Defender or Striker?

Fellow managers, your advice is needed...

[/img]

Here is a promising young player who is equally skilled as either a DC or as a ST. The coaches rate him as having the potential to be a good Premier League player in either position, he's described as a 'Towering Centre Back' in his profile, but his attributes don't look too promising from a defence point of view.

He looks more of a striker than a defender, on current attributes, but how should I approach his training?

DC of course.

He seems bad at both in some areas really lol. For example tackling and marking are fairly poor, but so is finishing. I'd probably say he'd be best as a target man. He's young enough for you to be able to train him to be better in either position though.

DC of course.

Why 'of course'?

Target Man - He's strong, good in the air and has a decent touch and movement. His tackling and marking are average. So play him up front.

I'm with afced7, he lacked key attributes for both position. But he looked tough enough to suits an attacking target man though.

I would say DC mainly because of his lack of creativity as shown by the graphic. He's strong and has good concentration, decisions. Positioning and off the ball are not too bad either.

Id train him as a DC but he'd obviously be an attacking threat from corners and maybe somebody to throw upfront near the end of games when looking for a win or when down to 10 men.

I know he is young but i cetainly think he can improve in both positions. At the moment i think ht looks more likely to be a good centre half. I dont think his passing or creativity are good enough to be a successful target man....a good guy to shove up front though if your losing!

I would say DC as well.

With some training his tackling & marking will improve to a decent level but his passing/creativity will never be good enough to play up front.

TBH the best option would probably be sell him and buy someone better.

Also depends on the other players you have. If you have a host of young talented forwards, there's not much point in training him up to be a striker.

Im would say DC as well.

It will be easier to better him as a DC. Only tackling and marking are low. Stick him on a defending intensive schedule IMO.

Center half over striker definitely, but doubt he'll be a world beater in either.

I think he can come good as a defender if given training. he clearly has potential as he has a decent market value and at 19 he has plenty of time to improve.

He looks like he can be a beast in the air and strong to boot, I would personally just require an improvement in tacklling/marking before intergrating him into my 1st eleven.

Thanks everyone. DC wins over Striker. I think I'm going to end up with the new Christopher Samba...

Should get you a few goals too!

I would turn him into a full-back... He's rubbish at both.

I would turn him into a full-back... He's rubbish at both.

He's not exactly rubbish, room for improvement though

Centre back

Yep a bit slow for FB.

babbster does he have a lot of potential right now. Because if he is still somewhat far from his PA, then he probably could end up pretty decent at one or the other.

Personally I'd try and make him a striker (I am slightly biased tho lol). I think he could make a good target man. And if your able to get his technique to 16+ you probably won't have to worry to much about his finishing.

Yep a bit slow for FB.

Pace of 15 is slow?

Yep a bit slow for FB.

More than enough pace!

Decent dribbling, crossing, defensive attributes, work rate, teamwork, positioning, pace, stamina and acceleration - amongst others. That smacks of "full-back" to me.

While you've already picked, I'd have made him a target man striker.

Striker by a long way - he has poor tackling & marking, but also look at his mental stats - his bravery & anticipation are low, which are key for a defender.

Train in DC. He'll become a stud.

Put him as defensive forward. you will be surprise

You know what he's good for? To save you a seat in the substitutes bench, this way you won't need to bring two guys to cover DC and Striker positions

Put him as defensive forward. you will be surprise

I have never employed a defensuve striker before? What do they tend to bring to the team?

You know what he's good for? To save you a seat in the substitutes bench, this way you won't need to bring two guys to cover DC and Striker positions

I'm with this. He doesn't look good enough as a specialist in either position but he'd make a great utility player.

If I had to choose I'd go for DC, provided he could improve his tackling and marking with decent training (which usually seems to happen).

Pace of 15 is slow?

He has 12 Acc.

I have never employed a defensuve striker before? What do they tend to bring to the team?

I'm pretty sure its like a striker who will chase down defensive midfielders and defenders trying to win the ball back but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Kinda off-topic but James Collins of Villa, the one from West Ham makes a great defensive forward

I'm pretty sure its like a striker who will chase down defensive midfielders and defenders trying to win the ball back but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Kinda off-topic but James Collins of Villa, the one from West Ham makes a great defensive forward

Does he?! How on earth did you find that out lol ?

I dont think I would ever use a defensive foward (I havent so far)...fowards are meant to score

Does he?! How on earth did you find that out lol ?

I dont think I would ever use a defensive foward (I havent so far)...fowards are meant to score

They don't defend really. They drop deep, play others in, set up goals...

They don't defend really. They drop deep, play others in, set up goals...

yes defensive forward did not go back and help out the defence but they anticipate and win the wall on the opponent half. i used defensive forward and score alot and set up alot if you have the right attribute

Does he?! How on earth did you find that out lol ?

In my Villa save I had an injury crisis and saw he had decent finishing and was strong and good at heading so looked at his positions and I think he's unconvincing or competent as a forward lol

A bit like Crouch, he's unconvincing at CB

How can anyone justify playing him in any attacking role when his creativity is 4 & his passing is 7?

Fullback isn't a bad shout but his strength is his aerial ability so better use of it is made in the centre along with "Plays short simple passes" PPM.

I've only used a defensive forward in Sweden with a youngster who failed in other roles. It seemed to suit him and he played well for a number of seasons despite limited ability.

yes defensive forward did not go back and help out the defence but they anticipate and win the wall on the opponent half. i used defensive forward and score alot and set up alot if you have the right attribute

Yep, Always use Berbagod in that role. Works great for him, me & Roo.

You know what he's good for? To save you a seat in the substitutes bench, this way you won't need to bring two guys to cover DC and Striker positions

without a doubt

I've only used a defensive forward in Sweden with a youngster who failed in other roles. It seemed to suit him and he played well for a number of seasons despite limited ability.

Sweden is a good country to use defensive fowards in my experience, I managed to get a striker with 3 finishing! around 8 goals in 10 apps starting as striker. (His main position was a winger)

You know what he's good for? To save you a seat in the substitutes bench, this way you won't need to bring two guys to cover DC and Striker positions

That's the best suggestion of all... cheers

Must be a CB, his defensive attributes at the moment are far better than his attacking attributes. As for some of his attributes like tackling and marking being low, he's 19 and being a reserve possibly not played too often. Assuming he isn't at his peak some good training and first team action will make him a great defender, one who is a real danger at set pieces.

He has 12 Acc.

Um......acceleration is how quickly you get to top speed......speed/pace is how fast you are.

Small difference mate

Still going to affect his time over 100m. You can be the fastest bloke in the world, but if it takes you an hour to get going, you'd still be classed as slow.

Must be a CB, his defensive attributes at the moment are far better than his attacking attributes. As for some of his attributes like tackling and marking being low, he's 19 and being a reserve possibly not played too often. Assuming he isn't at his peak some good training and first team action will make him a great defender, one who is a real danger at set pieces.

I still say striker mate....if he has a high PA. If he can increase his technique, dribbling, first touch, and finishing by at least 3 (as well as his mental stats), he could become deceptively effective in attack.

Just sell him, he's never going to be good enough at anything, especially if you have title/cl ambitions. Get somebody in whose better in one of the positions

Just sell him, he's never going to be good enough at anything, especially if you have title/cl ambitions. Get somebody in whose better in one of the positions

I disagree, i still think he can still come good as a centre back...and as others have said he would also be a good versatile bench warmer if nothign else

But he'd probably be a backup at best. Reckon you could get somebody quality in with the money selling him could generate.

I would say that his Aggression and Bravery is far too low for a key battleaxe position like Centreback.

The manager who developed this guy should get kicked in the nuts. The more I look at him, the more his skillset looks bad. He has key vulnerabilities for almost every position