Welcome Rúben Dias

[johnny crossan]

Confirmed by Benfica - announcement by City imminent

According to many sources the deal is done and he will be unveiled as Otamendi's successor in the next 24 hours

Here's a third party scouting report telling us what to expect for those like me have a taste for this kind of info

https://footballbh.net/2020/05/20/ruben ... s-tactics/

[Hazy2]

Top work good read.

[Mase]

He’s a shit Otamendi.

[johnny crossan]

He’s a shit Otamendi.

more the Stones we hoped for I think

[PrezIke]

Guardian reporting the fee is agreed:

Man City agree £50m deal for Rúben Dias with Otamendi to join Benfica

Centre-back set for City medical after €55m fee is agreed
Otamendi to join Benfica for €15m fee as part of deal

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... nsfer-news

[nottsblue]

Decent article that JC. He has the stats and numbers, let’s see if he has the mental awareness and nous to make the step up from Portugal to England.

Time will tell. And hopefully if he is a leader like it claims, he might get his compatriots to perform better this season as well

[Nick]

Genuine questions is he tall or fast?

[PeterParker]

Genuine questions is he tall or fast?

Looks solid, but slow.
When I mean solid, hard to bring him down.

But this from what I've seen the past days.

[Nick]

Genuine questions is he tall or fast?

Looks solid, but slow.
When I mean solid, hard to bring him down.

But this from what I've seen the past days.

Otamendi ?

[PeterParker]

Genuine questions is he tall or fast?

Looks solid, but slow.
When I mean solid, hard to bring him down.

But this from what I've seen the past days.

Otamendi ?

No, more Van Buyten type. Or even Vinnie.
As I posted the past few days, a friend of mine who is a Benfica fan said he is really good, but most of all, a leader.
I trust him in this, but I don't trust our system.
I think our defenders are not trained to defend, but to create spaces, hence the problems.

[Saul Goodman]

Done deal

[zabbadabbado]

Never heard of him.

Is this another one of Tixi penny pinching Jack Rodwell moments.

You dont need Koubaliy.,have a Jack Rodwell (Dias)l instead.

[nottsblue]

For the reported £62M he had better be good. Because if he isn’t it could well be the last signing Pep makes for us. It will be close to £400M spent on the defence, a truly mind boggling figure especially seen as how disjointed we are there

[Clowncrete]

Never heard of him.

Is this another one of Tixi penny pinching Jack Rodwell moments.

You dont need Koubaliy.,have a Jack Rodwell (Dias)l instead.

Wasn't Rodwell signed by Brian Marwood? Txiki and Ferran weren't part of the club in summer 2012.

Anyway on the mcfc reddit, someone posted this:

I spoke with a benfica supporter to understand how they rate Ruben Dias. This is quite a detailed analysis from that person's view and I thought it's worth sharing:

"So, this guy is a natural leader and communicator on the pitch. Something that often goes unseen is his ability to command the backline and work with the goalkeeper to cover the space in behind

He is very aggressive, when he is playing he simply doesn't have any friends, always with a mean face and looking as concentrated as he can be

He doesn't often lunge into tackles like Otamendi, but he does sometimes get stuck in and makes some late tackles that warrant an extreme overreaction in the portuguese league, since the referees whistle for everything and get way too excited with strong tackles

He is not the fastest, but he does control the space very well, antecipating opposition moves and passes

On the 1v1s he is probably the best in our league and can easily bully opponents off the ball

Unfortunately, even though he might look like he is concentrated all the time, he has his lapses. More often off the ball or in ground duels. He commits a fairly large amount of "easy" penalties by grabbing people in the box or being too aggressive in tackles

He often also fouls a lot when an attacker is going for an aerial duel and uses his frame and elbows to gain an advantage. In possession he is very good on the ball, playing with both feet, even though he is a natural right-footer. He is not the kind of centre-back that will be a play-maker but he has a very good and tense long pass to stretch the opposition and can also hit strong low passes to break opposition lines

He is an obvious threat in offensive set-pieces and jumps very high. However, Benfica have been one of the worse defensive set-piece side in the league and obviously Rúben plays a part in that.

Overall, you'll be getting a very good player, a leader, and someone that will be loved by the fans. He plays with passion but he is technically gifted. He has played with Ederson (I believe) and Bernardo will be a big help for him.

He is no Lindelof, much stronger than him and a much bigger presence. He is better than the swede, and keep in mind that Lindelof was the best defender in our league a couple of years ago

I'm excited to see him play under Guardiola and I hope he gets regarded as one of the best in the future - soon to be the captain of our national team."

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/MCFC/comments/ ... rspective/

Sounds a lot like Otamendi!

[zabbadabbado]

Genuine questions is he tall or fast?

From what i am hearing he would struggle to catch Rodri.

I still have vivid memories of Mangala.

I think some of our fans are hoping for too much from this Guy.

Our problem right now is our system.

I see this poor fucker being thrust straight in to the back 4,with Gudogan and Rodri sitting just in front..

[nottsblue]

Never heard of him.

Is this another one of Tixi penny pinching Jack Rodwell moments.

You dont need Koubaliy.,have a Jack Rodwell (Dias)l instead.

Wasn't Rodwell signed by Brian Marwood? Txiki and Ferran weren't part of the club in summer 2012.

Anyway on the mcfc reddit, someone posted this:

I spoke with a benfica supporter to understand how they rate Ruben Dias. This is quite a detailed analysis from that person's view and I thought it's worth sharing:

"So, this guy is a natural leader and communicator on the pitch. Something that often goes unseen is his ability to command the backline and work with the goalkeeper to cover the space in behind

He is very aggressive, when he is playing he simply doesn't have any friends, always with a mean face and looking as concentrated as he can be

He doesn't often lunge into tackles like Otamendi, but he does sometimes get stuck in and makes some late tackles that warrant an extreme overreaction in the portuguese league, since the referees whistle for everything and get way too excited with strong tackles

He is not the fastest, but he does control the space very well, antecipating opposition moves and passes

On the 1v1s he is probably the best in our league and can easily bully opponents off the ball

Unfortunately, even though he might look like he is concentrated all the time, he has his lapses. More often off the ball or in ground duels. He commits a fairly large amount of "easy" penalties by grabbing people in the box or being too aggressive in tackles

He often also fouls a lot when an attacker is going for an aerial duel and uses his frame and elbows to gain an advantage. In possession he is very good on the ball, playing with both feet, even though he is a natural right-footer. He is not the kind of centre-back that will be a play-maker but he has a very good and tense long pass to stretch the opposition and can also hit strong low passes to break opposition lines

He is an obvious threat in offensive set-pieces and jumps very high. However, Benfica have been one of the worse defensive set-piece side in the league and obviously Rúben plays a part in that.

Overall, you'll be getting a very good player, a leader, and someone that will be loved by the fans. He plays with passion but he is technically gifted. He has played with Ederson (I believe) and Bernardo will be a big help for him.

He is no Lindelof, much stronger than him and a much bigger presence. He is better than the swede, and keep in mind that Lindelof was the best defender in our league a couple of years ago

I'm excited to see him play under Guardiola and I hope he gets regarded as one of the best in the future - soon to be the captain of our national team."

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/MCFC/comments/ ... rspective/

Sounds a lot like Otamendi!

Brilliant. He gives away a lot of fouls and penalties. Because we are so good at defending set pieces.

And how shit must the Portuguese league be if Lindelof was the best defender in it a couple of years ago?

Can’t be alone in thinking this transfer has fuck up written all over it

[sheblue]

When we signed Fernando from them, I think it was, well one of the Portugal teams. We were told he would be great. What was it they called him an octopus I think. Well the truth begged to differ.
Not writing him off, never seen him play. We will see soon enough.

[zabbadabbado]

Never heard of him.

Is this another one of Tixi penny pinching Jack Rodwell moments.

You dont need Koubaliy.,have a Jack Rodwell (Dias)l instead.

Wasn't Rodwell signed by Brian Marwood? Txiki and Ferran weren't part of the club in summer 2012.

Anyway on the mcfc reddit, someone posted this:

I spoke with a benfica supporter to understand how they rate Ruben Dias. This is quite a detailed analysis from that person's view and I thought it's worth sharing:

"So, this guy is a natural leader and communicator on the pitch. Something that often goes unseen is his ability to command the backline and work with the goalkeeper to cover the space in behind

He is very aggressive, when he is playing he simply doesn't have any friends, always with a mean face and looking as concentrated as he can be

He doesn't often lunge into tackles like Otamendi, but he does sometimes get stuck in and makes some late tackles that warrant an extreme overreaction in the portuguese league, since the referees whistle for everything and get way too excited with strong tackles

He is not the fastest, but he does control the space very well, antecipating opposition moves and passes

On the 1v1s he is probably the best in our league and can easily bully opponents off the ball

Unfortunately, even though he might look like he is concentrated all the time, he has his lapses. More often off the ball or in ground duels. He commits a fairly large amount of "easy" penalties by grabbing people in the box or being too aggressive in tackles

He often also fouls a lot when an attacker is going for an aerial duel and uses his frame and elbows to gain an advantage. In possession he is very good on the ball, playing with both feet, even though he is a natural right-footer. He is not the kind of centre-back that will be a play-maker but he has a very good and tense long pass to stretch the opposition and can also hit strong low passes to break opposition lines

He is an obvious threat in offensive set-pieces and jumps very high. However, Benfica have been one of the worse defensive set-piece side in the league and obviously Rúben plays a part in that.

Overall, you'll be getting a very good player, a leader, and someone that will be loved by the fans. He plays with passion but he is technically gifted. He has played with Ederson (I believe) and Bernardo will be a big help for him.

He is no Lindelof, much stronger than him and a much bigger presence. He is better than the swede, and keep in mind that Lindelof was the best defender in our league a couple of years ago

I'm excited to see him play under Guardiola and I hope he gets regarded as one of the best in the future - soon to be the captain of our national team."

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/MCFC/comments/ ... rspective/

Sounds a lot like Otamendi!

Brilliant. He gives away a lot of fouls and penalties. Because we are so good at defending set pieces.

And how shit must the Portuguese league be if Lindelof was the best defender in it a couple of years ago?

Can’t be alone in thinking this transfer has fuck up written all over it

This VV

I just didn't have the bollocks to write it.


Feels every bit like a plan D.

Hope i am wrong.

[zabbadabbado]

When we signed Fernando from them, I think it was, well one of the Portugal teams. We were told he would be great. What was it they called him an octopus I think. Well the truth begged to differ.
Not writing him off, never seen him play. We will see soon enough.

Some of our fans have this Guy solving all our problems.

He wont.

Give him a few weeks of being hung out to dry defensively, behind Pep system,and our midfield his confidence will likely be shot.

The one thing he will need to be in Pep team is quicker than Erica Garcia.

Yet i am hearing he is not quick.

So we are getting yet another slow player to play Pep fast,expansive attacking game.

The Guy has not arrived yet.And i already feel like the writing is on the wall.

[Nick]

This makes me want to cry.

Sounds exactly like ota. But 5 times the price.

Forgot lindelof was from portugal - stop buying cbs from there!!