[Archived] Todd - Not Good Enough To Be Capt And In The Team

[berkshireblue]

Probably an unpopular topic, but being in Seville for the game last night rather than at Ewood I had the bad fortune to be able to watch loads of replays of certain incidents on Sky, and I think Todd´s anticipation and movement for not only Saha´s goal but also some of Rooney´s chances was poor, couple that with his red card liability, always a worry in big games, and the fact that Rovers´s best displays this season have been with Zurab and Nelsen at centre back I think now is the time to make Admiral captain ( though his distribution last night was supect ) and play Zurab alongside him..

Todd was great last year and I was a big fan, but he has not been as good this season and is often found out against quick forwards ie Semi v Arsenal at Cardiff...

A great player as back up and on the bench, but how he was man of the match last night I will never know..

Like Kuqi , if we want to be in the top 6 and reach cup finals Todd cant be in our strongest 11

[den]

A brilliant defensive display. Can't understand why you would criticise him for that performance.

Where did you see him voted man of the match? Neill Yardley on Radio Rovers put him head and shoulders the best defender after last nights game. Did someone else?

[Ozz]

Have to agree, my choice at the back would be Nelsen and Zurab. Nelsen skipper too. Tough job telling Todd though...maybe just text him.

[berkshireblue]

Den

Dont get be wrong he was not bad, its just his movement and reading of the game is not as good as last year and I believe Zurab and Nelsen when they have played together are a better pairing, I have not seen the statistical evidence, maybe Phil in Malta can produce it as he seems to have lots of time from another post can rattle some up..

I am sure they´ve conceeded fewer goals than when Todd´s played

Peter Jackson I think gave Toddman of the match

[greggyk]

I hope it's not just me and Den, but Todd was fantastic last night!!! It was infact Nelsen's fault for the goal(who was quite average last night).

Todd has certainly played a hell of a lot better recently and is playing better than Zura at the moment and deserves his place alongside Nelsen.

Toddy is a fantastic capatain and deserves it after player of year 2 years running!

[bellamy11]

I thought Todd was excellent last night and indeed his reading of the game allowed him to nip several attacks i the bud with clever interceptions after anticipating throughballs and the like.

I saw nothing last night that suggested he is anything other than a very good defender. I think it's great that Nelsen, Zura and Toddy are all fighting for two spots and all revelling in the competition.

[Ozz]

Zurab is a better footballer, and if he can defend as good, then he should be in front of Todd.

[modes98]

I hope it's not just me and Den, but Todd was fantastic last night!!!

373924[/snapback]

He was very good, for the first time in a while though.

Personally i would prefer nelsen to be made captain, just for his constant superb displays. I'd also say that the goal was just one of those goals, great run by saha but if anything todd could have stopped backtracking and played him offside.

Got no complaints with todd as captain just think that nelsen would be better for the team.

My preferred defensive 2 would be zurab and nelsen but i did agree with hughes that it was right to play todd last night. I wouldn't have 100% confidence with zurab against the skill and pace of rooney, just for the experiance factor.

Edited January 12, 2006 by modes98

[Manchester Blue]

I'm not Todd's biggest fan but he had a very good game last night considering the opposition, won most of his headers and was good on the ground. I do find it strange that when the team is playing as well as they have in years, threads are popping up left and right slating the players. I'm not suggesting they should be immune but it seems like people are only happy if they are complaining.

[krislu]

Todd wasnt that good against ManU, his passing was crap and could have cost us dearly.

[chris]

Todd was quality, Nelsen's passing was a bit shocking at times

[sumps]

Todd and Gray both had good games last night. I thought Gray played extremley well against Ronaldo considering Pedersen wasn't doing nearly enough covering, probably due to the fact he is v. slow.

[thenodrog]

Correct. Except that Nelsens passing was awful all the time.

This shows the value of a 'pressing game' tactic, defenders hoofing the ball away rather than picking out players with nice passes is the result of a team defending from the front, and is something that Hughes has got our lot to do.

[des]

for me todd played ok expect for the goal, I was shouting at the tv for him to move up and to play him off side, however he did not and as such the forward scored all in all I that nelsen and Zurab are the make the better parentership.

[EIEIEIO]

Todd was Rovers best player last night by a distance. His defensive performance against a world class team was one of best I've seen for a long time. Don't even try to pair two of the three together as a regular partnership, we are in the fortunate position of have 3 excellent centre backs. Hughes likes to rotate and well he should it's a squad game nowadays.

I'm sure Alex Ferguson would be hoping his two new signing are in the same league as our defenders.

[Derbyshire Blue]

Correct. Except that Nelsens passing was awful all the time.

Have to agree as much as love the Admiral, his distribution was atrocious last night.

[JamieUK]

I thought he was brilliant last night and easily man of the match. After seeing the replay for the goal I thought he could have done better but after seeing it again it was Saha who created the goal and not Todd who handed it to him. Todd had an eye on Saha and on the player with the ball. Just before the ball was played through Saha made an excellent run on the blindside of AT leaving him with a clear run on goal.

[krislu]

Just seen the replay of Saha's goal a few times, Todd clearly to blame. Why is he 5m behind the defensive line? All he had to do was to take a few steps forward and Saha would have been offside.

[herbergeehh]

Clever move by Saha though, dummied a run across before pulling back, with enough distance to Todd to make it 1-0. However, as said above, Todd should have simply allowed Saha to run into an offside position.

Personally, I think Zura and Nelsen is a better pairing, especially against strikers with pace. Zura has more pace than Todd, which makes him a better partner for the Admiral in my opinion.

[Exiled_Rover]

Just seen the replay of Saha's goal a few times, Todd clearly to blame. Why is he 5m behind the defensive line? All he had to do was to take a few steps forward and Saha would have been offside.

374045[/snapback]

You're known to Todd, so I'll take your opinion with a pinch of salt.

Best defender on the park last night was Todd, no-one can argue that. The goal was not his fault as you're not meant to play offside when it's 2 on 3, especially when the attacker is much quicker than you....well scratch that, you can try it if you like, but a quality forward with a decent through ball will beat you almost every time . Todd was playing Saha pretty well, but he needed Nelsen to step up and challenge Rooney (forgive me if they weren't the players involved, I've only seen the incident once and I wasn't concentrating on them as much as the Saha run) to narrow the angles he had available. He backed off and backed off leaving Todd in no-mans land thanks to Saha's intelligent run and Rooney's decent pass. Friedel's effort to save it was pathetic, but that's for another day.

Having said that Nelsen should be captain. He wasn't particularily good last night, but he's got a cool head on his shoulders. The way he handled Smith after his scythe of Savage served to calm the situation down somewhat and you'll notice he was the player talking to the referee about the outcome of the incident - Todd was nowhere in sight. In terms of leadership and respectability Nelsen is your man. Todd isn't very vocal, he leads by example but that's not really what you want from a captain, and his short fuse makes him a liability as a mediator between the ref and the player who's just committed an offence.

Todd and Nelsen is also our best partnership - Zura is good, but he's not on Todd's level yet. Definately worth signing though, as three quality centre halves is exactly what this club needs.

Edited January 12, 2006 by Exiled_Rover

[tchocky]

He's certainly a decent player, but I find he makes the wrong decisions some times and it costs us. Like he did last night. He's good at reading the game and intercepting passes (when playing at the back), but it's a calculated risk and sometimes he cocks up and leaves a gap. You can't really do that when you have no pace.

[Jan]

Note

Those who are criticising Todd for last night weren't there

Those who aren't were.

He was the best defender on the park last night by some considerable way. Actually it was funny to think that the "great" Rio Ferdinand was the third-best centre back on the pitch last night!

Edited January 12, 2006 by Jan

[AxesFirstTouch]

Who made the costly mistake which led to Rooney having a goal scoring opportunity when he tried to place the ball in the back of the net?

[savage8]

Thought Toddy was the best player on the pitch last night, can't see how the goal was anyone's fault, it was a great run from Saha to get him into that space.

Also anyone see him flex his guns in the tunnel before leading the team out, massive !!

[mjs]

Thought Toddy was the best player on the pitch last night, can't see how the goal was anyone's fault, it was a great run from Saha to get him into that space.

374079[/snapback]

Correct, but unfortunately some Rovers fans have to find something to moan about when all is going well.

Rovers have been good defensively for 12 months now and Andy Todd has played a huge part in the improvement. In fact he has been excellent for Rovers - end of story. We have 3 good centre backs - be thankful.

The start of this topic is is one of the most unwarranted pieces of criticism I have read in a long time.

Edited January 13, 2006 by mjs