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Opinion: Colin Kazim-Richards' biggest selection headache ahead of Crawley Town's trip to Watford

· Asa Finch · 2026-08-08 · nguồn gốc

Opinion: Colin Kazim-Richards' biggest selection headache ahead of Crawley Town's trip to Watford Following a great team performance from Colin Kazim-Richards’ side against York City on Monday night (August 3), as well as impressive individual performances, the Crawley Town boss will have some tough decisions to make ahead of this afternoon’s (August 8) trip to Watford. The Reds travel to Vicarage Road to face the Championship side in the first round of the EFL Cup. Crawley started their competitive action before most other teams, beating former boss Scott Lindsey’s York side 2-0 in the competition’s preliminary round. Kazim-Richards was delighted with his team’s performance, not just those who started but those who came off the bench, which gives the former Derby County striker a real struggle about who is to start this afternoon - a struggle he says he ‘wants’. There is one position, however, that has real competition. The full back position on both sides is the most heavily contested position on the pitch for Crawley heading in today’s game – with all options bringing something unique to the role. Against York, the Reds started with Kellan Gordon at right back and Ade Adeyemo at left back, before Gordon was replaced by Jonny Russell in the second half, with Adeyemo moving over to the right. All three impressed against York and during pre-season. Gordon provided the assist for Crawley’s opener after a great run in behind the defence, finding himself in acres of space before squaring to Gianmarco Di Biase in a well-worked move. The former Notts County man made a lot of intelligent overlapping runs throughout the game and linked up extremely well with Malcolm Ebiowei down the right hand side. The 28-year-old has arguably the best delivery out of all the full-backs from a live-ball situation as well. He was replaced by Russell just under ten minutes into the second half and the Irishman brought that tenacity, liveliness and energy that he has shown since he joined in the January transfer window last season. The 21-year-old also offers another outlet for Crawley when deciding how they want to build from the back. He is extremely good in the air and makes excellent runs right from the edge of the touchline, using momentum to rise and flick the ball on with a header to help Crawley get into dangerous areas. In addition, he offers another dynamic to hurt the opposition in the form of his long throw, which is an extremely useful weapon. He also provides a brilliant delivery from dead ball scenarios such as free kicks. While most supporters see Adeyemo as a winger because of his attacking strengths and potential defensive liabilities, Kazim-Richards sees him as a full back, which is the position he moved him to when he took charge last season, and he did a fantastic job. However, during pre-season, he has started at left back, allowing Gordon to play at right back. The latter was injured last season when Adeyemo played on the right to cover his position. Adeyemo, who signed a new two-year deal this summer, is great with both feet, meaning he gives opposing full backs more to think about as he can cut inside well and alternatively show them down the wing just as effectively. He is superb at getting to the byline and putting it into a dangerous area, and with his tricky feet he is excellent at drawing fouls inside or outside the penalty area. The 28-year-old is arguably the best attacker out of all the full backs, which suits Kazim-Richards’ style of play as he likes to have really aggressive full backs. If you were Kazim-Richards, which two full-backs would you be picking for today’s game?