Benjamin Mendy - 2018/19 Performances

[Rolee]

[QUOTE="CityInWashingtonState, post: 11316801, member: 79643"]I am correct. And I do indeed hope that our manager - the most brilliant tactician/strategist in the game - finds a way to play Mendy to full advantage - exploiting his world class offensive skills, without unnecessarily exposing us to his obvious defensive incompetence.[/QUOTE]

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

[QUOTE="CityInWashingtonState, post: 11316801, member: 79643"]I am correct. And I do indeed hope that our manager - the most brilliant tactician/strategist in the game - finds a way to play Mendy to full advantage - exploiting his world class offensive skills, without unnecessarily exposing us to his obvious defensive incompetence.

[/QUOTE]
Uh, dude... you've somehow fucked up your quote tags... LOL.

Edit: I'm not claiming to be a genius with regard to Mendy's lack of defensive ability - it's obvious - as just about every poster on this thread has stated.

 

[Rolee]

Uh, dude... you've somehow fucked up your quote tags... LOL.

Edit: I'm not claiming to be a genius with regard to Mendy's lack of defensive ability - it's obvious - as just about every poster on this thread has stated.[/QUOTE]

It's obvious he has flaws ( that are hugely overstated by some on here ) but they're the type that can be ironed out through playing time. It's far too early to say if he can iron them out or not.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

He’s a wee character.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

It's obvious he has flaws ( that are hugely overstated by some on here ) but they're the type that can be ironed out through playing time. It's far too early to say if he can iron them out or not.

The guy has been playing football throughout his life. I think it's highly unlikely at this point in his career that a manager suddenly points out his defensive liabilities and that he somehow manages to turn things around - of course this might occur, but I really very much doubt it.

Mendy has enormous talent going forward coupled with an inability to play defense - if he's to remain in our squad, our manager will need to find a way to minimize his liabilities - or he'll need to markedly improve on defense. I'm extremely skeptical of the later.

 

[citizen_maine]

The guy has been playing football throughout his life. I think it's highly unlikely at this point in his career that a manager suddenly points out his defensive liabilities and that he somehow manages to turn things around - of course this might occur, but I really very much doubt it.

It also seems highly unlikely that a club with our wherewithal purchases a player of such 'obvious defensive incompetence'

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

It also seems highly unlikely that a club with our wherewithal purchases a player of such 'obvious defensive incompetence'

In a non-competitive League A, Mendy's defensive problems weren't in evidence.

So, honestly, what do you think? Is Mendy a good defender now, simply out-of-form, or a potentially good defender awaiting good coaching such as Pep will provide, or is he instead, not cut out to be a defender? I'm on record as believing the later - where do you stand?

 

[Lancet Fluke]

It also seems highly unlikely that a club with our wherewithal purchases a player of such 'obvious defensive incompetence'

To be fair, you could say the same thing about Mangala but he's pretty wank at defending. Personally I'm not writing off Mendy yet but to suggest that he can't have obvious defensive incompetence purely on the basis that we have signed him doesn't stack up. Our record in the market has been staggeringly good in recent years but no club has a 100% success rate.

 

[mccity]

To be fair, you could say the same thing about Mangala but he's pretty wank at defending. Personally I'm not writing off Mendy yet but to suggest that he can't have obvious defensive incompetence purely on the basis that we have signed him doesn't stack up. Our record in the market has been staggeringly good in recent years but no club has a 100% success rate.

Maybe so (I disagree with you on Mangala but that's by the by). But there's a difference between saying a player might have a defensive weakness or two and saying a player is so bad at defending they're a complete danger to the team. It's plausible that the first kind of player could have slipped through which would support your case, but the language been used by some would imply it's not the first kind of player we're talking about.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

Maybe so (I disagree with you on Mangala but that's by the by). But there's a difference between saying a player might have a defensive weakness or two and saying a player is so bad at defending they're a complete danger to the team. It's plausible that the first kind of player could have slipped through which would support your case, but the language been used by some would imply it's not the first kind of player we're talking about.

As I've said in my previous post - simply state where you stand with regard to Mendy on defense - good now, potentially good, or hopeless.

Hell, I love the guy as a person! (No Irony). I even have a "Shark Team" t-shirt.

And there's no doubting whatsoever his offensive prowess.

But I've seen nothing at all whatsoever to suggest that he'll ever be anything other than a liability when playing fullback; maybe he can play fullback with cover; certainly he can play there against weak squads; maybe our pressing game can continue to cover for him even against strong teams; maybe he can play some sort of winger; maybe - though I think this is very unlikely - he's actually good now on defense and out of form or will be good on defense in the future once Pep teaches him what to do.

I really hope that Mendy works out for us. But I'm doubting that he will. I'd dearly love to be wrong about this.