Harry Winks - Leicester City

viktorviktor said:

He is playing a very disciplined game at the moment, which could pass as boring or unexceptional. IMO, this is a tactical decision by Poch, necessitated by our weak midfield, and is not necessarily a reflection of Winks ability. He will be a better player with a real DM in the team.

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glospur said:

Really? I find it staggering that he's not good enough for a top 6 team. Here I was thinking that he's made 17 appearances for the team that currently sits 2nd, but I must be wrong.

What an unambiguously garbage post.

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GetSpurredOn said:

Agree. Winks is currently filling in the DM role, and as such has to tailor his game to suit. Once either Dier or Wanyama are back in, you then see Winks become far more progressive with his passing, but also his movement. These occasions where he gives the ball and immediately moves into another pocket of space to provide an option, when less shackled by the DM role he moves upfield not just side to side, and isn’t afraid to stride forward with the ball. A very underrated player in my opinion, maybe never going to be as prolific as Alli, or flashy, but a fantastic technical all round midfielder who makes others tick.

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DJS said:

I remember the days Carrick was under-appareciated on here too...

The more he plays the more he’ll gain confident / settle and show his full abilities.

Most players improve with age / have multiple seasons under their belt in top flight.

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Primativ said:

I remember the days when Carrick was under appreciated too. I wasn’t one of them, I know how players are supposed to play the deep lying playmaker role thanks very much.
He’s nowhere near Carricks level, even first season at Spurs level carrick.

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Primativ said:

I remember the days when Carrick was under appreciated too. I wasn’t one of them, I know how players are supposed to play the deep lying playmaker role thanks very much.
He’s nowhere near Carricks level, even first season at Spurs level carrick.

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glospur said:

JFC where to start.

This post demonstrates why the problem is your ridiculous expectation and complete lack of understanding of the role he's playing, and not his performances.

"His ball retention is generally very high, but that's because he always passes the ball 5 yards left to right."

Well, first, that's just flat out wrong. He's shown on a number of occasions that he is more than capable of playing lofted balls over the top, or cross field switches to contribute to attacking (ie his ball to KWP the other day and the one to Trips against RM at Wembley last season come to mind). But always playing those "Hollywood" balls isn't the sign of a good player, and it's ridiculous that you think this is what he needs to do from his position, because it's just not, and thinking otherwise is generally the sign of a poor football judge.

He is supposed to play those short passes in different stages of the game and for different reasons. When we've had a period of attacking play, it's necessary for him to do that in order to retain possession while the players ahead of him regain their attacking shape and get back into position. Playing recklessly is the last thing you want in that situation because if we lose the ball we are not in a position to win it back, or to defend the counter.

Alternatively, when the opposition are deep and compact behind the ball, you'll often see Eriksen move a lot deeper and play short little combination passes with Winks, as by far the two best technical players in midfield, in order to pull the opposition out of shape and create the space between the lines for any of Dele, Son or Kane to drop into, or to give Sissoko space to burst forward. Again, it would be stupidly reckless to attempt the killer ball as regularly as you seem to want him to in this situation because there's no space for it, and we also have players further forward who are better equipped to do so. It would be a dreadful waste of possession if he was to be impatient and squander that possession because Primativ on SC doesn't understand what he's being asked to do.

He's also playing as the deepest midfielder. If he loses the ball there, the opposition are immediately running at out central defenders with our FBs high and wide and no cover in midfield. That was the problem against Wolves. We lost the ball due to sloppiness (especially uncharacteristically from Eriksen) and they had too much space. Imagine if this happened on the regular of complaints that Winks isn't penetrative enough? Another reason why is's important is because he's playing alongside a guy who, for all his improvement and physical strengths, doesn't count ball retention high in his list of footballing talents.

In fact, if anything, the fact that he is playing so sensibly and not in the manner in you wish is actually a sign of great maturity in one so young. Often the problem with youthful CMs and CBs too, to a lesser extent, is that they're too impatient and too naive and too impulsive and too callow by doing the stuff that looks good, and not the stuff of actual substance. The way he plays demonstrates an understanding of the game far beyond his years.

"As I say, he never does anything in a game which makes me go AHA! So that is why he's in the side"

And that there is exactly the problem, not Winks' ability.

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Charly*** said:

No but few are.

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thebenjamin said:

Carrick played further forward when he first joined us.

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Primativ said:

Of course. People shouldn’t compare them though. Winks will likely never get near to that level. The neglect of Carrick by England was criminal. Absolutely key cog in multiple title winning teams under Ferguson.

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Charly*** said:

Yep, Winks is tidy & it’s more shorter stuff from him compared to Carrick, more like a modern day Scott Parker for me, more creative than Parker ended up, but Parker was creative when he was younger. I think Winks could be a top English player tho, just he doesn’t have that extra something that Carrick had.

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Primativ said:

I remember the days when Carrick was under appreciated too. I wasn’t one of them, I know how players are supposed to play the deep lying playmaker role thanks very much.
He’s nowhere near Carricks level, even first season at Spurs level carrick.

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JimmyG2 said:

Sorry my bad.
He came to us from W.Ham
Misread Wiki.

Remember the 'too small for the Premiership'
with regard to Modric
and that persisted
for a couple of seasons.

My general point stands though.
he is a precocious talent
held up by injury.

Carrick has always been undervalued
hence only 34 appearances for England
over 14 years.

Modric is now the Worlds Numero Uno.
If Winks gets even close to those two
he will have fulfilled
all my hopes for him.

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onthetwo said:

he reminds me a a bit of Ossie.

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