Kalidou Koulibaly

[Salford_Blue]

I still can't believe we are 4 years in to Peps tenure and people think a CB as brilliant on the ball isnt going to improve our build up play, stop us losing possession in midfield and give us width.


It's like you've not been watching at all.

Beat me to it...

 

[ctid1894]

Is he going to stop us making defensive errors in critical positions? Yes.
Is he going to be a leader to help organise all those around him? Yes.
Is he going to bring years of top level experience and keep a cool head in big games? Yes.
Will he make stupid decisions and jump in like Otamendi leaving a one on one for forwards? No.
Will be pushed off the ball or stumble in possession like Stones? No.
Is he better at CB than a 35 year old converted DM? Yes.
Does he have more recovery pace than any of our current CBs thus reducing the likelihood of a key chance? Yes.
Will he improve our team? Yes.
Is he going to stop Salah or Mane one on one? Why the fuck wouldn't he? I saw Garcia tackle Mane the other day, why won't a world class defender be able to do the same? To say 'No' categorically is nonsense. EDIT - as others have pointed out, he's already done this for Napoli!

You're asking the wrong questions. All those questions basically undermine someone like Kompany. Are you seriously telling me that VK's presence last year in the run in was basically null and void because we weren't having problems in other positions last year? Clearly bollocks. Koulibaly doesn't solve every problem throughout the team (OBVIOUSLY ffs) but he does solve the ones we're having that our specific to CBs. He is better than Stones, Otamendi, Fernandinho and Garcia currently. Probably possibly better than Laporte, if not level. He improves us, and that's all that will matter.

In the games we've lost 5 goals have been defensive errors, 1 due to poor CB not stepped out quick enough at Wolves. The others were Mane back post at Anfield (Walker at fault), Martial in the home derby (Angelino not putting a tackle in) and two Ederson goalkeeping errors at Salford.

 

[ctid1894]

All counter attacks come from someone losing possesion, all midfield players lose psession at some points. We need centre backs that are aware and good enough to cover those counter attacks Koulibaly is, as is Laporte. Simple as that.

They are the best around absolutely but it won't prevent the cause, the cause of the majority of the 9 defeats. They might prevent a couple but when isolated and exposed 1v1, no defender is great.

 

[ctid1894]

But it's a ridiculous post because none of the points he made are true.

For a start, simply having someone of the physicality of KK is going to make a huge difference.

It means we can push the line higher which means the midfielders can press much more effectively and if they do get bypassed, you dont have a CB taken out of the game immediately like Otamendi is - so you literally do have an extra man in defence in those counterattack situations.

In possession the higher line means the gap between midfield and defence is smaller so its easier to make passes and retain the ball.

Great distribution means the forwards getting the ball earl, in space- we've all seen the benefits of Laportes diagonal balls out to the wings.

Walker absolutely transformed our defence in 2017 because his pace at the back allowed everything else to slot into place. Koulibaly adds that again, as well as the distribution of Laporte and leadership/experience as well.

The solution to the exposed defence is not to compromise the midfield to protect it, it's just to make the defence stronger.

What goals would Koulibaly's physicality at CB stop from the games we've lost? Maybe a block at Spurs for the Bergwyn goal but that's it.

The other statements are all subjective and can be argued against, they're a matter of opinion.

 

[Nails]

What goals would Koulibaly's physicality at CB stop from the games we've lost? Maybe a block at Spurs for the Bergwyn goal but that's it.

The other statements are all subjective and can be argued against, they're a matter of opinion.

Er, so are yours.

 

[ctid1894]

Btw I'm not saying Koulibaly isn't a great player and wouldn't improve us. For clarity, I'm saying is no matter how good he is, the other issues (lack of width leading to slow build-up play) will mean his impact would be very small.

 

[ctid1894]

Er, so are yours.

Very true it's only my opinion, you don't have to agree with it. I maybe proved very wrong, I hope I am. I have tried to give a breakdown of all the goals we conceded to give some validity to those statements and opinions.

 

[blueparrot]

They are the best around absolutely but it won't prevent the cause, the cause of the majority of the 9 defeats. They might prevent a couple but when isolated and exposed 1v1, no defender is great.

The way we play will always leave us open to a turnover and counter attack, nothing will change that, Having the best centre backs will minimise it and cut some of the conceded goals out, as well as make it easier to keep posession. Koulibaly and Laporte would be perfect. Do we need a couple of other singings, yes are any more important, no.

 

[pudge]

Me too, I've seen Mane and Salah both destroy him.

I've seen Nicolas Pepe destroy Van Dijk, what's your point?

Jesus too for crying out loud.

 

[ctid1894]

I've seen Nicolas Pepe destroy Van Dijk, what's your point?

Jesus too for crying out loud.

Exactly that, defenders when left isolated 1v1 will get destroyed. It doesn't matter who we buy, if we don't prevent the counter attacks from happening (as frequently as they do now), we'll see no significant difference in the goals we concede. The goals we conceded in the 9 games we lost aren't due to poor CB's or poor defending, excluding Wolves away, they're due to a variety of other factors.