City backline

[Blue Theatre]

I'd have thought that Walker gets us out of trouble so often, with his pace, that he needs to be in there. Yes, you could ask why we get into so much trouble in the first place, but that's another matter.

So perhaps the safest backline is probably:
Walker - Ruben - Laporte - Aké

Still leaves us with cover problems as soon as we get any injuries, but Cancelo can play LB or RB, and Aké could move back into the centre as needed.

Whether we'll ever really come to trust Mendy or Stones again, I don't know ?

Not quite as inspiring as Zaba / Vinnie / Otamendi in his pomp ... but sadly players like that don't come along every day !

 

[Chi-town blues]

Walker is nowhere near good enough for us. Despite having pace to burn he spends most of the game rooted to touch on the halfway line, shouting for the ball & then when he gets it ambles 2 or3 yard slowly then turns round & passes it 45 degrees BACK to the goalkeeper or central defender. Any speed built up is lost & opposition defence easily slots back in place. This pattern of play is just the same with Gundo & when these 2 play together you get a Lyon performance. Thanks guys but adios.

 

[Citycity76]

I would drive Garcia to Barcelona for free.

 

[ctwrd]

Ake has been impressive but the issue is still the defence being exposed.

we played a lot of 17/18 with stones and otamendi in defence.

it’s the midfield that isn’t supporting the defence

also our lack of killing games off keeps score down and allows opposition back in

 

[Marvin]

Walker is absolutely indispensable to us at the moment. He does get caught out of position from time to time but he also rescues us with his amazing speed.

I'd play DIas and Harwood Bellis just because I think pace has become a real issue for City and I've formed the opinion that Harwood-Bellis is the quickest central defender we have. Then shuffle Laporte over to left back.

Alternative would be 3 at the back.

 

[BolinCell]

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I don't think this is just about the players we play in defence. There's something else wrong in the team that needs addressing.

If we're not going to address the counter attack sucker-punch goal then we're going to need to buy 4 seven foot, Bolt-speed defenders with the awareness of Maldini and Baresi but who can pass like Silva and head it like Andy Carroll. I honestly think if we can stamp the silly goals out then we can talk about titles, CL etc again. If it's not stamped out we're going to have another frustrating season watching the likes of Fulham mug us.

I'd honestly be happy if we went back to basics where we went out and aimed not to concede. Make that a priority and build confidence back up in the team. Let's start to show teams that it's completely pointless blasting hopeful 60 yards balls forward. Make them think about a plan B for a change.

We WILL score goals with the attacking players we've got and if we only score 70 goals this year and concede 20 (which I think we're capable of) then it's champagne time AGAIN this year!

De Jong used to mop up,Ferdi used to mop up, now no one mops up in front of defence and that's one of our problem areas.

 

[Woody13]

I’ve heard a lot of positive things about Dias and am also a big fan of both Laporte and Ake, so I started thinking, well, would three at the back work? I’d just worry about protection in front of them, but then am I just wanting protection everywhere due to our current frailties?

 

[Easy]

I’ve heard a lot of positive things about Dias and am also a big fan of both Laporte and Ake, so I started thinking, well, would three at the back work? I’d just worry about protection in front of them, but then am I just wanting protection everywhere due to our current frailties?

Our best back line is

Ake-Laporte-Dias-Cancelo

Defensively solid and some attacking output down the right hand side.

Ake had a good cameo today at LB. Ruben a good debut, Laporte back to his usual self.

 

[citymad]

Yeh let’s buy some more defenders. At some point we’ll pin the tail on the donkey. Law of averages and all that!

 

[ctwrd]

Our best back line is

Ake-Laporte-Dias-Cancelo

Defensively solid and some attacking output down the right hand side.

Ake had a good cameo today at LB. Ruben a good debut, Laporte back to his usual self.

Is the love for cancelo based on his performances for us or his country/previous clubs?

I’ve never been impressed by him when playing for us (he seems neither strong defensively or that creative in attacking sense) but hadn’t seen him before.

pep certainly doesn’t play him very often and makes you wonder why the money wasn’t invested elsewhere