Elaquim Mangala

[Clowncrete]

I don't understand why he is at fault for the first goal. He forced the attacker to a narrow angle. If Willy hadn't done a Hart vs Stoke, than the score would've remained 0-0.

[sheblue]

I too am definately in the 'he needs time' camp, but some of his play is a cause for concern he seems to be very rash at times, taking the wrong option, hoofing the ball when he has time and space, then other times he looks more composed. He is still raw and needs to learn the mechanics of proper defending with his brain.

[Nigels Tackle]

awesome vs chelsea - when most of the team were

dodgy ever since, just like his team mates

i remember gary pallister's first few games for the rags back in 89 after his british record transfer fee for a defender - he was beyond shit. he found his feet and went on to be a mainstay in their team for nearly 10 years...

[Ted Hughes]

Centre half is a special position like goalkeepr imo. It's difficult, especially in a team who plays like we do.

There was an obsession on here about having centre backs who play like fucking Pele rather than having players who actually stop the opposition from scoring. If you can do both, then fine, but first of all, be as reliable as possible in actually keeping the score down, then don't give the ball away in your own half, then last of all, find creative passes etc.

City as a club, managers, & a lot of fans, got far too fucking impressed with themselves to realise that you need a central defence that actually defends & after initially building probably the best one in Europe, we have not shown any respect to that area since, just chucking players in & hoping they survive.

Hardly any of them have.

[Fidel Castro]

I don't understand why he is at fault for the first goal. He forced the attacker to a narrow angle. If Willy hadn't done a Hart vs Stoke, than the score would've remained 0-0.

He wasn't. Fernandinho was at fault and then Willy should have saved it.

[DoomMerchant]

i must be the only one who has reasonable expectations about the Mangler. I think he's going to be fantastic, and despite putting an odd foot here or there, and being a bit unlucky or rash at times, i think he's had a decent start to what is a tough shift into Prem life.

I think he'll be fine and he and vincent will be an awesome pairing, sooner rather than later.

This guy is NOT your Savic/Nasti type player. A level above that for sure. That should be obvious for all to see i would hope.

cheers

[bayblue]

I guess we shouldn't be surprised Mangala would not find it easy. He was playing in a lower standard league with different tactics, he was deemed not to be good enough to be in the France team, and allegedly other clubs didn't go for him because of concerns about his composure and positioning.
But, he is young, strong, quick and aggressive, and with these qualities and also with Mendes as his agent he was never going to go cheaply.

For what it's worth I personally think he has all the attributes to succeed. To do this he will need time, and also strength of character, as it's clear he's going to be targeted not just by opposition managers and players but also the media and possibly some of our own fans.

There's a big tricky for Pellers though. At the moment the Vinny/Demi axis looks by far the most secure, and received wisdom is that settled back fours perform much better than constantly changing ones. The cop out answer could be to just rotate, but that might damage us more than just sticking with one preferred central pair.

[Jon London]

He is the weakest link at the moment and should be taken out of the firing line. Both West Ham and Newcastle's 1st goals exploited his inability to turn and defend at pace by playing balls behind him. I thought he was supposed to be quick but Aarons skinned him. The Rags especially with Di Maria operating on the right will profit unless Pellegrini fixes it in the next few days. We might have to play 5 at the back if Mangala plays to stop the balls on the floor behind him. Our big pitch whilst normally an advantage for us could be a big plus for the Rags on Sunday. I think we will see a big head to head on Sunday both literally and metaphorically with Pellegrini vs Van Gaal and Pellegrini needs to be on top of his game including getting his substitutions spot on not like the mess ups in recent weeks. Also would like to see the ball boys be as good as they were versus Roma especially if we are searching for a goal with the clock ticking.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

He is the weakest link at the moment and should be taken out of the firing line. Both West Ham and Newcastle's 1st goals exploited his inability to turn and defend at pace by playing balls behind him. I thought he was supposed to be quick but Aarons skinned him. The Rags especially with Di Maria operating on the right will profit unless Pellegrini fixes it in the next few days. We might have to play 5 at the back if Mangala plays to stop the balls on the floor behind him. Our big pitch whilst normally an advantage for us could be a big plus for the Rags on Sunday. I think we will see a big head to head on Sunday both literally and metaphorically with Pellegrini vs Van Gaal and Pellegrini needs to be on top of his game including getting his substitutions spot on not like the mess ups in recent weeks. Also would like to see the ball boys be as good as they were versus Roma especially if we are searching for a goal with the clock ticking.

Aarons skinned him because Mangala was caught on his heels whilst Aarons was running on to the ball, it wasn't due to a lack of pace.

[Jon London]

He is the weakest link at the moment and should be taken out of the firing line. Both West Ham and Newcastle's 1st goals exploited his inability to turn and defend at pace by playing balls behind him. I thought he was supposed to be quick but Aarons skinned him. The Rags especially with Di Maria operating on the right will profit unless Pellegrini fixes it in the next few days. We might have to play 5 at the back if Mangala plays to stop the balls on the floor behind him. Our big pitch whilst normally an advantage for us could be a big plus for the Rags on Sunday. I think we will see a big head to head on Sunday both literally and metaphorically with Pellegrini vs Van Gaal and Pellegrini needs to be on top of his game including getting his substitutions spot on not like the mess ups in recent weeks. Also would like to see the ball boys be as good as they were versus Roma especially if we are searching for a goal with the clock ticking.

Aarons skinned him because Mangala was caught on his heels whilst Aarons was running on to the ball, it wasn't due to a lack of pace.

Exactly my point. Should you expect that from a £32M defender? Slow mental agility and slow to turn at the moment but hes only young. We don't have 6 games to let him bed in. We could be out of the Champions League and the Title race with just the Europa Cup and FA Cup to go for. Both Allardyce and Pardew targeted him - do you not think Van Gaal and the other stella managers will not do the same?

[Mikhail Chigorin]

i must be the only one who has reasonable expectations about the Mangler. I think he's going to be fantastic, and despite putting an odd foot here or there, and being a bit unlucky or rash at times, i think he's had a decent start to what is a tough shift into Prem life.

I think he'll be fine and he and vincent will be an awesome pairing, sooner rather than later.

This guy is NOT your Savic/Nasti type player. A level above that for sure. That should be obvious for all to see i would hope.

cheers

My goodness, I can't believe I'm writing this but I agree completely with what Doomie is saying.

I didn't want Mangala, or any centre-back, in the summer, preferring us to get another forward instead. However he's here now and, IMHO, Doomie is spot on with his post. Managala will be terrific for us and sooner, rather than later and could well prove to be a 'bargain' in years to come.

Well done to our American extrovert.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

He is the weakest link at the moment and should be taken out of the firing line. Both West Ham and Newcastle's 1st goals exploited his inability to turn and defend at pace by playing balls behind him. I thought he was supposed to be quick but Aarons skinned him. The Rags especially with Di Maria operating on the right will profit unless Pellegrini fixes it in the next few days. We might have to play 5 at the back if Mangala plays to stop the balls on the floor behind him. Our big pitch whilst normally an advantage for us could be a big plus for the Rags on Sunday. I think we will see a big head to head on Sunday both literally and metaphorically with Pellegrini vs Van Gaal and Pellegrini needs to be on top of his game including getting his substitutions spot on not like the mess ups in recent weeks. Also would like to see the ball boys be as good as they were versus Roma especially if we are searching for a goal with the clock ticking.

Aarons skinned him because Mangala was caught on his heels whilst Aarons was running on to the ball, it wasn't due to a lack of pace.

Exactly my point. Should you expect that from a £32M defender? Slow mental agility and slow to turn at the moment but hes only young. We don't have 6 games to let him bed in. We could be out of the Champions League and the Title race with just the Europa Cup and FA Cup to go for. Both Allardyce and Pardew targeted him - do you not think Van Gaal and the other stella managers will not do the same?

Fernandinho fucked up by getting caught in possesion, Mangala had very little time to react but when he did he kept Aarons out wide of the goal. He did exactly what he should do in that situation, he can't help if Fernandinho and Caballero fucked up.

That's not to say that he didn't look jittery all game but calling him out for his pace without acknowledging why Aarons got in so easily is unfair. He demonstrated his pace a couple of times later in the game when he out sprinted Newcastle attackers when it was an even foot race.

[phips]

i know Newcastle were basically toothless today but he did look better today

[blues2win]

X2

[mr_nool]

The build up game is so much easier for the CB's with Yaya on the pitch. He's been dropping deep in between them all game, basically limiting them to simple sidewards passes to him.

[sheblue]

i know Newcastle were basically toothless today but he did look better today

Had nothing much to do.

[Slim]

The build up game is so much easier for the CB's with Yaya on the pitch. He's been dropping deep in between them all game, basically limiting them to simple sidewards passes to him.

I much prefer them passing sideways than running with the ball and trying to feed the strikers. Two Ferns need a lesson on how to be the link between the front line and that doesn't mean one touch passing it back to the centrehalves when you can be bothered coming deep in the first place.

[craigmcfc]

i know Newcastle were basically toothless today but he did look better today

Had nothing much to do.

Apart from the first 10 minutes where he twice covered for Kolarov who was upfield. He had a solid game against poor opposition.

[Spurge]

Mangala is the centre half we've been heavily linked with - he and Fernando almost joined us in the last transfer window from Porto. Fernando was suspended for this so thought I'd tune in and keep an eye on Mangala.

Tonight was the first chance I've had to watch him and he was up against Sevillia in the Europa league q/f.

Sevillia ran out 4-1 winners on the night led 3-0 at h-t and despite a red card for Coke in the second half added a fourth for which Mangala was culpable. Caught totally out of position and ball watching - proper school boy stuff. I have to say for a big strong lad he looked pretty hopeless all night. I'm not wanting to judge him on one game and certainly trust our scouts so hopefully tonight was a blip particularly as we are talking big money - he made Demi look like a top quality defender!

Quaresma looked like an interesting proposition for Porto - didn't play particularly well but you could see he is a bit of a talent. Hit a terrific consolation for Porto right at the death.

Sevillia - terrific fans, what an atmosphere they created!

I see Quaresma banged in a couple for Porto v Bayern last night

[Nigels Tackle]

Mangala is the centre half we've been heavily linked with - he and Fernando almost joined us in the last transfer window from Porto. Fernando was suspended for this so thought I'd tune in and keep an eye on Mangala.

Tonight was the first chance I've had to watch him and he was up against Sevillia in the Europa league q/f.

Sevillia ran out 4-1 winners on the night led 3-0 at h-t and despite a red card for Coke in the second half added a fourth for which Mangala was culpable. Caught totally out of position and ball watching - proper school boy stuff. I have to say for a big strong lad he looked pretty hopeless all night. I'm not wanting to judge him on one game and certainly trust our scouts so hopefully tonight was a blip particularly as we are talking big money - he made Demi look like a top quality defender!

Quaresma looked like an interesting proposition for Porto - didn't play particularly well but you could see he is a bit of a talent. Hit a terrific consolation for Porto right at the death.

Sevillia - terrific fans, what an atmosphere they created!

I see Quaresma banged in a couple for Porto v Bayern last night

wow
you should be our chief scout
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