Millwallawayveteran1988
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Jury still out for me. Some good games but can't seem to go a game without at least one sloppy moment. Last night was similar. Better with Kompany alongside him.
Nicolas Otamendi - 2016/17 performances
- Thread starter Super Joey Hart
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mosssideblue
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Nice to see him getting the recognition he rightly deserves on here
01cravend
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Statistically the 5th best defender in the league this season(5th overall, 7th defensively, 2nd possession)
No CB made more tackles
No CB made more tackles
kaz7
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kaz7
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He doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves
He is good, but European team of the year? No chance.
Few points:
- Never the 2nd best centre back in Europe.
- Good centre half but only looked very good when Kompany came back into the team.
- May just be a case of improving our full backs will improve our centre halves.
- Stats can be a good indicator, ratings less so (although can still indicate based on averages etc...)
- Whoscored.com rates James Milner as the best left back in the Premier League last season.
- Whoscored.com rates Paul Pogba as the best centre midfielder in the Premier League last season.
I like Otamendi but he has to take control and be better when Kompany isn't in the side. Maybe it was our full backs making our centre halves look bad but it was still noticeable that when Kompany came back we massively improved.
- Never the 2nd best centre back in Europe.
- Good centre half but only looked very good when Kompany came back into the team.
- May just be a case of improving our full backs will improve our centre halves.
- Stats can be a good indicator, ratings less so (although can still indicate based on averages etc...)
- Whoscored.com rates James Milner as the best left back in the Premier League last season.
- Whoscored.com rates Paul Pogba as the best centre midfielder in the Premier League last season.
I like Otamendi but he has to take control and be better when Kompany isn't in the side. Maybe it was our full backs making our centre halves look bad but it was still noticeable that when Kompany came back we massively improved.
Hungarian blue
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Add to that that they hugely overrate in their algorithm interceptions (and Otamendi does this a lot as he wins a lot of aerial battles and tackles a lot), but of course there is no such metric, for us normal mortals that is, which rates positional awareness and stuff, so this rating system from whoscored is just meaningless. And I quite like Otamendi these days.
Happy to debate it in the Otamendi thread didn't want to take one of the transfer threads off course.
He still made rash decisions and mistakes without Kompany. Seems to use his head more when Vinny is playing, maybe it's a trust thing (doesn't trust Kolarov and Stones to the same extent). Could be a full back issue.
Like I say i've laid out my points a couple of posts above this one.
ADegenerate
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CityAcrossThePond
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+1
Otamendi has had a disappointing season for us but has improved immensely when Kompany has joined the side.
Prone to diving in and giving away dangerous set pieces when paired with lesser-skilled CB's, this predilection has mostly vanished when paired with the world-class Kompany.
Keep Ota for sure for next season - but hopefully find another world class center back to bring out the best in him if Kompany cannot play.
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One outstanding drawback for Ota - in 2014/15 he scored 15 goals for Valencia - for City, he's scored 1 goal per season - I'd really like to see Ota rekindle his goal scoring form.
I'm assuming that should read 5 goals rather than 15?
dickie davies
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Wrighty Wrexham
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Theres a good player in there somewhere. Its just when hes bad he is very bad! Suppose it didn't help him with who was in goal or at fullback and hopefully that will change!
Tugay One Cup
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Thought I'd bring this over here seeing as the subject continues to dominate and clog up the 'it's quiet' thread.
I get your point but whether either player would be making a step up or down is kind of irrelevant to what I was trying to say. And that is that it's not as simple as "player X is good enough for Barca/ Real/ whoever so they're good enough for us". Players often perform differently at different clubs due to a whole range of circumstances.
Despite what it probably looks like, I'm not desperate for us to get rid of Otamendi at all. However, what I do want to see next season is consistency in the middle of our defence and I don't think he can provide that. At his best I see a player who is perfect for a Guardiola team who can do all the dirty work as well as anyone and then bring the ball forward with a cool head. At his worst I see an excitable centre back who doesn't concentrate enough positionally and is too eager to pick and choose when to chase the ball. In the last couple of months of the season he was arguably our best performer but it's the first time I think he's put together a good run of games for us. If I felt assured that he'd carry on that form throughout next season then I'd be more than happy to keep him and for him to be a regular. However, I'm not comfortable with the idea of relying on him to be that guy.
Like I said, I just want to see consistency from our defenders and that's an issue across pretty much all four of our options. Kompany hasn't been able to stay consistently fit, Stones has been just as inconsistent as Otamendi and Kolarov, although consistent, is consitenstly Kolarov. Personally, I want to see an upgrade in our quality in that department and signing a player who can add that means that one of our current options more than likely would have to go. Kompany is our captain and still a top class defender when he is fit, Stones needs more than a season to have the chance to develop and I believe has every chance to become a top class defender and Kolarov isn't going to attract more interest and can easily step in against lesser opposition without kicking up a fuss.
So basically, I think we need a centre back and I think the most likely to make room for that player is Otamendi. I also think he'd do a better job for Real than he has done for us.
I don't fancy any petty arguments where we all try to tie each other in knots with statistics and media perception, I'm just saying what I feel the situation is and my take on it.
Fair enough.
In fairness to Otamendi, I'm not his biggest fan. I played centre half in the lower leagues in my youth and have only just finished playing now at 37. I think Otamendi's faults are obvious, as you say. He lacks consistency and is very erratic at times. He is very reactive as opposed to most top centre backs who are proactive.
However, I'd like to see Otamendi given two decent full backs and a consistent and settled defensive unit before I want to replace him with someone like VVD. Otamendi has all the tools and is hitting just about peak for a centre back.
I'd like to judge him after next season, I'm never for the next new toy. A move for Bonucci would be obvious, maybe even a short term move for Pepe. But VVD could easily be the next Lovern.
It seems over on the other thread and his own transfer thread he's built himself a reputation as some great leader. He's spent 2/3 of his Soton career with their club captain in Fonte. Another who was linked with a host of top clubs, he spent a bit of this season as their leader, they took a few thumpings early on and since his injury a young lad had pretty much slotted in seamlessly.
I'm happy for an improvement on Otamendi, but I'm not sure selling him to Madrid and replacing him with VVD is a good idea.
My point regards Madrid, if the interest is indeed true, we'd be selling to the best team in the World so there's obviously something about the lad.
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