Emilio Izaguirre

Its actually funny to read some of the stuff.

We can all see that hes not getting up and down the wing like he was pre-injury, he seemed then to have limitless fitness and energy and went non stop.

But hes not playing badly, hes rarely skinned or opened up and how many mistakes has he actually made? 2 this season I think, were he gave the ball away dribbling from the back, from which nothing happened either time. Dribbling the ball out of defence isnt a weakness, its a plus even if fans panic hes still successful 9/10 times.

He's never been bad defensively for me either. His best asset was always he dispossesed wingers and then skinned them for fun. It wasnt that he ran forward, dribbled, linked-up well or crossed, it was always that he could take a ball off someone easily and carry it forward, he still does this a lot but people dont notice it as much because 1. He doesnt carry the ball as far as he used to, he used to take it off them then go the whole way forward, now he turns back or inside and passes and 2. Fans panic now when hes dribbling out of defence, so even though hes successful, fans note this down as a negative - not as a "well played" but a "what did you do that for".

 

I agree that the negativity is ridiculous. The difference for me is that he was uninhibited in 2010/11, he didn't seem at all hesitant about bursting down the outside of a player full-pelt. In fact he did it non-stop for 90 minutes as well as being arguably our main playmaker when cutting inside or overlapping. I think it's a mental thing but he's not shown much sign of refinding that style of play, with the exception of the 3-0 against Deadco. Do you think he'll get back to that ILoveTheCeltic?

 

As much as Izaguirre has had a very poor start to the season, I don't think Mulgrew is a great alternative in the CL.

 

Never for a second while Izzy has been here have i ever thought he was nothing but poor defensively, i could see it in his first season, lets runners go past him, very good going forward but poor defensively which is a full backs priority.

 

I thought Izzy was imperious defensively. He never let runners past him. He always muscled them off the ball and then surged forward. I can't think of one player who got the better of him in 2010/11. He was bought on the strength of his good defensive performances in the World Cup, including keeping Navas in his back pocket.

 

I always thought his best asset was he had an incredible knack for playing his way out of trouble. Now i fear he may play his way into trouble.

Im gutted to say this but i think he deserves to be benched. His form is slipping big time and i think Kelvin Wilson deserves it more with Mulgrew pushed out to left back.

Heartbroken for the wee man i really hoped he would be the same player he was in his first season but it looks like its not gonna happen...

3

 

I think if you go over every game Izzy has played, youd probably find no more than 5 crosses from his side have led to goals, id probably guess under 5.

He is very good at disposessing a winger, probably our best at it since Agathe.

Hinkel and Matthews both have the same defensive style, they rarely tackle, or close down a player, they back off and let players come at them and wait for them to have a bad touch and then leather the ball away or once the winger attempts a cross they try to block it but let crosses come in a lot. Naylor was similar only slower than the above, was basically useless. Wilson played in a similar manner to Izzy but wasnt as good. Cha didnt give a * about defending as he was fast as *, all he had to do was run back beside players and shut them down and was very successful at winning the ball, rarely even though he had no positioning and always let players get in behind him did he ever get beaten. Izzy has always been really good at shutting players down from the front and intercepting the ball.

In recent times id say our best full-backs defensively were...

1. Agathe (ok positioning, great tackler, great at recovering, good at shutting down)
2. McNamara (decent allrounder)
3. Izaguirre (decent allrounder but lesser than Jackie)
4. Wilson (same but lesser than Izzy)
5. Cha (didnt give a * about positioning, stood in the oppositions half but couldnt half get back)
6. Matthews (not really any defensive qualities other than getting in the way)
7. Hinkel (same as above)
8. Naylor (like above 2 but just really bad)

Best attacking

1. Agathe (great at overlapping, terrible final ball, but so fit and quick hed attamp 10 or so crosses a game and out of the 1, 2 or 3 decent ones we always had a chance with the quality of player we had to get on them)
2. Hinkel (not the fastest but was technically good, creative, decent crosser and could pass a ball and link-up well)
3. Izaguirre (technically good, good dribbler, decent crosser and links-up well, overlaps well, less consistant than Hinkel)
4. McNamara (good technically, decent crosser and passer rarely overlapped, usually supported from behind and was more like a centre-mid when he went forward than a winger)
5. Wilson (quite similar to McNamara, didnt venture too far forward)
6. Matthews (gets forward well and has good pace but his crossing is poor, doesnt overlap much but maybe due to playing with Forrest and doesnt really take players on)
7. Cha (terrible final ball, poor ball control, rarely got a ball in the box)
8. Naylor (didnt get forward much, master at putting crosses into the stand).

Overall id say

1. Agathe
2. McNamara
3. Izaguirre
4. Hinkel
5. Wilson
6. Matthews
7. Cha
8. Naylor

Matthews is still young though.

 

Matthews is a better defender than Izzy. I can say that without a shadow of doubt. Fantastic recovery pace Izzy simply doesn't have and he doesn't ball watch either, tracks the runners.

 

Ball watching is a good thing, you want all your defenders to watch the ball as thats what they are trying to take off players.

Matthews has recovery pace to get back when hes caught out but he lets players come at him and backs off, which leads to crosses going into our box when someone is attacking us.

Izaguirre, shuts players down when being attacked, which can lead to being beaten by the winger but he is rarely beaten as he is good at intercepting the ball.

For me anyway I much prefer the full-backs being pro-active like Izzy and trying to win the ball, than the reaction style of Matthews who waits for the winger to make the mistake, because good wingers dont often make mistakes and against a good opponent Matthews is more likely to recieve a roasting.

If you mean ball-watching being when Matthews is attacked, Izzy is on the other side looking and paying no attention to people making run across or behind him then, thats still several phases away from being a problem, Matthews is still the first phase of that play and its his job to stop balls coming across.

You'll notice it always happens like that, Matthews is never the one dragged in from the right-to-left and wingers coming down his side, thats not because hes doing something right. Where as Izzy is often dragged in from left-to-right and leaves space behind, this is due to Matthews usually backing-off players, which is his style, dragging the defence over and the opposition can switch play and catch-out Izzy.

Matthews could stop this by going at his opposing winger, instead of being pinned back and crowded by the opposing full-back and causing Wilson/Rogne to go across, then Mulgrew, then Izzy to be dragged in.

When Izzy is attacked, Izzy closes up the play by going at him, which gives no time/need for Mulgrew to come over to help, thus no Rogne/Wilson and no Matthews, which doesnt leave the space for the oppositions left-winger to pull wide of Matthews. By Izzy shutting down too, it leaves the winger on his side no time to even spot the space on the other side as hes having to deal with the defender.

 

Done a wee diagram of what I mean.



The left is how Matthews defends, he moves backwards, allowing the player to come at him, which allows him to be over crowded with midfielders and the full-back pushing up. It drags over Our two centre-backs and Izzy, allowing the oppositions opposite winger and or full-back to pull out into space, so they can work the ball out there for a cross and all charge in at the back post.

Where as Izaguirre, meets his winger almost always head on by going at him to win the ball, this stops people being dragged into the hole Izzy is making(like Matthews does on the other side) unless the winger beats him, which if he does theres still work to be done because even though the winger has got through, the opposition dont have many people forward as Izzy has forced the play rather than the opposition coming forward as a team like the Matthews style.

Izzy and Wilson worked well as they both defended like that. Hinkel and Naylor didnt as they both defended like Matthews, they both backed off, causing players to be sucked over when they were our full-backs we got constantly picked off with the cross to the back post, either by the opposition switching the play to the free winger on the other side then getting on his cross or the winger passing them and crossing and the runners from the back sometimes the winger and full-back doubling up on our exposed full-back.

The backing off style for me works worse, as if he beats you and the cross comes in then the opposition are forward and the defence is pulled out of their positions, which could leave your full-back with two men on him. If the play is quickly switched to the space on the opposite wing caused by players being dragged across and a cross comes in from the free player, then everyones all over the place plus the opposition have 3/4 guys all making runs in for the cross.

However if you shut down the winger and he beats you, the opposition arent all forward, so the winger has more to do he still has to get to the box/byline and with it being a quicker attack has to have better final end product due to not having many options forward with him.

 

I disagree with your first point and obviously agree with your second.

I'm completely baffled as to how you think he's doing a decent job?! He's even been poor when the rest of the team have played well, Helsingborgs at home being an example. I wasn't one for jumping on the bandwagon after he had a couple of poor games however I call it how I see it and it's clear to see Izzy is the weakest link in the team just now and has been all season therefore he should be dropped due to a run of consistently poor form. I notice a lot of people are saying it's because Commons isn't playing in front of him and while there may be an element of truth in that, I'm not convinced we would see the Izzy of old even if Commons was playing there. In saying that, I hope I'm wrong as I want to see him back to his best as much as the next person but have to admit I'm starting to doubt if that will happen.

 

* is that diagram about?

 

About how Matthews and Izaguirre defend against wingers. I say Izaguirre is better but he thinks Matthews.

In the diagram we are the black writing, the opposition are the red and attacking us. The yellow line is the ball. the black line from MA(Matthews) is where he is moving, same for IZ(Izaguirre) on the other.

Main point is...

When a winger runs at Matthews, Matthews goes backwards allowing him to come forward, plus the full-back and a midfielder or two plus striker to all be sucked over to that side of our defence. This causes our players to be sucked in including defence, which leaves our other full-back(Izaguirre), with a problem as he now has a winger 20 odd yards away from him in space and also possibly a full-back coming across the front of him or vice-versa. So if Matthews is beaten and the ball comes in to the back post Izzy has 2 men going for it and is goosed or if they switch the play, the man over there is now free to cross in and the 3/4 guys they have forward all pour into our box to get on the cross.

When a winger runs at Izaguirre, Izaguirre shuts him down. This results in:
A) The opposition turning back/inside, imminent danger averted
B) Izzy wins the ball, we regain possession
C) He beats Izzy, he is free to run down the wing, Mulgrew probably having to come out to meet him, a bit of a disjointed defence but the opposition dont have men forward, probably only their striker.

I also think Izaguirre will cope better against quality players, because Matthews who backs off and waits for the winger to make a mistake and react to it has the problem of how many mistakes does a Pedro/Sanchez/Messi/Iniesta etc make? not many. But Izaguirre who will shut them down, forces them into taking him on by not giving them the time Matthews does.

 

Ahh right im with ye. You're right too. But a little harsh on Matthews. Since the start of this season he has been winning more tackles and interceptions than usual. He is getting better.

 

I dont have any worries abougt izzy tbh

 

You're forgetting about Daftheid. What a legend. Plays in the world cup but can't handle the unique attacking style of ABERDEEN.

 

The guys just off form a touch and struggling for confidence,1 good game and he will bounce back.The problem we have is,Charlie is his back up and he isn't exactly playing well either

 

Was brilliant against the Oldco in the final us vs them game.

 

The form he displayed and the way he played in his first year for us means he must be pretty decent to say the least.

Granted, he's not shown that kind of form since coming back from injury and whether that's due to confidence or not who knows, but the injury can't be still getting the blame as he's been back since about February/March. I do know that injury can affect different players in different ways - physically & mentally - as all you have to do is look at the way Larsson was after his horrific leg break.

I'd really love him to get back to the form he showed in his first year with us, but unfortunately he's not showing it. He's not rank rotten but he's definitely not close to his best either. I mean, he doesn't really bomb forward with the ball like he done in that first season either, taking on defenders and whipping in great crosses. The question is, though, how long will he continue to play like that before Lennon ends up dropping him.

Confidence can affect players in different ways as well. He was massive on confidence in his first year and it showed. After the injury and a lot of subsequent performances, his confidence nose-dives. He needs to find a way to get that confidence back and hopefully when/if he gets that back, we will see a different player.

 

I dont think he's very good tbh, in his 1st season he was amazing but then the season after he looked like he wasnt interested, he got injured and its been the same since. His positioning is absolutely woeful at times, his footballing brain at time is questionable but what really REALLY * me off about him , ive saw it this season more than ever! is instead of him booting the ball to * he tries and plays his way out of trouble when he fails(more often than you think) he dives to the ground like he just been hit by a bus when in fairness there is little or no contact made. He just gets made to look like a complete mug at times when he does it and referees are noticing it also as he gets away with it less and less.

What i personally think is, he doesn't feel the need for effort any more as there is next to no competition for his space. I hope Wilson can replicate some of his form and Ambrose can come in fill the CB position then move Charlie back to his natural position for a few games, perhaps giving Izzi a wee fright.