Eliaquim Mangala - 2017/18 performances

[capiloton]

i wish Nastasic still here instead of wasting money buying Mangala.
as long as i remembered, City spent all the budget on him, during FFP sanction.

 

[johnnytapia]

The thing I like about him is that he is never hiding. He makes big mistake, he's crap with the ball but he'll never hide and will make himself available when we're bringing the ball from the back.

He has the balls but unfortunately, the ability seems to have missed him :(

Can't agree with all that. There is no conjecture. He isn't very good. All the talk of "never hiding" would be great of we're talking 'bout someone you'd want to beat in a "Hide and Seek" competition. Sadly, for him, we're not. He plays as if the ball is a fucking grenade.

 

[Jesus Cheekbone]

Can't agree with all that. There is no conjecture. He isn't very good. All the talk of "never hiding" would be great of we're talking 'bout someone you'd want to beat in a "Hide and Seek" competition. Sadly, for him, we're not. He plays as if the ball is a fucking grenade.

He is not hiding but I'll never oppose the fucking grenade part. It's true.

 

[Rolee]

Dead man walking so I'm not going to get too concerned about his performance, just hope Stones and Otter stay fit until we do replace him.

What I wanted to ask is, does anyone else think he was fouled on the first occasion that he was robbed of possession and Bravo stopped the resulting one on one? I think the Wolves striker jockeys his back, knocking him off balance, surprised that I didn't see the linesman's flag go up.

 

[Hungarian blue]

What I wanted to ask is, does anyone else think he was fouled on the first occasion that he was robbed of possession and Bravo stopped the resulting one on one? I think the Wolves striker jockeys his back, knocking him off balance, surprised that I didn't see the linesman's flag go up.

I thought he was just undecisive and paid the price, but maybe you're right. On his second big error (where Tosin saved us), it was a definite delibarete push and foul, but the thing is that this happens so many times with Mangala as I guess refs also bought into the (slightly justified...) hype that how shit he is, so will just give the benefit of doubt to the attackers.

 

[eversince 76]

Not easy for any defender hardly playing to come in and play a that high up its nearly always a one on one situation. Even harder if ref neither linesman feel the need to spot an obvious foul. Not saying Mangala is good enough, because he would need a run of games to prove himself. But as it is now Stones and Otamendi deserve to be in the team. Even Kompany wouldn’t be back in straight away. So I won’t draw any conclusions from this match towards Mangala other than he had his mistakes as many others had them.

 

[FantasyIreland]

He isnt a bad player by any stretch but i do believe he needs to be in a team where he is consistently played alongside a regular partner,i feel we would see a much improved,more composed and reliable defender.Coming in from the cold does not suit him as he's far too keen to impress which then manifests itself like it did last night,in a nervy performance.

Given he will never get that opportunity here,for the benefit of all,he really does need to move on.

 

[Phil1]

Woke up through the night in cold sweats at the thought of him playing regularly for us this season.

 

[shemnel]

Thing with Mangala is, he only seems on his toes for a fleeting moment which is bad news in a high line - if you play the ball at him early (as Wolves did 3 times), he is flat footed and the striker, if quick, is in on goal. If you advance at Mangala for a second he seems to go flat footed again and you can simply play and move past him.

Also he looked terrified with ball at feet last night. I dont think Pep will want him to be around next summer.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

What I wanted to ask is, does anyone else think he was fouled on the first occasion that he was robbed of possession and Bravo stopped the resulting one on one? I think the Wolves striker jockeys his back, knocking him off balance, surprised that I didn't see the linesman's flag go up.

On viewing the replay I think that it's a foul - the striker shoves Mangala in the back as the play develops. But the linesman has a clear view and didn't flag for a foul and the ref is looking at the play too, albeit from further back.

There's some continued jockeying for the ball as the play develops which on first viewing I thought was also a foul. Later on in the replay there's another camera angle from behind the goal. It doesn't show the first part of the play, but it does show the subsequent jockeying; from the 2nd angle, this part of the play looks OK to me.

So, I guess that neither the linesman nor the ref thought that the initial shove from the striker was a foul. For me, there's enough contact that a foul should have been given.

Replay can be seen here: