Boateng at CB

[blues2win]

Ted. Funnily enough I looked closely at that goal conceded to Bolton because you raised it in a previous post. It didn't happen quite as you remember it. It started with Zabaleta drifting out of position leaving his man totally unmarked which resulted in a dangerous cross from the left which everyone missed. The ball then went beyond the far post. Kolarov ran out to challenge a Bolton player ( the full back?) but inexplicably stood up from the touchline leaving a gap for a cross. On this occasion he wasn't slow at all. The Bolton player duly exploited the gap and Cahill of all people was totally unmarked and nodded in. Black mark Zabaleta, black mark Kolarov and, as you rightly say, black mark Vinnie. Pretty shocking all round!

[Ted Hughes]

I don't give a fuck whether Lescott stays or goes but I know for sure people are singling out his mistakes & ignoring others & it's not fair.

Agreed Ted...I have said countless times that I rate him...he just seems to be the defensive whipping boy for no defining reason...I hopw we don't get rid...and I don't think we will...I think Bobby likes him

He's a bit scarey with his touch on the ball at times but even with that, Toure & Vinny have lost the ball in lethal situations plenty of times too. There really has been no difference when it comes to mistakes, in fact Lescott has probably made less of them. It seems as if people are waiting for him to do it so they can shout it from the rooftops for some reason though.

[Ted Hughes]

Ted. Funnily enough I looked closely at that goal conceded to Bolton because you raised it in a previous post. It didn't happen quite as you remember it. It started with Zabaleta drifting out of position leaving his man totally unmarked which resulted in a dangerous cross from the left which everyone missed. The ball then went beyond the far post. Kolarov ran out to challenge a Bolton player ( the full back?) but inexplicably stood up from the touchline leaving a gap for a cross. On this occasion he wasn't slow at all. The Bolton player duly exploited the gap and Cahill of all people was totally unmarked and nodded in. Black mark Zabaleta, black mark Kolarov and, as you rightly say, black mark Vinnie. Pretty shocking all round!

I'm pretty close to there & in real time Kolarov actually slowed down as if to let the ball go, he wasn't going at full speed. Vinny lost concentration & buggered off thinking it was going out. We were all going 'what the fuck?' as the ball hit the net!

[Douglas Higginbottom]

It's just the way it goes that some players get scrutinsed so that any error no matter how small will get highlighted and often exaggerated to prove a point. Lescott is one of the current targets so it's par for the course.

Vinnie on the other hand also makes mistakes but he is currently god so nothing seems to get said. I am not saying it should be either but equally I don't fully understand why some just have to blame players and criticise incessantly. OK if a player is consistently awful but the problem with the targetting of a player is when they can't even recognise or acknowledge a good performance.It is usually covered by he was ok but there was that time where he mistimed a tackle or misread a move and it could have cost us a goal and lost the match bla bla.If you want to look close enough it can probably be said for any defender in any match.

[blues2win]

The ball was never going out so Vinnie had no excuse for thinking it would. It was always going to stay in play. Look at the video and you'll see that Kolarov could have stood on the goal line and stopped the cross. It would probably have resulted in another corner with the Bolton player playing the ball against him but that's better than allowing the cross. Instead he stood a yard off the line and the Bolton player crossed using the gap. I don't know what he was thinking of.

Bottom line it was crap defending all the way round.

[Sister of fu]

Ted. Funnily enough I looked closely at that goal conceded to Bolton because you raised it in a previous post. It didn't happen quite as you remember it. It started with Zabaleta drifting out of position leaving his man totally unmarked which resulted in a dangerous cross from the left which everyone missed. The ball then went beyond the far post. Kolarov ran out to challenge a Bolton player ( the full back?) but inexplicably stood up from the touchline leaving a gap for a cross. On this occasion he wasn't slow at all. The Bolton player duly exploited the gap and Cahill of all people was totally unmarked and nodded in. Black mark Zabaleta, black mark Kolarov and, as you rightly say, black mark Vinnie. Pretty shocking all round!

We beat Bolton 1-0, what game are you on about?

[Ted Hughes]

Ted. Funnily enough I looked closely at that goal conceded to Bolton because you raised it in a previous post. It didn't happen quite as you remember it. It started with Zabaleta drifting out of position leaving his man totally unmarked which resulted in a dangerous cross from the left which everyone missed. The ball then went beyond the far post. Kolarov ran out to challenge a Bolton player ( the full back?) but inexplicably stood up from the touchline leaving a gap for a cross. On this occasion he wasn't slow at all. The Bolton player duly exploited the gap and Cahill of all people was totally unmarked and nodded in. Black mark Zabaleta, black mark Kolarov and, as you rightly say, black mark Vinnie. Pretty shocking all round!

We beat Bolton 1-0, what game are you on about?

Haha, he means the Everton game.

[Ted Hughes]

The ball was never going out so Vinnie had no excuse for thinking it would. It was always going to stay in play. Look at the video and you'll see that Kolarov could have stood on the goal line and stopped the cross. It would probably have resulted in another corner with the Bolton player playing the ball against him but that's better than allowing the cross. Instead he stood a yard off the line and the Bolton player crossed using the gap. I don't know what he was thinking of.

Bottom line it was crap defending all the way round.

I know Kolarov could have blocked it but honestly if you were nearby on the day you'd have seen how he, for some reason, he gave the impression he was letting the ball go. I'm sure he fooled Vinny, but that's no excuse.

[blues2win]

Sorry mate I meant the Everton game! Quite right.

[1950]

Maybe this counts for nothing, but here goes. Boateng was used as full back in most games for Hamburg & Germany, but at the 2009 Under-21 Euros he played as a centre back throughout & utterly owned that tournament.
Granted, he didn't play Drogba or Carroll, but the opposition wasn't too shabby either. Some players he dominated:

Fraizer Campbell
Theo Walcott
James Milner
Adam Johnson
Esteban Granero
José Manuel Jurado
Bojan Krkić

& the one & only Mario Balotelli.

I think Low & the managers at Hamburg fucked it up, because they could've handed him vital experience in his preferred position against top opposition, but didn't. He always was kind of a useless (average at best) full back (I remember one exception though where he had Robben in his pocket), so it really boggles my mind that he's still being forced into that position.

[Ted Hughes]

Maybe this counts for nothing, but here goes. Boateng was used as full back in most games for Hamburg & Germany, but at the 2009 Under-21 Euros he played as a centre back throughout & utterly owned that tournament.
Granted, he didn't play Drogba or Carroll, but the opposition wasn't too shabby either. Some players he dominated:

Fraizer Campbell
Theo Walcott
James Milner
Adam Johnson
Esteban Granero
José Manuel Jurado
Bojan Krkić

& the one & only Mario Balotelli.

I think Low & the managers at Hamburg fucked it up, because they could've handed him vital experience in his preferred position against top opposition, but didn't. He always was kind of a useless (average at best) full back (I remember one exception though where he had Robben in his pocket), so it really boggles my mind that he's still being forced into that position.

We're not in it 1st & foremost to build Boateng into a successful CB though, we've spent fortunes on players to win games & trophies. If Boateng can become a top quality CB by playing there in easier games then fair enough but it's his job to adapt & play fullback if that's what's required. At the moment, it would be a big gamble to play him there v a top striker & we've already fucked up in several games by taking that chance with Boyata.

[s1ty m]

Personally I would start him there every game instead of Toure. He looked assured on Sunday, prefers playing there, is a big strong boy, good positional sense, good passer and alongside Kompany could form the pairing at the back for the next ten years.

Thoughts?

I struggle to think of a signing that I rate less than this one.

[1950]

Maybe this counts for nothing, but here goes. Boateng was used as full back in most games for Hamburg & Germany, but at the 2009 Under-21 Euros he played as a centre back throughout & utterly owned that tournament.
Granted, he didn't play Drogba or Carroll, but the opposition wasn't too shabby either. Some players he dominated:

Fraizer Campbell
Theo Walcott
James Milner
Adam Johnson
Esteban Granero
José Manuel Jurado
Bojan Krkić

& the one & only Mario Balotelli.

I think Low & the managers at Hamburg fucked it up, because they could've handed him vital experience in his preferred position against top opposition, but didn't. He always was kind of a useless (average at best) full back (I remember one exception though where he had Robben in his pocket), so it really boggles my mind that he's still being forced into that position.

We're not in it 1st & foremost to build Boateng into a successful CB though, we've spent fortunes on players to win games & trophies. If Boateng can become a top quality CB by playing there in easier games then fair enough but it's his job to adapt & play fullback if that's what's required. At the moment, it would be a big gamble to play him there v a top striker & we've already fucked up in several games by taking that chance with Boyata.

I'm not suggesting that we should suffer just to accommodate him, but how does playing fullback help him or us for that matter? Zabaleta & Richards have performed better in that position.

[MaineRoadMemories]

After watching Boateng like a hawk since the world cup the only thing I can say he excels at is passing and crossing.

His marking from corners is poor and he lets his man get in front and behind him. He stands still and doesn't move.

He doesn't shepherd the left winger when playing at right back instead he drops back to the 18 yard line and tries to block the cross rather than stop the cross being attempted.

His heading is weak in comparison to others in the team.

Whether this is tactical I don't know but he never seems sure about getting forward. If you watch him during 90mins, they'll be a few occassions where he's umming and ahhing on the half way line whether to go forward or hold back.

For such a big strong lad he gets pushed around a bit.

I'm sure he'll improve next season but for £12million?? I'm sure we thought we were buying a player superior to Richards, Zabba and Nedum.

In order of current abilities it would have to be Richards (22), Zabba (26) , Nedum (24), Boateng (22).