Mendy undergoes knee surgery

[Neville Kneville]

Is it two yards over 10 or two yards over 50 -:)

Bit of both tbh.

He's not getting off the mark as quick & burning people off, & he's not gaining on/accelerating away from people over distance, as he was.

 

[asahartford1]

Bit of both tbh.

He's not getting off the mark as quick & burning people off, & he's not gaining on/accelerating away from people over distance, as he was.

I never thought he was quick off the mark, not many units his size are.
You may be right over longer distances, let's hope he gets back to full fitness, before he is another one written off prematurely by blues.

I have the quotes at the ready.

 

[Tevez City]

Get well soon Mendy.

Hopefully Delph can stay fit.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Looking at recovery time for this injury it looks like 6 weeks so back in time for Liverpool at home.

Otamendi

KDB

Mendy

We will cope but hopefully the International matches don’t bring any more.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I never thought he was quick off the mark, not many units his size are.
You may be right over longer distances, let's hope he gets back to full fitness, before he is another one written off prematurely by blues.

I have the quotes at the ready.

Well 'off the mark' is probably wrong, but after a couple of paces, he would accelerate rapidly & burn players off, alarmingly so.

I'm not sure he can be the player we require, without that extra pace. Not without reinventing himself as Delph MkII anyhow. So I hope this fixes him. His sheer amount of injuries are a worry imo though.

 

[meeesh]

Not wholly concerned. I think Mendy has shown he can be one of the best, but we've hardly seen it this season. If anything, he's been a clear weak link at times, but I don't want to moan as we've had such a good start and he's still played a part in that.

It seems our fullbacks have been much more reserved as of late - I feel like we have lost the primary reason you'd want Mendy in the line up, given how dangerous he can be offensively. We haven't seen him whipping in those dangerous crosses or making marauding runs that we saw at the start of the season.

You take those duties away from Mendy and you're left with a fullback that is weak defensively and from a positional sense.

I do think there's a real player in Zinchenko - he's already good, but has seemingly gone up a level this season whenever he has played. Looks to be a lot more assured defensively and a bit more in tune as to where he should be as a fullback. I think a combination of Zinchenko playing in the lower table games and Delph for our tougher challenges will be fine whilst Mendy is recovering.

LB is a position we need to have a good think about though. It's worrying how many issues Mendy has had with his knees and they didn't start at City. Players are rarely the same after knee surgeries and I believe he's on his third at the age of 24. As good as Delph has been, I don't think he's a genuine top class fullback - he's a solid squad player, and if these issues are going to continue for Mendy and he can't reach the level he once was, do we need to think about getting in another first choice option?

Unfortunately,(although he is improving),in my opinion Zinchenko has a touch of the Kolarov's in his game at LB,hardly busts a gut to get back if caught in possession,which he has done a few times,but I won't knock the lad,as we all know he's not a LB,and like I say he is improving,just needs games I suppose,but Delph will get in before him for most games I reckon

 

[CWMCFC]

So you think Zinchenko has gone up a level and looks to be a real player, but you want to get another new LB in to block his path to the first team?

I'd query whether his future lies in the position. He can play there in a Pep team, but I would worry if he was there for any other manager. I said he improved and is fine for the time being, not that I think he should be our long term LB - I really like the lad and would love that to happen if he reaches the level required, but he's really a central/wide midfielder.

 

[kippaxoldboy]

It`s a blow but hardly the end of the world. Zinchenko or Delph can step in easily enough or at a pinch LaPorte can go left and Otamendi can move next to Stones.
If it was to really hit the fan then Danilo can do a job. No great worries I think but hopefully Bendy will recover soon.

 

[Banned Tosspot]

No loss really. Awful defender, great attacker. We have enough in attack

 

[FCBarca]

Shame, definitely a player I enjoy seeing on the pitch - hope it's a speedy recovery