[Andersons Dietician]

Honestly, I see backwards with this guy.

In the games I feel he struggles I come into this thread and he is getting all the praise in the world.

In a game like this where I thought he was absolutely fantastic, opinions are quite negative. It must be me!

Two fantastic through balls to Dan James, really good forward passing, complete composure on the ball, perfect defensive positioning. I don't know what else could have been asked of him?

EDIT- Oh, and when a club of this side is on its fecking knees, this chap at his age has the bottle to dig out the senior players as he simultaneously outshines them. That's mint.

Apart from those 2 very good passes, and that outside of the boot one was a peach, he wasn’t good last night.

For me he is one of the issues as to why we really struggled. He just wasn’t keeping width. He’d stand and watch the play happening and not pull out to make an offer. Not to mention he seems to want to play as a wide forward.

He’s so poor at getting back in to position. I do wonder what he is going to do when Matic is t there to protect his positional fragility.

The one thing he is always good at is his eagerness to get forward. I think we i proved when Shaw came on but you can see the difference in what Shaw does and what Williams does.

Balls played in to space infront of Williams he’s driving forward with all he has. Do the same to Shaw and he scopes out what’s happening in front of him then decides If he can or can’t bomb forward.

Kid has a lot of good qualities but a lot of faults that need ironing out that might take away from his attacking impetuous

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Someone tell me why we took him off

Wasn’t keeping width, wondering out of position, wasn’t really influencing the attack much before he was taken off.

 

[Player Red]

Thought he cut back onto his right foot a lot last night, same with James when he played on the left. Really slowed our momentum down at times. Both needed to try and drive around the outside of Lowton in order to keep us moving forward but they barely tried.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Felt he was too cautious. Wasnt making runs that he usually makes.

Our left wing was woeful last night.

 

[Based Adnan]

Be interesting to see his pass completion today. He looks after the ball very well and his decision making is spot on.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Solid performance again.

Looked absolutely gassed in the last half an hour. He's played a lot of games and should probably have a rest, but he's our best option and it's thick and fast when the Europa League is back.

 

[kundalini]

Poor performance. Offered very little going forward. Kept passing the ball back to our central defenders, inviting pressure.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I just don’t see it with him really. He’s done OK but reminds me of one of the many to come through and disappear under LVG.

 

[Dec9003]

Really promising performance I thought, he rarely gives the ball away and wins a lot of his second balls.
To go to City at such a young age and perform is great, I really, really like him as a player.

 

[Drainy]

He has a really good feel of the game that so many of our players lack.

Timing his touches and movement to throw the opposition off. Really promising start to first team football for such a young player.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Another solid performance, very pleased with the maturity he played with.

 

[Zoo]

I thought he was good. In the second half he played a couple of very nice passes including one superb switch of play crossfield.

 

[AltiUn]

Growing in confidence, he looked a lot more comfortable out there than he has done in the past, no complaints.

 

[NoPace]

I like his short passing game (vision and weight of passing). That, his versatility and his eagerness to get forward are all nice fits as a backup fullback for us.

 

[MikeKing]

I just don’t see it with him really. He’s done OK but reminds me of one of the many to come through and disappear under LVG.

Really? Anyone specific he remind you of? I liked CBJ who seemed really good in a few games, but I can't remember anyone from that group who has shown as much as Williams.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Actually thought he was a bit poor in possession.

I like him in general though.

 

[sammyhol]

He's a proper footballer this lad. Calm in possession, passes the ball forward well, prepared to run at the opposing fullback when carrying the ball, and also prepared to overlap.

For me the obvious problem is he is on the wrong side of the pitch. He often has acres of space to carry the ball into but his instinct is always to come back inside on his right foot.

He could provide us the natural width we are crying out for on the right. We would see such an improvement in our 'inverted' wingers with the space that would be created by proper overlapping full backs (perfect for Mason)... unfortunately we need to find an equivalent option for the left hand side.. That or put Shaw in a time machine or fat camp!

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Poor again today, his performances are so up and down, positionally not great or great at realising where the danger is but he could be forgiven given hes’s playing WB and maybe he’s not familiar to that but man. So many times already this season he just doesn’t see danger.

Another thing he needs to do is keep width more or realise hey I need to go wide when my team mate is pinned in a corner to give him the option for a pass. Not stand on the 18 yarder waiting for him to perform a miracle against 2 defenders.

Poor on the ball as well Couple of his “crosses” were just terrible chipped balls for catching practice.

I’m sure it’s just the inexperience of youth and his performances will be mixed bags like this but really needs to get better at defending.

Agree with what some are saying that he looks like he’d be better on the right where he can use his attacking instincts and hopefully stay wide and whip balls in. He spends so much time going inside he is just squeezing the space and causing us problems.

 

[LJJT]

Poor again today, his performances are so up and down, positionally not great or great at realising where the danger is but he could be forgiven given hes’s playing WB and maybe he’s not familiar to that but man. So many times already this season he just doesn’t see danger.

Another thing he needs to do is keep width more or realise hey I need to go wide when my team mate is pinned in a corner to give him the option for a pass. Not stand on the 18 yarder waiting for him to perform a miracle against 2 defenders.

Poor on the ball as well. I’m sure it’s just the inexperience of youth and his performances will be mixed bags like this but really needs to get better at defending.

I could not disagree more!! Barely put a foot wrong. Great on the ball. Totally reliable

 

[Utdstar01]

Jesus. How was he poor today?! What game were people watching!? What's worrying is he looks technically better than a lot of our more senior players.

 

[Copa Mundial]

Don't get the negativity on here regarding him.

For someone so young he looks very composed, has two good feet and is comfortable on the ball imo.

 

[pascell]

Jesus. How was he poor today?! What game were people watching!? What's worrying is he looks technically better than a lot of our more senior players.

Sometimes I feel people moan just for the sake of it on here now. The kid was great considering it's his debut season in a big game, I actually thought he kept the width well and was one of few players to be calm in possession, which he kept very well.

 

[Jeppers7]

State of some people. More interested in their own agenda than the performance of a teenager in the derby

well done again Brandon.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

State of some people. More interested in their own agenda than the performance of a teenager in the derby

well done again Brandon.

whats the agenda?

 

[Cliche Guevara]

Very impressive for such a young, inexperienced, player and I don’t say that lightly.

He’s a natural and talented player. No idea what kind of career he’ll have but he’s done very well in such a short space of time. Seems very confident and like he feels he belongs in the team.

 

[podurban2]

I thought he was really good today.

 

[parkthebuslads]

Had a good first half but his passing was poor in the 2nd. He's also a little passive at times when dealing with 1v1s.

 

[Snow]

Be interesting to see his pass completion today. He looks after the ball very well and his decision making is spot on.

56 passes - 89% completion.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

I like Williams but I don't understand why we insist on playing him at LB. He's right footed. There is a reason why teams play with left footed LB's and right footed RB's. When Williams does overlap he almost always stops to cut back to his right foot, and that usually ends in him just passing it back to a midfielder rather than whipping in a cross. I would really like to see him given a run at the RB position...

 

[SadlerMUFC]

56 passes - 89% completion.

Which is very easy to do when you are only making 5 foot passes. I'd like to see him put in some crosses...

 

[Snow]

Which is very easy to do when you are only making 5 foot passes. I'd like to see him put in some crosses...

Crosses are a separate stat.

 

[Teja]

I thought he was fine today. Did a decent enough job against Mahrez, sometimes put CBs under pressure by passing it to them but otherwise, yeah, the usual work rate and willingness to get forward.

 

[M16Red]

Which is very easy to do when you are only making 5 foot passes. I'd like to see him put in some crosses...

To who? Marital? Did you want him to run the left side on his own beating all the players in front of him?

 

[M16Red]

State of some people. More interested in their own agenda than the performance of a teenager in the derby

well done again Brandon.

Agreed. People seem to forget that he is just 19 and it's his first season.

 

[Devil may care]

This thread is bipolar tonight, weird. I thought he played well and is cementing his place in the team.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Crosses are a separate stat.

And how many crosses did he have today? Zero. Everytime he got the ball down the flank he passed it back to a midfielder. In fact, we only had 5 crosses all game. 3 from Fred and 2 from James. But that's what happens when you play a right footed player at LB. When he overlaps he has the chance to cross with his left but instead he cuts back to get on his right foot. This is why I would like to see Williams played on the right. There's a reason why Robertson and TAA get so many assists. It's because they cross the ball as FB's should. And they do it from their proper side of the pitch...

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Really? Anyone specific he remind you of? I liked CBJ who seemed really good in a few games, but I can't remember anyone from that group who has shown as much as Williams.

CBJ, McNair & Blackett to a lesser extent. At the moment he offers next to nothing offensively and is very questionable defensively. He averages 1 cross a game in the PL and 1 accurate cross every 5 games so far. The idea that he offers more than Shaw in that regard doesn't seem to be based on anything much.

I get that he's a kid and can improve but I'm sceptical that he has it in his locker. If you're talking about a modern attacking full back compare him to Saka at Arsenal, it's night and day comparing what they can both do in the final third.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

CBJ, McNair & Blackett to a lesser extent. At the moment he offers next to nothing offensively and is very questionable defensively. He averages 1 cross a game in the PL and 1 accurate cross every 5 games so far. The idea that he offers more than Shaw in that regard doesn't seem to be based on anything much.

I get that he's a kid and can improve but I'm sceptical that he has it in his locker. If you're talking about a modern attacking full back compare him to Saka at Arsenal, it's night and day comparing what they can both do in the final third.

Saka is a winger, that’s why.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Saka is a winger, that’s why.

Saka has played at left back a whole lot in his youth career. England mostly have used him there. He's not a left winger playing at left back. His position isn't settled on yet.

 

[FujiVice]

He's played 20 professional games in his life and played really well for the majority of them. Can we just keep the noose in the cupboard until for a bit longer please? He's done ridiculously well in his first season, in a piss poor side.