Opinion The Levi should have played thread.

[Jay-Z]

Like it or not he is behind the likes of Swallow, Cunners, Ziebell for that inside role. If he doesn't want to (or can't) play the defensive midfielder role then he will always struggle to get games when all 3 of those guys are fit


May or may not have been sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Mordecai]

He does NOT play that game when Ziebell and Swallow are in the team.

 

[TheBowandArrow]

No, by performing at AFL senior level once again even though totally wasted in the magoos by B.Scott for the majority of the year. Who knows, could hard nut Levi have made the difference in a few of those close games and we play finals instead of another failed year!?!!?!?!

Like the Brisbane game? Where his direct opponent was the catalyst for the start of their comeback? That was a close game.

He was fantastic yesterday though. Kudo's Levi. Love his hardness, balls of steel.

 

[kool kangas]

Unbelievable game by Levi, continues to make Brad Scott look like a goose

Not sure if gathering 38 possessions will be enough for Levi to keep his spot in the team with the return of Zeibell and Thompson next week

 

[DJ Dupree]

If he doesn't keep his spot after that, then dead set.. Good luck to the guy wherever he goes, because he'd be too good for us - not the other way around. I'd be barracking for him to tear us a new one every single year as well.

A club touted for top 6, even top 4, who looks like finishing 12th due to repeated mental softness at the business end of matches, who can't for the life of them play interstate, can't find a regular position for an old school hard nut who, when allowed to just hunt the ball, is capable of getting it nearly 40 times - nearly 20 contested. And who wills himself through each contest like it's his last, and as though he's been forced to watch Arch highlights on loop for 3 days.

Read that again - ridiculous is it not?

I don't give a rats' tossbag if Ziebell, Cunnington, and Swallow are the exact same type of player as Levi - anyone who has a care factor needs to be in. Hell, rotate Ziebell through the forward line, Greenwood through defense if it's such an issue, whatever it takes. We need Shinboners like this.

 

[Reginald0]

dj
watch the 1st half
levi just hacks it time and time again
no one is saying he isn't gutsy but he is just a less good swallow
and I don't think there are too many softies in the team these days
trade him while he has some value
best for him
best for nth

 

[DJ Dupree]

Best for him, agreed.

Best for North? No way.

He got it almost 40 times. He had almost as many contested possessions as some of our other bests had overall disposals. Does that actually count for anything?

 

[Reginald0]

you make it sound like he 'got it' as in won a contested possession 38 times
sometimes he rcvd the handball then handballs it back over someones head or at their feet
he must have kicked up in the air just like LA or gibbo for that matter 6 times
after all his games in the VFL he does not show the potential of BMac or Jacobs IMO

so I just don't see how he can get a game when we have harper and LMac waiting in the wings
plus hine and scotty and spud?
even wright has come good
only 22 can play

as for depth maybe swallow may not come good An Achilles is like really bad

 

[longlivenmfc]

you make it sound like he 'got it' as in won a contested possession 38 times
sometimes he rcvd the handball then handballs it back over someones head or at their feet
he must have kicked up in the air just like LA or gibbo for that matter 6 times
after all his games in the VFL he does not show the potential of BMac or Jacobs IMO

so I just don't see how he can get a game when we have harper and LMac waiting in the wings
plus hine and scotty and spud?
even wright has come good
only 22 can play

as for depth maybe swallow may not come good An Achilles is like really bad

This is the great paradox. When Levi doesn't play, we miss his hardness. When he does, we bemoan his disposal. Personally, I lean towards playing him, provided we have sufficient outside mids to make the most of his grunt work. However, as has already been noted, when we have Jack, Cunners and Spit all playing, I think we then become well served for inside bulls, and his disposal and lack of concentration at times pushes him out of our best 22.

I also can't stand the notion that Brad, more than all of us, is not acutely aware of Levi's attributes and his shortcomings (such as his proclivity to fart from the brain - yesterday's interchange infringement being an example). Spend any time with Brad and you quickly learn that attack on the footy and pure competitiveness are what he values most, but that can count for nought if you do stupid things once you've won the footy.

 

[Jay-Z]

This is the great paradox. When Levi doesn't play, we miss his hardness. When he does, we bemoan his disposal. Personally, I lean towards playing him, provided we have sufficient outside mids to make the most of his grunt work. However, as has already been noted, when we have Jack, Cunners and Spit all playing, I think we then become well served for inside bulls, and his disposal and lack of concentration at times pushes him out of our best 22.

I also can't stand the notion that Brad, more than all of us, is not acutely aware of Levi's attributes and his shortcomings (such as his proclivity to fart from the brain - yesterday's interchange infringement being an example). Spend any time with Brad and you quickly learn that attack on the footy and pure competitiveness are what he values most, but that can count for nought if you do stupid things once you've won the footy.

Great post. Quoted for truth. Anybody who thinks Brad has left Greenwood in the twos because he hates him or plays favourites is an idiot. Like everyone in the twos the coaches will have set specific objectives for Levi to improve on and if he does that, he will get a regular gig.

Sent from my Samsung iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[ozzyoslo]

Why doesn't he get more time in the seniors to address his issues?

I think he may have sneakily taken a sip of Brads' Diet Coke, and that's the real issue here.

After watching the Essendon game....its his disposal via foot thats holding him back.

 

[LT Smash]

No, by performing at AFL senior level once again even though totally wasted in the magoos by B.Scott for the majority of the year. Who knows, could hard nut Levi have made the difference in a few of those close games and we play finals instead of another failed year!?!!?!?!

Agreed, if we'd had Levi available to shutdown Daniel Rich in Round 16, he would have made up the 2 goal deficit for sure.

 

[Jack Reacher]

Agreed, if we'd had Levi available to shutdown Daniel Rich in Round 16, he would have made up the 2 goal deficit for sure.

Pluck out one random game and try and make it his career, really? You cant blame one player for a loss, just like you cant say one player won you a game (bar Blight, Carey), I'm saying his grunt in the clinches would have been very very handy in games such as the Adelaide (x2), Carlton, Geelong and Hawthorn losses in particular. I'm saying with Levi in we perhaps win one of the Adelaide games, the Carlton and Geelong games, we make finals. Its a hypothetical analysis.

 

[Waynesworld]

Positives from the Essendon game:
Levi's 38 possessions.

Negatives from the Essendon game:
Levi's 38 possessions.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

The game showed why we want Levi in the seniors, and why he is behind the other options when they are all available. I hope he stays as a very solid depth player in our midfield - we need it.

 

[King Corey]

Levi impacts games. It's not just possession counts, it's how he wins them under pressure and with aggression. Several times 'stole' a seemingly guaranteed Essendon possession or opened up an attack with this bodywork WHILE in possession to get it out to a runner.

And dont' overlook that his effective possession count alone is decent. Add his hardness and teamlifting attack and he makes our side better.

I just can't understand how people dont' see that the side functions better with Levi playing an aggressive ballwinning role. And I don't think Ziebs, Cunnington, Levi, Swallow is too many as the first 2 at least can play effective forward roles if we want to mix it up.

 

[Artaxx]

Because he had 38 you have to say he played well but if he has 18 and kicks the ball like that, then what?

 

[DJ Dupree]

Oh my lawwwd! I almost hope he does leave, gets a starting 22 role somewhere, and destroys us and our blind supporters every time we play his team.

Fair dinkum ridiculous.

Although I guess we'll finish about 12th - we've got the balance nearly perfect haven't we? Don't want to ruin a good thing we've got going. Don't want players who throw themselves around like madmen wrecking our chances of finishing maybe 11th next year!

 

[Tas]

Long Levi rant so **** off if you don't like the length of this post.

Put yourselves in Levi's shoes. You have been given a game due to injuries only with 3 weeks left until the end of the season and question marks about where you sit at the club re contract. Would you not bust your arse to show you have what it takes?

That is what we ask of players, once you get the opportunity take it. I can deal with guys that need to be told to go easy and focus on accuracy rather than the deer we have unleashed to the headlights who haven't given a whimper when their career is on the line.

Levi has the qualities around being a premiership player and play an important role in as well. It isn't the top 10 in your best team that decides if you are going to go the distance or not, it is the bottom 10 in that side that will. Levi has the attributes. He goes in hard, he tackles hard, he is a team player.

He just isn't a tagger.

I think Ziebell is at his best when he has the ball in the attacking half of the field, he can kick goals, he has fantastic skill and when he has time and space he can hit a leading forward.

If we had a Cunnington, Greenwood and Swallow as the three core inside mids with Ziebell as the half-forward/rotation mid and had two A grade outside mids on the flanks (Wells +hopefully a free agent) and our inside mids were trained hardcore to get the ball, release an outside mid and protect them as they go forward then we would be a 10 goal better team than we are at present.

Ziebell can play his 85-90% of game time rather than 70% and being spent at half time, Greenwood can be the battering ram, Cunners the extractor while Swallow played more the general role in the middle, played the part inside, part outside role. We wouldn't need to worry about tagging half the opposition side because we would be destroying them.

We do not play to our strengths or make the most out of our players, Wells is starting to play more outside now and even his sub 20 disposal games are match winning performances. It is guys like Bastinac in the side who isn't inside and isn't outside which is the problem, when he isn't on his game, and that is a lot of games, then our midfield has no balance to it. When he is on it clicks because we have more than one outside guy pulling his weight.

We just need to train and focus our inside mids to play the way which gets the most out of them. Greenwood had 38 disposals in only 78% time on ground because he worked his arse off to get the ball, give it and work into space to retrieve the ball. He is our only inside mid who has a tank. But, if we actually train these guys to get the ball give to a Wells or a please god Daisy Thomas and instead of peeling off to receive his is trained to protect the guy he dishes off to so they have time and space to deliver then our midfield would be insanely potent.

We would be flat out bonkers if we gave someone like that up just because we opt with the shit midfield setup where we always expect the outside mid to get his own ball, beat tags and beat multiple opponents.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Long Levi rant so **** off if you don't like the length of this post.

Put yourselves in Levi's shoes. You have been given a game due to injuries only with 3 weeks left until the end of the season and question marks about where you sit at the club re contract. Would you not bust your arse to show you have what it takes?

That is what we ask of players, once you get the opportunity take it. I can deal with guys that need to be told to go easy and focus on accuracy rather than the deer we have unleashed to the headlights who haven't given a whimper when their career is on the line.

Levi has the qualities around being a premiership player and play an important role in as well. It isn't the top 10 in your best team that decides if you are going to go the distance or not, it is the bottom 10 in that side that will. Levi has the attributes. He goes in hard, he tackles hard, he is a team player.

He just isn't a tagger.

I think Ziebell is at his best when he has the ball in the attacking half of the field, he can kick goals, he has fantastic skill and when he has time and space he can hit a leading forward.

If we had a Cunnington, Greenwood and Swallow as the three core inside mids with Ziebell as the half-forward/rotation mid and had two A grade outside mids on the flanks (Wells +hopefully a free agent) and our inside mids were trained hardcore to get the ball, release an outside mid and protect them as they go forward then we would be a 10 goal better team than we are at present.

Ziebell can play his 85-90% of game time rather than 70% and being spent at half time, Greenwood can be the battering ram, Cunners the extractor while Swallow played more the general role in the middle, played the part inside, part outside role. We wouldn't need to worry about tagging half the opposition side because we would be destroying them.

We do not play to our strengths or make the most out of our players, Wells is starting to play more outside now and even his sub 20 disposal games are match winning performances. It is guys like Bastinac in the side who isn't inside and isn't outside which is the problem, when he isn't on his game, and that is a lot of games, then our midfield has no balance to it. When he is on it clicks because we have more than one outside guy pulling his weight.

We just need to train and focus our inside mids to play the way which gets the most out of them. Greenwood had 38 disposals in only 78% time on ground because he worked his arse off to get the ball, give it and work into space to retrieve the ball. He is our only inside mid who has a tank. But, if we actually train these guys to get the ball give to a Wells or a please god Daisy Thomas and instead of peeling off to receive his is trained to protect the guy he dishes off to so they have time and space to deliver then our midfield would be insanely potent.

We would be flat out bonkers if we gave someone like that up just because we opt with the shit midfield setup where we always expect the outside mid to get his own ball, beat tags and beat multiple opponents.

Great post Tas. I'm loving your work on here of late. your thoughts are pretty much in line with mine.

The other thing i might add to this, is that having Greenwood in the side allows Ziebell to play a more outside role. Ziebell is a beautiful kick of the footy in space and its guys like Levi that will give him that space to really hurt the opposition.

I think people are under selling Levi's grunt work a bit. Its not just the clearances and contested possessions he provides its the ability to really influence the contest with 2nd-3rd and 4th efforts. None of our inside mids bring that same sort of intensity time after time. His work rate in that regard is elite. It also is important to note that his effort in contested situation gives us so much additional space on the outside. When he gets it out it helps our players on the outside.

I also think people are under selling his disposal. He did make a few clangers on the weekend but his DE was still 63% keep in mind that 19 of those disposals were contested. When he was in space he made good decisions by foot. His average disposal efficiency this season (72.2%) is only slightly less Sam Gibson (76.2%) and Jaime McMillan (76.5%) despite Levi having considerably more contested possessions.

 

[Thewlis Dish]

At no point would I want Greenwood as a centre square option ahead of Ziebell.

 

[Tas]

At no point would I want Greenwood as a centre square option ahead of Ziebell.

How do you feel when Ziebell is on the pine for large portions of the game? I rather him rotate into the midfield and spend quality time going hard and throwing his body around. I don't think he is going to do that a lot of if he spends too much time in the middle.

 

[Rooboy 96]

In another thread I wrote:

After watching this weekend's game again, I don't think the game did Greenwood any favours, yes he got the ball a heap, 38 times and DTers would love him, but:

• how many were one twos where he sold his team mate into trouble and got a second and sometimes third disposal?
• how many were absolute shockers?
• and how many were top shelf effective?

I say maybe 5 for the last criteria, as sad as it is because I think Levi bleeds Blue and white but I can understand if Brad said this is not the sort of player he wants around. Would you really want to be in a Grand Final and have one of your gun accumulators continuously giving the ball to the opposition. How do you plan against that?

and to top it off that interchange crap was for under 10s.

I think he may be gone.

but heck, let's give him one more year, if anyone has shinboner spirit tattooed on their forehead, Levi does.

 

[Archerblueblood]

Thought it was hine keeping him out of the team this year. At the moment greenwood should have been in the team ahead of him.

 

[FootySmartSimpson]

Is there a way to like posts multiple times? Great work there Tas. I completely agree. Ziebell playing more across HF is the future. He is too potent with his kicking and vision.

I don't understand the either/or component of our inside mid brigade: Cunnington, Ziebell, Swallow, Greenwood, Wells, Bastinac. All have inside strengths. All are different players. All six should be used because they complement each other and blend really well.