Conclusion of the transfer window

[EwarWoo]

He also happens to be 6 years younger and can be our keeper for many years to come. I'm sure that helped his case massively.

[Molby]

Why is that an issue? I dont understand.

Both play centrally, so they are not playing in crosses from wide, or dribbling along the line, or cutting in. It doesnt really affect their passing across the back, or forward.

All I can think it means is if a left footed player is playing right side centre back is a slight pivot of the body to use their left foot to play it left across the face of the goal, which you would do on the left side anyway to pass to the left back. Or am I missing something (being "special" on the pitch myself).

Just my opinion, but, it just seems more symmetrical to have a predominant right footed defender and a left footed defender as a centre back partnership...

But then there is the Kolo factor..he's a monster..can't see him being dropped. That automatically readdresses the balance...

Like I said in an earlier post, it's a good problem to have (if indeed it is a problem)

[Neil Young]

I suggest that the best left back at the club is also the best right back at the club.

If we assume that's true without getting into a debate about it, then I don't see why the same can't apply to centre backs, if anything even more so since, by definition, they play more centrally and so have to defend their "wrong" side more often.

Anyway they play football for a living. They ought to be able to deal with it!

But having said that it seems there's much more acceptance for left-footed players to be hopelessly one-footed, presumably because they're relatively rare and therefore more valued relative to right-footed players with exactly the same deficiencies. So maybe the one-sidedness is less likely to have been coached out of them.

I've got a vague feeling we've had two left-footed centre backs before, in the dim and distant past. But I can't remember more than one in any one era.

[PTP]

good article - enjoyed reading some positive LFC news

[Darkon]

I suggest that the best left back at the club is also the best right back at the club.

If we assume that's true without getting into a debate about it, then I don't see why the same can't apply to centre backs, if anything even more so since, by definition, they play more centrally and so have to defend their "wrong" side more often.

Anyway they play football for a living. They ought to be able to deal with it!

But having said that it seems there's much more acceptance for left-footed players to be hopelessly one-footed, presumably because they're relatively rare and therefore more valued relative to right-footed players with exactly the same deficiencies. So maybe the one-sidedness is less likely to have been coached out of them.

I've got a vague feeling we've had two left-footed centre backs before, in the dim and distant past. But I can't remember more than one in any one era.

www.leftieorrightie.co.uk

[dom9]

Left footed players are in the minority, right?

So it stands to reason that the majority of centre back pairings consist of two right footed players.

So it stands to reason that to have two left footed centre backs paired together represents no more of a problem than is actually the norm across world football.

Or am I missing something?

[Pablo]

I think this need for balance in your CB pairing (one right footed, one left footed) is being overplayed massively to be honest. I don't it's nearly as important as is being made out.

[Reece]

Left footed players are in the minority, right?

So it stands to reason that the majority of centre back pairings consist of two right footed players.

So it stands to reason that to have two left footed centre backs paired together represents no more of a problem than is actually the norm across world football.

Or am I missing something?

I think this need for balance in your CB pairing (one right footed, one left footed) is being overplayed massively to be honest. I don't it's nearly as important as is being made out.

Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure Vidic and Ferdinand are both right footed, for one example (awaits some ******* proving me wrong on this ).

[Shaggy]

Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure Vidic and Ferdinand are both right footed, for one example (awaits some ******* proving me wrong on this ).

There are plenty of right-footed pairings. Left-footed pairings are rare. I can't think of one.

[kev776]

We should be grateful, it could have been Razor Ruddock, he was neither footed.

[The_weatherman]

There are plenty of right-footed pairings. Left-footed pairings are rare. I can't think of one.

Like Dom said, probably because of the dearthness of left footed CB's. Has Sakho ever played with a left footed CB? Maybe he has always been the only left footed one and so there has never come up the situtation where PSG could field two?

[Leyton388]

I'm very happy with the business we have done. Last season we had no problem scoring goals and creating chances our main problem last season was letting a lead slip or giving away soft goals.

This summer has seen us address the problem of a goalkeeper in decline and a soft defence. I would have liked us to bring in a another central defender to give lucas some competition and another attacking player but i'm sure that will be addressed in January.

I'm really looking forward to see how Moses does out wide for us this season as he has the pace and strength needed imo to cause defenders trouble and supply sturridge and Suarez with more ammo.

With Suarez still waiting to come back I feel he will be like a new signing for the team as well so it's been a great start to the season and lets hope this carries on. It's going to be a tough season ahead but I'm hopeful we will be fighting for a top 4 finish.

All in all a 8 out of 10 for me.

[dom9]

There are plenty of right-footed pairings. Left-footed pairings are rare. I can't think of one.

Yep, same footed pairings are the norm.

[el matador]

There are plenty of right-footed pairings. Left-footed pairings are rare. I can't think of one.

At youth level usually, left footers are at a premium and they always play on the left hand side or in a position which suits their left foot.

because there are so many right footed players some inevitably have to play on the left or in positions which require them to use their weaker side more often than they would like.

In my experience, left footbers arent as adaptable as right footers simply because theyre used to playing on their stronger foot throughout their careers. Whereas any right footed player will at some stage have to have played on the left.

And ive never seen a centre back pairing who were both lefties.

[Neil Young]

Left footed players are in the minority, right?

So it stands to reason that the majority of centre back pairings consist of two right footed players.

So it stands to reason that to have two left footed centre backs paired together represents no more of a problem than is actually the norm across world football.

Or am I missing something?

I don't think it's that simple.

I'm pretty sure there are far more left-footed footballers than random chance alone would dictate.

Something like 10% of people are lefthanded. It's probably higher than that among men because lefthandedness is more common in men (IIRC something to do with the effect of testosterone and timing of its release in foetal development).

It's very rare to have only one or two left-footed outfield players in a professional team. I think this indicates a favouring of left-footed players to go some way towards balancing out the team.

It may not actually be something that emerges at professional level rather than a deliberate bias there. Gladwell's analysis of the effect of birth month on professional ice hockey players (confirmed in analysis of other sports) in Outliers can be applied equally well to handedness. That's what my earlier comment was hinting at. If left-footed players are unduly favoured as children, then they get to play more, get to train more, and, since they are valued, get more confidence in themselves, all of which means they may go on to develop better skills and progress higher up the ladder. And it also means they're less likely to work on their right foot, as I suggested (can you think of a right-footed full back as one-footed as Winterburn or Cole for instance? Even talented footballers like Wilshere are painfully one-footed). And the chances are they're likely to be used very early on the left side, making them less adaptable.

Lefthanders also overindex in tennis. A lot of that might well be down to the scoring system (more important points take place on the advantage court, which favours the lefthanded serve). But it may also reflect simply the relative shortage of lefthanders - they're rarer so righthanded players are less used to playing them as young players.

So right-footed centre backs may not only be more two-footed but also more adaptable to playing on the left, simply because they have to do it more due to the shortage of left-footed players.