van der Wiel

[Ted Hughes]

Seem to recall it was reported (or am I imagining things ??) that, not long after he had arrived, Bobby Manc told Micah he was a good player, to work hard and learn and, if he did that, he would make him into a great player.

If that is/was the case and Bobby Manc still believes in Micah, surely he won't be moving him out ?? Wasn't there some vague talk about Micah eventually ending up as a defensive midfielder ??

Trouble is, can Micah ever be trusted at centre back again (although in the friendly against Valencia, last summer, Micah and Boateng did exchange positions on occasion throughout the game) and on a qualitative level, how good was he when he played that position under Sven ??

How do you get an athlete with Micah's impressive physical attributes to learn to concentrate for 90 minutes and learn to be positionally aware for that same length of time or, in short, how to become a proper footballer ?? What a problem to have to solve.

You could be right & Bob rates him. I'm just saying I hope that's the case. Don't think Luiz or Boateng are any more positionally aware for the PL than Micah, in any position but are better footballers. Someone in the team has to defend however.

I would say Boateng, rather than Micah, could make an excellent defensive midfield player btw & think it's a possibility he'll end up there.

[The Beast]

Micah has had a lot of injuries which prevents him getting a run in the side.

Agreed that when he has played this season he has looked a better player than the previous couple of seasons.

Not sure about him at Centre Half. He's not really tall enough but relies on a good leap. This okay until he's a lttle out of position and struggles to make that leap.

[Ted Hughes]

Micah has had a lot of injuries which prevents him getting a run in the side.

Agreed that when he has played this season he has looked a better player than the previous couple of seasons.

Not sure about him at Centre Half. He's not really tall enough but relies on a good leap. This okay until he's a lttle out of position and struggles to make that leap.

I can see what you're saying, but when he had that spell playing next to Dunne (when Dunne was at his best) he seemed to cope perfectly both in the air & on the ground. I'm not sure he's ever had a spell in the team, in any position, since then, when he's been 100% fit. When he was fully fit, he was unbeatable in the air. I recon it took him half a season to get match fit & a full season to get that 'leap' back. Now, I recon he just needs games to get back to that level, which made him the most sought after young defender in the country.

[blues2win]

The problem is Ted would Richards put up with being a squad player? You saw his interview the other day. He appears to be our number two right back at present to Zabaleta and he clearly doesn't like it. Looking up his stats I was a bit surprised that he's below 6' which is short for a centre back but he has got a good leap. As you rightly say he's also only 22 so he has time on his side. If it was left to me I'd kep him on the wage bill provided he didn't start sulking about not playing as often as he wanted.

I've no idea whether Boateng would make it at City playing at centre back. I've only ever seen him playing at full back so it's hard to judge. What he does have is decent technique which is something at least. It's also fair to say he's had a difficult time at City what with his injury. Bit like Kolarov but I'd better not go there!

Cheer up, the van der Wiel and Luiz situations may fizzle out and then we'll continue as we are till the end of the season.

However, if we are looking seriously at van der Wiel it has to mean that Mancini isn't happy with the Right Back situation at the moment.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

I'd rather we didn't sign another right back to be honest.

There is no way Boateng is going and if we do sign one Micah or Zabs are gonna be sent/walk out.

No thanks.

[blues2win]

Apparently Alves has just refused a new contract. He's 27 which is a little too old to fit into our strategy but if this report is true it would be surprising if weren't interested.

[Ted Hughes]

Apparently Alves has just refused a new contract. He's 27 which is a little too old to fit into our strategy but if this report is true it would be surprising if weren't interested.

I would imagine Alves is above our cut off point age wise, but you never know.

Re Richards not being happy as a squad player, imo the way to keep everyone happy is to have two players for each position who are absolutely as good as each other, then play both regularly, as opposed to playing one of them for 4 games one for two etc because the second player is vastly inferior. Then have one or two players like Zabba, who play everywhere.

If Micah was starting a game every week I don't think he'd be unhappy missing some games. At the moment though, when fit, he should be playing about 4 games to every one that Boateng plays rather than the same number & I'm sure he knows himself how much better he is as a player currently, so it must piss him off to be classed equally with a rookie who keeps dropping bollocks & shitting himself, when you've been playing in the Prem for years.

[avoidconfusion]

I'd rather see us sign a backup for Silva than another fullback.

[1950]

There's a good piece on Dani Alves over at ZonalMarking:

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/01/21/dani-alves/

[colonel_muck]

i really don't think we need another full back. zabba and richards are more than good enough to be part of our plans and kolarov and boateng haven't had time to settle yet, but i think we have all seen cracking bits of play from both of them. more to come, don't want us to rock the boat again so soon after bringing in two full backs in the summer.

[Beefymcfc]

Is Nige his agent? I'm sure he was touting him to us last year.

[john@staustell]

Comment from the MEN Van der Wiel debate:

proudtobeblue (21/01/2011 at 10:49)

Its good that the club are targeting young players for the future, but if we are to bring in a full back in January, we need to target a player with experience that could make the difference for the rest of the season, someone like Phillip Lahm, who can play both flanks equally as well, and would be an asset right now. as for outgoing players, the club have to be mindful of Premier League and Uefa rules about home-grown players, so getting rid of Micah Richards and Lescott as some are suggesting may have an affect on our ability to meet the quota(especially Micah counting as graduated from our academy)

Opinions anyone?