POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
Nastasic is definately a talented footballer with a bright future and he is very matured. But please stop being blind and unwise in footballing terms. Mancini has mysteriously favoured nastasic over lescott this season, perhaps he also holds the belief that nastasic is more composed on the ball than lescott.
So let me break it down.
Lescott has been the best english defender and one of the best defenders in the league for the past 2 seasons. Let me repeat it, Lescott has been the best english defender for the past 2 seasons and his level of performance last season can be wagered to even rival that of Kompanys and he was one of our main players last season. Ofcourse, no one gave him the credit he desereved, particularly the media.
Lescott is a very intelligent footballer that reads the game incredibly well. He is strong, quick enough and very good in the air at both sides of the pitch. He also have invaluable character and leadership skills, which again nobody seems to want to notice.
He should without a doubt start ahead of Nastasic because simply put he is way superior at the moment in more or less every department.
Nastasic also deserves a lot of praise and acknowledgement, which he has amply recieved from everybody. He has looked solid and composed and unlike Savic, he does not trigger a heart in the mouth reflex when he has possession of the ball or makes a tackle and we have had another impressive defensive season with him at the helm.
Positive reinforcement, a psychological term to describe reward, praise and encouragement given to a subject or patient or child after he or she is percieved to have made progress or completed a particular task. For someone like Nastatsic, positive reinforcement is very helpful and important as it can provide the much needed confidence and comfort he needs to develop and realise his potential.He is certainly going to be a key player for the future.
It is completely understanable to be very excited about the prospect of Nastatsic but we have to assess the situation clearly and realize that Lescott, at the moment, is without a doubt the better option and this should not be obscured with emotions and psychological reactions that precipitates from the subconsious realisation that Nastasic has exceeded expectations this season.