Centre-back

Top quality centre half is the key summer transfer. Benatia would be my preference.

Signing of Fernando will also improve our defensive aspect.

Need to remember we need a reserve or someone who will challenge Joe Hart. I'd like to see Willy Caballero - quality keeper who would push Hart.
 
Vinnie missing training with a groin injury should be a warning to everyone who thinks we can get away without signing a centre back. If that was City right now, we're relying on 33 year old Demi, who was carrying injuries for half last season, next to Nastasic. Demi breaks down, Nastasic & Rekik or Garcia v Sturridge & Suarez.
 
Nastasic will be fine this year , finally clear of injury.
if you doubt him, just watch the entire game when we beat utd at home last year
 
derekthedog said:
Nastasic will be fine this year , finally clear of injury.
if you doubt him, just watch the entire game when we beat utd at home last year
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You could also look back at both the Chelsea games home and away from last seson and you would think he was a Championship player.
 
If vinnie is gone at pre season we do need a cb with same potential. Demi and nasty cannot carry us through cl and pl if Vinnie is gone... This is somthing people must understand that our defensive line is United-weak without Vinnie
 
Klaude said:
If vinnie is gone at pre season we do need a cb with same potential. Demi and nasty cannot carry us through cl and pl if Vinnie is gone... This is somthing people must understand that our defensive line is United-weak without Vinnie
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I agree...Vinnie to the one player that holds us together at the back....signing someone else to support him it VERY important for our season....
 
NorthEastScotlandMCFC said:
Ok so who is out there at centre back

I think we should consider that we would prefer our centre half to have pace due to our style of play.

Sergio Ramos? Too expensive and not for sale
Thiago Silva? Too expensive and not for sale
Hummels? Would be expensive and available for the right price
Subotic? Would be expensive and available for the right price
Benatia? Cracking season but Roma playing hardball
Godin? Cracking season but Athletico would demand a high transfer fee
Mangala? Young unproven but loads of potential, high fee expected
Chiellini? Juventus through and through, absolutely cracking defender though!
Pique? Home grown, lacks pace and would be difficult to sign from Barca
Pepe? Utter **** but could defender who could be available at a lower fee but high wages, has loads of risks associated with him.
Vermaelen? Belgian, injury prone recently, would be available from feeder club

So looking at that list, it's by no means definitive but you can see that you are going to pay a premium for centre halfs. Add to that the amount of clubs looking to strengthen this position.

In my perfect world Micah would move to centre half and go on to become a City legend playing alongside Kompany. Shame that at the moment they call him Mr Glass

Rekik for me looks great but still requires further development. At the risk of putting him out 1 more season without him becoming demoralised.
I don't think Boyata will reach the level we aspire to
Demichellis is great cover for one more season.

Nastasic had a promising first season but injuries hampered progress last year.

What is clear is that finding a top centre half to partner Vinnie is of upmost importance
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Just throwing this out there.

Was Mr Mancini on the right lines trying to get us playing three at the back ?

It seems to be working so far for Argentina, Chile and Holland in the World Cup. Zabs, Clichy, Milner and Kolorov are perfect as wing backs and you can perm any three from four from Vinny, MDM, Nastasic and Rekik with Boyata and the kid everyone rates highly in the EDS as back up.

Helps as well with rotation for the central midfield positions and keeps them all on their toes regarding starting places and no other top side in the Premiership is doing it so we could steal a march on our rivals if this system comes back into fashion.

Normally; I go very conservative with an "if it's not broke don't fix it" attitude; but the prices we have been expected to pay for players unproven in top leagues or after one decent season have been excessive and with FFP affecting our transfers it looks attractive.

With an extra body, MDM can go flying in for challenges, Vinny can bring the ball out and their will be less pressure on Nastasic.

It may need around seven or eight games to bed in - but so did the changes to the way we defend last Season and we still won the Title.

We do have good defenders. Two titles in three years show we have the best players all round and I believe they have the ability to adapt to any system you throw at them.
 
Since everyone one at Munich and Holland are linked to united because of LVG, does anybody think MP has scouted the Chiliean back line while doing commentary?
 
MillionDollarDream said:
Since everyone one at Munich and Holland are linked to united because of LVG, does anybody think MP has scouted the Chiliean back line while doing commentary?
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If Pelegrini was scouting the Chilean national team I doubt he will be looking at their defenders because that is their biggest weakness, wing backs maybe, but not central defenders.

I am hoping he is looking at some of their creative talent though.
 
brotherblue said:
How about Garay? we have't been linked and no one ever mentions him on the BM either.
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Very slow and would be exposed in our system
 
At least after last night no-one could make a case for Jagielka (or Cahill) or any British coached centre back. Showed up the difference between British mentality of central defending ie go with the runners and continental thinking (think City) ie push up and leave runners offside
Great disagreement between Martin (ice age) O'Neill and our Patrick on precisely this the other night.
 
plongo said:
At least after last night no-one could make a case for Jagielka (or Cahill) or any British coached centre back. Showed up the difference between British mentality of central defending ie go with the runners and continental thinking (think City) ie push up and leave runners offside
Great disagreement between Martin (ice age) O'Neill and our Patrick on precisely this the other night.
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I watched that the other night as well and Viera was excellent, just hope he sticks with us for the future
 
plongo said:
At least after last night no-one could make a case for Jagielka (or Cahill) or any British coached centre back. Showed up the difference between British mentality of central defending ie go with the runners and continental thinking (think City) ie push up and leave runners offside
Great disagreement between Martin (ice age) O'Neill and our Patrick on precisely this the other night.
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Since the long ball came off Gerard's head, Saurez would not have been offside! In that case it would have been better if the defenders had tracked the runner.

Give credit to Suarez he is clever with his runs and doesn't get caught offside many times. The best defenders need to show similar intelligence and judge when to push up or track runners for each situation. Even VK has said it is harder to play MP's high line than it was RM's defence. The best defenders need to work together with excellent communication.
 
Plain Speaking said:
plongo said:
At least after last night no-one could make a case for Jagielka (or Cahill) or any British coached centre back. Showed up the difference between British mentality of central defending ie go with the runners and continental thinking (think City) ie push up and leave runners offside
Great disagreement between Martin (ice age) O'Neill and our Patrick on precisely this the other night.
Click to expand...
Since the long ball came off Gerard's head, Saurez would not have been offside! In that case it would have been better if the defenders had tracked the runner.

Give credit to Suarez he is clever with his runs and doesn't get caught offside many times. The best defenders need to show similar intelligence and judge when to push up or track runners for each situation. Even VK has said it is harder to play MP's high line than it was RM's defence. The best defenders need to work together with excellent communication.
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Gerrard running blindly backwards toward the ball, making it impossible for the cb to come for the header & then flicking it on for Suarez is what fucked the whole thing up imo. Caused indecision in the backline.

If the cbs did try to run with Suarez, played him onside & Cavani flicked the ball on, there's no guarantee the ball wouldn't have gone straight to Suarez & the same thing happened. Then the same blokes on tv would be slagging off the cbs for dropping too deep.

If you play the same situation again & fuck Gerrard off, I bet both cbs would be further forward, the fullbacks tighter in, & they'd clear it all up without a problem. That wanker is so slow & constantly creating a zone of danger in front of the back 4. We would have been better with ten men.
 
After seeing the start to the season we have been giving I would expect City to move quickly with getting in a centre back so we can get them a full pre-season at the club. Vinny and Demichelis will prob both come into pre-season late after the world cup so I would hope we would have our new defender well prepared for the August kick off.

If we don't want to spend big money on a defender then maybe we should be looking at Caulker. He is quick so can play the high line, relative cheap compared to Mangala and Benatia and also homegrown for the Champions League.
 
KevR_7 said:
After seeing the start to the season we have been giving I would expect City to move quickly with getting in a centre back so we can get them a full pre-season at the club. Vinny and Demichelis will prob both come into pre-season late after the world cup so I would hope we would have our new defender well prepared for the August kick off.

If we don't want to spend big money on a defender then maybe we should be looking at Caulker. He is quick so can play the high line, relative cheap compared to Mangala and Benatia and also homegrown for the Champions League.
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Simply not good enough.
 
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