Aurelio the left back?

[Shanks65]

Hmmm.

IMO Aurelio leaves a hell of a lot to be desired as a left back. His positioning seems very very poor. He's always recovering from bad positioning and barely making it over to his defensive position in time to thwart the opposition attacks down that side.

He also loses nearly all of his 1-on-1 battles with an attacker

He is very poor in the air.

His tackling is wayward.

Maybe all this will improve as he gets used to the Prem, but he doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a top notch defender IMO. I know it's very early days and he will no doubt improve, but he doesn't seem to have any defensive instincts. eg his lack of tracking the attacker when Sheff Utd scored.

I really really hate to be negative about a player, but I'm far from convinced about this lads' defensive credentials.

All the plus points about his game are involved with going forward and attacking. But don't forget the position is called left BACK!

Am I alone in thinking this about our Brazilian?

Apologies for the rant. I hope to be proven wrong, so come on FABS!

[anfieldanfield]

He was surely brought in to be a left winger.

Injuries to Riise (and Warnock) have forced Rafa's hand.

[Shanks65]

He was surely brought in to be a left winger.

Injuries to Riise (and Warnock) have forced Rafa's hand.

That's fair enough then. Because to me that's what it seems like - ie Aurelio is a midfielder who has been asked to fill in and pretend to be a defender for a few weeks.

[Morph]

I too am not convinced by his defensive qualities and I think Rafa intends to use him a lot on the right wing. For me he has John Arne and Warnock for left back (I'm not a Warnock fan but he's been told he has a future at the club), and Aurelio and Gonzalez for left wing. I don't think Rafa expects Kewell to feature very much this season as he hasn't been able to count on him for the last two seasons and has had to compensate.

By Aurelio's own admission he's a left wing back, and comparrisons could be drawn with Jan Kromkamp. For him to work in that position we really need to be using a back 3 with wing backs, which doesn't look likely at the moment. So I agree that he lacks the defensive qualities to be an out and out left back, but for me he wouldn't be playing there if Warnock hadn't picked up the injury.

As soon as we get John Arne back and Harry Kewell, I'll be interested to see who plays the most, and might I say we're lucky we've got so many left sided players, because any other team would probably be crippled for any left sided players by now.

[Fowler_God]

I think he is very much an attacking leftback. As you say its early days but against the poorer teams we need an extra person getting in behind, espically at home. Against our main rivals i would worry about him getting caught out too much, although when momo is avaiable he i like having an extra right and left back because he does a brilliant job in covering for these 2 positions when play has broke down up field and they are left stranded.

[Diego]

i recon kewel will be out right when he comes back, theres no place for him on the left right now

[ich bin ein mainstander]

Today showed he can defend, but distribution was poor. On the ball he seemed assured, off it he was suspect. Too much tracking back for my liking. Still, there's enough promise to justify his being here. The moments he impressed out weighed the moments he didn't. That speaks enough for me. Get settled, then dig.

[Shanks65]

I too am not convinced by his defensive qualities and I think Rafa intends to use him a lot on the right wing. For me he has John Arne and Warnock for left back (I'm not a Warnock fan but he's been told he has a future at the club), and Aurelio and Gonzalez for left wing. I don't think Rafa expects Kewell to feature very much this season as he hasn't been able to count on him for the last two seasons and has had to compensate.

By Aurelio's own admission he's a left wing back, and comparrisons could be drawn with Jan Kromkamp. For him to work in that position we really need to be using a back 3 with wing backs, which doesn't look likely at the moment. So I agree that he lacks the defensive qualities to be an out and out left back, but for me he wouldn't be playing there if Warnock hadn't picked up the injury.

As soon as we get John Arne back and Harry Kewell, I'll be interested to see who plays the most, and might I say we're lucky we've got so many left sided players, because any other team would probably be crippled for any left sided players by now.

Totally agree mate. Fabs looks much more suited to the wing back position. As for Warnock, I'm far from convinced about his positioning too, but that's for another thread

It will be very interesting to see what is done with Harry when he's fit.

[Shanks65]

Today showed he can defend, but distribution was poor. On the ball he seemed assured, off it he was suspect. Too much tracking back for my liking. Still, there's enough promise to justify his being here. The moments he impressed out weighed the moments he didn't. That speaks enough for me. Get settled, then dig.

Fair enough mate I know it's early days for the lad. All of his good moments are about him taking free kicks and putting in crosses. Although that's great, I'd rather we had some great blocks or saving tackles to talk about where a left back is concerned.

He'll make a great winger!

[Helios Creed]

I'm quite impressed by him, but somebody has got to tell him that he has got to stop them getting crosses in, or at least to put them under pressure.

[StevieG08]

I'm quite impressed by him, but somebody has got to tell him that he has got to stop them getting crosses in, or at least to put them under pressure.

This would be my only main gripe to be fair. Overall i think he did ok for a Brazilian getting used to not just new team mates but a new league/language etc. Lets give him a few months before getting too critical after all Riise has his share of 'moments', if his free kick had gone in then perhaps we would have something else to talk about?

[ich bin ein mainstander]

Fair comment Helios, but seeing as he could be playing in a position that isn't his favoured one, he's probably baffled the whole affair!!! Did well with no Jamie to scream instructions. The tackles that affect the movement will happen once he realises what's going on around him. I'm reasonably happy with the effort, it's the passing under duress that's a concern.

[REDSCOUSER]

Agree Shanks about some of the things you said. I thought his passing and distribution in general was poor.
Many times he gave possession away with a wayward long ball or a short pass that got intercepted.
On the other hand, I thought his tackling was very good. He went in hard for the ball and won it fair and square.
Maybe it will take him a wee bit longer to get used to the style of football LFC plays and he'll improve.

[paulcooper4]

He was surely brought in to be a left winger.

Injuries to Riise (and Warnock) have forced Rafa's hand.

we finally agree on something

[anfieldanfield]

i recon kewel will be out right when he comes back, theres no place for him on the left right now

Kewell's better than Gonzales mate.