You've only got to watch Coady attempt to stop someone 1 on 1 to know he isn't a defender, he immediately looks panic stricken and has a tendency to over commit which then makes it very easy for anyone with a semblance of agility to get past him. In the centre of a three man backline he can get away with it because he's not often troubled by those situations, gets to just drop off and pick up anything that's overhit instead.
The concern for me with a back four, an almost inevitable loss of Coady in the starting line up it would bring, is who replaces him from a communication perspective? He's constantly chirping away, marshalling that backline and keeping everyone organised, which in my opinion is a big reason it works so well. I think Boly in particular needs that assistance, for me he gets drawn out too easily at times chasing the ball into situations and positions that he shouldn't be engaging with. When you're playing a back three it isn't so much of an issue as you've got Coady there to cover to some extent but you take away that cover and you've got a gaping hole in your defence every time he does it, which I think could potentially happen more often without Coady to hold the reins.
Upsets me to think that professional footballers need someone performing that role, that they can't all absorb that information in training and display that level of organisation through collaborative effort but you see it all too often where one man missing can bring a whole system down. Would be nice if Patricio could step into that void to some extent, he'll be the closest to replacing Coady's perspective on the backline with that sweeper position removed and he's got plenty of experience but he doesn't seem particularly vocal even in his own role so seems a stretch to expect to take on any extra responsibility there.
