Our Defenders

[city72]

shocking defending could have been 2 - 0 down after 6 minutes, Newcastle had chance after chance.

garbage.They didn't have chance after chance on that first half. on chances it would have been 6.2 I would reckon.

We weren't great at the back but the rest of our game far outweighed it

garbage Newcastle had more than 2 chances

[s1ty m]

Nastasic is 19. At 25 he will be the best defender on the planet. He's got it all.

[Ted Hughes]

Nastasic is 19. At 25 he will be the best defender on the planet. He's got it all.

I'm not convinced personally. I can see him still playing for us regularly & being a very good, reliable cb, but I don't see anything in his defending that is super special. His maturity is his biggest asset imo; he plays like an older player, but not a fantastic older player, just ok (but not today).

[SmallTimeCharlie]

Nastasic is 19. At 25 he will be the best defender on the planet. He's got it all.

I'm not convinced personally. I can see him still playing for us regularly & being a very good, reliable cb, but I don't see anything in his defending that is super special. His maturity is his biggest asset imo; he plays like an older player, but not a fantastic older player, just ok (but not today).

F.in 'ell, you're hard to please. The kid's quality. Know many other Centre Backs that could slot into a Champions-winning side and look better at times than what's gone before? Shit it last week, unfortunately, but that's 19-year-olds.

[Beefymcfc]

Under the circumstances I actually thought that we defended very well. Kolo brought back in alongside a young lad who is learning his trade. They, along with Zab, Clichy and Garcia managed to stop the high ball and reduce the shots on Joe's goal. Lescott just fell into the system and must've cleared more in the air in that 15 minutes than our full defence in the whole game. Joe, also, managed to pull some decent stops out so overall, not a bad performance from our re-jigged defensive system.

The stats tell a lot of the story where even though we had the same attempts we limited them to only 5 shots on target, doing especially well in the 2nd half considering the possession for them was up to 62%. Where we didn't help our defence was when the quick longball went up and our mids/forwards couldn't be bothered getting back, leaving the defence to keep them away from goal. Another let down for me was the speed in which we got out of defence. We could've had a few goals if there was more urgency and we wouldn't have put ourselves under even more pressure. But that's a sidenote as 3-1 away from home with some decent 1st half play is something that I would've been more than pleased with.

Onwards and upwards, as they say.

[Ted Hughes]

Nastasic is 19. At 25 he will be the best defender on the planet. He's got it all.

I'm not convinced personally. I can see him still playing for us regularly & being a very good, reliable cb, but I don't see anything in his defending that is super special. His maturity is his biggest asset imo; he plays like an older player, but not a fantastic older player, just ok (but not today).

F.in 'ell, you're hard to please. The kid's quality. Know many other Centre Backs that could slot into a Champions-winning side and look better at times than what's gone before? Shit it last week, unfortunately, but that's 19-year-olds.

I can't think of many at all, & that includes Nastasic who, imo, isn't better than the alternatives & has been nowhere near it at Champions League level & done nothing special of note defensively v any of the decent sides in the Prem, indeed v anybody. I can barely think of any examples of great defending by Nastasic in any game he has played, just neat & tidy bits of sweeping up around the people actually doing the defending. Very promising for 19 but Kolo looked a better player than him last week & today & Lescott looked a better player than him when he came on today.

Micah looked miles better than him at cb when he was younger & the only way Nastasic will ever be better than him, is down to intelligence as Micah was/is faster, stronger & better in the air. Nastasic will never be as good as Micah at any of those things but perhaps will be smarter & react better, hence; good reliable cb. Can't see a worldbeater in there so far though.

Rekik impressed me more before his injury.

[Slim]

Knowledge of football? Who was the person on this forum fighting a virtually loan furrow saying Barton was vastly overrated and also that he would eventually embarrass the club? Who was it saying we were mad to prefer Given over Hart? Who was it that was advocating Mancini as a better bet than Hughes? Who was it that first saw the dangers of FFP and was defending the inevitable decisions of the owners in relation to Hughes and transfer policy? Was it you? Was it fuck! Again and again I've been in tiny minorities on issues that are proven right. Meanwhile you remain a reactionary cunt and a backward one at that. Between you, picc the dick, that welsh moron that thinks he's bosnian, the doom squad and a handful of other cretins, you have ruined this site. Well fucking done arsehole.

Barton? Check
Given over Hart? Check
Mancini over Hughes? Check
FFP designed specifically to screw City? Check

Maybe if you didn't Foe half the site, you'd see you weren't in the minority, and what has ruined this site more than anything, is people thinking 10 years ago the site was some sort of Mecca for footballing knowledge.

[Beefymcfc]

Knowledge of football? Who was the person on this forum fighting a virtually loan furrow saying Barton was vastly overrated and also that he would eventually embarrass the club? Who was it saying we were mad to prefer Given over Hart? Who was it that was advocating Mancini as a better bet than Hughes? Who was it that first saw the dangers of FFP and was defending the inevitable decisions of the owners in relation to Hughes and transfer policy? Was it you? Was it fuck! Again and again I've been in tiny minorities on issues that are proven right. Meanwhile you remain a reactionary cunt and a backward one at that. Between you, picc the dick, that welsh moron that thinks he's bosnian, the doom squad and a handful of other cretins, you have ruined this site. Well fucking done arsehole.

Barton? Check
Given over Hart? Check
Mancini over Hughes? Check
FFP designed specifically to screw City? Check

Maybe if you didn't Foe half the site, you'd see you weren't in the minority, and what has ruined this site more than anything, is people thinking 10 years ago the site was some sort of Mecca for footballing knowledge.

Who you talking to?

Joking aside, and I've had a fair few run-ins with JF, he has been right on a fair few things. Seems he's getting a hard time of late but at least he keeps popping back to get his usual wind-up in, even if he doesn't mean it.

[Swales4ever]

It wasn't Aguero's fault that they scored, it was the dozy cunts in the centre, assuming everybody was coming out without even bothering to check.

If today's defending was good, I'm Prince fucking Charles. It was an absolute shambles from start to finish.

A tad harsh on our defenders, imo. I did notice Your opinion at half time (as I always do) but I think that DH is much more on the ball there: never easy coping with long ball for any defence.
And certainly, as per Beefy "given circumstances" we couldn't start our best lineup at the back.
In all honesty, apart for the "little" lapse of focus when Cabaye reverted a drive that They probably did consider already ended, I think They defended quite well. Set pieces.... well, Mancini still at work on that issue, but that include also when Vinnie and Micah are on the pitch.

btw: despite I still fail to sit You around a table, without ever meeting You, I am confident to say that You are much more of a prick to pretend to be as soft as prince Charles... Harry, maybe?

[Ted Hughes]

It wasn't Aguero's fault that they scored, it was the dozy cunts in the centre, assuming everybody was coming out without even bothering to check.

If today's defending was good, I'm Prince fucking Charles. It was an absolute shambles from start to finish.

A tad harsh on our defenders, imo. I did notice Your opinion at half time (as I always do) but I think that DH is much more on the ball there: never easy coping with long ball for any defence.
And certainly, as per Beefy "given circumstances" we couldn't start our best lineup at the back.
In all honesty, apart for the "little" lapse of focus when Cabaye reverted a drive that They probably did consider already ended, I think They defended quite well. Set pieces.... well, Mancini still at work on that issue, but that include also when Vinnie and Micah are on the pitch.

btw: despite I still fail to sit You around a table, without ever meeting You, I am confident to say that You are much more of a prick to pretend to be as soft as prince Charles... Harry, maybe?

We didn't seem to have any trouble against it last year. Phil Jones did & we all laughed at him.

[Swales4ever]

It wasn't Aguero's fault that they scored, it was the dozy cunts in the centre, assuming everybody was coming out without even bothering to check.

If today's defending was good, I'm Prince fucking Charles. It was an absolute shambles from start to finish.

A tad harsh on our defenders, imo. I did notice Your opinion at half time (as I always do) but I think that DH is much more on the ball there: never easy coping with long ball for any defence.
And certainly, as per Beefy "given circumstances" we couldn't start our best lineup at the back.
In all honesty, apart for the "little" lapse of focus when Cabaye reverted a drive that They probably did consider already ended, I think They defended quite well. Set pieces.... well, Mancini still at work on that issue, but that include also when Vinnie and Micah are on the pitch.

btw: despite I still fail to sit You around a table, without ever meeting You, I am confident to say that You are much more of a prick to pretend to be as soft as prince Charles... Harry, maybe?

We didn't seem to have any trouble against it last year. Phil Jones did & we all laughed at him.

Point taken. different line, tho. in a self-focussing game, if I humbly may, too.

[City64]

Just my opinion on picking up what has been posted on the defending bit of the thread after a magnificent away win ...........

Imho we coped well enough with the tactics Newcastle adopted with a makeshift defence which was the point of the thread . Newcastle are one of those teams that do create plenty of chances , Pardew admitted several times the only way Newcastle can compete with City is by hitting high balls win second balls in the box etc etc , they are a big side afterall . Vinny and later on Micah to return ....... now would also be a good time to give Lescott a regular start , still cant get my head around why 19 year old Nasti is preffered ahead of him even if he (Nasti) has done little wrong ?

Lastly now we are playing catchup to close the gap it was noticeable much more urgency was in our play yesterday bringing about glimpses of the fantastic breath taking attacking football of when we were at our very best last season ........ and about fucking time ! LOL

[sheblue]

lol this stuff is funny...

[dazby]

I was really pleased with the defence yesterday. I really like Kolo and he is clearly the best number 2 right sided defender in the league.

One thing I did notice though, and it's happened on occasions that we've played against a tall forward, is that unless the defence was 100% certain they would win the header, they didn't go up for it and instead focussed on winning the second ball. Interesting tactic.

[City64]

I was really pleased with the defence yesterday. I really like Kolo and he is clearly the best number 2 right sided defender in the league.

One thing I did notice though, and it's happened on occasions that we've played against a tall forward, is that unless the defence was 100% certain they would win the header, they didn't go up for it and instead focussed on winning the second ball. Interesting tactic.

Agreed ! You must have been watching the same game as me pal ;)

[Dameerto]

I was really pleased with the defence yesterday. I really like Kolo and he is clearly the best number 2 right sided defender in the league.

One thing I did notice though, and it's happened on occasions that we've played against a tall forward, is that unless the defence was 100% certain they would win the header, they didn't go up for it and instead focussed on winning the second ball. Interesting tactic.

Agreed ! You must have been watching the same game as me pal ;)

I first noticed us do it against Carroll when he was at Newcastle - we would look to cut off his options rather than outright challenging him for the ball in the air.

[Ted Hughes]

I was really pleased with the defence yesterday. I really like Kolo and he is clearly the best number 2 right sided defender in the league.

One thing I did notice though, and it's happened on occasions that we've played against a tall forward, is that unless the defence was 100% certain they would win the header, they didn't go up for it and instead focussed on winning the second ball. Interesting tactic.

Agreed ! You must have been watching the same game as me pal ;)

I first noticed us do it against Carroll when he was at Newcastle - we would look to cut off his options rather than outright challenging him for the ball in the air.

That's fine & sometimes we did, but also, sometimes both Kolo & Nasti went for the same player, missed it by a street then said player won the ball unopposed & flicked it into the space vacated by both our cbs.

A brilliant, basically as good as it's possible to get, example of such play was Lescott v Fellaini last week. Fellaini is twice the problem any of Newcastle's strikers present in the air but JL dealt with him brilliantly. Anyone, no matter how good they are, has a problem with Felliani in that area, & because he scored due to circumstances invlving others,, Lescott has been blamed, & dumped.

If we play Everton at Goodison, & we have Lescott plus VK at cb, we will come under big pressure & will struggle unless we score a few at the other end. If we play Nasi etc there, we will get utterly fucked up & basically will have chucked points down the drain.