van der Wiel

[BobbyJ1956]

Accrding to the Daily Mail, don't see it anywhere else, City are after this lad Van der Wiel.
"Manchester City are stepping up interest in Dutch right-back Gregory van der Wiel.
The Ajax defender has been watched by City for more than a year but technical director Mike Rigg led a four-man City delegation to watch Van der Wiel during Wednesday's 2-0 win over Feyenoord.
The 22-year-old, who is a close friend of Nigel de Jong has a fixed price of £17m written into his deal."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z1BdEY0jYH

[john@staustell]

Allegedly a Chelsea target, so a City story thrown about should increase the price/wages!

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

As a signing would make loads of sense for us. I like him as a player as well. Although one would wonder what would happen to Micah. We need to keep those homegrown players to fill the quota. And I hope we'll still find place for Mad Zabba in squad. He has been one of my favourites for few years now.

[mr_nool]

van der Wiel is a typically modern fullback. Loves to bomb up the wings and put crosses in. I'm a bit in doubt regarding his defensive qualities, though. Same age as Boateng, and I reckon it will take them both equally long to learn the prem.

[Ted Hughes]

I hope this signing, if it happens, will be because Bob has seen that Boateng isn't ready yet & not because he's about to dump Micah Richards. If it's a plan for the future (after Lescott & Toue have gone) then that's fine, but Micah has been better than Boateng in every single aspect of football, including going forward & is stronger, tougher & twice as good in the air than Boateng will ever be, no matter how much he improves. To dump Micah in favour of Boateng would be purely favouritism & face saving, because Boateng cost money, rather than for football reasons.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

van der Wiel is a typically modern fullback. Loves to bomb up the wings and put crosses in. I'm a bit in doubt regarding his defensive qualities, though. Same age as Boateng, and I reckon it will take them both equally long to learn the prem.

From what I've seen of him, he actually seems very solid defender. That's why I like him.

[Wooders]

Not oonly is he a solid player imo its also not just for football reasons we should keep micah - as someone mentioned, he counts toward the homegrown quota

he also stuck by City during the shit times when he must have had some very tempting offers to go elsewhere and he claims via twitter that he is "CTID" - I for one believe him and hope he stays - fuck boeteng off if we need to sign van der wiel (who is quality)

[Beeks]

Micah has been better than Boateng in every single aspect of football, including going forward & is stronger, tougher & twice as good in the air than Boateng will ever be, no matter how much he improves.

Have we signed another Micah? The one I know is a bumbling oaf who charges forward like a bull in a china shop with no thought at all...has absolutely no positional sense at all...and has the footballing brain of australopithecus afarensis...

[mr_nool]

van der Wiel is a typically modern fullback. Loves to bomb up the wings and put crosses in. I'm a bit in doubt regarding his defensive qualities, though. Same age as Boateng, and I reckon it will take them both equally long to learn the prem.

From what I've seen of him, he actually seems very solid defender. That's why I like him.

I've seen him make a lot of dodgy decisions in the Dutch league. But on the other hand Ajax philosophy is to push the fullbacks up the pitch. They play very attacking, almost naïve, which might very well explain it. He might flourish in a different system.

[Ted Hughes]

Micah has been better than Boateng in every single aspect of football, including going forward & is stronger, tougher & twice as good in the air than Boateng will ever be, no matter how much he improves.

Have we signed another Micah? The one I know is a bumbling oaf who charges forward like a bull in a china shop with no thought at all...has absolutely no positional sense at all...and has the footballing brain of australopithecus afarensis...

Well I've criticised Micah heavilly in the past but I don't think he deserves it so far this season in comparison to anyone else . ALL of our defenders make mistakes quite often & Imo, Lescott's & Micah's get highlighted whilst the others get swept under the carpet. Why that is, I don't know but I could prove it if I had a video presentation!

Positionally Kolarov & Boateng have been considerably worse than Micah & Zabba (& Bridge) imo.

As far as going forward is concerned, Boateng doesn't & Micah, Zabba & Kolarov have so far been very similar standard success wise; some good stuff, some wasteful stuff, no big difference between them yet. Kolarov should become better eventually but currently wastes most of his crosses. Micah has also played CB in the Prem & for a period was brilliant at it.

[blues2win]

Personally I'd far rather get David Luiz and play him at right back. He's geuinely two footed and his superb technique means he could also fill in anywhere in the back four. He also has pace to burn and is excellent in the air. That said Van der Wiel would be a distinct improvement on what we've got.

Boateng looks like a centre back. He's frightened of getting done for pace by wide players so he lays off allowing crosses to come in. He has good technique but isn't getting forward to deliver the sort of crosses he did in the third placed final at the World Cup. I wonder how much Mancini had to do with his arrival. It was talked about before he was hired and is surely part of the Hamburg connection. Chalk that up to Marwood.

Zabaleta's defensive technique is dodgy; he has a distinct tendency to dive in giving away free kicks and getting yellow carded. He could do with more pace too.

Richards also looks like a centre back. His sheer strength means he can bulldoze up the line but he doesn't have the technique and football brain to make the best of any advanced situations in which he finds himself. Because of his bulk he is badly exposed against quality wide players as we've seen on more than one occasion this season. He has improved but I'm afraid he has serious limitations which won't disappear.

Bottom line if Van der Wiel arrives I think Micah will be sold. He'll want to go and I can't see a future for him in the club anyway in these circumstances. Zaba can fill in at left/right back or even defensive midfield. Boateng could be developed into Kolo's successor, at least theoretically. So it's Micah who would likely leave. If Luiz came I presume Lescott would leave as well.

[Mase]

Any chance of Boateng moving over to partner Vinnie in the long-term??

[Beeks]

Micah has also played CB in the Prem & for a period was brilliant at it.

I think it's his best position to be honest...but I just don't trust him...with someone like Vinnie...you know he will do the job time and time again...with Micah...he might have one or two games where he is outstanding then fuck up in the next one...there is just no consistency there and IMO never will be...I'm surprised he has lasted this long to be fair...he's a tenacious fucker

[Ted Hughes]

So for a slight potential increase in attacking ability, we'll weaken our squad options drastically in the area we're already one of the weakest teams in the PL; defending aerial attacks. Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

[Mase]

Zabaleta's defensive technique is dodgy; he has a distinct tendency to dive in giving away free kicks and getting yellow carded. He could do with more pace too.

I honestly thing Zab has toned down his diving in to stupid challenges a hell of a lot this season. I don't know whether something was said to him but he seems to be using his head a lot more. Not to say he still doesn't have to odd Mad Zab tackle we all know and love.

[lets all have a disco]

Zabs stands wingers up a lot more these days and doesnt fly in with rash tackles as much.

I like the cut of his jib.

[Ted Hughes]

Micah has also played CB in the Prem & for a period was brilliant at it.

I think it's his best position to be honest...but I just don't trust him...with someone like Vinnie...you know he will do the job time and time again...with Micah...he might have one or two games where he is outstanding then fuck up in the next one...there is just no consistency there and IMO never will be...I'm surprised he has lasted this long to be fair...he's a tenacious fucker

Well imo he's never had a proper, fully fit run in the team as anything other than a kid & then he was outstanding. I also see him as a CB but my only worry is his passing/technique may not improve enough to fit our game in that role. That's a future problem, not a current one though. He & Zabba are the best fullbacks at the club right now imo. They will drop bollocks, but Vinny & Kolo do all the time & don't get me started on the other fullbacks. The only one who regularly stops a cross is Zabba.

I don't think Micah was fit when Hughes was here, he wasn't getting off the ground for headers. Now he's fit, I'd prefer to see him defending against people like Dyer, than any of our current CB's & he's better than all 3 stood on each other's shoulders when the ball's in the air.

[blues2win]

I personally agree that if Micah has a future at the Club it ought logically to be at centre back. He has the physique, he doesn't lack pace and he's decent in the air. On the other hand he can lose concentration, his positional sense can be off and his technique isn't the greatest. Half the trick at the top level in that position is not so much speed as speed of thought and I'm not sure Micah excels there.

If the next few months go as we all hope next season we'll be fighting it out with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Mancini's going to want excellent technique from all his players. We'd all like to see a few english players strutting their stuff at the Bernabeu or the Nou Camp but in my view very few will make this cruellest of cuts. Hart and Adam Johnson have a real chance but they both need to improve considerably. If you believe in miracles Michael Johnson just might become the player we all hoped for before his dreadful injuries. As for Lescott, Richards, Barry and Milner I just can't see it I'm afraid. Squad players at best.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

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.

[Ted Hughes]

Well we need squad players for one thing, they'll be the ones who have to defend corners away at Stoke the following Saturday when we get back from Spain. However, on current showing, if I had to pick between Boateng & Richards to defend at the Nou Camp, I would pick Richards 100 times out of 100. I don't know why anyone would pick Boateng on any evidence we've seen so far.

Assuming neither plays at the Nou Camp & we have to choose between them at Stoke; Micah wins 100 times out of 100 again in my book. Boateng may get a lot better however BUT THEY ARE THE SAME AGE. Why can't Micah improve just as much?

Interesting that Micah was the bloke that Bob chose to put in to play right back away v the 'English Barca' at the Emirates & once he got used to the pace & settled down he coped comfortably for the rest of the game. Makes you wonder how he'd do if he played every week?