Benjamin Mendy

[Serg10Aguero]

Victor moses isn't technically great yet he has been one of the best players for Chelsea this season, if you compare both players- Mendy comes out on top anytime, any day. Mendy would be a good signing for the team.

We play a different system to Chelsea, Pep wants technical players to play his style. What we need is a player that is physical as well as technical, hopefully the scouting comes fruitful.

 

[Tevez City]

Victor moses isn't technically great yet he has been one of the best players for Chelsea this season, if you compare both players- Mendy comes out on top anytime, any day. Mendy would be a good signing for the team.

Can you present any comparison on how Mendy is better than Moses ?

 

[Andy Morrisons jock strap]

Victor moses isn't technically great yet he has been one of the best players for Chelsea this season, if you compare both players- Mendy comes out on top anytime, any day. Mendy would be a good signing for the team.

Agreed the FB requirement nowadays is pace power and stamina he has all three plus puts in great crosses so im not sure what else he needs tbh at 22 he has years ahead of him to hone his skills

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

Technically he's average at best, a left footed Micah Richards. His pace and power make him look better than he is.

Would you have Micah Richards in his prime at RB in this current team?

Because I'd snap your hand off if we were offered a player that good to fit into this side. At LB, that's a no brainer too.

 

[Dax777]

Victor moses isn't technically great yet he has been one of the best players for Chelsea this season, if you compare both players- Mendy comes out on top anytime, any day. Mendy would be a good signing for the team.

Victor Moses is actually pretty good technically. Way better than Mendy.

But that's neither here nor there. The question here is who is most likely to fit. Moses for example spent 5 to 6 years in and out of the Chelsea team, going on loan all over the place until he finally found a niche as a wingback this season. I doubt that's the kind of history we are looking for at fullback.

Mendy is a lot like Baba Rahman at Chelsea last year. Athletic, powerful and with a mean cross. But technically slighly off. Actually think Baba Rahman is technically superior to Mendy. Baba didn't work out, albeit I think Chelsea gave up too early. Mendy could turn out great, but just projecting I think he'll be just okay. The reality is he is way better than Clichy or Kolarov so it would be an upgrade. My thing is simply that we can do more than just upgrade the position. We can make it upgrade the whole squad.

 

[fatbloke]

Would you have Micah Richards in his prime at RB in this current team?

Because I'd snap your hand off if we were offered a player that good to fit into this side. At LB, that's a no brainer too.

I absolutely loved Micah Richards and he was a brilliant player for us at the time and right now if fully fit and in his prime yes I would have him at right back till the end of the season as a very short term stopgap.

However moving into next season and the style of play we want to develop then absolutely not, we need more tactical intelligence and technical ability. You're only as good as your weakest link and every player has to have the right balance between physical, technical and tactical ability. The only left back I've seen with that balance of abilities at the levels we need I think is Grimaldo at Benfica, although I don't watch him week in week out so he might have weaknesses that I haven't seen.

 

[fatbloke]

Agreed the FB requirement nowadays is pace power and stamina he has all three plus puts in great crosses so im not sure what else he needs tbh at 22 he has years ahead of him to hone his skills

It's not the 90's pal, there's so much more a fullback needs at Champions League levels. The best fullback over the last 10 years has been Lahm and he's tiny and while he's not slow he's never been particularly quick.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

Agreed the FB requirement nowadays is pace power and stamina he has all three plus puts in great crosses so im not sure what else he needs tbh at 22 he has years ahead of him to hone his skills

I am not sure also. People keep going on about a technical full back. Dani Alves in his Sevilla days was known for energy, bursting runs forward and his crosses. That was about it. Until recently, Marcelo defended like a headless chicken but was known to contribute immensely to the attack, Jordi Alba remains a terrible defender, you can ask any Barcelona fan - light weight, obsessed with going forward BUT his work rate is what makes him stand out. You wouldn't find a Full back now that is as experienced as Phillipe Lahm or Dani Alves at 22 - 25, you just wouldn't, lets not forget Lahm reached his peak very late, at a point Lahm wasn't rated at all by any German especially after gifting Torres that goal in Euro 2008. Energy, work rate and aggression is what we should be looking for now, Technicality and experience would grow naturally under the tutelage of an experienced manager.

 

[WallyA]

Victor Moses is a wing back (because of a back 3), his role is slightly different from Mendy in that he has more attacking freedom. In this sense I think all he needs is pace, power and stamina to boss his flank. Under this description wouldn't Sane make an excellent wing back?

 

[KCblue]

Victor Moses is a wing back (because of a back 3), his role is slightly different from Mendy in that he has more attacking freedom. In this sense I think all he needs is pace, power and stamina to boss his flank. Under this description wouldn't Sane make an excellent wing back?

We'd be limiting what he offers to the team and hugely limiting his potential by playing him as a wing back, IMO. He's going to be a damn good winger, as he's already shown in glimpses in the past few months.

 

[Iamthemusicman]

We need prime Zabaleta. He'd be perfect.

 

[WallyA]

We'd be limiting what he offers to the team and hugely limiting his potential by playing him as a wing back, IMO. He's going to be a damn good winger, as he's already shown in glimpses in the past few months.

I understand that, but you have to think of the team as a whole. Yes, as a wingback Sane has to be more defensive (and Sterling or whoever the other wingback is), but in turn we get an extra attacking player (say Jesus or Patrick Roberts) who can be added in, is this not worth it?

 

[Blue warrior]

France football saying we're slapping in a bid for Benjamin Mendy Monaco £29 million.

 

[aguero93:20]

France football saying we're slapping in a bid for Benjamin Mendy Monaco £29 million.

Plenty of pace but doesn't seem to have the footballing brain or passing ability to do what Guardiola wants from a fullback, bit of a run in straight lines merchant, I'd be surprised if this one was true.

 

[Ric]

I was pretty impressed with him when we played Monaco, think he'd be a good signing.

 

[RandomJ]

Mendy would be perfect. He's strong, he's fast, he's not a short arse and he can really cross a ball. Of all the LB's we've been linked with this is the one I want us to get the most.

 

[blueparrot]

Mendy would be perfect. He's strong, he's fast, he's not a short arse and he can really cross a ball. Of all the LB's we've been linked with this is the one I want us to get the most.

That describes Mendy, but not sure it describes what Pep wants from his fullbacks, he rather a fullback that can tuck in and play as a midfielder. That's how he used Alaba and Lahm, rather that marauding overlapping fullbacks.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Signing 2 young attacking fullbacks might be ok in home games but away from home we will struggle especially if we haven't got the midfielders to keep hold of the ball. Look at arsenal and spurs both got attacking fullbacks and both teams have struggled away from home.

 

[Akiva]

Fits the current media narrative of us bidding on half the Monaco squad.

Mendy would be a good pick at LB if Bernat or Grimaldo didn't work out. Would take him over Rose for our system, at least.

 

[RandomJ]

That describes Mendy, but not sure it describes what Pep wants from his fullbacks, he rather a fullback that can tuck in and play as a midfielder. That's how he used Alaba and Lahm, rather that marauding overlapping fullbacks.

Perhaps but the last thing I want us to do is buy 2 midgets who might be able to pass a football but will get dominated at the far post on set pieces. Pep has his philosophy but he also needs to buy players that suit the league we are playing in. This league will always be physical and having two weak as fuck full backs will not help us.