Let's face it - it's hard not to get swept up in the euphoria of Jonathan Spector's impressive brace against former club Manchester United and performance against Sunderland(despite the loss).
Spector is not just playing well, but he's playing in some ways that we've never seen him do before. When Spector was at right back, there weren't too many "moves" that he pulled to be remembered. Yet he gracefully pirouetted his way past two Sunderland players before trotting another 25 yards or more to the top of the box to flash his shot just wide and did so without much thought.
Many ask exactly what has Spector playing so well. It seemed before that he was on a bit of a droop in confidence and was knocked out of the starting right back spot for the United States by veteran Steve Cherundolo( to be fair, Cherundolo is an excellent player who had an excellent World Cup). Plenty of players have slumps that are caused by a lack of confidence just to turn things around. Sacha Kljestan was a similarly hot player for the United States before back-to-back disappointing performances against Mexico and El Salvador in World Cup Qualifying.
While Spector wasn't mentally in great shape, I don't see that as his main obstacle. Spector, for me, was never really a true right back. Yes, he's had good performances such as against Spain, Egypt, or even Brazil for a half, but I think the tactics behind those sides may have favored him. Spain's game has never been focused around getting crosses into the box, and they actually suffered from a lack of width in this summer's loss to Switzerland, who were content to stay narrow the same way the United States did in their own victory against La Furia Roja. The only natural width Spain really had in either of the aforementioned games was from marauding right back Sergio Ramos, who gave Carlos Bocanegra, the USA's left back that day, a bit of a run for his money at times. Brazil clearly changed their tactics at half-time to go after the American fullbacks, and Kaka getting the beating of Jonathan Spector led directly to a goal. Egypt also rarely made a conscious effort to run at either Spector or Bornstein on the day.
The main point is that Spector may be great for passing sides that like to narrow teams up and find space between lines, he tends to get beaten frequently against sides with pacy wingers that like to run at the fullbacks.
A central midfield role not only masks Spector's weaknesses, but maximizes almost all of his strengths. He's always shown pinpoint passing, positional sense, bite, comfort on the ball, touch, and fairly good vision in some way shape or form, so, in a way, the fact that he played better as a central midfielder than a fullback doesn't shock me at all.
The simple fact is Spector, against most-sides, is better suited for a central or defensive midfield role, so don't be surprised if he remains in West Ham's lineup.
Spector is not just playing well, but he's playing in some ways that we've never seen him do before. When Spector was at right back, there weren't too many "moves" that he pulled to be remembered. Yet he gracefully pirouetted his way past two Sunderland players before trotting another 25 yards or more to the top of the box to flash his shot just wide and did so without much thought.
Many ask exactly what has Spector playing so well. It seemed before that he was on a bit of a droop in confidence and was knocked out of the starting right back spot for the United States by veteran Steve Cherundolo( to be fair, Cherundolo is an excellent player who had an excellent World Cup). Plenty of players have slumps that are caused by a lack of confidence just to turn things around. Sacha Kljestan was a similarly hot player for the United States before back-to-back disappointing performances against Mexico and El Salvador in World Cup Qualifying.
While Spector wasn't mentally in great shape, I don't see that as his main obstacle. Spector, for me, was never really a true right back. Yes, he's had good performances such as against Spain, Egypt, or even Brazil for a half, but I think the tactics behind those sides may have favored him. Spain's game has never been focused around getting crosses into the box, and they actually suffered from a lack of width in this summer's loss to Switzerland, who were content to stay narrow the same way the United States did in their own victory against La Furia Roja. The only natural width Spain really had in either of the aforementioned games was from marauding right back Sergio Ramos, who gave Carlos Bocanegra, the USA's left back that day, a bit of a run for his money at times. Brazil clearly changed their tactics at half-time to go after the American fullbacks, and Kaka getting the beating of Jonathan Spector led directly to a goal. Egypt also rarely made a conscious effort to run at either Spector or Bornstein on the day.
The main point is that Spector may be great for passing sides that like to narrow teams up and find space between lines, he tends to get beaten frequently against sides with pacy wingers that like to run at the fullbacks.
A central midfield role not only masks Spector's weaknesses, but maximizes almost all of his strengths. He's always shown pinpoint passing, positional sense, bite, comfort on the ball, touch, and fairly good vision in some way shape or form, so, in a way, the fact that he played better as a central midfielder than a fullback doesn't shock me at all.
The simple fact is Spector, against most-sides, is better suited for a central or defensive midfield role, so don't be surprised if he remains in West Ham's lineup.
