| Dickie’s pace! 21:05 - Nov 7 with 4136 views | Philothesuperhoop |
I am a massive fan of our new centre half, but I have been suspecting for a few weeks that he has the pace of a milk float ... today’s second goal just confirmed his biggest problem.
He is slow
That is why he grabs shirts all of the time because he knows he is always close to someone going around the outside of him.
The good news is that no matter how good he is for us he is never going to get swiped by a Prem side. | | | |  |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:15 - Nov 7 with 3486 views | bosh67 |
I have to agree. Oxford fans said they thought he was a great technical player but even had problems with pace in League 1. Dickie is excellent in the air, he's good at picking up players when sitting deeper and he is a baller, no doubt. So he has a lot going for him but... I wouldn't put money on him outpacing Bob Malcolm... now... at 39.
It is a problem and we can see it is a problem. Armstrong burnt him twice over ten yards and was out of sight. Others have done the same and he's got himself sent off.
Other teams will target his lack of pace unless he either finds that yard or we play him sitting deeper and not moving up the field. He did well, very well at Derby but Derby didn't have players to burn him or even play that kind of way.
It may be that the coaches look at his running style. It is very odd and cumbersome. He runs on his soles, almost flat footed rather than on his toes. He plods quickly rather than runs.
So, for me there is a bit of a problem there. He's good. We can see he's good on the ball and in the air. In a foot race he's going to be outdone by fast forwards all season long. Unless we can find a way to change his game or his pace. [Post edited 7 Nov 2020 21:15]
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| Dickie’s pace! on 21:22 - Nov 7 with 3452 views | Philothesuperhoop |
Far more articulate than me...but I agree with every word!
That is exactly what I was thinking. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:23 - Nov 7 with 3446 views | vegasranger |
He really needs to get with a running coach, I'm sure with the right training he could get a bit quicker. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:23 - Nov 7 with 3441 views | Northernr |
Yup. I like him. Think he’s a potentially great signing. But he’s slow, and he knows it, hence the handsy, grasping panic when ppl are the wrong side of him. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:29 - Nov 7 with 3409 views | nix |
My kids went to a running coach in Chiswick and it made a massive difference. But there were QPR juniors there too, so I'm sure they know about it. Let's hope he does go and it can make a difference. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:30 - Nov 7 with 3402 views | stevenagehoop |
Decent centre back pairings compliment each other - he needs someone quick alongside him or he is going to be in trouble on a regular basis - he would of been ideal with someone playing the sweeper role but that’s long past it’s sell by date. | |
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| Dickie’s pace! on 21:37 - Nov 7 with 3375 views | PhilmyRs |
Agree. Like him too but fck me is he slow. Other great centre backs have had decent careers with minimal pace. The racist bellend up the road is a good example. But he needs to learn pretty quickly how to manage this obvious weakness. Getting too tight to your man and being spun, especially when you’re the last man, is not a good idea. Giving away a stupid yellow early on when you’ll likely need to use that get out of jail card Is also a dangerous move. I would say though that the team could do more to help. Dickie’s pace is an obvious weakness so others need to step up, Willock, take a yellow and don’t allow the quick counter, let’s not leave him last man, up against someone with pace if we can. He’s a classy player, he needs to learn how to manage his lack of pace though. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 21:44 - Nov 7 with 3347 views | ted_hendrix |
Lets scrutinize Dickie then.
1) Go back over the last 10 games he's played for us and I'd imagine his defensive work has saved us more goals than his lack of pace has cost us.
2) My immediate concern with Dickie is his disciplinary record again probably due to his lack of pace, I moaned on the match thread that he got himself booked again, that absolutely must be addressed, for me he must keep himself on the pitch where he is most valuable pace or no pace.
3) 10 games in and he's still learning, as for pace i'm obviously no defensive coach but we employ defensive coaches at the club, if they can't improve his pace then they'll have to work on helping him out some other way, I'm not to sure you can improve a players pace.
4) I like the look of the bloke, he can defend and reads the game well, yes there's room for improvement so let our coaches get about their business, like it or not we've got a goodun here. | |
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| Dickie’s pace! on 22:57 - Nov 7 with 3201 views | stevec |
Must admit, I’m hating watching football on the tele, when you’re there it’s much easier to gauge a player.
Looked the dogs whatsits sitting deep against Derby, different kettle of fish with Armstrong running at him, that said he coped well against Solanke at Bournemouth.
Didn’t watch the game today but according to my son him and Dieng kept us in the game first half, even at centre back it’s possible to run yourself into the ground when under siege so maybe attributable to his end of game performance. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 22:59 - Nov 7 with 3198 views | Antti_Heinola |
Exactly, many defenders, particularly CBs, are not blessed with a lot of pace. That's why they're CBs, a lot of the time! You have to learn to play with that limitation.
Not too concerned. | |
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| Dickie’s pace! on 23:04 - Nov 7 with 3172 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
I’ll echo this.
If he had pace on top of being physically dominant and having the ability to bring the ball out and dink balls like he did with Bonne this week he wouldn’t be playing for us.
His reaction to his stupidity the other day speaks volumes for me. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 23:18 - Nov 7 with 3135 views | NorthantsHoop |
Think he is playing pretty well, able to move and pass the ball out of the back, makes good interventions. Possibly a lack of pace, but many centre backs are not blessed with blistering speed, it's all about marshalling the defence and timely interventions, which on whole he is doing . He could have tugged at Armstrong on his run for the 2nd goal, but on a yellow card already, he would have been off. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 01:22 - Nov 8 with 3019 views | timcocking |
He should have been sent off half way through yesterday. Skinned and pulled him back from behind. Second yellow no doubt. We got away with one there. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 09:54 - Nov 8 with 2822 views | francisbowles |
I just posted on another thread:
Referee didn't miss it, he signalled advantage. When he allows the game to continue, he can't go back and issue a card for the offense, unless it's violent conduct.
We have to get smarter at the back. Dickie is so slow that he can't afford to let anyone get the wrong side of him. Probably why he is so 'handy'. We need to ensure that if we are playing a high line, he is not left exposed as he was yesterday. Maybe get Barbet to be providing a bit more cover for him. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 10:02 - Nov 8 with 2806 views | gazza1 |
I like Dickie because he can play football proper and he appears to be committed to the cause and club.
He lacks pace, badly, and in today's game pace is vital. He will never improve in that area, he will always be slow whatever is done, but he must learn to be in the correct position otherwise he will get 'roasted' time and again - mustn't get isolated like he did for Blackburn's 3rd goal - christ he did look slow!!!. His team mates need to understand and help him in this area of his game just like he assists them in their weak areas. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 10:06 - Nov 8 with 2794 views | plasmahoop |
I would have thought playing a high line is a bit of a non starter as he is this slow. Leicester won the prem with Morgan and huth and playing deep. Or basically just foul early like Liverpool whenever a break is on | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 10:15 - Nov 8 with 2770 views | francisbowles |
'Or basically just foul early like Liverpool whenever a break is on'
Yes, much as I hate it, unless and until the rules change in some way to stop those cynical fouls, we need to do this to be more competitive. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 11:13 - Nov 8 with 2707 views | nix |
I'm afraid I agree too. We're mad if we're the only team playing the 'right' way. For instance, the Bradley Johnson foul, for which he got booked, was by the halfway line. It could have been a dangerous break but wasn't dangerous for a free kick. Especially as they tended to kick the ball away so we couldn't take quick free kicks. The free kicks we gave away tended to be much further up the pitch, in more dangerous positions. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 11:48 - Nov 8 with 2646 views | izlingtonhoop |
Always used to amuse me that the faster Charlie Austin's legs went, the slower the progress he made.
Less important for his game. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 12:07 - Nov 8 with 2591 views | Myke |
Well hopefully (if management were not already aware, and if not, they should have been)
a man of the match performance against a very slow Derby team, and struggling against a pacey forward line at Blackburn , will highlight his slowness. A bit Ironic that we couldn't wait to ditch Leistner (who also was MOM against Milwall) Leistner could play a bit more than he was given credit for too. I know in the end he couldn't wait to get back to Germany, but maybe that was at least partially because how he was treated?
Anyhow, with Dickie, apart from the obvious of not being exposed with a high line, he needs to learn to 'read' the game better. Hopefully that will come with experience. McGrath's knees were so shot in the latter stages of his career that he could hardly walk, never mind run, but he instinctively knew where the danger was and was on cue to avert it. at prem level . Now the game is much quicker now than when McGrath played, but you don't need to be Bobby Moore to anticipate the intentions of most championship attackers | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 12:10 - Nov 8 with 2581 views | GroveR |
We've managed with slow centre-backs in the past - Dunne, Clint Hill, Gorkss - we've played Ryan Nelsen there and he had knees held together with chewing gum and hope. The key is balancing it with a bit of pace. Onohua, was always notably that "faster" partner.
Not sure where that pace is in our current setup. Barbet is lightening fast over 10 yards but that tends to be covered sliding on his aŕse. Masterson hasn't looked out of place but might not be ready. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 12:35 - Nov 8 with 2550 views | bosh67 |
The pace thing seems to always have been an issue as per this Oxford board in 2018 (I really need to get out more - or not as it is)
https://yellowsforum.co.uk/threads/rob-dickie.208/page-14
However, everyone says how good he is. I don't think this is about chucking the kid out. He has lots of talent, it's more about recognising a lack of pace and either getting a sprint coach to work on his running style, currently flat footed duck like, and get him conditioned to run on his toes more or making sure that it's Barbet that's further back if teams break on us. Barbet tends to slide in as we know but he does have a lot more sprint pace than Dickie.
Yes Richard Dunne probably had even less pace but what Dunne had was an unbelievable reading of the game and also a fast sidekick to bail him out. But overall Dunne was so impressive because players never got the half turn on him. He was always goal side and they never really got round him.
Personally I think he needs three things. 1. a sprint coach. 2. to play 2-3 yards deeper if needed so he can read the forwards coming towards him and 3. be the player we push forward when chasing a game and leave Barbet who is quicker back to cover the counter attack, or Masterson, who seems to be reasonably quick.
What we do know is that if we can get Dickie's positioning right to counter the lack of pace at the start of counter attacks then he could turn from Robbie Reliant on 3 wheels to Robbie Roadster on 4. [Post edited 8 Nov 2020 12:37]
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| Dickie’s pace! on 12:57 - Nov 8 with 2504 views | ted_hendrix |
Like I said earlier I like the look of the bloke, he can defend and reads the game well, yes there's room for improvement so let our coaches get about their business, like it or not we've got a goodun here.
Leave it to the coaches. | |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Dickie’s pace! on 14:36 - Nov 8 with 2389 views | WadR |
In his defence, there are few better or quicker strikers at this level than Armstrong. And, as SteveC points out, Dickie marshalled the pacey Solanke really well earlier this season.
Think rather than looking at something that's unlikely to change i.e. Dickie's lack of pace, think need to consider how best to protect this weakness. A couple of times Armstrong came off the left hand side and did him for pace and likewise Brereton when Dickie picked up his yellow.
I know it's key tenant in the way Warbs wants us playing but maybe whoever is RB needs to be more conservative with when they bomb forward? This might help prevent Dickie getting stuck 1 on 1 with a pacey striker/winger. | | | |
| Dickie’s pace! on 14:47 - Nov 8 with 2375 views | bakerloo8 |
Think 3 at the back would suit Dickie perfectly with a pacey CB in the middle of Dickie and Barbet/Masterson. Doubt that's in the pipeline with Warburton though.....
I think he's on a very steep learning curve with the quality of player he's up against this season and I'd wager he will be a lot more adept at dealing with pace in the second half of the season than right now. I think hes a good player. | | | |
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