Our glaring weakness at LB, will it be fixed?

A lot of poop on this thread. 3 points are routinely overlooked:
1. Clichy has played very well when given a long run of games, getting Clichy in to top form is part of the solution. (I’d agree Kolarov is not good enough as a long term solution).
2. Our formation over recent years has often involved playing Silva on the left of midfield with 2 up top and Yaya in the middle. When Silva pushes on we have often been left with no one on the left side of the pitch bar the LB. Formation is part of the problem and Delph (who is left footed) and sterling (who presses well) both on the left in a 4 3 3 is part of the solution.
3. There are not many decent LBs around. Those routinely mentioned are all untested in the PL.

If I was involved I’d be trying to flog kolarov back to an Italian club but there is no need to take a massive loss on him. Keeping him as back up for 1 more year while scouting a decent replacement and allowing Angelino to get some game time in the USA and other loans is probably the best move.
 
Neville Kneville said:
Yes, you have noticed that, & it's absolute proof of what I'm talking about. So straight away we let's say, Sterling, Silva, Aguero in the team. There's 3 missing at the set pieces, as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. Now add Angelino, 4. So we are defending vs Tony Pulis or LVG, with 6 players. One of them is Yaya, so make that 5. They are going to score at some point. we already have a big problem with this, even if Angelino doesn't play. We are going to have a side with 3 or 4 players who don't contribute at defending set pieces already. I would currently back David Silva defending a corner ahead of Angelino.

Imagine the right winger is someone like David White or Trevor Sinclair. Who defends the left back spot vs those kind of players if Angelino is playing there ? David Silva ? The oppo won't use this as a tactic ? Why ? They are stupid & don't want to win ?

Tbh I've had this discussion before & just gave up in the end, but people saying that a fullback heading the ball doesn't matter are talking such nonsense & if they stopped for one second to think about it, they would realise it. And I'll point them to the goal Fellaini scored v City even vs a fullback who is decent in the air, as an example. That would have been Angelino. Imagine we are a goal down at the swamp, our defenders all have a man each, & we look to the far post & see Felaini stood with Angelino.

Imagine that sinking feeling as we realise we are going to get absolutely fucking anihilated. This is not a maybe btw, Orlando were purposely hitting almost every long pass to Angelino's corner, because the striker can hold him back like a small child & control the ball unopposed. If they can see it, you can bet Tony Pulis or LVG can.

Messi would destroy Angelino in the air, never mind James Milner.

It's not so simple, just throwing Angelino into this team.
Click to expand...

Can't this exact "problem" be seen at Barcelona? And Barcelona routinely competes for every trophy, last season completing the treble. Spanish La Liga is more physical than it often gets credit for too. Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao are especially known for it, but this idea that English play is physical and tough while Spanish play is soft and technical is a gross exaggeration. This article is a few years old, but charts the physicality of clubs from different nations. Russia and Belarus were clear winners, while England was about average, and on par with Spain.

And to top it off, Barcelona's left back, Jordi Alba—often considered one of the very best in the world—is only 170 cm. Angelino is about 175 cm.
 
Mightor said:
Can't this exact "problem" be seen at Barcelona? And Barcelona routinely competes for every trophy, last season completing the treble. Spanish La Liga is more physical than it often gets credit for too. Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao are especially known for it, but this idea that English play is physical and tough while Spanish play is soft and technical is a gross exaggeration. This article is a few years old, but charts the physicality of clubs from different nations. Russia and Belarus were clear winners, while England was about average, and on par with Spain.

And to top it off, Barcelona's left back, Jordi Alba—often considered one of the very best in the world—is only 170 cm. Angelino is about 175 cm.
Click to expand...

You can't chart the physicality of clubs from different nations, it is an absurd idea. Football is not played on a computer. Just ask any player or manager who has played in each league & see how many agree with your article. Possibly could be as low as zero.

Also, Napoleon was 1.68 m & it never did him any harm. And that's as relevant as the height of Alba, ie no relevance at all unless he's playing in the Premier League, for City & has to deal with Felaini at the far post, in which case, he is totally fucked, & he is not Angelino, they are two different people, not clones of each other.

Spain have one particular side who plays like a Premier League side & they regularly cause Barca & Real Madrid nightmares along with all the others, just purely by being tough well organised & direct (Atletico). Most teams in Spain just play like inferior versions of Barca & Real Madrid & are wide open . Mascherano plays cb in Spain, because he can. the football is different.

Angelino is not currently good enough aerially to stand up to the requirements of Premier League football week in week out unless someone else does all the covering for him. He doesn't even do that job in MLS, he is taken out of the penalty area at corners. This is not normal for a fullback. It's because they know it's a huge risk leaving him in there. In our league, managers will play on him. They are trying to do it already in MLS, as I said.
 
Gaudion M said:
A lot of poop on this thread. 3 points are routinely overlooked:
1. Clichy has played very well when given a long run of games, getting Clichy in to top form is part of the solution. (I’d agree Kolarov is not good enough as a long term solution).
2. Our formation over recent years has often involved playing Silva on the left of midfield with 2 up top and Yaya in the middle. When Silva pushes on we have often been left with no one on the left side of the pitch bar the LB. Formation is part of the problem and Delph (who is left footed) and sterling (who presses well) both on the left in a 4 3 3 is part of the solution.
3. There are not many decent LBs around. Those routinely mentioned are all untested in the PL.

If I was involved I’d be trying to flog kolarov back to an Italian club but there is no need to take a massive loss on him. Keeping him as back up for 1 more year while scouting a decent replacement and allowing Angelino to get some game time in the USA and other loans is probably the best move.
Click to expand...


Good post people blame the defence but for 2 seasons our fullbacks have been our main source of width so for instance if kolorov bombs forward as well as zabba we basically have 2 defenders with no protection.like you said delph left footed on the left and sterling on left equalls 3 players down that side also de bruyne on right to cover zabba and fernandinio covering centre backs.
 
Neville Kneville said:
You can't chart the physicality of clubs from different nations, it is an absurd idea. Football is not played on a computer. Just ask any player or manager who has played in each league & see how many agree with your article. Possibly could be as low as zero.
Click to expand...

So preconceptions and opinion are worth more than factual data derived from statistics? Did you read the article? It's not about a football simulation, but rather charting incidents from real matches and then comparing different leagues to see how they compare to one another.

If you can find a better objective measure of physicality in football, then by all means post your source. Otherwise, you've got nothing.
 
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