i have seen loads of comments about Potts being lazy in the first few weeks of the season All the players are monitored and analsysed - distance covered being one of those. If it was the case that he was strolling round the pitch, do people not think this would have been picked up on by Hecky and co...?!
I think people confuse his slightly awkward running style with being slow. Sure, it seems a bit inelegant, but yesterday he caused their midfield plenty of trouble.
I think he's a powerful runner, in the same way that someone like Toure is. He's positive when he drives forward with the ball and causes defences problems as a result. I'm being won over based on his incremental improvements to date.
The other issue with Potts is that a lot of his running & long distance sprints driving forward from midfield. Most players can jog / run at a decent pace all day but it's the sprints that kill them.
I don't think it's laziness necessarily...it may take a while to change a work ethic and to build the top spec fitness levels needed...he looked a bit knackered in the last 15 mins, the other thing to bear in mind of course is that a young lad stepping up the league's will be desperate not to make a mistake...getting caught out of position or giving the ball away, fear of failure can lead to lads not being positive and really showing what they can do, he did well yesterday and deserves some time and patience.
One disadvantage he has is that his name only has one syllable. Over the years, most of our better players have had names with 2 syllables, for example Glavin, Hignett, Redfearn, Wiseman etc. Of course, there have been exceptions to this, Conor Hourihane being the best example, and Eric Winstanley for older readers and Terry Nutkins. It's not his fault, and there's little that can be done, apart from perhaps putting a "Mc" in front of it. Well played lad.
Admittedly I've only seen him play against Forest, but what I noticed is that he didn't attempt to challenge for every ball which was in his immediate orbit. I personally wouldn't put this down to laziness, more him judging which battles he felt he could win, and which ones he felt it better to challenge for the 2nd ball. A few called it out as laziness, I'd say it's football intelligence. Of course I could have it wrong, and he could just be lazy. He drives forward with the ball very well though and his shot power is fantastic.
First couple of times I saw him he didn't put himself about, yesterday he did. I don't know whether it was lack of fitness before or laziness, but his commitment and work rate yesterday was a marked improvement. He played well. Hope he kicks on from here.
In the first few games he looked off the pace which is hardly surprising given the step up in class and pace between league 2 and the championship. If you're off the pace a bit then you can run around all you like but you never get near enough or in the right position to make a tackle. Yesterday he looked more up to speed and as a result he was more effective from a defensive point of view.
3 seasons ago we had a midfielder who couldn't tackle.....yesterday we had a stand singing his name.....you know the guy!! Brad Potts is playing out of position for a start and in my humble opinion will have a great season on what I've seen, Hecky and Co will be well aware of what needs tweaking in his game and if they succeed like they did with a certain Irish man then we have a great player on our hands
I'm interested to know what you feel his best position should be? (I'm not disagreeing, I'm simply interested in where you see him playing for us in the longer term).
If I'm hon at I can see him staying where he is in centre midfield, you may think I'm crazy in saying this but I honestly think with the right guidance we can nurture him like Connor, at Blackpool he was predominantly a wide man come forward I believe, Hecky must see something in him to keep playing he where he is. How would you play him based on what you've seen??
I think he' I think he'll be best playing through the middle, helped with a holding midfielder behind him. He's a strong lad, likes to drive forwards and has a good dig on him. He put his foot in a few times yesterday. I thought we were buying a wide player (I didn't recall seeing him when we played Blackpool, but I rarely remember opponents), but he looks best suited to a more central role from what I've seen so far. He's a good ball carrier and perhaps his distribution can be improved. I think he links well with Moncur, who I think has shown he can make cute short passes into the path of players running past him.
He's certainly become our boo boy from certain sectors but a see a good player in Potts!!! Your right in that we need aholdimg midefielder to do the ugly stuff. Onwards and upwards my friend
