I think at Championship level, to be an effective winger, you generally need to have some kind of pace and power. Look at Malcolm Ebiowei - all the trickery in the world, but never looked anything like Championship level because he couldnโt burst past people, couldnโt power into the box. Obviously there are exceptions - if youโre incredibly talented in other areas you might get by without it - but as a general rule, Placheta is a more effective winger than (current day) Phillips or Ebiowei simply because heโs so much quicker.
For the same reasons, Goodrham seems to really struggle on the wing because once the fullback realises he isnโt going to burst outside him, and that all he can do is cut inside, it becomes very easy to defend against him. Heโs been almost astonishingly ineffective out on that left wing at times recently.
But as soon as he came inside against Cardiff, he was literally immediately a totally different animal. Suddenly, their defence/midfield didnโt know if he was going to go left or right, and he could find little pockets of space centrally and beat a man with a shimmy and then play the pass or dribble. In just a short time he nearly set up a couple of chances, just overhitting his passes, and won the free kick that we scored from (and got the player booked) with a nice bit of skill. He looked like a completely different player there.
Some people hate the idea of suggesting that players might have a best or preferred position, but just like you wouldnโt play Placheta centrally behind the striker, you shouldnโt be playing Goodrham out wide (at this level - he can do it lower down, in the same way that Patrick Viera or Steven Gerrard could have been top centre backs in the Championship but you wouldnโt say itโs their best position). You just donโt need the same pace to play centrally, because your options arenโt just knock it and run or cut inside, you can use your step to beat a man either way and then open up the pitch. Footballing history is littered with great number 10s/AMCs/โhole playersโ (whatever you want to call them) who were never the quickest, would never have worked as wingers, but were excellent in that withdrawn central attacking role.
I predict that if Goodrham gets a run centrally behind the striker in a Championship team which arenโt getting beaten every week he could return to the player we once thought he could be.
