#6 | Nathan Aké - 2021/22 Performances

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A few fantastic interceptions that would have lead to very dangerous opportunities. Got beaten in the air a good number of times by Watkins though and a bit suspect in terms of winning aerial duels.

Overall though, done well.
 
Thought he had a superb first half but looked not so good in the second. Main worry is he looks like he could give a silly foul when getting caught static - as I said though big improvement of what we have seen so far.
 
Best of the entire back 4 tonight comfortably. Only one not to make sloppy mistakes. All the wankers who were slaughtering the guy pre-match when hes barely had a chance to get upto speed since signing won't be seen.

He will play vs leipzig, would not be surprised if Pep gives him Watford too did nothing to warrant being dropped.
 
He played well tonight but our defence always seems chaotic when he plays. He reminds me a bit of David Luiz. There’s a quality player in there but you have the nagging sense he’s capable of doing something stupid at any given moment.

He’s very much fourth choice centre back in my view.
 
Dadsupportedthem said:
Is Stones going to be out? I'd have Ake ahead of Laporte atm though.
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Not sure when Stones will be back, but Watford and Leipzig seem like a good opportunity to give Ake some much needed game time. He didn’t let us down tonight and deserves to be trusted/rewarded as a result.
 
Played well tonight.

Doesn't have some of the star qualities of Dias/Stones/Laporte and I think he suffers by not having a run of games in a relatively settled defence to build working relationships with the players around him.

But he's solid when called-upon. I don't think anyone else in the league has a better 4th choice CB.
 
MeatHunterrr said:
Wouldn't mind selling him to Newcastle for reasonable fee. Our defence looks chaotic with him.
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Don’t think we looked particularly chaotic tbh. Villa had their tails up and were always going to pose a threat, but it’s nonsense to suggest that Ake was solely culpable for that.
 
He made a few decent interceptions but so often feels last-ditch.
He tends to get beaten in the air too often too.
Did okay though and is a solid 4th choice option.
 
Ric said:
Not sure when Stones will be back, but Watford and Leipzig seem like a good opportunity to give Ake some much needed game time. He didn’t let us down tonight and deserves to be trusted/rewarded as a result.
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I'm a bit worried about Watford. Look at Chelsea tonight. However I agree he has looked a lot better since not being paired with our jailbird liability.
 
Dadsupportedthem said:
I'm a bit worried about Watford. Look at Chelsea tonight. However I agree he has looked a lot better since not being paired with our jailbird liability.
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Yeah, Watford won’t be straightforward and I’m not sure what the issue with Stones is, but I think there’s an argument to be made that Ake deserves to start ahead of Laporte at the moment.
 
Ric said:
Yeah, Watford won’t be straightforward and I’m not sure what the issue with Stones is, but I think there’s an argument to be made that Ake deserves to start ahead of Laporte at the moment.
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Stones had a fever after PSG. He was fit enough to be on the bench against West Ham.

I'm hoping it's a simple case of spending a couple of hours sat outside in that hideous weather has set him back a few days in his recovery from being unwell.

If he's fully recovered from the illness and then managed to pick up an injury, it's terrible luck and we don't know how long he'll be out for.

But if he's not available, then yeah - I see the argument for Ake. I think Laporte's the better player but he's in poor form, and if he keeps making mistakes his confidence will go and his form will just spiral downwards.

Ake is decent and played well enough tonight to warrant more opportunities. I said earlier in the thread, I don't think any other team in the league has a better 4th choice CB. If we want to keep that option open to us, we need to give him some game-time when it makes sense to do so.
 
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It's hard not to compare our defence with Ake in there, to our defence with the Dias-Stones tandem. The fact the latter looks like a brick wall makes any defensive pairing with Ake look a bit unassured. I think against the lesser teams he'll be more than passable alongside Dias. Put him up against a quality outfit or pair him with Laporte and I think we may have problems. As others have said more than serviceable as 4th choice.

If we could get a good fee from Newcastle, I'd be inclined to allow him to go and play regularly, and recall/promote Harwood-Bellis to the 1st team in that 4th spot.
 
No question that Dias-Stones is our best partnership, and should always play the biggest games when available. Lots of games in December though, even if the fixtures are reasonably kind, so I think Ake has done enough to keep his place for the next two matches.
 
Ric said:
Yeah, Watford won’t be straightforward and I’m not sure what the issue with Stones is, but I think there’s an argument to be made that Ake deserves to start ahead of Laporte at the moment.
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I don’t think there is. Ake was decent tonight and Laporte has been up and down but let’s not rewrite history…Ake has largely been turd since we signed him and hasn’t looked remotely good enough at this level. Laporte is levels above Ake.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
I don’t think there is. Ake was decent tonight and Laporte has been up and down but let’s not rewrite history…Ake has largely been turd since we signed him and hasn’t looked remotely good enough at this level. Laporte is levels above Ake.
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Laporte’s clearly a better player, but in worse form I think. It’s a squad game, and you have to try and keep everyone happy and also reward fringe players when they come in and do well. Guardiola yesterday said he would like to give Ake more game time, and the next two games seem like a good opportunity.
 
Ric said:
Laporte’s clearly a better player, but in worse form I think. It’s a squad game, and you have to try and keep everyone happy and also reward fringe players when they come in and do well. Guardiola yesterday said he would like to give Ake more game time, and the next two games seem like a good opportunity.
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Ake doesn’t have any form, when he has played he hasn’t remotely challenged any of those in front of him in the pecking order.

I always thought that the Dias/Laporte partnership would be a match made in heaven but it hasn’t quite worked out like that. There is strong evidence that Dias/Stones is our best partnership with Laporte rotating in. For me, Ake doesn’t even come into the reckoning. He is the best 4th choice CB in the league, nothing more.
 
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