Mccrorie as a CB

PedrosCaravan said:
Was thinking that next season it looks like we will be tripping over midfielders with Davis, Kamara, Jack, Arfield, Docherty, Rossiter, Polster plus any youth we bring through and anyone we sign in that position. We have to get two CBs in too unless we start to play him as a Centre Back again? Most people reckon that is where he will end up playing is it time yet to get him playing games there again? Would mean we only have to buy one centre back.
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No they don't.

Most people, including the manager, see him as a very talented combative midfielder. Which is what he is.
 
RangersEasyOK said:
He got torn to pieces at centre back last season, and the manager has said himself not he’s not a centre back
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He got torn to pieces in 1 match ffs.

Unfortuantely becasue it was aganst them, thats him been branded no use in the role. Probably never helped that the others platying in defence beside him that day weren't exactly covering themselves in glory.

Played plenty good games in the same position prior to that.
 
Buffalo said:
Murty nearly ruined his career by playing him at CB in that Tim game, even Gerrard acknowledged it.

He has real good potential for DCM, Lets not try shoehorning him in anywhere else.
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That was the turning point for me.
Until then, I saw McCrorie as a centre back, longer term.
I though him playing in midfield was about him learning the game.
I likened him to Craig Moore who was used in midfield and full back under Smith then became a top quality centre back for Advocatt and McLeish.
Only when Gerrard was so scathing of the previous management on this, that I thought I’d got McCrorie wrong.
 
He's not a centre half. Positionally poor & doesn't win anywhere near enough aerial battles to play there.

He's a decent CDM who is crucial for the more physical contests. His pace is particularly useful as he can cover a fair bit of ground quickly to snuff out trouble. My big worry remains about his distribution and this needs to dramatically improve for him to be a mainstay in the first team.
 
WeeDeeBee said:
He got torn to pieces in 1 match ffs.

Unfortuantely becasue it was aganst them, thats him been branded no use in the role. Probably never helped that the others platying in defence beside him that day weren't exactly covering themselves in glory.

Played plenty good games in the same position prior to that.
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He can do a job in there if need be but he’s not going to be playing there consistently that’s a fact
 
JCDarcheville said:
Which bits?

- he has grown up most of his life playing as a defender
- he had a couple of bad games vs. Dembele and Edouard where he was too keen to get to the ball on a couple of occasions and was rolled, that is a mistake you would expect a young player to make, especially as he would probably have done that successfully every time when playing against players in youth leagues
- he was playing next to Russell Martin
- the team he was playing in got battered all over the park
- he is 6ft 3
- he is quick
- he is strong in the tackle
- he is strong in the air
- he has great defensive instincts
- he struggles in midfield to open his body, his awareness of what is behind him is not what it needs to be to play that position
- his passing from midfield is not as good as other players we have in that position
- he's unlikely to ever become a mainstay of the team in central midfield for those reasons, he is too good not to be playing most weeks
- his distribution with the game in front of him would be a huge step up compared to that of any of Goldson, Worrall or Katic
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He can’t pass from midfield but can from centre back?
He started as a centre back so should stay there?
Jardine, Johnstone, Parlane, Forsyth, McCoist and many others would probably say different.
 
Problem with McCrorie is that he's not a regular starter, we don't need him every week and there are better options - that's not labelling him a poor player.

So, when he plays it's usually when coming in from the cold having been on the bench/in the stands for 6-8 weeks, which is of no use.

Perfect example was the piggery away a few weeks ago. Kamara should have started as we needed composure, ability to retain possession, a calming influence and a player able to carry the ball and very rarely waste possession.

A season loan may well do him good.
 
tazzabear said:
He can’t pass from midfield but can from centre back?
He started as a centre back so should stay there?
Jardine, Johnstone, Parlane, Forsyth, McCoist and many others would probably say different.
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Yes, passing out from the back is completely different.

He has the entire game in front of him, knows where the pressure is going to come from and doesn't need to have awareness of what is behind him. From midfield it's not so much his actual passing accuracy that's the issue, it's the length of time it takes him to turn, or selection of the wrong pass when there's a better one out of his line of sight. He also has a tendency to get caught on the ball, which actually is the cause of a lot of the crunching challenges he puts in.

I'm not suggesting a player can't change position, but to suggest that playing him in a position entirely familiar to him could have ruined him is ridiculous in my mind. It's hardly Walter Smith playing John Fleck at left wing back.
 
JoshGer said:
McCrorie is our new Hemdani, in for the big games to disrupt the rhythm of the other teams but not needed when teams are sitting back and defending
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What about against the sheep/killie? Big games but they sit back, and McCs physicality would work well against them.
 
We have two good CB’s in Goldson and Katic. We buy another for back up during the summer and McC can be our fourth choice if we need him.

Economical way of sorting it out.
 
H
barcelonabear said:
I’ve stood next to him and first thing I noticed was how much smaller he was than me, never 6ft3 and he has a really small frame
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I noticed this when he was warming up and then walking off the pitch before the game on Saturday.

He's way smaller than Worrall, Katic and Goldson, both in height and in frame.

He's got the perfect build to be an athletic, aggressive DM, but he simply doesn't have the height or physique to be a top central defender.
 
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JCDarcheville said:
Yes, passing out from the back is completely different.

He has the entire game in front of him, knows where the pressure is going to come from and doesn't need to have awareness of what is behind him. From midfield it's not so much his actual passing accuracy that's the issue, it's the length of time it takes him to turn, or selection of the wrong pass when there's a better one out of his line of sight. He also has a tendency to get caught on the ball, which actually is the cause of a lot of the crunching challenges he puts in.

I'm not suggesting a player can't change position, but to suggest that playing him in a position entirely familiar to him could have ruined him is ridiculous in my mind. It's hardly Walter Smith playing John Fleck at left wing back.
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If you can pass the ball, you can pass the ball.
Some are better than others of course.
The only difference is less pressure, more angles, more options.
I’d suggest you make too much of this.
He actually does need to know what’s behind him.
 
TexMexBear said:
Yep, he played at Kilmarnock when our season derailed. No way we'd have lost that game if Ross was at CB.
I know Worral made the initial error, but GMc gave away the 2nd.
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McGregor was 100% to blame for the 2nd one mate.

I was sitting behind the goal and Jones hit a trundler from outside the box and McGregor went down in instalments.

A keeper of his quality should never have been troubled by a weak effort like that from distance.
 
tazzabear said:
If you can pass the ball, you can pass the ball.
The only difference is less pressure, more angles, more options.
I’d suggest you make too much of this.
He actually does need to know what’s behind him.
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[/QUOTE]

Just less pressure, more angles, more options. I'd say its a hell of a lot easier to play passes under those conditions than where they are not apparent.

The only thing that should be behind a centre half when in possession is his goalkeeper, not opponents trying to tackle him or his best option for a passing target.

You can't just drop a centre half that's a good distributor in centre midfield and expect him to do the same job in there, but I think you know that.
 

Just less pressure, more angles, more options. I'd say its a hell of a lot easier to play passes under those conditions than where they are not apparent.

The only thing that should be behind a centre half when in possession is his goalkeeper, not opponents trying to tackle him or his best option for a passing target.

You can't just drop a centre half that's a good distributor in centre midfield and expect him to do the same job in there, but I think you know that.[/QUOTE]
There’s the difference.
He’s now seen as a midfielder who doesn’t have the Barry Ferguson range of passing, and dropping him back to a centre back position that he’s unproven at, at senior level.
 
Gerrard said McCrorie's career could have been ruined if he was continually played at CB so there's no chance he will be in that position again unless there is no other option.

I do worry about his chances at DM though especially with how our current midfield are currently performing and it remains to be seen how good he is at RB at this level.

Either way the positive is he is clearly a versatile player and worst case will be good squad filler.
 
Sebo1872 said:
Gerrard said McCrorie's career could have been ruined if he was continually played at CB so there's no chance he will be in that position again unless there is no other option.

I do worry about his chances at DM though especially with how our current midfield are currently performing and it remains to be seen how good he is at RB at this level.

Either way the positive is he is clearly a versatile player and worst case will be good squad filler.
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We have a midfield who are very good at keeping the ball, retrieving the ball, and in this system doing something with the ball, especially with Defoe up front supported by Arfield. It's possible McCrorie improves as a player, especially with someone like Davis with him, and hopefully he does.
 
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