Fry is better than leninhan

Ex Footy Legs

Ex Footy Legs

Well-known member
It’s one of the most obvious realities ever.
Everything fry does is a bit better than lenihan
We look more solid with fry there. Fry has more presence and is better in the air and quicker across the ground OR his reading of the game is better.
If Chris Wilder puts lenihan back in and moves fry from the centre (or I fear worse and benches fry) then I’m thoroughly convinced that he is an idiot
 
We’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen at the back.. and not enough in other areas (midfield!). I’ve mentioned previously how the squad is still a little unbalanced. Fry, Lenihan, Dijksteel, McNair and Clarke.. for 3 positions. Good for injuries/suspensions.. bit of a mare when all fit.

I think Wilder saw Lenihan was available and went for it for his leadership qualities, which we seriously lacked last term. That’s one thing I think Lenihan brings the others don’t.

Interesting to see what he does.

Could he play Clarke - Fry - Lenihan.
 
WilderBall said:
We’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen at the back.. and not enough in other areas (midfield!). I’ve mentioned previously how the squad is still a little unbalanced. Fry, Lenihan, Dijksteel, McNair and Clarke.. for 3 positions. Good for injuries/suspensions.. bit of a mare when all fit.

I think Wilder saw Lenihan was available and went for it for his leadership qualities, which we seriously lacked last term. That’s one thing I think Lenihan brings the others don’t.

Interesting to see what he does.

Could he play Clarke - Fry - Lenihan.
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I agree that lenihan brings leadership qualities however, his performances HAVE TO BE good enough to back up his leadership qualities and his performances have been suspect (not commanding anyhow) whereas fry steps in last night and was my MOTM alongside Jonesy.
 
We are definitely stacked at CB. Almost to many options and I think that's half the issue.

I mean we've 5 very good champo CBs that would walk into any champo side. The issue is getting the best 3 combination. Then keeping 2 happy.

I think it will be slightly effected by Mcnair. We will see him appearing far more in CM. Especially up until Jan.

I thought Dijksteel looked good when he came on. He's still our quickest and most athletic CB.

I just think Wilder is trying to turn Fry onto something he isn't. He's a very good Champo CB. Just stick him in the middle of the 3 and let him defend. It's what he's best at.

It's madness if we are even remotely thinking of selling.
 
Firstly, we have a depth in quality at CCB, so credit to Wilder and the club for recruiting Lenihan.

Secondly, Fry did need to come out of his comfort zone, need to be more of a leader and also braver in possession - the former point to realise his talent and the latter because that's how Wilder wants that position to play in his team.

So it's all positive for me, it's not a case of either Lenihan or Fry, rather we have fantastic cover.
 
I like Leninhan and I think he'll prove to be a very good signing. I just didn't like the fact he was keeping Fry out of the team, who for the most part - has been an excellent defender for us, and still has a big future.

What I also don't like is how Djiksteel keeps getting benched lately, the lads a machine.
 
Fry defended well last night (one of the best I've seen him at actual defending I thought), but to be fair he did have a lot of moments to make himself look good, no defensive mistakes though. He still played far too many long balls for me mind (to Sunderland), and it was us giving up possession which led to us having to defend over and over again.

Don't think I've seen Lenihan make any real mistakes yet, nor have I seen him launch the ball to the opposition.

Don't discount Lenihans leadership either.

Wish Fry would sort out his distribution and could play RCB, it would free up Dijksteele and McNair for other areas (which would be really important to us with no midfield cover).
 
WilderBall said:
We’ve got too many cooks in the kitchen at the back.. and not enough in other areas (midfield!). I’ve mentioned previously how the squad is still a little unbalanced. Fry, Lenihan, Dijksteel, McNair and Clarke.. for 3 positions. Good for injuries/suspensions.. bit of a mare when all fit.

I think Wilder saw Lenihan was available and went for it for his leadership qualities, which we seriously lacked last term. That’s one thing I think Lenihan brings the others don’t.

Interesting to see what he does.

Could he play Clarke - Fry - Lenihan.
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Absolutely not Lenihan would get murdered with his lack of pace as outside centreback, i am far from convinced about clarke either who looks equally slow on the other side. Interesting interview with mowbray when he said his plan before the injury to ross stewart was to target our outside centrebacks and to get round the sides with pace. For that reason i think we need to stick with dijksteel on the right he gives us pace we are otherwise lacking.
 
Ex Footy Legs said:
It’s one of the most obvious realities ever.
Everything fry does is a bit better than lenihan
We look more solid with fry there. Fry has more presence and is better in the air and quicker across the ground OR his reading of the game is better.
If Chris Wilder puts lenihan back in and moves fry from the centre (or I fear worse and benches fry) then I’m thoroughly convinced that he is an idiot
Click to expand...

He's not better with the ball at his feet. And that's the crux of the matter.

Personally I think you play your best defender in that middle position. And that's Fry. But Wilder wants that player to be able to play and that's where Wilder isn't convinced.

I think he's a bit too obsessive about it personally. In a perfect world yes you want all your back 3 to be comfortable in possession, but we're in the championship with championship defenders. Sometimes you have to compromise.

It's not like Fry is completely incapable of playing the ball out either (that would be a different matter), he's just not as good as others.
 
Lenihan, Fry and Clarke are all learning a new system and style of play. Once they become accustomed to what the manager wants and what the style of play demands and depends upon, they’ll each get better.

You have to give players room to settle, learn and develop. They’re three very good Championship centre backs IMO. We’re in a good position back there with Dijksteel in the mix as well.

Again, though, it’s the rush to definitive judgment. Writing Lenihan off after two or three games, building up Clarke after two matches. Roberts is being built up today but you know as soon as he drops a cross or gets beaten at his near post he’ll be absolutely slaughtered on here. Likewise Fry. I’ve seen him get absolute pelters on here over the past year or two but now he’s Baresi again because he kept a young Sunderland striker quiet.

I think we just need to remember that these lads are playing in the second tier for a reason. They’re good players but might make a mistake now and then. You have to let them have the room to make that mistake and then hopefully learn and improve and not repeat them. If you want Lenihan, Fry and/or Clarke or any other Boro players to deliver faultless performances week after week then you’re going to be disappointed because it’s just not going to happen. If that was the case they’d be playing in the Premier League.
 
Glover_elbow said:
i think you need to get to Specsavers👓
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I'll adjust that line to never seen Lenihan make many mistakes, in proportion to the minutes he's played, same applies to launching it.

But it sounds like you have some examples off the top of your head?

He's been put in some worse spots than Fry, which you would expect as he's played more games (largely against better sides, with better forwards), and in those games we've been more attacking/ higher up the pitch. I'd have liked to have seen how he did with Stewart on the pitch, rather than Roberts (actually no I wouldn't, I'd rather not have had to watch that). He handled Simms well, but Simms isn't their best striker, or anywhere near the best strikers in the league.

I'm not saying Fry isn't a better defender than Lenihan, I think they're both good defenders, and it's hard to separate them in that respect, I just think Lenihan has better calmness/ distribution, and from reports by Wilder and Mowbray he's a very good leader also.

Good problem to have, having them both at CB, and we might look at going 4-4-2 or some variant of that when our midfield is tiring, as we clearly have no subs for that. I can see a formation change coming if we don't get one or two CM free agents in, or if we don't make the most of this easier run of games, before the next transfer window (playing 3-5-2).
 
Andy_W said:
He still played far too many long balls for me mind (to Sunderland), and it was us giving up possession which led to us having to defend over and over again.
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Totally agree with this - he’s very wasteful going forward he just doesn’t know what to do so hoofs it - those claiming he was man of the match must be watching a different game to me! He defended well - for a big guy he offers little threat in the opposition box from corners, whereas I think Lenihan does offer more in that department.
 
I like them both, I think Fry is better when we are conceding possession in midfield and defending like we did 2nd half yesterday but Lenihan is a better option if we are trying to retain ball and play on front foot. Which ultimately makes Fry a better option while our midfield is so slow and weak but if we made the middle more solid then I'd pick Lenihan.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
Lenihan, Fry and Clarke are all learning a new system and style of play. Once they become accustomed to what the manager wants and what the style of play demands and depends upon, they’ll each get better.

You have to give players room to settle, learn and develop. They’re three very good Championship centre backs IMO. We’re in a good position back there with Dijksteel in the mix as well.

Again, though, it’s the rush to definitive judgment. Writing Lenihan off after two or three games, building up Clarke after two matches. Roberts is being built up today but you know as soon as he drops a cross or gets beaten at his near post he’ll be absolutely slaughtered on here. Likewise Fry. I’ve seen him get absolute pelters on here over the past year or two but now he’s Baresi again because he kept a young Sunderland striker quiet.

I think we just need to remember that these lads are playing in the second tier for a reason. They’re good players but might make a mistake now and then. You have to let them have the room to make that mistake and then hopefully learn and improve and not repeat them. If you want Lenihan, Fry and/or Clarke or any other Boro players to deliver faultless performances week after week then you’re going to be disappointed because it’s just not going to happen. If that was the case they’d be playing in the Premier League.
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Very good points/ post (y)

We've got new players all over the place, and healthy rotation options, it's a lot to learn, and get used to each others strengths and weaknesses, but it must be being made harder with only being able to stick to the style for 60 minutes. I can only see us getting better, even though we've already been good up to now (but with that should come better results/ wider margins too).

It's laughable that people have wrote off Lenihan, Steffen, Mowatt etc.

As for the others and the minor mistakes, they're gonna happen, they happen in the premiership, even Van Dijk's had a couple of howlers this year, Son can't hit a barn door, yet nobody is writing either of them off yet (which they shouldn't).
 
Fry was solid, but that's all he is and all he will ever be. He still cant pay out form the back, and he still insists on letting the ball bounce far too often playing himself into trouble.

We wont get promoted with "solid"
 
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