Early thoughts on Lescott

[MaineRoadMemories]

He's played 4 league games and 2 cup games now. Time for an early apprasial from the board.

Postives
Passes the ball very well, is assured and pushes the ball into midfield rather than back and forth between the centre backs like we have had to endure for the last 5 years.
Is committed and not afraid to get stuck in, fighting for the ball and making some good crunching tackles
Is causing havoc at freekicks and corners, often running to the near post and drawing opposition's best headers of the ball away from where the ball is actually going
Has a left foot and is good at helping Bridge out down the left when needed.

Negatives
The stupid price tag I think is playing on his mind a bit
Has not got a good understanding with Toure yet and it is a little "gappy" in the centre, especially around the 18 yard line. Strikers with spacial awareness will enjoy playing against these two at the mo
Has been getting too close to attackers and then been turned easily
Has surprising not been as aerially dominate at the back as I thought, especially in the Derby against Berbatov
Has looked generally a little awkard in his new surroundings
Got a very, very lucky break last night when he fell over and got a freekick when West Ham went on to "score"

We only have 3 out and out centrehalves at the club; Toure, Lescott and Onuoha.
Richards and Kompany can play there but I'd be nervous if they did.

I'm sticking with Toure and Lescott as the backline for now as it does take quite a bit of time to develop a good understanding, if Nedum would stop getting himself injured in training then he might make me think twice at Christmas though as this lad played excellently for 20 odd games last year.

[Original Dub]

He's played 4 league games and 2 cup games now. Time for an early apprasial from the board.

Postives
Passes the ball very well, is assured and pushes the ball into midfield rather than back and forth between the centre backs like we have had to endure for the last 5 years.
Is committed and not afraid to get stuck in, fighting for the ball and making some good crunching tackles
Is causing havoc at freekicks and corners, often running to the near post and drawing opposition's best headers of the ball away from where the ball is actually going
Has a left foot and is good at helping Bridge out down the left when needed.

Negatives
The stupid price tag I think is playing on his mind a bit
Has not got a good understanding with Toure yet and it is a little "gappy" in the centre, especially around the 18 yard line. Strikers with spacial awareness will enjoy playing against these two at the mo
Has been getting too close to attackers and then been turned easily
Has surprising not been as aerially dominate at the back as I thought, especially in the Derby against Berbatov
Has looked generally a little awkard in his new surroundings
Got a very, very lucky break last night when he fell over and got a freekick when West Ham went on to "score"

We only have 3 out and out centrehalves at the club; Toure, Lescott and Onuoha.
Richards and Kompany can play there but I'd be nervous if they did.

I'm sticking with Toure and Lescott as the backline for now as it does take quite a bit of time to develop a good understanding, if Nedum would stop getting himself injured in training then he might make me think twice at Christmas though as this lad played excellently for 20 odd games last year.

I agree with pretty much everything you said there... as for the underlined -he did play very well, but our defence was fucking terrible and he stood out. He may well have what it takes, but on evidence at their previous clubs, Lescott and Toure most definitely already have what it takes. It will take time as you say to form the perfect understanding and as with the "Hughes substitutions" thread, I'll say..

If it ain't broke...

[john@staustell]

I'm confident City have done their homework and know he's the man for the job. I'm sure 5 years down the line he will be looked at as a great signing, but he needs a bit of time to get to know the team around him. Give us another 6 games to appraise!!!

[FA cup winners 2006]

only early days but i have not been impressed yet, it might just take him a few more games to settle in and see then. his positioning is poor though, he always seems to drift forward and not keep in line with the other defenders, hopefully this will sort itself.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Before the Ham game I thought his passing was woeful. Too much hoofing for me. Also got a touch of rash challenge in him so far. Think he'll come good, but not a flying start.

[Ted Hughes]

When Cole was up against Toure in the air Cole won the ball most of the time, when he was up against Lescott he lost it most of the time & the ball travelled either a signinficant distance away from our danger area or towards a City player. We haven't had a player who can do that since Andy Morrison.

The fact that he's also quick, has football intelligence & causes havoc at set pieces means he's a big big assett imo & it's up to the other defenders to help him with his weak points so that we gain from his strong points. At the moment, there's rarely cover if Lescott misses anything in the air or on the ground. Good defences cover for each other. We have to learn it yet.

The so called 'lucky' instance was right in front of me, Cole used his hand to pull back on Lescott's shoulder & knocked him off balance. It wasn't great from Lescott & he should've put ball & player in row Z but it was a free kick bearing in mind the same ref gave the same foul twice against SWP for doing it to a bloke twice his size! No one was around to cover the possible resulting danger though. Leave Drogba/Adebayor in 1v1's like that & sooner or later they'll score v anybody.

[dazby]

I haven't seen enough matches yet but I'm not impressed so far. Having said that, I wasn't impressed when we got him so he was a bit behind the 8-ball. He hoofs it too much for my liking.

[Chinners]

Early days but he looks like the £10mil player I thought he was, certainly not the £20mil Leslie thinks

[pepsi_dave]

Jury is still out for me, has looked a little out of sorts so far, but I expect that after a few more games he'll gradually start to look more natural at the heart of our defence.

Made a few minor errors, but on the whole looking quite good! Not worth £20,000,000 from what I've seen of him so far. He has it in him to be that player, just hope he finds his feet sooner rather than later! Still I'd rather have Lescott here than Dunne, did you see that vintage Dunnie handball that cost Villa a penalty at the weekend?

[Dameerto]

I think the price tag is playing on Ciity fan's minds more that his...

[john68]

Four games in is a bit too early to tell yet.
I think individually he has enough for us, as a pairing, Lescott and Toure are still learning.
It'll get better with time....I hope.

I fully expect Ned to push for his place when he is ready and Toure/Lescott may not be the preferred option.

[Crossie]

Kompany is CB for Belgium, he can play there happily all season for my liking, tall, strong, clever, can pass and tackle. Barry can do the exact same thing too, only issue is you loose the area he can influence, which at the moment, is most of the pitch.

[sky_blue_stew]

Agree with the original appraisal of Lescott's strengths and weaknesses, but think we need to add that as a centreback among the most important qualities is decision-making and leadership, both of which the lad has in abundance. Means that at setpieces he can organise the troops like he did at Everton - something that he'll show more and more of as he finds his feet, and develops the confidence to play like a world class centre back.

[Robinho_Is_GOD]

We have been spoilt by the start that Barry, Adebayor and Toure have done since they signed for the club, but that isn't usually the norm, there is a old saying that new players need time, and time seems to be the last things some sections of the media and so called City fans seem to want to give him, because we paid massive fee for him........so fucking what if he costs £1m, £10m or £100m??....we can afford it, and if the Skeikh wishes to part with his cash, then who are we to deny him that, if HRH Mansour or Khaldoon didn't think Lescott was worthy of spending that on, they would have moved elsewhere, look what happend to Eto'o!.

Lescott for me looks nervous, like he expects that any mistake will be greeted with groans and moans from the crowd, and he is never disappointed as them morons are only too happy to oblige and help the media in their quest to disrupt the club, not sure how often I have to say it, but the media, be it Radio, TV or Paper do NOT WANT MAN CITY to succeed in their quest, they hope we fail and don't break the monopoly so that they can slate the club by all and sundry.

Lescott is playing under pressure from the media (which is bad enough, they keep mentioning his fee, yet never refer to Rio's when they talk about him), and more than that, his own fans also are only too eager to give him stick, a relaxed footballer is a far better player than one who isn't relaxed....look at de Jong as an example....crap last season and started superbly this, as he took a while to settle, Lescott should be given until January until any decision is formed on his role or importance within the team.

If Don Fabio thinks he is the 3rd best CB in this country, then who are we to argue with him???......he only picks defenders who can defend, Lescott can do and will be a whole lot better when the moronic section of supporters who jump all over a player for misplacing a pass, or losing a footrace......and these same fans wanted Micah to be picked in defence.....yes I guess we should be listening to them!!.

[Beefymcfc]

RIGgers, I don't get what you are saying there because as far as I'm concerned there has been no moans and groans or any barracking from any of the matches that I've been at.

Anyway, I wasn't overly keen on Lescott when we were chasing him, even though I have always admired him as a player at the Toffees' (and that I always knew we'd get him). However, since he's been playing next to Kolo, he has got more and more confident as they've got on and last night against W Ham, he showed how good he is in the air. Every ball that came in was duly despatched by Lescott, even whilst under immense pressure. His groundwork is also very good and it's good to see us playing out of defence rather than hoof and hope, especially with the titches we have up front.

Overall, I am seeing a good partnership coming together and if we can keep them fit, with a complimentary full-back pairing, we should see them go from strength to strength!

Good days ahead!!!

[marvin]

I haven't seen enough matches yet but I'm not impressed so far. Having said that, I wasn't impressed when we got him so he was a bit behind the 8-ball. He hoofs it too much for my liking.

I can't remember him "hoofing" it once. No doubt he did at some time.

Playing really well for me, and dealt with Cole very well last night. perhaps he got lucky with the disallowed goal, but overall I thought Lescott handled him very well

He has another very tough opponent next week in Carew.

[the_georgian_genius]

I haven't seen enough matches yet but I'm not impressed so far. Having said that, I wasn't impressed when we got him so he was a bit behind the 8-ball. He hoofs it too much for my liking.

I can't remember him "hoofing" it once. No doubt he did at some time.

Playing really well for me, and dealt with Cole very well last night. perhaps he got lucky with the disallowed goal, but overall I thought Lescott handled him very well

He has another very tough opponent next week in Carew.

The Barry goal at OT last week is one.

He's ok but if he is worth £24m then Onouha and Kompany are worth £30m at LEAST.

[Original Dub]

I haven't seen enough matches yet but I'm not impressed so far. Having said that, I wasn't impressed when we got him so he was a bit behind the 8-ball. He hoofs it too much for my liking.

I can't remember him "hoofing" it once. No doubt he did at some time.

Playing really well for me, and dealt with Cole very well last night. perhaps he got lucky with the disallowed goal, but overall I thought Lescott handled him very well

He has another very tough opponent next week in Carew.

The Barry goal at OT last week is one.

He's ok but if he is worth £24m then Onouha and Kompany are worth £30m at LEAST.

Are you serious mate?

Based on what I've seen of Lescott since he came to the premier league and what I've seen of Kompany as centre half in the premier league, Kompany doesn't even come fucking CLOSE!!!!

Maybe in the future Onuoha can be considered as 3rd choice centre half behind Terry and Ferdinand, but don't for one minute misplace the player getting used to his new club with the guy being a poorer centre half in general than a player who's had one good half season in the premier league and another who's had one good game!


Deary me...

[Slim]

He hasn't been good so far, there have been mistakes and lapses but it's this entire backline is now 1 year old, so things will take some time to click into place. Toure got a preseason with these lads so he has slotted in well and everyone in the backline is used to Dunne occupying that space and not Lescott, so it will take time to adjust to a different playing style. There have been some positives and I hope he will pull through the teething problems soon because he could well be the last piece of the puzzle.

[edge275]

I haven't seen enough matches yet but I'm not impressed so far. Having said that, I wasn't impressed when we got him so he was a bit behind the 8-ball. He hoofs it too much for my liking.

I can't remember him "hoofing" it once. No doubt he did at some time.

Playing really well for me, and dealt with Cole very well last night. perhaps he got lucky with the disallowed goal, but overall I thought Lescott handled him very well

He has another very tough opponent next week in Carew.

The Barry goal at OT last week is one.

He's ok but if he is worth £24m then Onouha and Kompany are worth £30m at LEAST.

Now where's that double facepalm pic you posted in my best 11 thread...