Femi Seriki

[Balham]

but why doesnt brooks do that more often very frustrating player imo for me he plays the safe ball backwards far too often

One-on-one attacking isn't as much part of the game as it used to be. That's why Jérémy Doku in the Premier League is seen as such an outlier. If an attacker takes a defender on and loses the ball, chance are that they're then out of position and the opposition can launch a counter attack. On Brooks: his dribbling stats are pretty good; he's 49th out of 366 players in the Championship for successful dribbles per 90 mins (1.3) and he's got an above average success rate (38.5%).

We're also talking about a player turning out for possibly the most risk-averse manager in the league. Wilder would much rather a winger play the safe ball with us retaining possession 9 times out of 10 than take on what's pretty much a 1-in-3 dribbling option.

 

[JohnDenver]

Wilder spent all last season trying to replace Seriki so I’m not convinced he rates him for whatever reason. Signed Shackleton, Gilchrist, Clarke and ended up playing Choudhary there rather than give Seriki a start.

I think he’s one of the best players to come out of the U21s for a while and gives us pace and physicality massively missing from the team.

I think that’s a bit harsh. We couldn’t just rely on Seriki, and Wilder was dead right to try to get experienced help in, even if those endeavours always seemed to go wrong.

In his first season, Seriki could equally be brilliant, defensively suspect, or just injured. And we still need another right back to share the load now. I love watching Seriki, but when his only real backup is poor old Ben Godfrey it ain’t enough.

 

[Iceybabey]

Brooks can be as good as he wants to be. That run towards the end when he sized up the left back and beat him with ease showed what he is capable of. I also like that (most of the time) he looks after the ball too and he has a great understanding with Seriki.

I just have a suspicion that he gets into his own head at times and if the first couple of plays don't come off he loses it a bit. Hopefully we've got a team working with the players on that side of things because, frankly, the mental side of elite sport is just as important as the technical and physical. Just my opinion.

This is exactly my view on Brooks. His mentality can hold him back but I feel if he ever gets it to click upstairs then he could go far. He has all of the physical attributes. I sometimes question his intelligence too and is that something that can be coached/taught?