didn't have enough quality options in the final third to execute properly.

Now that we do and Edwards, is being heavily marked/pressed, which is opening the space up for other players to operate in.

[ecc]

I thought he defended well on Friday in his own way. He's not a defender but he closed down and helped the team.

[NL Claret]

In February I was speaking with in The Algarve a Portuguese man from Porto but a big fan overall. He said that "Edwards plays well for about 5 games then loses interest - a bit like Rashford but he is good". He also said that Amorin will end up managing Benfica, his number one club from childhood through.

I’d personally file that under what the Fulham and Bournemouth said about Parker, what Stoke fans said about Laurent and Huddersfield fans about Arfield.

[warksclaret]

I’d personally file that under what the Fulham and Bournemouth said about Parker, what Stoke fans said about Laurent and Huddersfield fans about Arfield.

Always amazed how much trust some fans place in what a total stranger has said about one of our players

[NL Claret]

Always amazed how much trust some fans place in what a total stranger has said about one of our players

Exactly, Edwards put in a good shift on Friday night, certainly looked interested,

[jlup1980]

You don't have to be a genius to see what Edwards brings to the table. With some players you don't miss them until they're not in the team and I think Edwards fits that bill nicely.

Prior to his arrival we were trying various options on the opposite wing to Anthony (Sarmiento, Koleosho, Foster, and Hannibal at the very least). None of them caused the opposition any real problems in the final third so we were relatively easy to defend against. If they stopped Anthony, they stopped us.

Now we look a different beast. We have two wingers that can cause problems. Teams are allowing Anthony more space because they're worried about Edwards, and he's punishing them. Take Edwards away and we revert back to what we were seeing earlier in the season. I know which I prefer.

It's the same with Brownhill. There are some who don't rate him that highly. Personally, I always think we're much better with him in the starting 11. He might not always appear to be having a direct impact on the game, but he usually is. His running and positional play are a huge factor in getting us up the pitch. Take him away and we've tended to look a bit aimless at times.

[Tricky Trevor]

I wish he could form some sort of partnership with Roberts. As good as Roberts/Anthony were there is nothing between Roberts/Edwards. I’ve watched Fridays match again this morning and whilst we are getting it wide at every opportunity there were a few times when Roberts passed infield with Edwards wide open, from a couple of them Cullen immediately switched it to Edwards who by then had been covered.
Roberts has also stopped overlapping him and isn’t the player he was before Edwards arrival.
Sit down with the videos and please sort it guys.

[basil6345789]

Always amazed how much trust some fans place in what a total stranger has said about one of our players

Simply conveying what a man who's close to it in Portugal said - he had no axe to grind

[Bosscat]

Our old mate Tim Sherwood likes him.

Screenshot_20250414_224959_Chrome.jpg (195.55 KiB) Viewed 2211 times

[dibraidio]

If we go up I'd have no hesitation in paying the reported 12m euros for him. I'd be surprised if we could get another winger of the same quality for that money. Definitely seems to have made the difference between not losing and winning more often than not.

[CrosspoolClarets]

In recent years we have had obligations to buy where in hindsight we wished we hadn’t.

Edwards is the opposite. An obligation (on both sides) if we go up that suits us perfectly. I cannot see us letting him go anywhere else. Opponents will target us down that side of course due to the defensive weakness but we will have to guard against it, not a reason not to play him.

[ClaretOfMancunia]

I wish he could form some sort of partnership with Roberts. As good as Roberts/Anthony were there is nothing between Roberts/Edwards. I’ve watched Fridays match again this morning and whilst we are getting it wide at every opportunity there were a few times when Roberts passed infield with Edwards wide open, from a couple of them Cullen immediately switched it to Edwards who by then had been covered.
Roberts has also stopped overlapping him and isn’t the player he was before Edwards arrival.
Sit down with the videos and please sort it guys.

I'm not surprised Roberts has given up with the overlapping runs, more often than not he makes the effort and then doesn't get the ball played to him even when he's wide open.

[Burnley1989]

You don't have to be a genius to see what Edwards brings to the table. With some players you don't miss them until they're not in the team and I think Edwards fits that bill nicely.

Prior to his arrival we were trying various options on the opposite wing to Anthony (Sarmiento, Koleosho, Foster, and Hannibal at the very least). None of them caused the opposition any real problems in the final third so we were relatively easy to defend against. If they stopped Anthony, they stopped us.

Now we look a different beast. We have two wingers that can cause problems. Teams are allowing Anthony more space because they're worried about Edwards, and he's punishing them. Take Edwards away and we revert back to what we were seeing earlier in the season. I know which I prefer.

It's the same with Brownhill. There are some who don't rate him that highly. Personally, I always think we're much better with him in the starting 11. He might not always appear to be having a direct impact on the game, but he usually is. His running and positional play are a huge factor in getting us up the pitch. Take him away and we've tended to look a bit aimless at times.

Fully agree with you there

[fatboy47]

I'm not surprised Roberts has given up with the overlapping runs, more often than not he makes the effort and then doesn't get the ball played to him even when he's wide open.

So Roberts sulking now is he?

Nothing to do with the manager's set-up and tactics ?

[dibraidio]

I'm not surprised Roberts has given up with the overlapping runs, more often than not he makes the effort and then doesn't get the ball played to him even when he's wide open.

Brownhill goes down that side quite often too. If Roberts makes the run and draws a defender surely that's still a useful run?

[Goliath]

I wish he could form some sort of partnership with Roberts. As good as Roberts/Anthony were there is nothing between Roberts/Edwards. I’ve watched Fridays match again this morning and whilst we are getting it wide at every opportunity there were a few times when Roberts passed infield with Edwards wide open, from a couple of them Cullen immediately switched it to Edwards who by then had been covered.
Roberts has also stopped overlapping him and isn’t the player he was before Edwards arrival.
Sit down with the videos and please sort it guys.

But since we moved Anthony to the left we've had Pires noticeably bombing on and getting past him a lot more. I think it's possibly tactical that we are using Roberts a bit more for control and Pires to bomb on. We probably want to get Edwards 1 v 1 so don't want Roberts to come in and crowd the area as much.

[ClaretOfMancunia]

So Roberts sulking now is he?

Nothing to do with the manager's set-up and tactics ?

Read into it what you like, just saying what I see!

[ClaretOfMancunia]

Brownhill goes down that side quite often too. If Roberts makes the run and draws a defender surely that's still a useful run?

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Tricky Trevor]

But since we moved Anthony to the left we've had Pires noticeably bombing on and getting past him a lot more. I think it's possibly tactical that we are using Roberts a bit more for control and Pires to bomb on. We probably want to get Edwards 1 v 1 so don't want Roberts to come in and crowd the area as much.

Fair point. I’d wondered that myself.

[equinox]

Has he fallen down the pecking order?

Has to start for me, one of the few players that's got genuine ability and makes things happen.

[Hedontplayforyou]

Doubt it, more likely to be a system thing .

[Goliath]

I had a feeling he'd be dropped. Parker has talked about physical stats being much higher in the prem. I just dont see how Edwards will be able to hit those figures. His work rate wasn't great a level below.

[boyyanno]

We need to strengthen the team before we bring Edwards in. Uguchukwa would need to play and imo a more dynamic RWB.

We do need to try and find a way to accommodate him though, I think he'd have scored the one Hannibal messed up yesterday.

[Goliath]

We need to strengthen the team before we bring Edwards in. Uguchukwa would need to play and imo a more dynamic RWB.

We do need to try and find a way to accommodate him though, I think he'd have scored the one Hannibal messed up yesterday.

Probably right and it might take a while to find the right system and line up.
Losing Brownhill has meant we can't play the system of last season. We could get away with it last year because Brownhill got 18 goals and a shed load of assists as well, otherwise we'd have had to change to a 4411 with 2 strikers most probably.

Without him we just can't play that system, we'd get about 10 goals all season, so Parkers having to find another way.

[boyyanno]

Probably right and it might take a while to find the right system and line up.
Losing Brownhill has meant we can't play the system of last season. We could get away with it last year because Brownhill got 18 goals and a shed load of assists as well, otherwise we'd have had to change to a 4411 with 2 strikers most probably.

Without him we just can't play that system, we'd get about 10 goals all season, so Parkers having to find another way.

I think it'll take us a few games to figure it out for sure. The balance is always difficult for teams like us because our players are generally specialists in an area (It's not feasible for us to buy PL players who are just good everywhere) so you have players like Edwards who are technically amazing but athletically not great for example or Ekdal who is good on the ball but slow, and so on and so on. Finding the right balance to accommodate all the things you need is no easy task, that's why I hope the fans stick with it because I think we'll get better as the season goes on.

[deanothedino]

Probably right and it might take a while to find the right system and line up.
Losing Brownhill has meant we can't play the system of last season. We could get away with it last year because Brownhill got 18 goals and a shed load of assists as well, otherwise we'd have had to change to a 4411 with 2 strikers most probably.

Without him we just can't play that system, we'd get about 10 goals all season, so Parkers having to find another way.

Brownhill has never shown he can be as good or effective in the PL as he is in the Championship and we wouldn't have been able to play the same way for that reason as well.

[Conroy92]

Probably right and it might take a while to find the right system and line up.
Losing Brownhill has meant we can't play the system of last season. We could get away with it last year because Brownhill got 18 goals and a shed load of assists as well, otherwise we'd have had to change to a 4411 with 2 strikers most probably.

Without him we just can't play that system, we'd get about 10 goals all season, so Parkers having to find another way.

I agree with the original poster about strengthening for Edwards to come in but I can't agree with this.

If Brownhill was here do you think we would comfortably have been playing last year's system?

If that was the system we wanted to have played do you not think we would have replaced Brownhill either way?

To suggest Parker is having to find another system because Brownhill has left seems to be a bit of a stretch. How do other teams operate it round the divisions without Brownhill?

[Goliath]

I agree with the original poster about strengthening for Edwards to come in but I can't agree with this.

If Brownhill was here do you think we would comfortably have been playing last year's system?

If that was the system we wanted to have played do you not think we would have replaced Brownhill either way?

To suggest Parker is having to find another system because Brownhill has left seems to be a bit of a stretch. How do other teams operate it round the divisions without Brownhill?

We will never know. I think it's a combination of Brownhill going and our blend of centre backs which has led to the change.
Brownhills runs were a huge part of that system though and I just don't see how we can successfully recreate it without him.

Parker has shown himself to be a flexible manager, he uses a system which best suits the players he's got which is what he did so well last season. We saw it change slightly various times throughout the season, especially when Edwards came in.

Your last question is just a bit silly. If we had alternatives or a a front 3 with goals in them then it's not an issue. Brownhill was vital because he was our main goalscorer.

[Foulthrow]

Even bigger shorts on yesterday.