Aymeric Laporte 2018 performances

[aguero93:20]

komapany dislikes this post

Unfortunately for Kompany, even fitness issues aside and purely on form he's no longer part of the discussion when it comes to strongest centre half partnership. He also knows it going by his recent comments.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Otamendi in recent times, started slipping towards some of the errors of previous seasons, such as misjudging which challenges to get involved with, going to ground, running underneath the ball, etc, but not when Mangala played, he was lead defender organising stuff when the mangler was there, it was when Stones returned that Otamendi looked nervous. Next to Laporte in his first game, he looked better than he has done in any of Stones' 'comeback' games.

Imo, Laporte is, & always has been, a much better footballer than Stones (who is good on the ball for an English defender but would be below average compared to a mid table Premier League midfielder) the question would be, whether Laporte could adapt to the Premier League as a defender. He's started well. I also think he has always been a better defender than Stones too & he was the player I wanted rather than Stones.

But early this season, Stones looked as good as any cb in europe, he was decisive strong & dominating at both ends of the pitch (constant danger of scoring).

I actually think that, assummg Stones gets his shit together again, on occasion he is paired with Laporte, Stones should be the 'Otamendi' & Laporte should be the 'Stones' whereby Laporte dictates the play & Stones attacks the ball.

 

[ADegenerate]

Otamendi in recent times, started slipping towards some of the errors of previous seasons, such as misjudging which challenges to get involved with, going to ground, running underneath the ball, etc, but not when Mangala played, he was lead defender organising stuff when the mangler was there, it was when Stones returned that Otamendi looked nervous. Next to Laporte in his first game, he looked better than he has done in any of Stones' 'comeback' games.

Imo, Laporte is, & always has been, a much better footballer than Stones (who is good on the ball for an English defender but would be below average compared to a mid table Premier League midfielder) the question would be, whether Laporte could adapt to the Premier League as a defender. He's started well. I also think he has always been a better defender than Stones too & he was the player I wanted rather than Stones.

But early this season, Stones looked as good as any cb in europe, he was decisive strong & dominating at both ends of the pitch (constant danger of scoring).

I actually think that, assummg Stones gets his shit together again, on occasion he is paired with Laporte, Stones should be the 'Otamendi' & Laporte should be the 'Stones' whereby Laporte dictates the play & Stones attacks the ball.

There's a defensive tone in this response for sure but I don't want it to come off that way....

So what's your short term and long term plan for Nico? He's legit world class now but your post comes off as having him as an afterthought.

 

[San Tropez]

Apologies if this has been posted already:

Tough, committed and clever: why Manchester City broke record for Aymeric Laporte

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/02/aymeric-laporte-manchester-city-record-signing

 

[Neville Kneville]

There's a defensive tone in this response for sure but I don't want it to come off that way....

So what's your short term and long term plan for Nico? He's legit world class now but your post comes off as having him as an afterthought.

I said 'on occasion' Stones is paired with Laporte.

Not 'pair Stones with Laporte'.

I'm discussing how I think they should play, if Pep was to pick both of them.

 

[OB1]

Where’s.

My Eric?

 

[BlueCityfan]

Imo, Laporte is, & always has been, a much better footballer than Stones (who is good on the ball for an English defender but would be below average compared to a mid table Premier League midfielder) the question would be, whether Laporte could adapt to the Premier League as a defender. He's started well. I also think he has always been a better defender than Stones too & he was the player I wanted rather than Stones.

I've thought for a while that Stones ball-playing ability has been overrated. I haven't seen him show the kind of passing range Laporte showed in his first game, at least not yet.

 

[ADegenerate]

I said 'on occasion' Stones is paired with Laporte.

Not 'pair Stones with Laporte'.

I'm discussing how I think they should play, if Pep was to pick both of them.

I'm a sucker for getting caught up in theory and projecting futures. I can't see how this one plays out....

Stones/Laporte are perfect in theory but Nico is too good and has to play an important role for me going forward.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I've thought for a while that Stones ball-playing ability has been overrated. I haven't seen him show the kind of passing range Laporte showed in his first game, at least not yet.

It was the same with Ferdinand. If there is a British/Irish cb who can pass a ball decently, he immediately gets embued with all kinds of powers. People have actually compared Stones with Beckenbauer. They might as well compare him with Pep Guardiola.

In the end, Stones' success or failure will depend on how good he is at stopping the opposition by doing his job as cb brilliantly. This is a point Wio keeps making re Stones & saying how it was the key thing in his career.

Early season, I thought Stones/Otamendi were possibly the two best cbs around. We know JS can do it because we have seen him. So all being well, we should have 3 top class 'defenders' in that position. But imo, Laporte is the one with extra footballing ability.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I'm a sucker for getting caught up in theory and projecting futures. I can't see how this one plays out....

Stones/Laporte are perfect in theory but Nico is too good and has to play an important role for me going forward.

In theory, the ideal partnership is one of those plus Otamendi, or Kompany if he was fit, but it's very likely Pep is going to mix it up. So two similar players playing together, one has to change role a bit to make it work.