Judge Roughneck said:
Dax777 said:
Fantastic reasoning there! Let's judge him on making 3 terrible passes in his 2nd game back against Norrich. And then deem him inferior. But how about we examine the whole fact.
Pass Accuracy
Lescott 88.2
Demichelis: 89.5
As it turns out, even with the syrup like back passes by Lescott, and the gaffe passes by MDM in his first 2 games with us, as it turns out, MDM still keeps possession at a higher rate than Lescott. So much for the silly argument that he gives up the ball too often.
Average passes per game
MDM 56.1
Lesscott 48.6
As it turns out, MDM in spite of more forward passes, more possession play and more incisive attack staring plays, still gives up possession less than Lescott.
Oh just for good measure, outside of City's goalies (Hart and Pants) MDM is the only other player this season that is yet to be dispossessed of he ball while on it. Not only is he good going forward with the ball, he is extremely intelligent and safe with it.
As for turnovers, I.e his balls being intercepted by the opposition, only Garicia has a lower rate of turnovers
At 0.2 he passes to the opposition less often than Lescott or any of our other defenders do.
In short, statistically speaking, he dwarfs Lescott in every significant category.
Better passer, better in possession, better starting attacks, more tackles won, more interceptions made, more touches on the ball per game, better passing decisions with the ball, better pass completion rates, won more offsides per game, better at reading the game, better in the air, loses possession less, better set piece threat.
In short he is a better footballer than Lescott in Every Sense of the word. The stats are not lying. You are watching a superior footballer in MDM. And when Nasty returns, MDM will probably start in all the big games.
Oh and for good measure, he is rated as our best defender this season. This is not a fluke. He has been playing that well, while many continue to nitpick at his mistakes from 2 months ago.
Sorry, MDM starts every game if available.
Dax, that's a compelling argument you make there bud. The only thing I take issue with is that I think you may have me down as one of those fans who must have a whipping boy in the team, and that's not the case. I did say that I didn't expect the world from MDM as he is a 4 million player that changed clubs on a free not 12 months ago.
With that in mind he's holding up quite well.
Statistics paint a definitive picture on paper but I'm a bit old fashioned and tend to rely on what I see and from what I've seen I still MDM isn't the answer. However, I guarantee that I I will support him in a blue shirt but I still think Lescott is steadier alongside Kompany whilst Nastasic is out.
If I'm wrong I'll gladly hold my hands up.
It's not a compelling argument at all.
It's 'football manager' childish fantasy horseshit.
Pellegrini obviously picks him because he plays a different style, a bit like a midfielder at times, & it suits his plan, in spite of the dangerous & sometimes fucking hopeless defensive frailties.
Fine, that's his choice. But to make out he's so far been a solid defender is just complete crap.
Sky have just shown some 'highlights' of him in action at Fulham & it's bloody garbage. Missing interceptions & causing problems for his team mates over & over & over again.
Hansen said it, ex CITY goalkeeper Shay Given said it, Souness, basically any fucker who knows anything about defending at all, you won't find ONE person, not ONE, who will tell you that what he is doing is corrrect apart from some apologists amongst City fans.
Pellegrini has chosen to play a dodgy defender at centre back, for his attacking qualities, as Brazil do with Luiz. He thinks it's better for our system. That's it, plain & simple.
The rest is a load of utter bullshit.
