#14 | Aymeric Laporte - 2020/21 Performances

[jay_mcfc]

Watch it back Lacezette was laporte's man he was on the wrong side of him standing behind him when he should of moved in front he had enough time to react to the cross being delivered

Do you know where Zinchenko is? He clearly, god knows why, switched roles with Laporte so Laporte's first instinct is to worry about the man behind him (he clearly points there just before the cross comes in). When the ball comes in Laporte tries to get back in front of Laca but it's too late. At the point Zinchenko goes into Laporte's position, Lacazette becomes his man. The man coming in at the back post became Laporte's. If Laporte hadn't made the effort to get back in front of Lacazette nobody would have said it was his fault but trying to get it made him look worse.

Dias positioning isn't great either, he should be marking that man on the near post who has attracted the attention of Zin.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Yeah but the main fault was his team mates in front of him. Dias and Dinho covering the same zone and Zinchenko a bit suspect as well. If Laporte would've gone in front of Lacazette they could easily cross to the back post.

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So I would have said, Zinchenko as left back should have been covering the far post. As it is he is perfectly positioned for right cb. Dias can’t know what is going on behind him so is gambling everything on being able to block the cross. Laporte is clearly looking after Lacazette and is wrongly positioned behind him. Given how immense Stones has been for Ariel challenges, that would not have been a goal if he had been playing.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Given how immense Stones has been for Ariel challenges, that would not have been a goal if he had been playing.

Not to mention that there's a cat in hell's chance anyone would defend Stones for making the same mistake. The guy got blamed for Tom Pope scoring when it was entirely down to Harwood-Bellis for fuck's sake.

Anyway, it was a small mistake by someone who isn't at his sharpest right now and it didn't cost us anything in the end.

I'm absolutely buzzing about our centreback situation at the moment and I'm also a bit shocked that so many people seem to be concerned by it. Serious competition for places and starts based on merit. Couldn't ask for anything more.

 

[jay_mcfc]

So I would have said, Zinchenko as left back should have been covering the far post. As it is he is perfectly positioned for right cb. Dias can’t know what is going on behind him so is gambling everything on being able to block the cross. Laporte is clearly looking after Lacazette and is wrongly positioned behind him. Given how immense Stones has been for Ariel challenges, that would not have been a goal if he had been playing.

So you’re happy for Dias and Fernandinho to be marking no one, Laporte to be marking 2 and him be at fault?

 

[Blue and White Army]

So you’re happy for Dias and Fernandinho to be marking no one, Laporte to be marking 2 and him be at fault?

There anticipating where they think the cross is going to come you don't always have to be marking a man but your marking the space, Laporte hasn't got 2 cause he probably won't even know cedric is behind him, but if any one should be on cedric it's Zinchenko but he's showing up his positional play there as not being a LB, Laporte should be goal side of Lacezette and let's be honest were not talking about some one who is a prolific header of the ball in Lacezette, It didn't matter that game but it's little things like this that have been costing us points this season cause we're not scoring as frequently as we normally are.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

So you’re happy for Dias and Fernandinho to be marking no one, Laporte to be marking 2 and him be at fault?

Once Steffen punches it then there's a scramble to deal with the next ball. Dias and Fernandinho both go to block the low cross at the near post and Zinchenko instinctively goes to cover the centre like it's a set piece. Laporte ends up with two and ends up half marking both of them.

Positional errors are always going to happen at some point but I think you want your top defenders to deal with those problems better in the moment. If Laporte prioritises Lacazette and the ball is knocked over him to the back post for a tap in then I wouldn't put any blame on him.

Nobody covers themselves in glory there but he was too indecisive to identify the biggest threat.

 

[christened at st marks]

He has been a standout compared to an out of form Stones Garcia and Nicko for the previous two seasons, however I've always felt he has a fault in him

 

[Saddleworth2]

So you’re happy for Dias and Fernandinho to be marking no one, Laporte to be marking 2 and him be at fault?

I commented on Dias being out of position. Fern was trying to block the cross. I was happy about the overall performance just commenting on what I saw in that photo. Is that ok?

 

[jay_mcfc]

Once Steffen punches it then there's a scramble to deal with the next ball. Dias and Fernandinho both go to block the low cross at the near post and Zinchenko instinctively goes to cover the centre like it's a set piece. Laporte ends up with two and ends up half marking both of them.

Positional errors are always going to happen at some point but I think you want your top defenders to deal with those problems better in the moment. If Laporte prioritises Lacazette and the ball is knocked over him to the back post for a tap in then I wouldn't put any blame on him.

Nobody covers themselves in glory there but he was too indecisive to identify the biggest threat.

When you start saying 'you want your top defenders to deal with that' you're complicating something that is really simple. Laporte saw where Zinchenko was going, then he saw the guy behind him. In Laporte's eyes they have switched roles, Laporte is now playing left back with a live danger at the back post.

Zin makes two errors, both understandable but both wrong. First he goes central which wasn't necessary (although when it's the second wave of attack as this was it is understandable. An experienced left back wouldn't have done it though). Secondly he doesn't just go to lcb to cover Laporte he ends up in the rcb position because Dias is out of position. There are already two players trying to stop the cross so Dias should be picking up a player.

Also, Laporte wasn't stuck in two minds about which one to defend. When he pointed he made it clear who he was marking. He only tries to get back in behind Lacazette when 1- he sees Zin out of position and 2 - he sees where the ball is going.

You say you wouldn't have blamed him had the guy at the back tapped in but many would, and that sums up the issue of what he was dealing with.

 

[Akira]

He has been a standout compared to, out of form Stones Garcia and Nicko however always has a fault in him

Maybe it's the lack of punctuation, but are you suggesting Stones is out of form? ...Cuz that's just rubbish.