Aleksandar Kolarov - 2016/17 performances

[eversince 76]

Kolarov has a great game. So far he takes the chance to play under Pep with both hands. And yes it was vs Sunderland. That goes for every players btw. It was a perfect game for him to gell with Stones and get more used to his new position. Not saying the pair will be the regulars though but Pep got what he wants. Two CBs who look comfortable on the ball.

One poor game and the haters will be back for Kolarov though. Even when that game comes at Xmas. It's in the system ...

 

[lightning Rodri]

Who needs Bonucci now :-)
Seriously though he did what was asked of him by Pep. Not more not less. To the best of his ability. Thats all he did.
Well done Kolarov, pls don't flatter to deceive again !!!

 

[NQCitizen]

I think I'm right in that kolorov has played most minutes in pre season , pep certainly sees something in him many of us don't

Maybe he's taken to watching more than just the Mane goal on repeat and banging on about it all summer...

 

[Johnny_on]

Me too mate, "fans" calling for any players' head should fuck right off, the manager decides when a players time is up at City. Until that happens you should support all our boys in blue. Same goes for the cunts calling for zaba, yaya, clichy, sagna, navas, hart, mangala et al to retire/leave

I totally agree, but Bony's ok though right? I can have at least one?

 

[Neville Kneville]

Kolarov has a great game. So far he takes the chance to play under Pep with both hands. And yes it was vs Sunderland. That goes for every players btw. It was a perfect game for him to gell with Stones and get more used to his new position. Not saying the pair will be the regulars though but Pep got what he wants. Two CBs who look comfortable on the ball.

One poor game and the haters will be back for Kolarov though. Even when that game comes at Xmas. It's in the system ...

If he starts to play like the typical kind of shit he's produced on many occasions, & more importantly, doesn't give a fuck trying to cover, like he has on many occasions, then I for one, will indeed be straight back down on him like a ton of bricks & he'll fucking deserve it. He has put in many performances which imo, are totally unacceptable for anyone wearing a City shirt.

Now on to Saturdays peformance.

I thought he looked like an entirely different person, never mind just as a player. He was so committed in his defending & showed composure & an intelligence which I've never seen, in his passing. Non of the blinkered running with his head down & hoofing into the nearest players' legs, like he does at fullback, he had his head up all the time & was waiting for the moment to pick passes. From my position, he looked like a player I've never seen before, who, if he turned up for Roma or Juve, I'd be saying 'we should have a look at this guy'.

Whether it can last against better opposition I don't know, but Sunderland are an aerial team & he seemed to cope with that side of it ok from what I could tell. The biggest factors in this position imo is that he doesn't have to do much running, therefore he doesn't have to track back. He is just concentrating on defending & passing. And also, he isn't close to the touchline, so rather than have one foot to kick with, trapped next to the line, he has other angles he can pass the ball, which allows him to escape without using his right foot for any serious passing but enables him to show quality with his left.

The weakness, is still his pace, when the ball goes behind him & general unfamiliarity with the job. He will have to be another yard ahead in thinking, in order to play that role against better quality players, or otherwise the keeper will have a lot of last ditch tackling to do.

But basically, he made a fantastic attempt, on the day, at doing what was asked of him, playing out of position & well done to him.

It neither covers up his previous career nor proves he has a new one, nor indeed that he can play fullback, but as someone who usually can't stand him, I take my hat off to him on that performance & will wait & see what comes next.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Not a fan and he was subject to my first moan in the game when he took out the Sunderland player as the ball was going out of play in the first half but, to be fair apart from that he had a really good game.

 

[eversince 76]

If he starts to play like the typical kind of shit he's produced on many occasions, & more importantly, doesn't give a fuck trying to cover, like he has on many occasions, then I for one, will indeed be straight back down on him like a ton of bricks & he'll fucking deserve it. He has put in many performances which imo, are totally unacceptable for anyone wearing a City shirt.

Now on to Saturdays peformance.

I thought he looked like an entirely different person, never mind just as a player. He was so committed in his defending & showed composure & an intelligence which I've never seen, in his passing. Non of the blinkered running with his head down & hoofing into the nearest players' legs, like he does at fullback, he had his head up all the time & was waiting for the moment to pick passes. From my position, he looked like a player I've never seen before, who, if he turned up for Roma or Juve, I'd be saying 'we should have a look at this guy'.

Whether it can last against better opposition I don't know, but Sunderland are an aerial team & he seemed to cope with that side of it ok from what I could tell. The biggest factors in this position imo is that he doesn't have to do much running, therefore he doesn't have to track back. He is just concentrating on defending & passing. And also, he isn't close to the touchline, so rather than have one foot to kick with, trapped next to the line, he has other angles he can pass the ball, which allows him to escape without using his right foot for any serious passing but enables him to show quality with his left.

The weakness, is still his pace, when the ball goes behind him & general unfamiliarity with the job. He will have to be another yard ahead in thinking, in order to play that role against better quality players, or otherwise the keeper will have a lot of last ditch tackling to do.

But basically, he made a fantastic attempt, on the day, at doing what was asked of him, playing out of position & well done to him.

It neither covers up his previous career nor proves he has a new one, nor indeed that he can play fullback, but as someone who usually can't stand him, I take my hat off to him on that performance & will wait & see what comes next.

Fair enough. And I am the last trying to make him a better or worse player based on his last performance. I expect Kolarov to have his lapses of losing concentration or let the swagger get the better of him. And to be honest Kolarov is still not sure to survive in this positions as others will come in and Pep will make tactical changes for someone else to prove his worth. I however like to point out Kolarov his strenghts and he has many. No way Pep would have played Clichy in that role and we all know why. It's all part of a risky way of playing football (fasten your seatbelts), that when it's performed to it's finest form, will be mouthwatering to watch. If Macherano can do that for Barca, Kolarov can do that for us. A player who doesn't need to be running a lot due to his way of thinking. Or, as the famous teachter of Pep his ideas, Johan Cruyff, once said: A player who needs to run a lot is too often out of position. Simple and so true.

 

[adeinchessy]

If he starts to play like the typical kind of shit he's produced on many occasions, & more importantly, doesn't give a fuck trying to cover, like he has on many occasions, then I for one, will indeed be straight back down on him like a ton of bricks & he'll fucking deserve it. He has put in many performances which imo, are totally unacceptable for anyone wearing a City shirt.

Now on to Saturdays peformance.

I thought he looked like an entirely different person, never mind just as a player. He was so committed in his defending & showed composure & an intelligence which I've never seen, in his passing. Non of the blinkered running with his head down & hoofing into the nearest players' legs, like he does at fullback, he had his head up all the time & was waiting for the moment to pick passes. From my position, he looked like a player I've never seen before, who, if he turned up for Roma or Juve, I'd be saying 'we should have a look at this guy'.

Whether it can last against better opposition I don't know, but Sunderland are an aerial team & he seemed to cope with that side of it ok from what I could tell. The biggest factors in this position imo is that he doesn't have to do much running, therefore he doesn't have to track back. He is just concentrating on defending & passing. And also, he isn't close to the touchline, so rather than have one foot to kick with, trapped next to the line, he has other angles he can pass the ball, which allows him to escape without using his right foot for any serious passing but enables him to show quality with his left.

The weakness, is still his pace, when the ball goes behind him & general unfamiliarity with the job. He will have to be another yard ahead in thinking, in order to play that role against better quality players, or otherwise the keeper will have a lot of last ditch tackling to do.

But basically, he made a fantastic attempt, on the day, at doing what was asked of him, playing out of position & well done to him.

It neither covers up his previous career nor proves he has a new one, nor indeed that he can play fullback, but as someone who usually can't stand him, I take my hat off to him on that performance & will wait & see what comes next.

Yes, I think the discipline come from the manager. Kolarov knows he's put in a position when it's no longer an option to race up front & assume someone will cover for him. He played as well as I've ever seen him - definitely won more headers - but I agree he has a problem with pace & his positioning need to improve. Credit where it's due though, he pulled his finger out & played an important role for the team.

 

[DAGW]

I've been more than critical of Kolarov over the last couple of seasons as I've never been convinced by his defensive qualities, but having said that, and with the caveat that it was Sunderland and it was one game, I was pleasantly surprised.

I don't know if it's a case of him not having to think about going forward and therefor he doesn't have to make the effort to get back down a wing? I don't know if he doesn't have the capacity to play at full tilt defensively and offensively - i.e. he hasn't got the capacity to do both? But I saw a much more composed defensive display, which is what I want from my defenders!

Clichy is definitely the best choice we have at present for Pep's system, of having fullbacks moving into a defensive midfield position, in attack - I don't think Kolarov is composed enough to do that job (though I think Angelino might be REALLY well suited to that role having seen him in midfield in preseason).

I think Kolarov could have done more for their goal, the blame for having such a huge gap between our central defenders needs to be shared, and I think if he were switched on he could have stepped across a yard or 2 into Defoe's path, but again he's a left back and the transition to CB is likely going to take time, these things may be improved.

I'm looking forward to seeing Kolarov hopefully concentrate on defending from the middle in future, because the signs yesterday were encouraging. That being said, I also hope he becomes back up, not from a Kolarov critical stance, but from a Kompany coming back healthy and nailing down his place.

 

[Damien10]

I'm someone who doesn't rate him highly at all. However he did ok against Sunderland. The main thing was he was playing simple passes instead of whacking the ball just for the fun of it. However defensively he was still jumping into tackles to late. Against better opposition he would be punished for it. So despite him doing well on the weekend, I wouldn't get to carried away.