Luke Ayling- Farewell Bill

[1964white]

Luke was everywhere on the pitch, last ditch tackle, nearly scored. A true captains performance

98 touches (most)
84% pass acc.
69 passes (most)
6 ball recoveries
4 headers won
3 chances created
2 shots
2 tackles won
1 interception
1 last-ditch tackle

[YorkshireSquare]

Growing with every game at the moment, yesterday was his best of the season.

Saved Jansson and Berardi's blushes early on.

[1964white]

Growing with every game at the moment, yesterday was his best of the season.

Saved Jansson and Berardi's blushes early on.

Ayling has been in fine form of late, as you say Adam his best this season.

We need our big players to stand up to the plate in our final run-in

[Chilli D]

Excellent last ditch tackle on Hooper when he was through on goal.
A few months ago he would have given a penalty away

[Cjay]

Much improved recently Luke.

Excellent tackle to deny Hooper.

Must keep it up for 4 more games though.

[Mick Jones shoulder]

Certainly improved of late. Needed to.

[weasel]

Excellent last ditch tackle on Hooper when he was through on goal.
A few months ago he would have given a penalty away

Indeed. It takes time to get your timing back after an injury and timing is crucial when tackling. If you aren't where you expect to be (due to not being quite 100%) then it is very easy to mistime the tackle

[1964white]

After all the criticism Ayling received earlier in the season..........

You can hold your head up high this morning Luke

The only player who stood up to the test yesterday whilst all around you fell apart

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[paddy parrott]

Ayling is the more experienced without a doubt and cleverer than most. A fullback of heart and loads of bottle and gives his all.
Can we ask anymore...?

[mothbanquet]

I think it's a testament to Bielsa that we've had a few players to improve beyond a point what we at some time thought they were capable of. Some have taken longer than others. Alioski was one but has had too many inconsistent performances when it's counted most. Ayling, on the other hand, has taken longer to reach his peak but he's been utterly solid in his position for a while now. Strong, composed and intelligent - if we had this Ayling from the beginning of the season, and on the other side of the pitch the title would've been ours by now.

It's one thing (of many) that gives me hope if we don't get promoted this go. We know where our weakest links are and will be able to be precise with our summer transfers. I think if he finishes the season this strong - standing out as a positive in our worst game of the season - then I will be glad to see his name at RB at the start of the next one.

[Cjay]

After all the criticism Ayling received earlier in the season..........

You can hold your head up high this morning Luke

The only player who stood up to the test yesterday whilst all around you fell apart



Screenshot 2019-04-20 at 07.28.53.png

He is much improved in recent games, full credit to him for stepping up.

He had to, he thoroughly deserved the criticism he received.

Its a credit to his mental strength that he has managed to come through it.

[1964white]

Very difficult to choose a MOTM at Derby, in end I went for Luke who was strong at the back & immense going forward

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[1964white]

Luke Ayling

Retain as our RB for next season ?

Retain as a bench player ?

Move on ?

Rating out of 10 last season

[Ratscoot]

Luke Ayling

Retain as our No.1 keeper for next season ? Definitely not I’ve not seen him play keeper but don’t think he’ll be much cop However as RB I think it’s a definite keep

Retain as a bench player ? No

Move on ? No

Rating out of 10 last season Overall 6.5 a few poor games and a few top matches especially towards the end of the season

[weasel]

Luke Ayling

Retain as our No.1 Right Back for next season? A tricky one as he has great energy and that is vital in the Bielsa system - however his end product is usually very poor. As such if we could get someone with better end product then I would be tempted to replace him however it isn't an area of priority in terms of trying to improve. A concern would also be his injury record the last 2 seasons which has seen him miss big parts. I would also be interested to see how well Stuart Dallas could play in the position as he seemed able to get up and down and has a much better end product.

Retain as a bench player? Yes - even if we replaced him as a starter he is definitely good enough to be in the squad and also provides cover at centreback - versatility is key if we are going with a small squad.

Move on? No

Rating out of 10 last season 7/10

[Genghers]

Retain as our No.1 right back for next season?
Definitely for me. He's perfect for this system in my opinion - mobile, high work rate and has good movement in the right areas (think he probably had the most shots for us in the Derby loss...).

I'd agree with weasel that his end product could be better, but you can say that for essentially all of our wide players this year, so I think that's something we'll be working on.

Rating out of 10 last season
Had a bad patch after his injury, but came through it without letting his head drop and was probably one of our more consistent performers in the last quarter of the season. 7 for me.

[1964white]

Apologies I forgot to edit my opening post

[1964white]

Luke Ayling

Retain - Yes

Retain as a bench player ? No

Move on ? No

Rating - 7.5

[The Subhuman]

I'm ok with Luke at RB next season, behind him we have Beradi, Shackleton, Coyle, Gott's and Hosannah if needed so we're probably set at RB for a while. I don't see any need to waste money on the position at all.

Keep Luke as a bench player? Why wouldn't you, he'll always be in competition and if he gets superseded he's plenty good enough as a back up til he gets another shot.

Move on? Only if he himself wants a move

Rating - 7.5/10

[The Subhuman]

S&B pride do an excellent pre season set of threads called

"What condition the position is in"

Where we, as fans, analyse each position as it's not about individual players but the strength of positions that matters most. I've seen countless examples of a player "not good enough for us " to "he's absolutely indispensable" the next. That could be a small loss of form/confidence, injuries breaking up a season, players around them changing, tactics, playing position, all things that can affect a players season.