Karim Rekik

[Bluebloger]

He's only 19 & has played 25 games in the Dutch league. He hasn't even played regular Championship level or below, other than that, just reserve football.

How many players of that age & experience have you ever known to succeed in the Premier League as starters for their clubs, in any position ?

Then how many at centre back ? How many clubs would pick a 19 year old centre back who has only started 25 games, & start him at the centre of their defence ? Have you seen that happen much ?

West Brom would keep playing him if he struggled, in order to give him experience ?

Think about it.

25 games in the Eredivise, 4 CHL games and 2 Europa leauge games and a single cap for the netherlands national squad. Id say he is about ripe for West Brom, sure it would be a challenge, but if he can cope with it, it would be great.
Alot of players dont get the experiences of various loans and national caps, often they only have experience from the reserve squad and some of the youth national levels, but yet they cope with being thrown into the fire of the first team, just look at sterling for example.
From my point of view, west brom would be a great move.

So can you give me a few examples of 19 year old central defenders who have successfully held down places in Premier League teams, after playing 20 odd games then please ?

Nastasic comes to mind 26 games for Fiorentina, also Chris Smalling had less than 20 games at Fulham. Experience with theses teams is obviously much better than with the dutch league though.

 

[ManCityMVP]

Nastasic was also 19 when played against Real Madrid for City, and for the majority of that season until late March (his birthday).

 

[Neville Kneville]

Well I don't rate most of Nastasic's performances at all, including his first season, & thought he was absolutely dreadful v Rel Madrid, but irrespective of that, Nastasic has failed to hold down that spot, in spite of playing in the twice Champions team, next to Vincent Kompany. Nastasic is quicker & better in the air than Rekik, in spite of not being very good in either area.

I'm taking it Smalling was included as a joke.

I think you've pretty much proved my point. It rarely happens, if ever & imo would be unfair on Rekik & possibly finish him as a City prospect if it went wrong.

The only one I can think of is Micah Richards, & he was a much better athlete, exceptionally fast & great in the air (& basically a miles better defensive prospect than either Nastasic or Rekik).

 

[daztrueblue91]

Well I don't rate most of Nastasic's performances at all, including his first season, & thought he was absolutely dreadful v Rel Madrid, but irrespective of that, Nastasic has failed to hold down that spot, in spite of playing in the twice Champions team, next to Vincent Kompany. Nastasic is quicker & better in the air than Rekik, in spite of not being very good in either area.

I'm taking it Smalling was included as a joke.

I think you've pretty much proved my point. It rarely happens, if ever & imo would be unfair on Rekik & possibly finish him as a City prospect if it went wrong.

The only one I can think of is Micah Richards, & he was a much better athlete, exceptionally fast & great in the air (& basically a miles better defensive prospect than either Nastasic or Rekik).

There is no way on earth Richards will ever be, or has ever been a better centre back prospect than Nastasic.

 

[ANewEra...]

Well I don't rate most of Nastasic's performances at all, including his first season, & thought he was absolutely dreadful v Rel Madrid, but irrespective of that, Nastasic has failed to hold down that spot, in spite of playing in the twice Champions team, next to Vincent Kompany. Nastasic is quicker & better in the air than Rekik, in spite of not being very good in either area.

I'm taking it Smalling was included as a joke.

I think you've pretty much proved my point. It rarely happens, if ever & imo would be unfair on Rekik & possibly finish him as a City prospect if it went wrong.

The only one I can think of is Micah Richards, & he was a much better athlete, exceptionally fast & great in the air (& basically a miles better defensive prospect than either Nastasic or Rekik).

This can't be serious can it? Richards a better prospect than Nastasic? Nastasic dreadful against Madrid? Give me a break.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Richards was a fantastic prospect when he first graduated from the academy, miles better than Nastasic, & proved it in a vastly inferior team. If Richards as he was then, was 18 years old now playing like that in our kids team, he would be the best defender in our academy by a country mile.

Don't try to rewrite history because it doesn't suit your argument. He was one of the hottest prospects around, probably THE best defensive prospect in the country & City fans were worried how long we would be able to keep him, due to huge money being waved around by the 'big' clubs who recognised it.

If we put Nastasic up for sale tomorrow, we wouldn't get back what we paid for him & nowhere near the money Arsenal were waving at us for Micah when he was 18.

He was a top prospect. Anyone who denies that was the case, is a liar or a bandwaggon jumper who wasn't around at the time..

 

[Neville Kneville]

<a class="postlink" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6194424.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 194424.stm</a>

Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce says he will battle to keep hold of young England star Micah Richards despite reported interest from Chelsea.

The Stamford Bridge side have been linked with a £15m move for the versatile 18-year-old defender.

But Pearce told The Times: "I am not actively looking to sell Micah because he has a great future here.

"Whatever offers come in for him, it is going to take a ridiculously big offer to get him out of this football club."

The last player City sold to Chelsea was Shaun Wright-Phillips for £21m in July 2005 - but Pearce is adamant he no longer has to see his brightest talents leave.

"The offer they made us for Shaun had to be in that region to get him out of here, and the financial situation was such that we had to accept that offer," he added.

"Things have changed at the club since then. The Shaun money is in the bank and things are on an even keel.

"While we cannot go out and spend multi-millions on players, we have not got the bank knocking on the door.

"I would love to see Micah stay here, captain the club, and maybe be here for 10 years and carry the club on his back if he can.

"He is good enough to do it. I have not worked with anyone so good and so young."

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6194424.stm

Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce says he will battle to keep hold of young England star Micah Richards despite reported interest from Chelsea.

The Stamford Bridge side have been linked with a £15m move for the versatile 18-year-old defender.

But Pearce told The Times: "I am not actively looking to sell Micah because he has a great future here.

"Whatever offers come in for him, it is going to take a ridiculously big offer to get him out of this football club."

The last player City sold to Chelsea was Shaun Wright-Phillips for £21m in July 2005 - but Pearce is adamant he no longer has to see his brightest talents leave.

"The offer they made us for Shaun had to be in that region to get him out of here, and the financial situation was such that we had to accept that offer," he added.

"Things have changed at the club since then. The Shaun money is in the bank and things are on an even keel.

"While we cannot go out and spend multi-millions on players, we have not got the bank knocking on the door.

"I would love to see Micah stay here, captain the club, and maybe be here for 10 years and carry the club on his back if he can.

"He is good enough to do it. I have not worked with anyone so good and so young."

Personally I thought your posts were improving from a tactical basis, however, not only did you just throw an article that rains praise from Stuart fucking pearce, you continue to beat the same drum re:nasty, don't be so ridiculous man, yes you're entitled to your opinion but for Christ sakes, you've just said don't change history to meet an agenda to someone earlier, you've just done the same. I'd certainly take mihajlović opinion on a player over Pearce any day of the week!!!

 

[LoveCity]

Different times, different expectations, different style. Micah WAS a top prospect just like SWP was and stood out in a poor team. If Micah was coming through today, I wonder if he'd be deemed any better than Denayer, who seems to have more football intelligence but is at a club where it's not easy to play in the first team, unlike back in 2006.

Nastasic walked into a 10x superior team and held his own, though, which has to count for something. He ousted a £20m+ England international who had just been part of the title-winning defence.

 

[daztrueblue91]

Richards was a fantastic prospect when he first graduated from the academy, miles better than Nastasic, & proved it in a vastly inferior team. If Richards as he was then, was 18 years old now playing like that in our kids team, he would be the best defender in our academy by a country mile.

Don't try to rewrite history because it doesn't suit your argument. He was one of the hottest prospects around, probably THE best defensive prospect in the country & City fans were worried how long we would be able to keep him, due to huge money being waved around by the 'big' clubs who recognised it.

If we put Nastasic up for sale tomorrow, we wouldn't get back what we paid for him & nowhere near the money Arsenal were waving at us for Micah when he was 18.

He was a top prospect. Anyone who denies that was the case, is a liar or a bandwaggon jumper who wasn't around at the time..

They are both play different positions though.

If your talking about a young Micah at RB then he had all the potential in the world but he was nothing special when he played CB.

Richards strengths has always been his athleticism. His pace and power has always covered for his lack of a defensive footballing brain. When he was 18 that was more than acceptable but 7 years on and he still struggles from the same problems. The performance he gave against Liverpool a few seasons back in Carling Cup at CB was one of the worst individual performances from any player in the post-takeover era.

Nastasic on the other hand has had to adapt to a different country and play in two contrasting defensive systems. He is still a young lad and has to potential to go right to the top (just like Micah had). Whether he makes it is a different story but hopefully in 3 or 4 years time he will have added a lot more to his game.