Marvin said:
Can't shoot or cross! Have you ever seen Kolarov play?
Indeed, even more ridiculous when he's being compared to fucking Clichy.
Here's their records over the past two seasons, playing with the same squad.
Kolarov, 41 starts, 7 goals and 9 assists. So a goal or assist every 2.56 starts.
Clichy, 70 starts, 0 goals and 6 assists. So a goal or assist every 11.67 starts.
That means Kolarov is 4.55 times more likely than Clichy to bag you a goal or assist. It's not even remotely close. Going forward Kolarov is a much better option. Yes, Clichy has pace and is a more far competent left-back but we rarely have that problem. Against a pacy right-winger, or stronger opposition where we expect to be under a barrage, play Clichy, but when you want to break down parked buses we normally play against, the evidence shows that Kolarov is a far more effective option. Our problem last season wasn't our defence conceding too many, it was not scoring enough to turn draws into wins. Kolarov is somewhat of an answer.
If people are saying, yes, we need a world-class attacking left-back to replace Clichy as well as Kolarov, yes, that's perfectly fine. Can we improve on both? Yes, absolutely we can, although such players who can attack and defend competently and have the pace to do both roles effectively are rare, and therefore in high demand. If people are saying we just need defenders to defend, ok, I'd say you're wrong and at our level we do need extra support from the left and right-backs up front, but again it's understandable as an argument. However, people saying Kolarov gives us nothing whilst praising Clichy are deluded beyond belief. The facts are there if you care to check.