Is left back really a problem?

kaz7 said:
Zinchy suits the way we play , get rid of mendy and bring in a specialist lb to rotate with, i dont like the disrespect zinchy gets
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Agree completely.
I reckon Pep is more than happy with Zinchenko.
He has obviously taken on the advice that Pep is giving.
I cannot see any new left back coming into our squad.
Mendy may go as he has fallen down the pecking order.
Ake will probably rotate with Zinchenko and also cover if any of the 3 centre backs are injured or need to be rested.
We are certainly in a better position with our left backs now than we have been in the last g few years.

I recall a time when we started with Navas as a right back, Fernandinho as a left back and Kolarov centre half.

It wouldn't surprise me the least if we brought in no new players next season although Fernandinho and Aguero may feel its time to move on.
 
bluesclues123 said:
We still need a left back. Ake might be more injured than mendy at this point and hasn't proven himself yet.

Zinchenko has been fantastic but this stop-gap approach I think has been hurting us over the long term. Every summer we go through with the mentality of "that's fine, X would do a job, we don't need to get a leftback" and I think it's due that we actually acquire another one, whether to fight zinchenko for game time or to replace mendy who's clearly not good enough.
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Stop gap LB's that has won us 2 PL trophies soon 3, a quadruple, and breaking PL record after record. The disrespect, lack of appreciation and knowledge why we use an LB in Zinchenko's mould is utterly incomprehensible. Maybe your expecting as to make CL as easy as we win PL seeing that's the only competition we have a problem of winning. Well guess what, that's not gonna happen ever. Champions League might be very doable and winnable for us but the uncertainty of cup competitions and the vested interest of people running that competition ensures we are always going to need a rub of the green to win it. Any competition that involves luck, ridiculous play acting from players and defeating shenanigans from organizers and officials will always be a tossup no matter how great the team might be.
 
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If we are carrying on long term with the current system, I'd say LB is no longer much of an issue. Our LB now tends to be more defensive, so I reckon Pep would employ Zinchenko/Laporte/Ake there.
 
Akira said:
If we are carrying on long term with the current system, I'd say LB is no longer much of an issue. Our LB now tends to be more defensive, so I reckon Pep would employ Zinchenko/Laporte/Ake there.
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The ideal situation IMO would be to have an LB who could play a similar role as Cancelo does on the right, allowing for Cancelo to be rotated with Walker more without losing the system. It's why Alaba is such a good fit (but unlikely, of course)
 
dcye said:
The ideal situation IMO would be to have an LB who could play a similar role as Cancelo does on the right, allowing for Cancelo to be rotated with Walker more without losing the system. It's why Alaba is such a good fit (but unlikely, of course)
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I agree. On the other hand, we haven't really seen much of Ake and how well he fits in. I say we give it some time.
 
I'm still unsure if there is a realistic chance to offload Mendy. Also, it would probably make no sense, as his resale value is about zero, while at least on paper, his skillset and unique style (in terms of what the other squad options offer) still might have some good impact on us. And we saw what happened to Stones. Add to that the current first choice Zinchenko, plus Ake and Cancelo, both have already shown to be capable of playing differing roles, to complement the given right back on the day. Numbers wise that's also 8 defenders so just about ideal.

Both an attacker and a midfielder are bigger priorities, given the ages of our current midfield options (both Gundo and KdB are over 30 once next season starts, not to mention Fernandinho who is probably on the leave).
 
D'Silva said:
Stop gap LB's that has won us 2 PL trophies soon 3, a quadruple, and breaking PL record after record. The disrespect, lack of appreciation and knowledge why we use an LB in Zinchenko's mould is utterly incomprehensible. Maybe your expecting as to make CL as easy as we win PL seeing that's the only competition we have a problem of winning. Well guess what, that's not gonna happen ever. Champions League might be very doable and winnable for us but the uncertainty of cup competitions and the vested interest of people running that competition ensures we are always going to need a rub of the green to win it. Any competition that involves luck, ridiculous play acting from players and defeating shenanigans from organizers and officials will always be a tossup no matter how great the team might be.
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Oh get a grip. I was saying the situation is clearly a stop gap situation - look how many times you've changed who your starting LB is in the last few years. it was mendy, then delph, zinchenko, danilo, angelino, cancelo, back to mendy, back to zinchenko. almost none of these are left backs by trade! this is clearly a stop-gap approach and trying to pretend like it isn't is laughable. Sure, zinchenko is doing a good job now, but so did delph! That doesn't mean you don't need a proper, dedicated left back as a more sustainable option.

This forum has a weird obsession in the last few months to completely avoid any piece of criticism or suggestion for improvement, because we're winning, therefore anything to suggest we could be better is absolute heresy. Really annoying mentality - not anyone who might rate a player different than you despite the good result is a disrespectful prick.
 
bluesclues123 said:
Oh get a grip. I was saying the situation is clearly a stop gap situation - look how many times you've changed who your starting LB is in the last few years. it was mendy, then delph, zinchenko, danilo, angelino, cancelo, back to mendy, back to zinchenko. almost none of these are left backs by trade! this is clearly a stop-gap approach and trying to pretend like it isn't is laughable. Sure, zinchenko is doing a good job now, but so did delph! That doesn't mean you don't need a proper, dedicated left back as a more sustainable option.
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Doesn't mean we don't doesn't mean it's top of our priorities either. When you say you've changed left backs I guess you're talking us. As you put yourself down as supporting City.
 
bluesclues123 said:
Oh get a grip. I was saying the situation is clearly a stop gap situation - look how many times you've changed who your starting LB is in the last few years. it was mendy, then delph, zinchenko, danilo, angelino, cancelo, back to mendy, back to zinchenko. almost none of these are left backs by trade! this is clearly a stop-gap approach and trying to pretend like it isn't is laughable. Sure, zinchenko is doing a good job now, but so did delph! That doesn't mean you don't need a proper, dedicated left back as a more sustainable option.

This forum has a weird obsession in the last few months to completely avoid any piece of criticism or suggestion for improvement, because we're winning, therefore anything to suggest we could be better is absolute heresy. Really annoying mentality - not anyone who might rate a player different than you despite the good result is a disrespectful prick.
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Exactly my point. Whatever you do don’t enter the Zinchenko thread, you have posters there calling Zin world class and one of the best in the league. Haha. Good player in a system that suits him perfectly but can definitely be improved on.
 
blueparrot said:
Doesn't mean we don't doesn't mean it's top of our priorities either. When you say you've changed left backs I guess you're talking us. As you put yourself down as supporting City.
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He may not be a blue as it’s weird he is referring to city as “you” but his point is valid.
 
Easy said:
He may not be a blue as it’s weird he is referring to city as “you” but his point is valid.
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Guess it's just a language difference thing. English isn't my native language (although I have been supporting city for 20-ish years). Sorry.
 
Easy said:
He may not be a blue as it’s weird he is referring to city as “you” but his point is valid.
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Not sure it is, we need a left back that can play the way Pep wants. There may be a few out there but don't think there will be many that can do it better than Zinchenko or Cancelo. Think Ake will also prove he can play that position well too. While we may decide to sell Mendy and bring in a more specialised left back for rotation I don't think it would be a priority,or that we'd spend a lot as we'd be quite comfortable going with what we have. Unless it was Alaba but we wouldn't pay what he's looking for .
 
I personally like Zin, he can play this false full back role well. His defensive skills look to have improved a lot too, he's done well against some good strikers recently and he's still pretty young.
 
blueparrot said:
Not sure it is, we need a left back that can play the way Pep wants. There may be a few out there but don't think there will be many that can do it better than Zinchenko or Cancelo. Think Ake will also prove he can play that position well too. While we may decide to sell Mendy and bring in a more specialised left back for rotation I don't think it would be a priority,or that we'd spend a lot as we'd be quite comfortable going with what we have. Unless it was Alaba but we wouldn't pay what he's looking for .
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I agree it’s not the top priority. For me the top priority is striker, midfielder and then LB.

Ake was great against Newcastle and I like him a lot at LB. Offers something different, not as good in the build up as Zinchenko but is faster, better defensively and a major threat in both boxes on corners, free kicks.
 
We're probably not going to offload Mendy the normal way. It's going to have to be a swap deal like with Ota and Dias. That being said, we're lucky to have solid left-back covers in Laporte, Ake, Cancelo, and the likes of Fernandinho if he stays, and Bernabe who seems to be heading the Zinch route. So, it shouldn't really be an issue.

I'd honestly just keep Mendy if there're no takers since, based on our lack of dealings for the LB position, there are no obvious targets. Let's go after difference-makers instead like Haaland, Messi, Kane, or Grealish.
 
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