Kalidou Koulibaly

skyblues said:
Besides kicking down Messi last night, he did he do? I only saw bits and pieces but I think he looked good.
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He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.
 
I’d love to know what Laporte makes of KK. We need Aymeric to be more free to be involved in offensive play and not covering his new CB partner’s mistakes.
Sorry to add to those who see more ‘Mangala’ than ‘Vinny’ in KK. I hope my fears are proved wrong if we make this £++ signing. In Txiki and Pep I trust.
 
Neville Kneville said:
He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.
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My biggest concern from last night's game was his tendency to go walkabout but that should be easily managed.

The worst thing he did IMO was make a very poor unforced error to concede a corner but that was a product of a right footed player playing left sided CB; if City buy him, he'll play on his natural side.

Whilst he was at fault on the penalty incident for getting caught on the ball, I thought the decision to award a penalty was a joke - many will disagree - because he was in possession of the ball had his eyes on it and was simply trying to lamp it, the connection with Messi, who tried to knick the ball, was entirely unintentional and unavoidable in that instance. Whether Messi actually made contact with the ball, I'm not sure. I'd be livid if city had had a pen awarded against them in similar circumstances.

I've not seen lot of KK but I've seen him have good games. He did some good work last night but you don't judge a player on one of just a few games and City will have done their homework.

The question that City need to make the right call on is whether or not this is a player who is in decline? Those who have seen more of him seem to think his form has dipped but at 29 years of age, he should not have peaked as a CB yet.

If City buy him, I'll judge him on what he does for us and I'll give him time to settle in before rushing to any judgement. I also won't care a fig what we pay for him so long as it does not prevent us doing other business that we want. HHSM can worry about the cost.
 
Neville Kneville said:
He went roaming in midfield sometimes, Otamendi style & his passing was sometimes shit. He was cruising a bit at times & then folks who don't want him added a load of other stuff on, to make it appear worse.
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I've never seen a centre back charge down the opposition goalkeeper before, I'll give him that!

We need someone who brings a calming influence to the defence. Koulibaly looked out of form, erratic and low on confidence last night.

If the club decide he's the best player to partner Laporte then obviously he gets full support and hopefully he'll be a great signing. He's vastly experienced and very highly rated, but at this point there are a few question marks about him and when you're talking about a £65 mill plus player that doesn't inspire confidence. I think people are entitled to be a bit concerned about that.
 
I’m starting to have second thoughts on this. Koulibaly was one of the best defenders in the world up to a season or two ago. Incredibly consistent and hardly made a mistake. But this last season has been very different. Given his age, it’s entirely possible that he is now on the decline. Reminds me of Sanchez, where most of us chose to ignore the early warning signs.

I don’t think we can afford another colossal mistake in this position. I’m now leading towards Soyuncu, given that he is somewhat proven in the league and has the pace that we desperately need. There is definitely still considerable risk, but at least he doesn’t have age going against him. Leicester will ask for a lot of money, but I don’t think that will be a barrier for us.
 
My only concern is his age, at 29 I don’t really know if I want to spend 90 million on a player at that age
 
KK has been a target for us for a couple of years now so I think the research has been done and dusted. City would know whether this is a flash in a pan or a constant decline. If it is the former it does come down to the reasonable fees now. I do hope City give a deadline to Napoli for this business to conclude like the one Dortmund gave to rags. 10 Aug "You in or Out"
 
Bellamy's Caddy said:
I've never seen a centre back charge down the opposition goalkeeper before, I'll give him that!

We need someone who brings a calming influence to the defence. Koulibaly looked out of form, erratic and low on confidence last night.

If the club decide he's the best player to partner Laporte then obviously he gets full support and hopefully he'll be a great signing. He's vastly experienced and very highly rated, but at this point there are a few question marks about him and when you're talking about a £65 mill plus player that doesn't inspire confidence. I think people are entitled to be a bit concerned about that.
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This is partially Gattuso's fault. Can't see Pep letting our CB's doing similar things like being out of position like that. The truth lies somewhere in the middle with KK. He'd be better under Pep, but isn't the world beater everyone was thinking. He's not worth 80mil. More like 50mil tops. If Napoli isn't willing to drop his value then move on to Diego Carlos or someone else.
 
He adds height, a touch of pace (not much though) and strength to a backline that has missed these things this year without Kompany. How many times last season did Pep favour starting Kompany against the bigger and more physical attackers? Plenty. He also has plenty of skill on the ball and has previously played at a very high level, albeit in Italy.

I'm sure these are the attributes he has been scouted for and that Pep has identified we need. Sadly it does not look like he is the kind of bloke to marshal a defence but hopefully Laporte and Ake can step up in that regard.

Personally I'm not convinced paying what Napoli want for a 29 year old with those question marks over him is good business, but if the club believe it is I will trust them - and lets face it with Skriniar/Dias having a bad year there isn't much else out there right now.

Pau Torres is another left footer and we don't need a third. That leaves Diego Carlos who may look great, but he was a laughing stock for a long time in a faster more physical league in Brazil, and really only has one good season in Europe under his belt. Since he'll cost largely the same I can see why he is only considered a backup.
 
A couple of years ago I was a big fan of KK, however, from what I’ve seen this past season, granted only maybe 6 or so games I haven’t seen the same player. I used to be impressed by his reading of the game and his decision making, his passing was excellent. I don’t know if he’s just had a poor season with a dip in form. But if the club decide he’s a player they want, who am I to argue.
 
Larry Stranger said:
This is partially Gattuso's fault. Can't see Pep letting our CB's doing similar things like being out of position like that. The truth lies somewhere in the middle with KK. He'd be better under Pep, but isn't the world beater everyone was thinking. He's not worth 80mil. More like 50mil tops. If Napoli isn't willing to drop his value then move on to Diego Carlos or someone else.
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Doubt that Gattuso advised that, though I’m sure he admired the sentiment. Think Koulibaly felt responsible and sensed a need to drive his teammates up the park.
Agree with the price, but if we cannot land him and he is our number one target, then I’m not sure there is another viable alternative.
 
Apart from Laporte he’s better than what we currently have even if he isn’t as good as previous years but I’m another one in the Soyuncu camp. Quick,brave,excellent in the air,good on the ball and Prem proven only 24 so could be world class under Peps guidance.
 
De Laurentis has always proved a very tough negotiator in previous transfer dealings with Napoli and it will cost us very heavily to sign this player so we better be sure we are getting a top class player at his peak if we are going to complete his signature. I've no objection to signing him so long as we know precisely what we are getting for the money. If he costs close to VVD money then he better be THAT good or damn near it.
 
Gabriel said:
Doubt that Gattuso advised that, though I’m sure he admired the sentiment. Think Koulibaly felt responsible and sensed a need to drive his teammates up the park.
Agree with the price, but if we cannot land him and he is our number one target, then I’m not sure there is another viable alternative.
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Yeah but Pep is a lot more structured and position for all the players is important. When playing out from the back the position of all the players allows more passing options so he may not have gotten caught on the ball like how he did against Messi. Some of those things gets sussed out in training so he wouldn't be wandering in the midfield susceptible to counter attacks.
 
Larry Stranger said:
Yeah but Pep is a lot more structured and position for all the players is important. When playing out from the back the position of all the players allows more passing options so he may not have gotten caught on the ball like how he did against Messi. Some of those things gets sussed out in training so he wouldn't be wandering in the midfield susceptible to counter attacks.
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Can’t remember exactly, but I think they were already two down at that point and nobody in the midfield was showing the same desire. To me it showed leadership and probably a desire to atone.

Walker often does similar in games. He chases/sprints deep into the opposition half to drag a man back or push a midfielder outside his comfort zone. It‘s a psychological marker to intimidate the opposition and gee up the crowd. Don’t think Guardiola opposes it as long as someone drops to cover.
 
stan bowles said:
De Laurentis has always proved a very tough negotiator in previous transfer dealings with Napoli and it will cost us very heavily to sign this player so we better be sure we are getting a top class player at his peak if we are going to complete his signature. I've no objection to signing him so long as we know precisely what we are getting for the money. If he costs close to VVD money then he better be THAT good or damn near it.
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The other party can only be a tough negotiator if you let them. Name your price and give them time to say yes or no. If they say no to your best price - simply walk away. From the outside we don’t know the actual figures but if Napoli won’t accept €70m then we should just walk away and look elsewhere. We need a new CB but we are no ones fool.
 
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