Eliaquim Mangala - 2017/18 performances

[Thaksinssoldier]

Bony next then Kane, along with Lukaku these are the perfect opponents for him tbh! It's the Defoe's of the prem will give him issues, not the bigger, slower guys.

 

[KCblue]

Has to start at Swansea for me. Especially if they play Bony. As some have mentioned, he does very well against strong strikers.

 

[Esteban de la Sexface]

He struggles with players that have a low centre of gravity, which would lead me to believe all of his strength is in his upper body. Maybe has a core balance issue.

He bosses it against similar sized forwards, that's Costa, lukaku in his back pocket.

Maybe he's scared of giving away free kicks?

I'm still terrified when he gets turned and has to run towards his own goal. When the game is all in front of him he's as good as you'd expect a professional athlete to be.

He'd actually flourish in United's back 4. Deep, keep everything in front of you with 2 deep midfielders protecting the space.

You have to be an extremely elite centre half to flourish with us. High line with one level of protection

 

[kaz7]

He'll probably struggle v spurs but wed he'll be fine,it suits us for teams with big strikers,just need to protect him a bit v the other teams

john said jan before he is back so the big man will just have to do his best,thats all we can ask

 

[cleavers]

Pep played a blinder and again it was overlooked. Kompany for Gundogan to get more passing in our ranks to create the chances to go 2-1 up then remove Jesus for Mangala to cope with aerial bombardment and get Silva more forward where the ball would stick with him.

Mangala was class. Won everything aerially and had the pace to cope too. Starting to look better as he is getting a run in the side. He was a big reason why we won 3 points yesterday. Credit to him as he could have thrown the towel in long ago.

Good post, once he came on he was better than any united defender all night.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

He'll probably struggle v spurs but wed he'll be fine,it suits us for teams with big strikers,just need to protect him a bit v the other teams

john said jan before he is back so the big man will just have to do his best,thats all we can ask

Don’t be surprised if Fernandinho plays CB against Spurs, as they don’t have any big men up front, and Gundogan can sit in front of him. Spurs game is all about midfield supremacy and which defence kills the through ball before it gets in behind.

 

[cleavers]

Don’t be surprised if Fernandinho plays CB against Spurs, as they don’t have any big men up front

Harry Kane is 6ft 2 inches, hardly small.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Harry Kane is 6ft 2 inches, hardly small.

He is not a big strong “CF with a header in him,” he lives on the through ball. And, tbh, I’m surprised, because in 6’2” and I’ve always seen him as about 5’11”-6’0”.

 

[decmancity]

Mangala has been fine if he is up against a big, strong and static striker.

He has the attributes to gobble up other strikers as well but we have all seen how he struggles against a Defoe or Shane Long. Somebody who will run the channels, make runs behind and get the ball and spin and face him up.

His pace, power and brute strength should as we have seen with Kompany be enough to deal with any striker but he seemingly doesn't seem to have the intelligence or faith in himself to do it.

Posted this back in 2016, still true to this day.

We have to stick with him next couple games, he did a 'Sterling' job on Sunday. Being thrown in a game like that could have been horrible for him but he stuck to his task and didn't give an inch, I noted how he even got some praise when he faced up Lukaku and shepherded him onto his weaker foot and stopped the shot on goal.

 

[cleavers]

And, tbh, I’m surprised, because in 6’2” and I’ve always seen him as about 5’11”-6’0”.

Well he's 6'2", yes he doesn't play on his height, but we shouldn't ignore it.