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Will They ever be able to replace Kompany or is it to early to tell?

I just know that losing Kompany has a major impact on our team. I think that its to early to tell and they are maybe two seasons away from giving us an answer. With the buy of the older Demichelis i would think that the club has put their faith in them that they will be good enough. I'm just worried considering how aggressive Kompany plays because we havent had a chance to see Demichelis. Who do you think is a replacement prospect for the summer with Lescott probably leaving?

Kompany is one of the best centre backs in the world, Boyata will never get close to being able to replace him.

I watched Boyata quite closely the other night (yes I'm well aware the opposition weren't up to much) and he looks fairly composed.
He reads the game relatively well for a young centre back, HOWEVER he does have a mistake in him. Granted we were 5-0 up at the time, but he got completely done by their player on the halfway line by getting the wrong side.
It's errors like that he needs to eradicate to become a top player, but like many others in the game it's these small things that stop them going from squad player to regular starter.

Nasti is the future - I don't think boyata will be at kompanys level, but very cb's in the world will be

at the moment non of our CB's look comfortable at all without Vinnie there to solidify things. Probably why Demichelis was brought in, but he's crocked too.

good news for Nasti, Boyata, Rekik ... is that they are young and can learn. I hope they do that, and then we'll see where we all end up!

don't remember vinnie being as good as he is now when he joined 4 yrs ago....

I don't think Boyata will ever be a leader for us, but he's a reasonable squad player who can come in and help out when required. He's certainly a less alarming prospect at centre-back than Garcia.

I've written this in plenty of posts before, but I've never got the hype over Nastasic and think he's massively overrated. Whilst he's composed on the ball, I don't think his defensive attributes are very strong at all. I understand he's young, but I see terms like 'world class' and 'future star' used for him and I struggle to think of games where he's stood out for him to warrant that kind of praise. Richards, in my opinion, was better at 17 than Nastasic at 19/20. Saying all of that, I really hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top player. We paid 12m for him after all!

aaron bond wrote:I don't think Boyata will ever be a leader for us, but he's a reasonable squad player who can come in and help out when required. He's certainly a less alarming prospect at centre-back than Garcia.

I've written this in plenty of posts before, but I've never got the hype over Nastasic and think he's massively overrated. Whilst he's composed on the ball, I don't think his defensive attributes are very strong at all. I understand he's young, but I see terms like 'world class' and 'future star' used for him and I struggle to think of games where he's stood out for him to warrant that kind of praise. Richards, in my opinion, was better at 17 than Nastasic at 19/20. Saying all of that, I really hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top player. We paid 12m for him after all!

I think Nasti is better on the ball than Richards NOW. he is nowhere near the finished article yet though. Richards reading of the game as a centre back is not as good as Nasti's which is why I only see Richards as a stop gap Centre back but a very good right back.

Vinnie at the moment is the best center back in the world. The only one that comes at his level is Subotic, but only when Hummels is by his side.

And beside that, he has a lot of years in front of him so no worries for a substitution, but only to find a partner as good as Lescott was when we won the league.

Wonderwall wrote:

aaron bond wrote:I don't think Boyata will ever be a leader for us, but he's a reasonable squad player who can come in and help out when required. He's certainly a less alarming prospect at centre-back than Garcia.

I've written this in plenty of posts before, but I've never got the hype over Nastasic and think he's massively overrated. Whilst he's composed on the ball, I don't think his defensive attributes are very strong at all. I understand he's young, but I see terms like 'world class' and 'future star' used for him and I struggle to think of games where he's stood out for him to warrant that kind of praise. Richards, in my opinion, was better at 17 than Nastasic at 19/20. Saying all of that, I really hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top player. We paid 12m for him after all!

I think Nasti is better on the ball than Richards NOW. he is nowhere near the finished article yet though. Richards reading of the game as a centre back is not as good as Nasti's which is why I only see Richards as a stop gap Centre back but a very good right back.[/quote]


Totally agree with this last bit - we all love Richard's for his enthusiasm etc. but reading the game is a big issue. So for me he is cover, primarily at RB and CB 'in extremis' and it is good to have such quality squad players.

Also, a couple of years ago, his effort to get back when the ball was lost up field and we were vulnerable to a counter-attack used to drive me crazy - used to refer to him as a 'world class jogger'.

He seems to have improved in this regard - maybe its the realisation that he is no longer a 'big fish' and of the need to earn his place and future contracts or perhaps that is too unkind, but he seemed to go backwards following his big contract. Either way he is now a good squad player.

Re CBs - it seems clear that the future is towards players who can read the game and bring the ball forward and link to midfield/attack is the way forward - and why Vinnie is so good. Hence Lescott will only fall further behind and why Nasti is so well thought of (despite some defensive failings).

Perhaps we should be looking for midfielders that can develop into CBs when we scout and also in how we develop academy players - perhaps we do?

Oh - and of course Garcia is the exception that proves the rule!!

Wooders wrote:Nasti is the future - I don't think boyata will be at kompanys level, but very cb's in the world will be

I've seen nothing to suggest nasti is the future other than being in a good team at his age.

aaron bond wrote:I don't think Boyata will ever be a leader for us, but he's a reasonable squad player who can come in and help out when required. He's certainly a less alarming prospect at centre-back than Garcia.

I've written this in plenty of posts before, but I've never got the hype over Nastasic and think he's massively overrated. Whilst he's composed on the ball, I don't think his defensive attributes are very strong at all. I understand he's young, but I see terms like 'world class' and 'future star' used for him and I struggle to think of games where he's stood out for him to warrant that kind of praise. Richards, in my opinion, was better at 17 than Nastasic at 19/20. Saying all of that, I really hope he proves me wrong and turns into a top player. We paid 12m for him after all!

I think people think because he's comfortable on the ball he is better than lescott therefor the future. The kid might pass the ball forward better but he isn't as good as Klingon and has done nothing at all worthy of all his praise other than be carried by Kompany. Richard can do a better job at the centre.

Nigels Tackle wrote:don't remember vinnie being as good as he is now when he joined 4 yrs ago....

I think he was mate.

I think Kompany has always had this level of performance at cb in his locker from the very first game we tried him there at schalke. Hughes didnt recognise it quickly enough and left him in midfield for all but a couple of games of his first season in charge. When he was finally moved to cb permanently, he hardly put a foot wrong.

mcfc1632 wrote:
Also, a couple of years ago, his effort to get back when the ball was lost up field and we were vulnerable to a counter-attack used to drive me crazy - used to refer to him as a 'world class jogger'.

This made me chuckle as it was our exact assessment of Richards, we saw that he used to feign injury after we had lost the ball in attack, hobble to the half way and get back into the game as soon as we had the ball back!

MilnersJaw wrote:
I've seen nothing to suggest nasti is the future other than being in a good team at his age.

Oh well, that's me told