Good to hear. Glad to have you back.
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Jules Koundé
- Thread starter WallyA
- Start date
Good to hear. Glad to have you back.
Neville Kneville
Well-Known Member
What is it with City going for small centre halves. At 5' 11" another midget who would probably struggle physically in England. We need some physicality and a leader not a small youngster with "potential". Quick is great when the high line is caught out but at set pieces our presence is lacking imo and that's where we're hurt most.
He won't struggle physically.
Not as dominating as Vinny or Van Dijk of course, but who is ?
This one makes sense,
If I recall correctly one of the reasons we were going for Koulibaly was that we anticipated that Garcia would break through in the next 2-3 years, and by that time Koulibaly would be 31-32 and we could slowly begin to phase him out. With Garcia wanting to leave and De Laurentis causing issues for us again. We probably have looked for a younger center back with good European experience that can play across the back. Kounde ticks all those boxes. Very intelligent defender with very good passing. And don't let the height intimidate you he can jump very well.
If I recall correctly one of the reasons we were going for Koulibaly was that we anticipated that Garcia would break through in the next 2-3 years, and by that time Koulibaly would be 31-32 and we could slowly begin to phase him out. With Garcia wanting to leave and De Laurentis causing issues for us again. We probably have looked for a younger center back with good European experience that can play across the back. Kounde ticks all those boxes. Very intelligent defender with very good passing. And don't let the height intimidate you he can jump very well.
supercity88
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 9 Aug 2009
- Messages
- 12,419
Haven't seen a huge amount of him other than Europa League games last season. As soon as I saw him I was puzzled as to why his rash CB partner was the one linked. He already had a much more calm presence and looked like he had the raw attributes to be a top player.
We thought that with Stones though yet haven't seen the consistency or promise. Koulibaly for me, at the price, is another risk. A powerful player but didn't have the best season and although he was great against Liverpool you wonder how good he is considering Italian football has made Smalling look class.
We thought that with Stones though yet haven't seen the consistency or promise. Koulibaly for me, at the price, is another risk. A powerful player but didn't have the best season and although he was great against Liverpool you wonder how good he is considering Italian football has made Smalling look class.
Grealish’s Shinpads
Well-Known Member
Height does not necessarily directly correlate to physicality or leadership. Cannavaro was 5’8 but a leader and a very physical player who was strong and had an incredible leap which compensated for his lack of height. Baresi, Puyol and Mascherano were also short but some of the best centre backs to have ever played the game.What is it with City going for small centre halves. At 5' 11" another midget who would probably struggle physically in England. We need some physicality and a leader not a small youngster with "potential". Quick is great when the high line is caught out but at set pieces our presence is lacking imo and that's where we're hurt most.
To give you an example closer to home I would say that Ake is much more physical than Stones and going by what I’ve seen of him at Bournemouth a better leader too despite being shorter than him.
FWIW we’ve also become much much better at defending set pieces over the past few months. Most of the goals we have conceded recently have come from the high line being exposed and/or our defenders having brain farts of epic proportions.
Just saw this quote from an interview of his, he's since gotten better physically and aerially, on top of learning to be a better ball playing centre half.
"Growing up, it was often said to me that my size could be a problem for managers. I always tried to compensate with my technique, with how I play out from the back, it's very important," he said shortly after breaking into the Bordeaux first team.
"It's true that sometimes at my height you can't always challenge in aerial duels but you can always manage the opponent. I've always had good timing, I like aerial duels and I jump relatively high, so that really helps. But my small size has never been a problem for me."
"Growing up, it was often said to me that my size could be a problem for managers. I always tried to compensate with my technique, with how I play out from the back, it's very important," he said shortly after breaking into the Bordeaux first team.
"It's true that sometimes at my height you can't always challenge in aerial duels but you can always manage the opponent. I've always had good timing, I like aerial duels and I jump relatively high, so that really helps. But my small size has never been a problem for me."
Much as I am a fan of this, and I would be glad if we got this done. He is obviously still relatively young and not quite the final product. Most research on him says he's weak in tackling and 1v1 situations (At Sevilla, it seemed Carlos was the one doing the dirty work while he mops up, so I'd be inclined to agree, avoidable situations however), others say reading of the game a bit lacking, but that's irrelevant because that comes with experience and coaching.
My only issue is presence, not quite the Koulibaly still, a dominant presence at the back is what we need. He's more of a silent profile, whereas Koulibaly is a leader and will make sure his opponent knows of his presence, obviously he has more experience too and will instantly fit in the team. Koundé is a better solution long term but imo, it does not fix current issues.
My only issue is presence, not quite the Koulibaly still, a dominant presence at the back is what we need. He's more of a silent profile, whereas Koulibaly is a leader and will make sure his opponent knows of his presence, obviously he has more experience too and will instantly fit in the team. Koundé is a better solution long term but imo, it does not fix current issues.
StretfordBlueReece
Well-Known Member
Sign this kid just what we need pretty please