Centerbacks?

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Whilst I do think that the Premier League is more competitive, I do think it's overstated how much more competitive it is than other top European leagues.

I watched Barca being beaten by Alaves earlier in the season and thought this doesn't ring true with what the general perception is in England of them foreign leagues.

It's not so much the competitiveness but the pace of the game. The counter attacks are just so fast compared to other leagues.

[DoomMerchant]

How about hijacking United's move for Lindelof ? Is he any good - anyone know ?

The last time we hijacked U****d's move for a centre back we ended up signing Otamendi.

whether that's true or not...that we hijinxed the Rags....

Otters is in the 2016 team of the year i saw this morning. LOL.

Which is....comical i suppose.

Our CB dilemma is pretty much what Pibble said...broken clocks, 2x/day, etc....

Vinnie made Joleon look better than him many times to the undiscerned eye, mine included at times.

Sans Vinnie we've got basically the Rags without Camelgob and truth be told they'd have been dogshit at the back with some of his partners sans him.

cheers

[Hazy2]

When Van Buyton arrived you knew he was the biz, that's all I need to see " I know my job"

[Wonderwall]

When Van Buyton arrived you knew he was the biz, that's all I need to see " I know my job"

This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

When Van Buyton arrived you knew he was the biz, that's all I need to see " I know my job"

Great reminder of how far qe have come. Got to see true world class talent for few games and how it hurt when he said (or was it KK?) that he is going to join a big club. I kind of knew that was never going to be us. The Sheik happened and, well, rest is history.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

How about hijacking United's move for Lindelof ? Is he any good - anyone know ?

The last time we hijacked U****d's move for a centre back we ended up signing Otamendi.

My head still hurts about that deal. What was it like 28.5m for one season wonder?

We've had quite a lot of these deals under Txiki where we signnone season wonders for massive fees. Does he never watch tape of their earlier career or something? Why don't we go for players like Diego Godin who have been on top of their game for a good while. I bet we could've got him for similar money.

[Nigels Tackle]

How about hijacking United's move for Lindelof ? Is he any good - anyone know ?

The last time we hijacked U****d's move for a centre back we ended up signing Otamendi.

My head still hurts about that deal. What was it like 28.5m for one season wonder?

We've had quite a lot of these deals under Txiki where we signnone season wonders for massive fees. Does he never watch tape of their earlier career or something? Why don't we go for players like Diego Godin who have been on top of their game for a good while. I bet we could've got him for similar money.

godin (and others) probably has an agent that txiki doesn't have links (wink, wink) with.

[roblues]

Whilst I do think that the Premier League is more competitive, I do think it's overstated how much more competitive it is than other top European leagues.

I watched Barca being beaten by Alaves earlier in the season and thought this doesn't ring true with what the general perception is in England of them foreign leagues.

It's not so much the competitiveness but the pace of the game. The counter attacks are just so fast compared to other leagues.

It's true that English teams are better set up and more inclined to counter attack, but a lot of the counter attacking goals we have conceded have been down to the team's failure to play the Pep game - specifically to be patient in the build up play, thereby maintaining a more organized shape. We seem to get stretched out too easily, with a CB too deep and a CM caught in no man's land.

Obviously this is followed by basic shit like players not covering for each other, not tracking back quickly enough and turning their back on the ball.

[City64]

Whilst I do think that the Premier League is more competitive, I do think it's overstated how much more competitive it is than other top European leagues.

I watched Barca being beaten by Alaves earlier in the season and thought this doesn't ring true with what the general perception is in England of them foreign leagues.

It's not so much the competitiveness but the pace of the game. The counter attacks are just so fast compared to other leagues.

It's true that English teams are better set up and more inclined to counter attack, but a lot of the counter attacking goals we have conceded have been down to the team's failure to play the Pep game - specifically to be patient in the build up play, thereby maintaining a more organized shape. We seem to get stretched out too easily, with a CB too deep and a CM caught in no man's land.

Obviously this is followed by basic shit like players not covering for each other, not tracking back quickly enough and turning their back on the ball.

Nah , basically we have 3 or 4 defenders who just cant fucking defend and 2 of them are a complete joke and slow as fuck to be fair plus a dodgy keeper !
Was better v Arsenal and Pep changed tactics yet again and our midfield was superb and bossed it keeping Arsenal in there own half mostly .

[iwasthere2012]

Whilst I do think that the Premier League is more competitive, I do think it's overstated how much more competitive it is than other top European leagues.

I watched Barca being beaten by Alaves earlier in the season and thought this doesn't ring true with what the general perception is in England of them foreign leagues.

It's not so much the competitiveness but the pace of the game. The counter attacks are just so fast compared to other leagues.

It's true that English teams are better set up and more inclined to counter attack, but a lot of the counter attacking goals we have conceded have been down to the team's failure to play the Pep game - specifically to be patient in the build up play, thereby maintaining a more organized shape. We seem to get stretched out too easily, with a CB too deep and a CM caught in no man's land.

Obviously this is followed by basic shit like players not covering for each other, not tracking back quickly enough and turning their back on the ball.

Nah , basically we have 3 or 4 defenders who just cant fucking defend and 2 of them are a complete joke and slow as fuck to be fair plus a dodgy keeper !
Was better v Arsenal and Pep changed tactics yet again and our midfield was superb and bossed it keeping Arsenal in there own half mostly .

Pretty much this. ^^^^
I believe when Pep gets people who can do the job he wants them to do, we'll see shock and awe.

I don't believe English teams are any better set up. I do believe that Pep has to come up with some variation to deal with the ball being in the air a lot more.
I do think we are starting to see us compete for the second ball, that he refers to and also the mobbing of the opponent on the ball, a lot quicker than we were for quite a while.

[MilnersJaw]

We need one that can actually defend.
Seems I was right about stones.

[KoKo0227]

Are we actually trying to sign any?

I see us being linked to Darijo Srna and while I really like him as a personality and a leader we already have fullbacks. We are desperate for CBs.

Actually if you ask me I think we are also in need of full backs too zaba is getting old and so is kolarov. I guess Clichy is alright but we don't really have any full back who is in their prime.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Are we actually trying to sign any?

I see us being linked to Darijo Srna and while I really like him as a personality and a leader we already have fullbacks. We are desperate for CBs.

Actually if you ask me I think we are also in need of full backs too zaba is getting old and so is kolarov. I guess Clichy is alright but we don't really have any full back who is in their prime.

Zabaleta is 31. That is no age for fullback. Kolarov is just terrible. Then we got Sagna who is ok as cover and Maffeo and Angelino coming through. Sure slight improvement on leftside would be nice extra but as long as our centerbacks are Otamendi, Stones and oftinjured Kompany there is no need to discuss about fullbacks.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Are we actually trying to sign any?

I see us being linked to Darijo Srna and while I really like him as a personality and a leader we already have fullbacks. We are desperate for CBs.

Actually if you ask me I think we are also in need of full backs too zaba is getting old and so is kolarov. I guess Clichy is alright but we don't really have any full back who is in their prime.

Clichy has had an alarming dip in form this season. Looks slow and clumsy now with all the best qualities he had out the window. Out of all the fullbacks he's had the biggest drop cos his game was more based on pace than the other 3.

[carl_feedthegoat]

Are we actually trying to sign any?

I see us being linked to Darijo Srna and while I really like him as a personality and a leader we already have fullbacks. We are desperate for CBs.

Actually if you ask me I think we are also in need of full backs too zaba is getting old and so is kolarov. I guess Clichy is alright but we don't really have any full back who is in their prime.

Clichy has had an alarming dip in form this season. Looks slow and clumsy now with all the best qualities he had out the window. Out of all the fullbacks he's had the biggest drop cos his game was more based on pace than the other 3.

Hes been directly at fault for some of the losses we have had....hes fuckign shit this season.

[phips]

seeing more stuff about Txiki negotiating for van Dijk. pair that with Pep's comment about looking for someone in January and maybe we'll get him

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Full backs are a bit of a crisis to me. Sadly, Zabba is not the force he was and Sagna has fallen off a cliff. When the ball comes to him now, he looks like he has a bomb at his feet. For all the talk that Pep will introduce youth, he doesn't appear keen on Maffeo nor Angelino.

[aaron bond]

Full backs are a bit of a crisis to me. Sadly, Zabba is not the force he was and Sagna has fallen off a cliff. When the ball comes to him now, he looks like he has a bomb at his feet. For all the talk that Pep will introduce youth, he doesn't appear keen on Maffeo nor Angelino.

With such a poor set of defenders, I really struggle to see how the youngsters can do much worse.

Can Tosin really be that much worse than Otamendi, Stones and Kolarov? Can Maffeo or Angelino really be that much worse than Zabaleta or Clichy?

[Wonderwall]

Full backs are a bit of a crisis to me. Sadly, Zabba is not the force he was and Sagna has fallen off a cliff. When the ball comes to him now, he looks like he has a bomb at his feet. For all the talk that Pep will introduce youth, he doesn't appear keen on Maffeo nor Angelino.

With such a poor set of defenders, I really struggle to see how the youngsters can do much worse.

Can Tosin really be that much worse than Otamendi, Stones and Kolarov? Can Maffeo or Angelino really be that much worse than Zabaleta or Clichy?

No. I agree that this was an opportunity for pep to give the young players a chance and he didn't bother. I don't understand why he didn't as they have looked good when given a game.

[Piccsnumberoneblue]

Full backs are a bit of a crisis to me. Sadly, Zabba is not the force he was and Sagna has fallen off a cliff. When the ball comes to him now, he looks like he has a bomb at his feet. For all the talk that Pep will introduce youth, he doesn't appear keen on Maffeo nor Angelino.

With such a poor set of defenders, I really struggle to see how the youngsters can do much worse.

Can Tosin really be that much worse than Otamendi, Stones and Kolarov? Can Maffeo or Angelino really be that much worse than Zabaleta or Clichy?

No. I agree that this was an opportunity for pep to give the young players a chance and he didn't bother. I don't understand why he didn't as they have looked good when given a game.

Entirely agree. What happened to Pep being bold with youth? Besides his reluctance with Tosin, Maffeo and Angelino, when the choices are not up to much right now, there is the vexed question of Nacho, when there isn't a single other striker available.
I'm not sure he is as brave with youngsters as we were lead to believe.