Lescott + more

[Braggster]

Micah, well, let's say he has a lot of work to do if he's going to even get close to the England defence. A lot.

Athletically he is quite capable of it, but at times last season (many times!) he looked totally at sea: hopelessly out of position, hopelessly indecisive, lacking in penetration when on the ball. He showed poor ability to recover when beaten or out of position (a big worry, it used to be his biggest strength) and was so shorn of confidence that he couldn't even impose himself physically on the opposition. He wasn't even close to being dominant in the air, which for someone as athletic as he is, he should be. He looked like a boy amongst men at times.

My worry is that he has minimal footballing ability. POsitionally he is notoriously poor (led to his shambolic showings at CB, once teams learned to exploit that) and perhaps this will improve over time with experience and coaching (though I have my doubts). But on the ball, too, he lacks any quality: he often gives poor passes to team mates which put them in difficulty and often struggles to control the ball quickly enough. Perhaps that was down to lack of confidence. Let's hope so, because if it wasn't, there's no chance of it improving at this stage.

Micah right now is a million miles from being the player we thought he might be. Is it attitude or lack of ability? Probably a mix of both. However, for sure, you don't throw a 20-year-old defender on the scrap heap for 1.5 crap seasons, so let's hope he turns it around. Good luck to him.

 

[Neville Kneville]

please do not tell me anyone here meant Micah - I could not take any more of that bollocks based on a short spell 2 years ago when he flattered for a couple of months and could be arsed to make some effort

Absolutely meant Micah.

Not saying that he will one day be considered the future of Englands defence, but there is more chance of that happening than Lescott IMO.

And 1 bad year doesn't change that fact for me.

Hopefully it is just a bad season & he comes through it because he certainly has the ability to be one of the best defenders around if he puts the work in. This is a big season for him coming up where he may get the opportunity to work on his game & improve as part of a top squad rather than having to play when his form is poor.

I generally agree - so long as he improves from the position of a squad player.

His opportunity to be a 1st choice player was given to him last season and he totally flopped.

If CITY are to progress as we (and the Sheik) hope ten we cannot continue with any player (not just Micah) playing as a 1st choice in the hope that he might eventually find some form - just not place for that type of sentiment

Fair enough but most young players have dips in form. When Lescott was Micah's age he was learning his trade in the 1st division & getting skinned by people like Darren Huckerby not marking Thierry Henry, which Micah did pretty well not so long ago. Johnson's a better footballer & a good attacking option but he's no defender & was hopeless at Eastlands last season.

 

[AntonDonJuan]

One big point many seem to not take into consideration is that Lescott is very possibly the future of Englands defence .

Must admit I haven't taken that into consideration at all.

The fact that he'll never (IMO) be more than a fringe England squad member may hae something to do with that. We already have two defenders that (again IMO) are more likely to be considered the future of Englands defence than Lescott.

This^^^^

For me Lescott is overrated and not worth the £15m being bandied around. We can, and should, get better defenders than Lescott in IMO, but if Hughes is stuck on Prem experience as he seems to be, then Lescott could be what we make do with. The fact he's a left footed centre half is a good thing for us but that's about it

Who would be your choice Anton ?

I'd pay big wages for Carvalho, he wants to leave Chelsea and is a class defender. Got another 2 years in him yet

 

[ToffeeAndy]

Good objective summary - thanks and apologies for any references you read from fellow blues comparing Micah positively against Lescott - we have had no good times for so long that I plead in mitigation that we still tend to live in the past glories - and in Micah's case this was a very small window when he looked teriffic - it allows us to ignore the fact that he was totally exposed at CB last season and was a shambles most of the time at RB - just a couple of 50% performances towards the end when he was probably for the 1st time starting to worry about his god given right to a 1st team place.

Thankfully we do not need to limp along with him anymore and I expect Johnson (or someone else) to be in with Zab as the back-up and Richards on loan

No Problem! I think Richards has a lot of potential but he's just a kid in terms of Centre Backs. Lescott learnt his trade in the championship and maybe if Richards was loaned to a good championship team or a lower lever premiership team for a year or two he'd develop more? I know when he burst on the scene he looked a real prospect but had really poor positional sense, so maybe playing week in week out in a team where there's less expectation he could make mistakes and learn from them under less scrutiny?

I think i'd probs take Richards as part of any deal with Lescott if it happened and use him as backup to Yobo and Jags, but maybe i've not seen him play enough to really appreciate the flaws he might have.

 

[mcfc1632]

Good objective summary - thanks and apologies for any references you read from fellow blues comparing Micah positively against Lescott - we have had no good times for so long that I plead in mitigation that we still tend to live in the past glories - and in Micah's case this was a very small window when he looked teriffic - it allows us to ignore the fact that he was totally exposed at CB last season and was a shambles most of the time at RB - just a couple of 50% performances towards the end when he was probably for the 1st time starting to worry about his god given right to a 1st team place.

Thankfully we do not need to limp along with him anymore and I expect Johnson (or someone else) to be in with Zab as the back-up and Richards on loan

No Problem! I think Richards has a lot of potential but he's just a kid in terms of Centre Backs. Lescott learnt his trade in the championship and maybe if Richards was loaned to a good championship team or a lower lever premiership team for a year or two he'd develop more? I know when he burst on the scene he looked a real prospect but had really poor positional sense, so maybe playing week in week out in a team where there's less expectation he could make mistakes and learn from them under less scrutiny?

I think i'd probs take Richards as part of any deal with Lescott if it happened and use him as backup to Yobo and Jags, but maybe i've not seen him play enough to really appreciate the flaws he might have.

Well hopefully your manager has not as well

 

[jordinho09]

i think aston villa would have something to say about loaning micah to a championship side

 

[moomba]

thanks and apologies for any references you read from fellow blues comparing Micah positively against Lescott

Don't know what you're apologising for.

No-one here is saying that Micah is a better footballer right now, and no-one is blind to the year that Micah has just had.

 

[mancitytmd]

i think aston villa would have something to say about loaning micah to a championship side

Why ????

 

[Darker shade of Blue]

Lescott has apparantly dismissed speculation today according to the radio , but we'll see .

As for playing for England , it's not unusual for players to get a bit nervy untill their feet are well and truly under the table .

I thought Andys assessment was a fair one .
Last season wasn't as good as the one before , but it was a decent season for him all the same , and probably only diminished in stature due to the emergence of Jagielka and Baines .

He is a Brummy after all so will never be perfect lmao .

 

[blupoo]

Forgive me if this point has already been made but I think with regard to some of the premier leagues players, that are in the England set up we need to take into account the fact that some of them may well be thinking further down the line than the forthcoming season, and indeed the world cup. I mean that settled players such as Barry , Lescott etc have managers in place that have been at their respective clubs for some time (and therefore have some form of stability) have been linked to take over from YOU KNOW WHO when he retires. should this be in the not too distant future then that could mean less stability at the club if they leave, which IMHO would disrupt any club and the continuity of a teams/individuals performance, thus promoting a risk to playing international football.





Just a thought