Was a good read, interestingly it mentions Rudiger who we saw struggle a bit yesterday on the left, but is better on the right, would they sell?did not mention Sanchez though and they would sell, just at the wrong price:)
Was a good read, interestingly it mentions Rudiger who we saw struggle a bit yesterday on the left, but is better on the right, would they sell?did not mention Sanchez though and they would sell, just at the wrong price:)
It's an odd read, I'd go that far.
The entire thing can be boiled down to "lets ignore the many games Koulibaly played at LCB and instead focus on 5 he played at RCB covering for injuries".
And then deciding he wasn't that good at RCB compared to full seasons worth of data of other CBs who only played in one position - RCB.
If you put his figures up in his usual position, he wipes the floor with everyone else in the article.
So the obvious conclusion is that being thrown into playing the other side to cover for your usual partner being injured makes you play worse than normal. Not groundbreaking IMO.
I would expect an analytics article to pick up on that kind of thing. They don't ever bothering to question why his performances would drop when changing position, or what might be the reason for the differences in his performance in his usual position, LCB, and his emergency stints at RCB and whether those would continue if he played RCB every week next to Laporte.
They also never mention the massive changes in his stats this season vs. his prior seasons. That's something that should be picked up on.
Any danger he's a threat from set-pieces - namely corners?
We've sold only players we wanted to sell or weren't good enough to make it. He wouldn't fall into either of these bracketsWe've sold over 250m worth of players since Pep arrived and would struggle if we had to be buying 80m players and replacing them every four years.
I wouldn't worry too much about Koulibaly though, because over the last few years we've generally bought players that were young enough to keep their value for a long time.
Sterling, Jesus, Torres, Bernardo, Rodri, Cancelo, Foden, Laporte, Mendy, Stones, Garcia, ZInchenko, Ederson - all still 26 or under.
I’m all for a cheaper younger alternative, and have a limited knowledge of right footed centre backs playing around the world. But with my limited knowledge I can’t think of anyone better.The more I think about this the more I think paying what looks to be the most ever on a 29 yr old is daft
The more I think about this the more I think paying what looks to be the most ever on a 29 yr old is daft
I agree, and all these videos recently posted of him does not make me go "Oh he's worth it.". On fact, my hesitance grows with every additional watched video.
There must be other options out there.
Maybe Ake is the other option?