My biggest problem with Sweat is I think he could be a really great defender if he improved, in my opinion, are the weaknesses in his defending. Namely, (1) not pressuring faster and getting close enough to make the winger get his head down and (2) not going to ground/diving in when he has every opportunity to contain and allow our guys to get back on defense.
point 1 - there are lots of things to consider when closing down the space and pressuring an attacker. But I think mentally, Sweat is capable of playing smart enough to make up for any deficiencies he may have compared to the attacker he is facing.
point 2 - this goes along with point 1 really. if he's smart enough to position himself better, he'll have less situations where he'll need to go to ground. sometimes I feel like he's going for the spectacular tackle instead of the smart play.
If Sweat improves these parts of his game, I think he'd be really solid for us. Not as good offensively as Mata, but he's a defender first and foremost so that's ok. Until that happens, I'm open to finding a new LB.
I think Revfugee hit the nail on the head.I agree with you. Sweat’s deficiencies are athletic. Mata’s are mental. Sweat plays off the man because he knows he will always get beaten if he dives in. Most of the time containment is the best option for him. He has to be conservative.
I get a lot more frustrated with talented players having repeated brain farts. That’s Mata’s disease.
Personally I’m more forgiving of a less talented player playing above his station than a more talented one who doesn’t think.
Either way, we could use an upgrade.
RE: point 1 - he can't close down space because if he gets too tight, he will get beaten. I think Katai did this to him 3 times in one match.
RE: point 2 - he goes to ground because he knows he can't keep up with them, so he's forced to tackle early while he's still close enough to do it.
Both points 1 and 2 are adjustments that he makes because he knows he can't accelerate / turn as quickly as most of the players he comes up against, which is an athletic flaw that is going to be difficult to make up for with intelligence. Hell, even the elite level pattern recognition he'd require to make up for his athletic flaws is something that is really hard to improve upon.