Coates - 7M, Mertesacker - £8M, Savic - £7M

[The Fat el Hombre]

A defensive player with pace and skill on the ball, does not equate a short player. I used the term to illustrate that height is not an absolute requisite for a good defender. What I am saying is that to similar players might not be the ideal for the central defenders. As for Savic not being strong enough, he has time to bulk up.

About needing a CB that is comfortable on the ball, I absolutely agree. The more options to build an attack the better.

Personally I am looking forward to seeing Savic in low risk games, lower half EPL or cup games against inferior opponents. Be nice to see the lad and what he can do.

Didn't Smalling play a few games in central defense? As far as I can tell he is far from a beast physically speaking. And from what I saw, he could definitely handle his own as a CB.

Smalling is like Lurch! 6 four

I agree it'll be good to see Savic against weaker teams, I'm pretty sure he'll get plenty game time this season. Be interesting to see how he copes with the kevin davies' of this world

 

[Ntini77]

Savic was the cheapest of the three.

 

[bluealf]

Mertesacker is a very good player but won't sit on the bench, which imo is what we need.

Do we? Would he not have replaces Lescott?

Again Ricster pleased to see that he's strong and aggressive, as I didn't think he was. But how do you think he compares to Coates?

What does it really matter now ?

They have signed for the respective clubs and it wont change, Coates was on Mancini's last few needed players to buy list with Nasri but wasnt allowed to sign him, so obviously he must be a good prospect.

As you have now seemingly decided the thread should really be about replacing Lescott rather than a couple of players for the future you should have mentioned this in the opening post.

You mention about Vinny and his dummy past an attacking when under pressure at the back, for me I dont like a CH doing this as it has the potential for a horror mistake, he got caught out a couple of times last season doing this but it didnt lead to a goal, I can only imagine the amount of threads on here if slagging Lescott off done the same.
Also Lescott is nowhere near as bad on the deck as people make out, people go on about Vidic but really if he was at wigan/stoke etc etc he would be sent off every other week for his obligatory rugby tackle and other fouls he commits on a weekly basis.

 

[CityFan94]

If we are to sign a centre back, it has to be Thiago Silva from AC Milan. He is different class, I am amazed nobody signed him this summer.

 

[Peteri]

If we are to sign a centre back, it has to be Thiago Silva from AC Milan. He is different class, I am amazed nobody signed him this summer.

Maybe because Galliani knows his worth?

 

[CityFan94]

If we are to sign a centre back, it has to be Thiago Silva from AC Milan. He is different class, I am amazed nobody signed him this summer.

Maybe because Galliani knows his worth?

Yeah, the only reason nobody went for him must be his value is too high mate. He's 27 at the end of the month too (I thought he was like 22 at first lol) but he is quality.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

What does it really matter now ?

They have signed for the respective clubs and it wont change,

Believe it or not alf, if I'd made this thread beforehand and every single bluemooner decided Coates would be better instead of Savic, it wouldn't have made a difference to which player City would have chosen to sign. Do you go in the post match discussion thread sand say 'what does it really matter now, the game is over and the result won't change'? Forums are for discussions mate.

As you have now seemingly decided the thread should really be about replacing Lescott rather than a couple of players for the future you should have mentioned this in the opening post

I did:

Lescott appears to be the weakest link in the team at the moment and maybe signing a ready made centre half like Mertesacker would have benefitted us the most?

You mention about Vinny and his dummy past an attacking when under pressure at the back, for me I dont like a CH doing this as it has the potential for a horror mistake,

Understandable but it was just an example I provided to show the comfort that the likes of Komps and Luiz possess on the ball and their ability as footballers. I don't want my centre halves regularly taking on players who are pressuring them, but I want them to cope better than knocking it 40 yards back to Joe every time. I also want them to be able to knock it along the back line at speed with comfort and ease. This helps to create gaps in the midfield areas and allows us to move forward as well as setting a good tempo for the team. When we had dunney this wasn't possible as he lumbered about with it and his passes were inaccurate (often not played into the players direct path which slows things down) and not played quick enough (again slowing the play down meaning less gaps to exploit) with the passes themselves often being far too slow. Lescott is probably a step up but is nowhere near your Kompany's, Luiz's, Terry's, Vidic's etc

 

[VinnieKomp]

On the subject of thiago silva
[bigimg]http://i55.tinypic.com/vopgfp.jpg[/bigimg]

 

[Ricster]

Mertesacker is a very good player but won't sit on the bench, which imo is what we need.

Do we? Would he not have replaces Lescott?

Again Ricster pleased to see that he's strong and aggressive, as I didn't think he was. But how do you think he compares to Coates?

Coates for me is the same type of player. They are both physically strong with Coates having an advantage in height, but the thing is many a team have had scouts out to look at Coates for the last 2-3 years and nobody has taken the gamble. That is the main word here gamble.

Sebastian is about to turn 21 soon and it will no doubt take him a year to settle into the Prem. Will Liverpool rely to heavily on him right from the off too? The great thing for ourselves is that Savic can be introduced at our own pace, especially when Kolo comes back.

My personal opinion if i had the choice between both? I wouldn't swap Savic for Coates at all, and Savic will become the perfect replacement for Lescott.

 

[GStar]

I'd never heard of Savic before we bought him. I've not really seen Coates play. Mertersaker was most deffinitly not what we were after.

Lescott had a great run in the team last season; probably is a candidte for most likely to be replaced, but i don't think either of the other two were the man to replace him with.