SPEC-tacular. Keep in mind he did play in central midfield for Alan Curbishley a handful of times, and even had a goal taken away against Derby County, which was converted into an Eddie Lewis oown goal. So happy for him, but he needs to build on this. One of my mates is a West Ham fan, who was at the match- his reaction to Spector scoring a brace, and his subsequent texts, were some funny, funny stuff.
I've always thought Jon was a bit Albright-ian...he's fast enough to play at a high level, it's his quickness, his ability to stop and start and change directions, that's the problem. That's why the fullback role was always a tough fit, because he's often 1v1 in space with tough little buggers like Aaron Lennon, and he gets beat if he puts too much pressure on them. As a central defender, that's less of a problem. But I'll tell ya, he was blazin' through the middle on the FSR highlights. Looked really fast.
He has good speed but poor acceleration(compared to what he he is facing as a back)..most players with his body type do. But many backs have his body type and are fine and overcome that with good decision making and playing the angles. He really just is not a back he seems like a much more attacking player.
There was a West Ham match about a year ago, against Burnley, where Spector was making a lot of those strong, foraging runs with the ball. He even earned a penalty with a particularly nice slicing run into the box. That's the only reason I still remember some random West Ham-Burnley match, in fact -- those Spector runs were notable enough to stick in my head. Now, two such performances prove nothing, of course. But it's certainly food for thought...
Just curious did he play d-mid or more of an attacking mid role? He sure seemed to get forward a lot in the highlights.
Jon played in the role that Scott Parker has played most of the season to this point, which has traditionally been 4-1-4-1, with Parker having freedom to counter forward and dribble from deep, as well as break up play. All action so to speak. Spector previously played in Central defensive midfield for the Hammers under Curbishley during an injury glut, and scored a goal too for all intensive purposes.
Well, this could be a lifeline for him. Whether he stays at WH or not this had to raise some eyebrows. I think outside back is one of the toughest positions in the game because you are so isolated. As has been mentioned, this does not play to John's strengths. He is a pretty experienced player and in a DM position you can use all of that to anticipate the game. You don't need to be as fast physically, just mentally. It happens so often in sports that one small change in position or coach can make a player blossom (or fall off the radar). Haven't seen the match. Hopefully it will get a re-run some night.