#22 | Benjamin Mendy - 2020/21 Performances

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

I disagree totally.

I'm french and i did follow Mendy since Marseille before he went to play for Monaco. His attribute has never been the pace but the timing. Mendy has nothing to see with Walker which attribute is really pace. Mendy has two qualities: the timing and the delivery(pass).

His problem actually is not physical at all but mental. He didn't play for almost two years cause of the two injuries(knees), he just need time to have the confidence back. When you don'y play for so long of course you lose the confidence. Mendy is not finish at all , he should play more to have his confidence back but it will be hard cause Zinchenko is a hell of a player (even if people don't really realise)

Sorry for my english , i'm pretty sure i've made huge mistakes.

Your English is quite fine. I disagree with you though - but this is what makes for good footballing discussion.

 

[Larry Stranger]

I disagree totally.

I'm french and i did follow Mendy since Marseille before he went to play for Monaco. His attribute has never been the pace but the timing. Mendy has nothing to see with Walker which attribute is really pace. Mendy has two qualities: the timing and the delivery(pass).

His problem actually is not physical at all but mental. He didn't play for almost two years cause of the two injuries(knees), he just need time to have the confidence back. When you don'y play for so long of course you lose the confidence. Mendy is not finish at all , he should play more to have his confidence back but it will be hard cause Zinchenko is a hell of a player (even if people don't really realise)

Sorry for my english , i'm pretty sure i've made huge mistakes.

I would agree with you. When you see how Mendy is deployed, it's unique to all of our fullbacks. He's essentially out wide like a winger. Lots of times a pinged ball would come out to him and he'll 1 touch pass it to the inside midfielder or try to flash it across goal first time. He doesn't bring it down like a winger and make an outside run to the byline. This has to be instructions from Pep. If he times it right, the defence doesn't have time to react and it can get behind the back line.
He isn't at full stop like you say, but he didn't play badly against Cheltenham. For me though I'd say this is my least favorite set up at the moment. This is how we were playing large parts of last season, but this means because the LB is pushed so high and wide a double pivot needs to be defending. That's why we had Rodri and Gundo shifting over trying to defend counters with Dinho and Otamendi at CB. Not hard to see what went wrong with that.

 

[mccity]

The way I see it, if Mendy can get whatever's holding him back sorted out a la Stones and get back to high levels he'd be a great fullback. He's a far smarter player than people give him credit for in both attack and defence and he can do things with his left foot very few fullbacks could even dream of pulling off.

But until then, my hopes and expectations will fall elsewhere. I wish him luck though.

 

[cookster]

Pep Guardiola: "I am happy that Aymeric is back, he played really well. But it’s not just Ruben and John. It’s everyone. Nathan, Aymeric, the full-backs - Joao, Kyle and Oleks. The team is alive."

No mention of Mendy. Hopefully it means we're gonna offload at the end of the season.

 

[domalino]

Pep Guardiola: "I am happy that Aymeric is back, he played really well. But it’s not just Ruben and John. It’s everyone. Nathan, Aymeric, the full-backs - Joao, Kyle and Oleks. The team is alive."

No mention of Mendy. Hopefully it means we're gonna offload at the end of the season.

I just came in here to post that. Absolutely scathing comment, even unintentionally.

 

[WallyA]

Pep Guardiola: "I am happy that Aymeric is back, he played really well. But it’s not just Ruben and John. It’s everyone. Nathan, Aymeric, the full-backs - Joao, Kyle and Oleks. The team is alive."

No mention of Mendy. Hopefully it means we're gonna offload at the end of the season.

Friendship with wide attacking fullbacks is dead.

 

[vin]

Pep Guardiola: "I am happy that Aymeric is back, he played really well. But it’s not just Ruben and John. It’s everyone. Nathan, Aymeric, the full-backs - Joao, Kyle and Oleks. The team is alive."

No mention of Mendy. Hopefully it means we're gonna offload at the end of the season.

Fair play. He’s had shed loads of chances this guy. Time for him to go

 

[mccity]

Yeah when a player is rather stubbornly unused by Pep, that's a bad sign.

 

[sir baconface]

Leg injuries - affecting speed - impact some players much more than others.

Mendy was great because he could beat almost anyone for pace and then deliver a random pacy cross into the box which - owing to pace - met with few defenders and often resulted in a scoring chance.

Nowadays, Mendy isn't a speed merchant - and his poor footballing skills means that his days as a top player are done.

Gundo - on the other hand - never was pacy. His skillset was as a deeper lying attacking mid - able to link play, deliver passes and to offer a midfield scoring threat. It's not clear to me that Gundo has lost pace due to injury - but even if he has - pace was never a big part of his game.

I’ve noticed Gundo getting more stuck into tackles recently. Whether that’s a result of having more faith in his body, or the self-confidence that comes with top form, I don’t know.

You are right though. Pace was never part of his game. Even before reaching the heights with us, he was contributing quietly to the team.

Mendy, in contrast, lacks Gundo’s footballing brain. He also plays in a position where speed is more important, whether for getting forward or for recovery. Not necessarily greyhound speed but not French Bulldog pace either. His crossing has become ineffective. His shortcomings pose a risk to the team, which is unnecessary given our resources.

 

[meeesh]

A loan move today for him,back to France...................................I hope