Is Gaël Clichy that good?

Caveman said:
Thaksinssoldier said:
Loved him the year we won the prem but he's godawful at the moment,and has been since mid last year.

Huge reason we lost the FA Cup final,and to me was the main reason bayern slaughtered us.today he was lost.

Really hope he regains the old form.
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The main reason München slaughtered us was Pellegrini's tactics.
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Totally correct, but if we keep playing the two fullbacks so far forward, it will continue to cost us goals, and probably some points. I understand his ideas, that we can/will outscore teams, but we need to shoot more than we do, take more chances when we get good ones, and stop giving the ball back to teams cheaply, all things I thought we did a lot today.
 
MSP said:
No, he is not. Even when he was in his best form he was never top class FB as he is useless in attack and nowadays fullbacks need to be as good up front as they're at back. Never understood why he is so much rated here, I rate Kolarov more in City squad. City is attacking side always playing to win the game and better attacking fullbacks are more useful than better defending ones n such team.
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All about opinion, but some seem ludicrously prone to hyperbole. He's a very good full back, just going through a bad patch.
 
I'm not saying this for his current form, I never rated him as much as lot of people here did and was saying it back then too.

Yes, of course he played some good stuff in title winning season, was very good at back but top clubs in modern football era need full backs who can attack, there's no room for specialized defending(attacking quality on that position nowadays. Just look at top teams that had most success in recent years and see what their fullbacks are doing up front. It's maybe the most important position in the team in modern football era.

Clichy was never able to do that, even at his best, so he never was world class fullback as many here thought.
 
I've always prefered Kolarov and really liked him, I reckon partially because I could see a good player who got an unfair amount of stick off this forum, I'm glad he's in good form now and proving critics wrong.

If Kolarov can continue to defend well (as he has been) I can't see why we would put Clichy back in the side. The thing is Clichy on form is amazing defensively especially with his amazing speed.

Can't we just Frankenstien's monster them to create the ultimate left back?
 
I'm a massive fan of Clichy, but I think he's had some poor games for us recently. Some of that this season may be down to his injury, but I don't think Pellegrini rates him or Kolarov that highly and I fully expect us to go for another fullback in January.
 
If he was that good, why is Evra always the first choice in France's quad ?
I agree that overall, an FB's attacking skills nowadays weights more in the balance than his defending feats.
Still, I feel so insecure when Kolarov has to defend against skilled wingers.
We need to look for an alternative option in January ( keep Aleks and sell Gael ).
 
ZZmaestro said:
If he was that good, why is Evra always the first choice in France's quad ?
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A very good question and one i've often wondered myself ...

Of course it could well be that that Evra is simply the personal favourite of the French national team manager , but personally i think a lot of City fans do understimate Evra , who might be a bit 'opinionated' on occasion , but who is also a very good full back , who gets forward with pace , has a wicked delivery , scores the odd goal , and isn't too bad at defending either.
 
I must be going crazy. Bluemoon seems to have come to the conclusion that Clichy isn't untouchable and Kolarov actually has some positive attributes and is better than Clichy at certain things - like going forwards.
 
Swear people have such short memories he was world class during the title winning season. Can't think of too many attainable left backs I would take over him possibly only Baines who would cost 20+ million for a 29 year old. He is limited going forward but still a superb player.
 
Wasn't it Neville that highlighted nearly every goal we conceeded started from the left hand side and teams had spotted that side was our weak point in the team?
 
Tout Clichy and Kolarov, and see who would register the most interest. Juve were desperate for Aleks in the summer. But Pellegrini wouldn't even consider it. As has been said, at international Clichy is basically understudy to Evra. As he was again this week.
I'm not aware of anyone showing interest in Clichy since he's been at the club. Is that the mark of a top class player.
Don't get me wrong, Gael is a very good player when on form, but even then he's limited.
Under Mancini, when we allowed teams to come on to us in the final third, Clichy was excellent because his powers of recovery and pace came into their own.
Now with Pellegrini playing a far more expansive game, and expecting much more from his full backs in the oppositions half, to be honest Clichy looks lost at times.
Aleks on the other hand has come into his own. Far more comfortable going forward. Can cross. Good set piece.
And frankly is a more complete player than Clichy will ever be.
I'm not rubishing Clichy. But Kolarov has to be the main man. Unless we dip our toe in the transfer market.
 
i am quite sure the majority of the problems we have in the left side defensively, is because lack of defensive work from the midfielders. david silva isn't tracking back besides from the first high pressure when we just lost the ball (but he is the best at the high-pressure though), and fernandinho or yaya isnt helping, so its almost a 1-1 situation everytime which in he is ok, but as soon as the opponents right back is coming forward, he is in a 1-2 which he of course cant handle.

the problem may have looked worse yesterday without Kompany, who is good at helping out in the wide areas, but garcia and Nastasic rarely do so. The solution should be to push nastasic further to the left when he sees it coming, and for richards/zabaleta to go closer to the centre to help dealing with the posible cross. That said David Silva, should mark his own man (their right back) and the central midfielders are definetely supposed to help out as well.

That being said, Clichy has regressed in form during the last 6 months, but he doesnt deserve to take the blame alone.
 
Still by some distance our first choice left back for me. Apart from a weakness with his crossing he's got everything we need- tenacity, aggression, pace, solidity. Good players don't become bad players overnight, unless they get a bad injury. His form has dipped a bit this year but it will come back, no problem.
 
Clichy is a quality left back who is more than solid defensively but quite weak offensively. He has been poor this season, and Kolarov should be in the team based on form, but it won't be long before everyone is calling for Kolarov's head once again.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Still by some distance our first choice left back for me. Apart from a weakness with his crossing he's got everything we need- tenacity, aggression, pace, solidity. Good players don't become bad players overnight, unless they get a bad injury. His form has dipped a bit this year but it will come back, no problem.
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I agree.

Didn't he make the most tackles for us yesterday?
 
greasedupdeafguy said:
Swear people have such short memories he was world class during the title winning season. Can't think of too many attainable left backs I would take over him possibly only Baines who would cost 20+ million for a 29 year old. He is limited going forward but still a superb player.
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Don't think it's an issue of the past.

General consensus is that Kolarov is in better form at the moment.

Clichy's form of 2 years ago has no bearing on that.<br /><br />-- Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:13 pm --<br /><br />
greasedupdeafguy said:
Swear people have such short memories he was world class during the title winning season. Can't think of too many attainable left backs I would take over him possibly only Baines who would cost 20+ million for a 29 year old. He is limited going forward but still a superb player.
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Don't think it's an issue of the past.

General consensus is that Kolarov is in better form at the moment.

Clichy's form of 2 years ago has no bearing on that.
 
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