Long can play left back or CB. It looks like there will be another RB
So “Super Sam” will spend the season being deployed all across the back line again, meaning for all his commitment and endeavour, he will be unsettled and his performances will understandably be a little inconsistent, and he will then be criticised for not being good enough, when he once again hasn’t been allowed to settle into one role, and to make one position his own
That said, although I’m confident in Long’s ability, he’s prone to injury, and needs genuine cover for any injuries, and direct competition to push him to his levels of a couple of seasons ago, so a right back is needed, and Sam will need to step up if he wants to retain a starting place.
But we are DESPERATE for a specialist left back, and have been for a number of years, Seddon or Brown are not going to be good enough as first choice.
It amazes me that KR seems to learn nothing from our repeated defensive injury crisis every season due to lack of genuine cover/competition in that area, and poor defensive record every season.
A patched up defence, means inevitably leaking goals, meaning the attacking players need to win us the game every week, which won’t happen.
A rock solid defence allows the attacking players more freedom to flow forward and do their thing, attack.
It’s time he realised that a strong defence is the foundation that successful sides are built on, and he needs to stop naively neglecting that area of the squad, and stock up, so we are ALWAYS able to put a strong back line out, to make us harder to beat each and every week.
