Cheick Diabate

[muppetdodger]

Obviously a great talent and prospect, but I thought he looked a bit nervy last night, lot of sliced balls and some short passes which left his fellow defenders with some work to do. But yes great prospect.

 

[Grecianpasty]

I'd like to see him loaned out to a conference team if that option becomes an option. He managed Matt with ease yesterday, which not many defenders in our league can say they did. But there's still a lot of work to do in his distribution.

 

[Snakebite]

I agree, I thought he looked very promising but still needs a bit of further development which ultimately will only come with game time and experience.

 

[arthur]

I'd like to see him loaned out to a conference team if that option becomes an option. He managed Matt with ease yesterday, which not many defenders in our league can say they did. But there's still a lot of work to do in his distribution.

Would you improve your distribution if you played with non league players who don't move as cutely as ours do? This question is not loaded...

 

[tonykellowfan]

I don't think there was anything wrong with his distribution. Grounds gave the ball away several times.

Hartridge when he first came into the team had much worse distribution.

 

[SaintJames]

I'd like to see him loaned out to a conference team if that option becomes an option. He managed Matt with ease yesterday, which not many defenders in our league can say they did. But there's still a lot of work to do in his distribution.

I agree he still has much work to do but centre halfs are many and varied. He isn't the Rio Ferdinand ball carrier type but is more the John Terry or dare I say it Matt Taylor type of if you see it head it style. I suspect his manager was quite simple in his instructions of clearing danger and dont worry too much about playing football?

 

[SEA Grecian]

I agree he still has much work to do but centre halfs are many and varied. He isn't the Rio Ferdinand ball carrier type but is more the John Terry or dare I say it Matt Taylor type of if you see it head it style. I suspect his manager was quite simple in his instructions of clearing danger and dont worry too much about playing football?

For me, a more recent comparison is possibly Dara O'Shea who was also a no-nonsense defender when he first broke into the first team but has gone on to do pretty well. Also easy to forget how young Cheick is, especially for a central defender; he's probably two years younger than the likes of Jordan Storey or Alex Hartridge were when they established themselves in the first team.

 

[John William]

For me, a more recent comparison is possibly Dara O'Shea who was also a no-nonsense defender when he first broke into the first team but has gone on to do pretty well. Also easy to forget how young Cheick is, especially for a central defender; he's probably two years younger than the likes of Jordan Storey or Alex Hartridge were when they established themselves in the first team.

Yes.

Diabate is still only 19, won't be 20 for a couple of weeks. Jordan Storey was older than that when he started playing League games but was unusual in becoming a first choice so quickly. Dara O'Shea was a bit younger (still only 22) but he was on loan from a PL club and even he took quite a while to become a 1st team regular.

When everyone is fit he will not be a first team regular yet (Stubbs, Ray and Hartridge presumably the first choices) and maybe behind Sweeney and Grounds but he will get games and experience. Next season he will be an established first team player.

 

[Snoop Fog]

All centre halves at this level have average, at best, distribution. First and foremost you have to be able to defend, anyone who can defend, and distribute well generally plays at a higher level. If you add pace as well then they play at the highest level.

With experience he'll learn to make the right decisions but none of our central defenders have particularly good distribution. What I like about him is he's happy to clear it rather than try and overplay and lose the ball.

Sweeney and Hartridge both give the ball away numerous times throughout a game.

 

[Devon Red]

I think Taylor likes to have a centre half who heads it and kicks it. Ray is hardly a ball player, Aaron Martin wasn't either.

If he has someone either side of him who can play, that's fine - obviously if he has ambitions to play higher, distribution will need to improve.