“Michael O’Neill has this habit” – Stoke City fan pundit assesses selection experiment

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill has been experimenting with Ben Wilmot at right-back as he continues to flirt with the idea of a back-four. 

O’Neill started the campaign with a focus on a wing-back formation, but Stoke performances improved when he switched to a four-man defence and 4-3-3 after January additions were made.

Wilmot, who signed for Stoke as a centre-back from Watford, was shifted out to the right of defence as a result. To some, it was surprising, but as FLW’s fan pundit Ben Rowley pointed out, it’s a tactic O’Neill has used before.

“Michael O’Neill has this habit of developing young centre-backs at full-back,” Ben explained. “He did it with Nathan Collins and, to be fair to him, we sold him for £12m.

“He’s trying to develop the passing side of his game, the forward-thinking side of the game. To be fair to him, he’s done a decent job when he has played at right-back.”

Despite that decent job, Ben’s opinion of Wilmot is that he will be a better option at centre-back long-term, with 23 of his appearances this season coming there despite the experiment at right-back.

“For me, he’s a centre-back and that’s where he will, and should, be long-term,” Ben said of the 22-year-old. “He’s a good defender and a good technician on the ball.

“He’s been caught a few times at right-back where an actual right-back wouldn’t. That’s why he’s got to be seen at centre-back longer term.

“What we are seeing is him at right-back, training to be a more rounded, modern centre-back.”

The Verdict 

There’s not really