Joe Bryan last night99

[Riversider]

Badly at fault for both their goals , and the annoying thing for me was the fact that he wasn't beaten by any great skill , he was just beaten by a player showing more effort and determination, if it had been Le Marchand, Odoi or Mawson and their would have been a dozen comments made but because it's Bryan nothing has been said, fairs fair he was poor for both goals,
The worrying aspect is that he is arguably our best defender , which kind of sums up why we are seventh and not any higher.

[Sting of the North]

It has been pointed out already in several threads that Bryan was at fault for those goals.

I also disagree that he is our best defender, if you are talking about actually defending. In my opinion Mawson and Odoi are both better, and arguably Ream as well. Bryan is very good going forward and in pressing to win the ball back early though, which are both qualities that makes a difference in our style of play.

As to why we are seventh, it is in my opinion because we don't make our superiority count. Yesterday we should have had at least 3 in the first half alone, but this has also happened in many other games (remember WBA when we completely played them off the park for 65 minutes?). Our defenders have been doing fairly well overall in my opinion.

[Whitestone]

Made the assist for the third and ultimately winning goal.

[Skatzoffc]

I think he's good but occasionally gets caught out of position. That happens with our style of play and his role in it.
Imo most of our problems, on the that side of the pitch, come from Cavaliero's laziness and lack of cover.

[Dr Quinzel]

He's a player you can't leave out of the team,  because he offers so much, but it is clear his positioning isn't as good as it could be and he does occasionally cost us. Plenty of teams have had players like that down the years - the key is to place someone next to them who makes up for their faults. Could that be Hector?

[Spirit of 2000]

Ideally a LWB rather than flat back 4 fullback but a good player and excellent going forward & by far the best left back we have. Yes can get caught out at times but equally going to have high assist numbers for a defender. We need to use him more down the left flank and have the CB's & CDM on alert to cover when necessary.

[charlieFFC]

Joe Bryan is one of our best players. Granted he made two errors in him but his contribution for the most part outweighs any liability

[Andy S]

Not if they result in goals against that is his job after all.

[Spirit of 2000]

Not if they result in goals against that is his job after all.

But the point being his pluses outweigh his minuses - I cannot see any argument where that statement isn't true. He contributes hugely going forward, is generally ok defensively but granted can get caught out & we're undoubtedly a far better team with him than without him. There's nobody within the club who would prove a better left back and in January we have far more pressing issues than looking to replace Bryan.

[Dr Quinzel]

Not if they result in goals against that is his job after all.

It's not solely though, it it? It's more than that.

[Statto]

I agree Bryan was at fault for the first goal because I believe he conceded the free kick, then got beaten by his man to the resulting cross.

Second goal, yes he got done by his man out wide but then it was Cavaleiro who got beaten to the resulting cross.

However, I also agree with the observations above that any mistakes by Bryan have to be balanced against his significant offensive contributions, including an assist last night.

[The Rational Fan]

I agree Bryan was at fault for the first goal because I believe he conceded the free kick, then got beaten by his man to the resulting cross.

Second goal, yes he got done by his man out wide but then it was Cavaleiro who got beaten to the resulting cross.

However, I also agree with the observations above that any mistakes by Bryan have to be balanced against his significant offensive contributions, including an assist last night.

Is Bryan best position LWB? Do we have enough fire power in midfield and upfront to get away with a back five with wing-backs being very attacking?

[Artful Dodger]

In my view Bryan is a liability in defence. Last season I thought it may be that he was just out of his depth in a struggling team but he still makes the same basic errors as a defender this season and whilst great going forward just doesn't show enough desire to get back if he is out of position. I would really like him to prove me wrong but with so many creative players ahead of him, I think the team would benefit from a defender that defends first and then worries about attacking - at the moment, it is the other way round.

[Spirit of 2000]

Right back is far more of an issue than LB, as is cover for Mitro, possibly GK position and at this rate one of the wing positions as Knockaert has been poor of late and offers little either defensively or going forward. If we're looking to strengthen in January Bryan is the least of our worries. We're a far better side with him than without him - and do you not feel that as an attacking fullback he suffers from the distinct lack of tracking back & defensive cover our wide men afford him?

[bill taylors apprentice]

Bryan's mistakes are basic errors that can happen to the best but he is guilty too often of the errors described above.
But overall he's a very decent player and worth his place, I just wish I could see signs that he realises his mistakes and is working on the training ground to minimise them.

[The Rational Fan]

Right back is far more of an issue than LB, as is cover for Mitro, possibly GK position and at this rate one of the wing positions as Knockaert has been poor of late and offers little either defensively or going forward. If we're looking to strengthen in January Bryan is the least of our worries. We're a far better side with him than without him - and do you not feel that as an attacking fullback he suffers from the distinct lack of tracking back & defensive cover our wide men afford him?

We're a far better side with Bryan, but as LWB he will provide more width on the left in attack.

I am not so sure, we only need "starting RWB and backup LWB" to have the optionto play 3-3-1-3.

                                1. Betts/Rodak/Norman

          4. S.Sess/Odoi    5. Mawson/Hector    6. Ream/MLM

2. New Starter/Christie    8. Arter/Reed/KMac/Cisse    3. Bryan/New Backup

                                 10. Cairney/Johnsen

    7. Knock/Kamara       9. Mitro/Reid     11. Cav/Onamah/Kebano

3-3-1-3 moves to a 5-2-3 defensively will reduce attacks down the sides.

Reid can cover Mitro, if we has inverted wingers on either side.

This formation will require Knockaert to do more in attack and less in defense.

[Skatzoffc]

As I said earlier he has a role to play in our team and that appears to be as an attacking player.
He does that well.

If people aren't covering for him in our system they are at fault imo.

It seems obvious to me he has been told to do this work for the team and he does it well

[WolverineFFC]

Defending is not his strong suit, we can all see that, but he is an automatic pick for the starting 11. He and Mitro have no obvious replacement if their form suffers which is part of the issue. I think the club should be looking for competition for the LB spot in January if for no other reason than to bring out the best in Joe.

[Matt10]

He is way too valuable to us. Good in defending, and solid in attack. Our highest rated player on whoscored as well, not to mention leading in tackles.

People want to blame him for the 2nd Luton goal, but he got beat by a shifty McManaman, sure, a whole 30 yards took place after that, including a low ball into the box that went past all our other defenders and our winger on the backpost.

Our defending is very high pressure with a very high line. Just watch the 10th to 20th minute of the match as an example. You can see Bryan steps very high on the sidelines and blocks off the sidelines to perfection. This won't be counted though, because it's not what stands out in threads. Only goals. Ironically it was this same move that he got beat by McManaman on 80 minutes later.

[RaySmith]

I don't blame him for losing possession for the second goal - he was well advanced, and he'd done so much  fine work up that wing, including assisting a goal, and is such an important attacking player for us, as well as decent defender, and as Matt says, he had a lot of space and players covering  behind him.