Jason Denayer

[without a dream]

Who does he play ahead of when everyone's fit? The club captain or the £32m player bought just last season?

Kompany played 30 games last year, Mangala 31 and Demichelis 36. There's plenty of games to go around if we want to give him a shot. Demichelis will soon be 35 and if we can use Kompany more sparingly then he might be able to get through a season without breaking down.

 

[BigOscar]

Personally I believe he could perform a role similar to that of Zouma at Chelsea. A smattering of premier league starts to cover for injuries suspension and form and then coming on in the latter stages of games when we're looking to grind out a result. The Problem for me is Demichelis, Now I'll accept that he's been arguably our best defender over the past season but I feel that it was a crazy decision to give Him a new contract even if only for a year he's 34 and I wouldn't expect him to accept being our fourth choice centre back. this must be the season where we consider Mangala and Kompany as our first choice partnership and with Boyata gone that leaves us with a quartet of Kompany Mangala Demichelis and Denayer and Denayer is far Too good to simply slot into Boyatas place as a "cup games only" choice. I'm struggling to see how all four can be kept happy.

I don't see it as a problem. Demichelis offers an experienced option that can play on either side of defence, so if Vinny is out then we still have the option to play either Mangala or Denayer with him. I don't think you'd want to have to partner Mangala and Denayer together too often if Vinny got hurt (which he probably will), especially if we had an important CL game coming up. Denayer will take a fair while getting to grips with our bizarre defensive line anyway, both Mangala and Demi took half a season before coming to terms with it and they are both far more experienced than Denayer

 

[Glauber Berti]

I don't see it as a problem. Demichelis offers an experienced option that can play on either side of defence, so if Vinny is out then we still have the option to play either Mangala or Denayer with him. I don't think you'd want to have to partner Mangala and Denayer together too often if Vinny got hurt (which he probably will), especially if we had an important CL game coming up. Denayer will take a fair while getting to grips with our bizarre defensive line anyway, both Mangala and Demi took half a season before coming to terms with it and they are both far more experienced than Denayer

I see your point, I suppose I just want whoever is in charge next year to give Jason a fair crack at the whip and not to leave him out in the cold like successive managers did with Boyata. Now not for one second am I suggesting that Boyata and Denayer are of similar quality. However there's no point me speculating on such in the middle of summer I'm sure our scouting team have seen the potential that both Deila and Wilmots have alluded too via continued first team selection for club and country and shall deal with that accordingly. I'm sure they realise that In Jason we potentially have a real gem on our hands.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

He’s played CM in the past at youth level and at Celtic he has played a lot on the ball / possession football given the dominance they have. I think CM is an obvious opportunity to get him on the pitch. I remember Micha getting his debut away at Arsenal in the closing minutes playing basically as a spare part and nearly scoring with a header. That would have done him a world of good and it is that sort of introduction he would need. Boyata played the closing minutes at Totenham as a 3rd CB / defensive midfielder. That’s how I see him going initially i.e. not replacing one of the 3 established CBs but playing just in front of the back 4 when closing out games away from home. He would then play as a CB in the league cup and you go from there.

 

[ninjamonkey]

There's clearly a difference but as I say, if he's competing with three other centre backs he isn't going to get a lot of game time. He'll get some because of injuries and rotations but if we try him at DM in pre-season then depending on how he does it's another potential position he can perform a role in. I've seen a lot of him as well and I feel as though I'm a decent judge of a player - he's very very good in possession and he isn't afraid to pass the ball forwards either. Combine that with his composure and excellent ability to read the game (albeit as a centre back) and it's worth trying him out as a DM considering our other option in that role is hardly setting the world alight.

If he can get a few games more by being able to play in that position then I think it's a good thing. As I said, when Kompany arrived and was played at DM he was often sloppy in possession and if someone had have told me he'd go on to be one of the best centre backs in the world I'd have laughed. Denayer has so much composure and intelligence for a young player and I want him to get as much time on the pitch as possible. I'm not talking about using him like the rags use Jones and playing him everywhere and anywhere, but it's worth trying him in pre-season if it means more game time. I don't think playing as a DM does any harm to a player who wants to play CB, it gives him an opportunity to get used to the pace of the league without being left in the firing line - you can get away with the odd poor positioning etc at DM more than you can at CB.

I don't really see playing him as a DM just to give him game time helping us or him in the long run. It's a very specialist position. It's not easy for defenders to slot in there and perform against good opposition. That's why not many do it, just look at the run around Ramos, one of the most experienced, best and most suited defenders to play that position performed against Juve. He may well turn out to be perfectly capable in that position and it may prove a viable option in certain circumstances but he's always going to be primarily a centre back. Play him in his natural position or not at all. I'd rather see him out on loan playing CB every week than getting the odd game in midfield for us. We don't want a potential Phil Jones on our hands. shoehorning players into any position because they look capable of doing a job there is going to do the player no favours in the long run. Kompany came to us playing DM and played it for Hamburg but he had several years before that at Anderlecht as a CB he was always going to be a CB and if anything, his years in midfield along with his many injuries stifled his progress.

 

[MC ID]

Watching him last night, CM isn't a terrible idea based on his creativity, intelligence and passing ability. The guy very much fits into the 'total footballer' slot, having gone through reddit last night it transpires he started out as a striker before moving back, while obviously such an idea is mad its gives you a glimpse of a player who very much plays with his brain, rather than any natural gifts like british football tends to produce (who's tallest/fastest).

 

[daztrueblue91]

Personally I believe he could perform a role similar to that of Zouma at Chelsea. A smattering of premier league starts to cover for injuries suspension and form and then coming on in the latter stages of games when we're looking to grind out a result. The Problem for me is Demichelis, Now I'll accept that he's been arguably our best defender over the past season but I feel that it was a crazy decision to give Him a new contract even if only for a year he's 34 and I wouldn't expect him to accept being our fourth choice centre back. this must be the season where we consider Mangala and Kompany as our first choice partnership and with Boyata gone that leaves us with a quartet of Kompany Mangala Demichelis and Denayer and Denayer is far Too good to simply slot into Boyatas place as a "cup games only" choice. I'm struggling to see how all four can be kept happy.

I think sometimes people don't realise just how important Demichellis has been to our team in the past two seasons. He is the player who has drilled in Pellegrini's defensive system and keeping him is a must. For all the criticism our defence has had this season, watching it catch people offside has been a joy at times. We really seem to have mastered the offside trap.

Also, it would be a waste of time for us to bring Denayer back and play him out of position. We need him to master the CB position, not be a Phil Jones Mk 2. The aim next season should be to give Mangala as much game time as possible, rotate Kompany quite a bit with Denayer and keep Demichellis to cover injuries. All in all Denayer should be looking to get around 30 games in all competitions for us should he stay.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I think sometimes people don't realise just how important Demichellis has been to our team in the past two seasons. He is the player who has drilled in Pellegrini's defensive system and keeping him is a must. For all the criticism our defence has had this season, watching it catch people offside has been a joy at times. We really seem to have mastered the offside trap.

Also, it would be a waste of time for us to bring Denayer back and play him out of position. We need him to master the CB position, not be a Phil Jones Mk 2. The aim next season should be to give Mangala as much game time as possible, rotate Kompany quite a bit with Denayer and keep Demichellis to cover injuries. All in all Denayer should be looking to get around 30 games in all competitions for us should he stay.

It wouldn't be a waste of time at all, it would just be typical of what has happened with 1000s of young players early in their careers & plenty have ended up as world stars in a different position than they started. It may possibly be the case that Jason is not good enough in the air to play cb in the Premier League. If this turns out to be the case we don't want to lose him when he could be world class in two other positions.

He may also be too good to be a cb.

 

[mcfc482]

I think sometimes people don't realise just how important Demichellis has been to our team in the past two seasons. He is the player who has drilled in Pellegrini's defensive system and keeping him is a must. For all the criticism our defence has had this season, watching it catch people offside has been a joy at times. We really seem to have mastered the offside trap.

Also, it would be a waste of time for us to bring Denayer back and play him out of position. We need him to master the CB position, not be a Phil Jones Mk 2. The aim next season should be to give Mangala as much game time as possible, rotate Kompany quite a bit with Denayer and keep Demichellis to cover injuries. All in all Denayer should be looking to get around 30 games in all competitions for us should he stay.

This, he is an excellent CB and I do not see him being a cdm or even benefiting from playing there having watched him most of this season. CB is where he should be. His qualities are well suited to there and I have no doubt as long as he is given the chance he will become a top CB.

 

[daztrueblue91]

It wouldn't be a waste of time at all, it would just be typical of what has happened with 1000s of young players early in their careers & plenty have ended up as world stars in a different position than they started. It may possibly be the case that Jason is not good enough in the air to play cb in the Premier League. If this turns out to be the case we don't want to lose him when he could be world class in two other positions.

He may also be too good to be a cb.

Its impossible to be too good to be a CB.

Its a typical British way of thinking where if a player is good on the ball and can pick out a pass then he should not be a defender. You compare that to Spain, Brazil and Argentina and they often move talented midfielders and wingers to defence.

The lad is making a name for himself at CB. You only have to look at some of the Belgian options at CB to see what he's up against. Vermaelen, Kompany, Alderwiereld, Van Buyten and even Fellaini and Witsel could do an emergency job there.

He needs time to adjust to the league and swapping his position every week will not help him one bit.

Put it this way, in recent seasons we have signed Savic and Nastasic and gave them game time at CB. Denayer has much more potential than them two and with Demichellis probably approaching his last season with us, there will be a regular squad place up for grabs next season. Surely it's in our and Denayer's best interests to slowly bleed him into the team at CB, similar to how Mourinho has with Zouma.