Milan Skriniar

[ctid1894]

He's got a very strange standing tackling style, he leaves himself no room for recovery if he misses the ball and is absolutely destined for a big injury. Has he had any serious knee injuries previously?

I can't see him coming here, we've got enough right sided centre backs; Fernandinho, Stones, Garcia and Harwood-Bellis. We need cover for Laporte primarily and someone who can comfortably play left of a back three, so Laporte can play old school sweeper. The way this lad tackles is all right foot, no chance he can play left side of a 3, not for Pep, not with the lack of defensively minded left fullbacks in our squad.

Looks like he'll be a damn good player for someone though.

 

[Ederson's smiley tattoo]

He's got a very strange standing tackling style, he leaves himself no room for recovery if he misses the ball and is absolutely destined for a big injury. Has he had any serious knee injuries previously?

I can't see him coming here, we've got enough right sided centre backs; Fernandinho, Stones, Garcia and Harwood-Bellis. We need cover for Laporte primarily and someone who can comfortably play left of a back three, so Laporte can play old school sweeper. The way this lad tackles is all right foot, no chance he can play left side of a 3, not for Pep, not with the lack of defensively minded left fullbacks in our squad.

Looks like he'll be a damn good player for someone though.

He can look clumsy at times and over aggressive, but his anticipation is world class. He always times his tackles right which is very impressive considering he's only 24.

As for the right side of the CB, he plays on the right side of a back 3 this season under Conte. But last season he played LCB more often than not. He's a versatile defender who can play either side. I think he could do a job as a LCB in a back three, but if laporte gets injured again I think we'll just stick to a back 4.

I saw him live last year and his physical presence on the pitch is outstanding. He's a true leader and everyone on the pitch looks more confident with him at the back, similar to VVD's presence at Liverpool. Leadership and the ability to play LCB is something we could've used when Laprte was out, and still could have a big use of. 80m is a lot of money though, if we get him we'll get him in the summer.

 

[ctid1894]

He can look clumsy at times and over aggressive, but his anticipation is world class. He always times his tackles right which is very impressive considering he's only 24.

As for the right side of the CB, he plays on the right side of a back 3 this season under Conte. But last season he played LCB more often than not. He's a versatile defender who can play either side. I think he could do a job as a LCB in a back three, but if laporte gets injured again I think we'll just stick to a back 4.

I saw him live last year and his physical presence on the pitch is outstanding. He's a true leader and everyone on the pitch looks more confident with him at the back, similar to VVD's presence at Liverpool. Leadership and the ability to play LCB is something we could've used when Laprte was out, and still could have a big use of. 80m is a lot of money though, if we get him we'll get him in the summer.

Pep has been very adamant about playing a left footed centre back on the left for the balance of the team, to open up additional passing angles and to help the teams build-up play. This also helps defensively, as we're less likely to giveaway possession in vulnerable positions.

In a deeper defensive line he may just about get away with playing LCB, not a chance he's capable of that with our high line as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather spend the money (nowhere near £80m) on Ake at Bournemouth, he's a far better fit, gives us more options tactically and is classed as home grown I believe, which frees up a foreign place for use somewhere else as the squad evolves.

 

[Ederson's smiley tattoo]

Pep has been very adamant about playing a left footed centre back on the left for the balance of the team, to open up additional passing angles and to help the teams build-up play. This also helps defensively, as we're less likely to giveaway possession in vulnerable positions.

In a deeper defensive line he may just about get away with playing LCB, not a chance he's capable of that with our high line as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather spend the money (nowhere near £80m) on Ake at Bournemouth, he's a far better fit, gives us more options tactically and is classed as home grown I believe, which frees up a foreign place for use somewhere else as the squad evolves.

In my opinion we'd benefit more from a right footed CB,that's able to play LCB , than a left footed CB. A great world class CB that's able to partner Laporte will take us to the next level, rather than just a straight backup to Laporte.

Fernandinho is old and next season will be his last, Stones and Otamendi are not good enough. Eric Garcia is exciting but we can't expect him to start every game at this age, and THB is unproven at this level and too inexperienced.

Laporte and Skriniar would be the best CB pairing in the world. And if Laporte is out again, Skriniar could play LCB in a back 4 while also providing leadership and stability in defence that we missed when Laporte was out.

 

[CWMCFC]

In a deeper defensive line he may just about get away with playing LCB, not a chance he's capable of that with our high line as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather spend the money (nowhere near £80m) on Ake at Bournemouth, he's a far better fit, gives us more options tactically and is classed as home grown I believe, which frees up a foreign place for use somewhere else as the squad evolves.

Still think we need someone with more height than Ake. It's not the be all end all in our system, but we would have 3 CB's under 6ft if we were to sign him, which limits us if Laporte's not playing.

In my opinion we'd benefit more from a right footed CB,that's able to play LCB , than a left footed CB. A great world class CB that's able to partner Laporte will take us to the next level, rather than just a straight backup to Laporte.

Agree with that we should be signing a long term starting partner for Laporte that is right footed, but can cover LCB when he needs rotating.

Dayot Upamecano would be my choice for this and I just can't understand why we haven't seen us linked with him. Pretty much ticks everything that we will be looking for - tall at 6ft1, good on the ball, incredibly quick, 21 years old, aggressive/strong, right footed (but predominantly plays on the left) and has a release clause that activates in the summer making a deal easy to make at a reasonable price for a player of his quality.

 

[ctid1894]

In my opinion we'd benefit more from a right footed CB,that's able to play LCB , than a left footed CB. A great world class CB that's able to partner Laporte will take us to the next level, rather than just a straight backup to Laporte.

Fernandinho is old and next season will be his last, Stones and Otamendi are not good enough. Eric Garcia is exciting but we can't expect him to start every game at this age, and THB is unproven at this level and too inexperienced.

Laporte and Skriniar would be the best CB pairing in the world. And if Laporte is out again, Skriniar could play LCB in a back 4 while also providing leadership and stability in defence that we missed when Laporte was out.

We currently have 5 right footed CB's, I fully expect at least one of those to leave (Otamendi) but there's still an imbalance and single point of failure with Laporte. Giving Stones an extra year to sort his head out and Garcia & Harwood-Bellis an extra years' experience, while having the insurance of Fernandinho mitigates the urgency of finding a long term partner for Laporte this summer at least.

I know you're adamant this fella can play left side but I'm not seeing that at all, certainly not with Pep's comments on numerous occasions

"Laporte didn’t have the World Cup, was fresh and arrived in top condition and especially he is a left-footed player. He helped us to make our build-up and when the ball comes from the right, he immediately controls to the left and plays it to Leroy - that is quicker than we would play with a right-footer in that position.

"When he goes and drives a little bit to the middle so he can play the balls to Riyad, to Raz, to the right side, so he gave us two alternatives to make our game quicker.

"It’s so important to have a left-[footed] central defender, and he is fit".

 

[Ederson's smiley tattoo]

Still think we need someone with more height than Ake. It's not the be all end all in our system, but we would have 3 CB's under 6ft if we were to sign him, which limits us if Laporte's not playing.



Agree with that we should be signing a long term starting partner for Laporte that is right footed, but can cover LCB when he needs rotating.

Dayot Upamecano would be my choice for this and I just can't understand why we haven't seen us linked with him. Pretty much ticks everything that we will be looking for - tall at 6ft1, good on the ball, incredibly quick, 21 years old, aggressive/strong, right footed (but predominantly plays on the left) and has a release clause that activates in the summer making a deal easy to make at a reasonable price for a player of his quality.

I agree with everything you said. Upamecano would be my prefered choice as well, I really like the look of him when I've watched Leipzig play. His contract is set to expire in the summer 2021, which means that they'll have to sell in the summer in order to cash in. Leipzig have played both 3ATB and 4ATB frequently this season, which would be an advantage for us.

If we hold out until summer (which everything points at), Konate could be back and firing by then. He's out until March for now, but he's arguably the better defender of the two. Taller as well. But buying Upamecano is probably more sensible given his short contract and his ability to play both LCB and RCB without problem.

 

[Ederson's smiley tattoo]

We currently have 5 right footed CB's, I fully expect at least one of those to leave (Otamendi) but there's still an imbalance and single point of failure with Laporte. Giving Stones an extra year to sort his head out and Garcia & Harwood-Bellis an extra years' experience, while having the insurance of Fernandinho mitigates the urgency of finding a long term partner for Laporte this summer at least.

I know you're adamant this fella can play left side but I'm not seeing that at all, certainly not with Pep's comments on numerous occasions

"Laporte didn’t have the World Cup, was fresh and arrived in top condition and especially he is a left-footed player. He helped us to make our build-up and when the ball comes from the right, he immediately controls to the left and plays it to Leroy - that is quicker than we would play with a right-footer in that position.

"When he goes and drives a little bit to the middle so he can play the balls to Riyad, to Raz, to the right side, so he gave us two alternatives to make our game quicker.

"It’s so important to have a left-[footed] central defender, and he is fit".

Maybe we should go all in for Koulibaly in the summer then, now that Napoli is mid table in the Serie A. He pings them across the pitch with both his left foot and right foot, plays both LCB and RCB. Closest to VVD in terms of both ability and leadership.

 

[ctid1894]

Still think we need someone with more height than Ake. It's not the be all end all in our system, but we would have 3 CB's under 6ft if we were to sign him, which limits us if Laporte's not playing.



Agree with that we should be signing a long term starting partner for Laporte that is right footed, but can cover LCB when he needs rotating.

Dayot Upamecano would be my choice for this and I just can't understand why we haven't seen us linked with him. Pretty much ticks everything that we will be looking for - tall at 6ft1, good on the ball, incredibly quick, 21 years old, aggressive/strong, right footed (but predominantly plays on the left) and has a release clause that activates in the summer making a deal easy to make at a reasonable price for a player of his quality.

Why is 2-3 inches height so absolutely vital? I genuinely don't understand why people are so adamant that it's essential for a centre back. We're the smallest team in the league by a distance (last report I saw), yet we concede very few headed goals, certainly when height is a contributing factor. I went through every goal we conceded last season in the summer when everyone was desperate for us to sign that fat headed fuck from Leicester, there was 2 or 3 goals at most all season which physical size may have stopped. Even then better positioning and reading of the scenario could have prevented them in my humble opinion.

Yes VVD is a beast physically but very very rarely do you see him use his physicality, 99/100 it's his ability to read the game and he's not required to defend on the front foot anywhere near as often as our CB's, as he's got 3 defensively minded midfielders in front of him. That makes positioning and ability to read the game even more important than physicality in our CB's, due to our style of defending.

** Apologies for just singling out one tiny bit of your post **

 

[Kladze]