I would love to see Mangala playing under diferent management.
Me too, at a different club.
john stones will look shit in our defence.
when you have both fullbacks pushing up at the same time and no holding midfielder then I don't care who is at the back they will look 50% the player.
if we played a more conservative style then otta and manga would look like world beaters.
its not the players its the attacking mentality of the team.
we have 4 very very good centre halves.
Everton hardly play defensive football, and Coleman and Baines are more attack minded than Sagna and Clichy....the system isn't ideal, but it isn't accountable for Mangala's schoolboy interpretation of it; Kompany manages to look imperious in it. It's simply a matter of tactical, positional and individual intelligence.
Tony Adams, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and VK have all played for attacking teams in their time in the Premier League; when you do, you have to be able to win individual battles with players, to be able to read their movement and put them in your pocket like Kompany did with Rooney in his prime. Gomis is a very one-dimensional, primitive physical forward, the kind who should bring out the best in Eliaquim as he's similarly limited to physicality, and he got nowhere near him.
Stones' anticipation and reading of the game is already better than Mangala's ever will be; if we sign him our defence for the next 10, potentially even 15 years would be Stones +1.
Denayer is supremely talented but still hasn't proven himself at a level anywhere near we play; throwing him in too soon could damage his confidence and ultimately career beyond repair. We should sort him out a proper loan in the PL and let him develop naturally, and if he becomes anywhere near as good as a he can be within a few years he can be Stones' partner for us, and the same applies for Humphreys and Tosin, but to pass up on the opportunity to sign Stones because a few talents on our books 'might' become elite defenders would be naive.
He's been spotted in Hale a few times, so is obviously familiar with the area and being a level-headed young northern lad may see that being part of our project is the right move for him; signing him would be a statement of intend on our part to fill the void left by Ferguson's United as English footballs next proper dynasty, a club ready to project the best of English football into Europe.
Stones is going to the very top of the game and we should be doing everything possible to ensure it's with us.
