3 | Ruben Dias - 2025/26

[MCFC1993]

Just making him a thread for the new season.

 

[St.Pauli support]

Surely I'm not the only one who noticed that Dias and Akanji switched CB sides: Dias now right, Akanji now left.

Any explanations?

Dias closer to Portuguese bud Nunes?

Dias to take main workload at RCB with Kuz and Reis to develop?

Josko, Aké and Aknji to share left LCB - or one of Aké/Akanji to leave?

Not quite clear.
Shame we don't have educated journos to notice those things
and just fukcing ask Pep instead of the old boring questions...

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Other than leadership qualities and great abs I'm not really sure what he offers.

 

[pbueno16]

Been poor for 2 seasons now. Been carried by top class center backs next to him, Walker on the right, Ake on the left and Rodri in front of him. Should be benched because we’re getting torched with the high line Pep stands firm on playing.

 

[Craig]

Been poor for 2 seasons now. Been carried by top class center backs next to him, Walker on the right, Ake on the left and Rodri in front of him. Should be benched because we’re getting torched with the high line Pep stands firm on playing.

Yeah, we’ve never really had a rapid centre half but we’ve got one on the books now. Dias is running in treacle and with that constant high line he’ll get exposed time and time again next season

 

[iTyler]

He's finished at the very top level. Should be no more than a back up now.

 

[LWashington]

He makes me far more nervous than Nunes.

 

[dhruvblue]

Lot of words in him

Talks and talks and talks

 

[Tugay One Cup]

He makes me far more nervous than Nunes.

Imagine having both of them in our defence.

 

[the plasterer]

Garbage

 

[J_MCFC21]

Weak in the air. How we ended another game with him and Akanji just crossing the ball aimlessly is beyond belief, thought that bs ended, clearly not.

 

[Gorbachev]

Heads been elsewhere for 18 months or so now.

Massively declined as a footballer.

Got his hand held and bailed out by Walker and once Kyle was on the decline, he declined too.

 

[VOOMER]

He looks shell shocked

 

[Tricky_Trev]

It’s concerning that Pep doesn’t seem even remotely ready to start transitioning Khusanov into the team in place of Dias. It should have already happened.

 

[Chak19]

Like someone said if it was a young player having just a couple of games like he's been having for months now he would not be seen for the next 6 months, and the fact that he never gets dropped means there is absolutely zero pressure on him to improve his performances

 

[Tugay One Cup]

I keep seeing Akanji getting slagged off but I genuinely don't understand how he's supposed to be worse than Dias.

 

[Gaz76]

Has become a real weak link of our team, every challenge he does is last ditch, a sign that he is not reading the game very well, not sure if he can get better tbh

 

[WallyA]

It's kind of shocking look at his aerial duel stats, how can a top CB be so bad in the air?

 

[MCFC ISRAEL]

If we are going to keep playing with such a high defensive line, and no chance Pep will ever change it, Ruben Dias cannot play against fast players. We see it time after time.

His decline in form has been dramatic, and as others have pointed out, without Walker’s pace to cover for him, his presence really exposes how fragile our defense has become.

 

[pbueno16]

I keep seeing Akanji getting slagged off but I genuinely don't understand how he's supposed to be worse than Dias.

Ake and Akanji are facing a firing squad while the blinders are on for Dias once again. Sure the other two haven’t been great, but they’ve been playing through injury for a while. Can’t see what Dias’s excuse is because he’s a liability when called upon himself and makes the rest of the defense shaker because he’s can’t be relied on.