Nicolas Otamendi - 2016/17 performances

[TonyBookEnd]

Otamendi is a wholehearted player, plays with plenty of effort and is pretty decent on the ball. However I don't believe he has a top defenders brain, he cannot anticipate danger and read certain situations and he spends more time on his backside than any defender I have ever seen. I can understand why some people like him but for me he's not good enough for where we want to be.

 

[Dax777]

Not better than Kompany, but Kompany gets injuries to his injuries so that's irrelevant. Defensively the only player I trust more than Otamendi is Sagna, who's probably in his last season with us.

Stones has great potential but occasionally forgets who he's supposed to be passing the ball to.
Kolarov is an absolute monster at times but he's also incredibly inconsistent and frustrating.
Clichy seems to have regressed this season, though to be fair he's picked himself up in recent games.
Zabaleta is Zabaleta. I love the guy but he really does struggle against pacey players.

For every mistake Otamendi makes, he makes thirty brilliant tackles, headers, blocks and interceptions.

A fact the anti Otamendi folks gloss over like it's irrelevant.

 

[Dax777]

He had a great game yesterday. A reverse pass will often catch most defenders looking the wrong way.
Should we be getting rid of Kun and Kev also because they cost us goals also?

Of course not. Don't you know that these arguments are only applied to players 'we don't like,' we have a different standard for those we do :)

 

[mosssideblue]

Of course not. Don't you know that these arguments are only applied to players 'we don't like,' we have a different standard for those we do :)

It's getting more ridiculous the extremes some will go to to pursue their dislike of a player without thinking about what their posting.

Quite sad really when you consider the landscape that the club is now operating in.

 

[eversince 76]

It's getting more ridiculous the extremes some will go to to pursue their dislike of a player without thinking about what their posting.

Quite sad really when you consider the landscape that the club is now operating in.

When a player or something about him gets in to "the system" it's very hard to get him or it out again. That is why the media has such an influence on the mass nowadays.

 

[01cravend]

20th in sky sports top 100 players of 2016

 

[Neville Kneville]

A fact the anti Otamendi folks gloss over like it's irrelevant.

Well I've posted plenty of what many would describe as 'anti Otamendi' comments & haven't missed one iota of that.

I knew about it before we signed him. Flying into tackles, spectacularly powering headers, that was his game before we signed him. I much prefer defendes who put themselves out there to win the ball, rather than wankers like Nastasic who hide behind others & look cool.

All these flying interceptions are the key to Otamendi's stats. But they don't make him top quality defender & there are pretty much no top quality ex defenders, who would currently describe him as such. The general opinion of pretty much everybody who has commented, is 'not good enough'. From Richard Dunne, to Martin Keown & all points inbetween .

Imo, if he hadn't played v Arsenal, City would probably have lost. Him & Fernando were hugely influential putting us on the front foot, Stones wouldn't have done it, & Otamendi's passing was no worse than Stones' anyhow. He was useless for their goal & made a couple of other catastrophic errors we got away with, but his overall game, led the team.

I would love Otamendi's style to work for City. It would be perfect if it worked. Unfortunately, it's the bit where he comes spectacularly flying in & takes himself out of the game, leaving the defence in a complete shite shambles behind him, or misjudges an aerial ball to such an extent, that he is 3 yards away from it, when the cf nods it behind him unchallenged, leaving his team mates in the shit, or gets it so wrong that he's jumping for a ball from a standing start, facing his own goal, trying to use the back of his head to clear the ball, with a 6ft3 cf running & jumping at him, or gets it so wrong he loses all perspective & grabs the opponent or barges into the back of him, sometimes in the penalty area, hence we are relying on the ref not to see it, or reacts late, lets his man get a run on him & ends up marking fresh air as somene behind him gets the ball, or is running in treacle as an oppo player cruises away from him.

The last one, is physical & can't be helped. It will happen to most cbs.

The others are all, poor quality, technical mistakes, & if he was 20 years old & a City academy prospect, people would be all over it, saying how he 'must' improve if he is to have a future at City.

Well Otamendi, 'must' improve if he is to have a future at City & he's 28.

No amount of bollocks will cover that up. Arsenal was a great improvement, but it needs to continue, or he won't be in the team next season.

 

[City_Sean]

Well I've posted plenty of what many would describe as 'anti Otamendi' comments & haven't missed one iota of that.

I knew about it before we signed him. Flying into tackles, spectacularly powering headers, that was his game before we signed him. I much prefer defendes who put themselves out there to win the ball, rather than wankers like Nastasic who hide behind others & look cool.

All these flying interceptions are the key to Otamendi's stats. But they don't make him top quality defender & there are pretty much no top quality ex defenders, who would currently describe him as such. The general opinion of pretty much everybody who has commented, is 'not good enough'. From Richard Dunne, to Martin Keown & all points inbetween .

Imo, if he hadn't played v Arsenal, City would probably have lost. Him & Fernando were hugely influential putting us on the front foot, Stones wouldn't have done it, & Otamendi's passing was no worse than Stones' anyhow. He was useless for their goal & made a couple of other catastrophic errors we got away with, but his overall game, led the team.

I would love Otamendi's style to work for City. It would be perfect if it worked. Unfortunately, it's the bit where he comes spectacularly flying in & takes himself out of the game, leaving the defence in a complete shite shambles behind him, or misjudges an aerial ball to such an extent, that he is 3 yards away from it, when the cf nods it behind him unchallenged, leaving his team mates in the shit, or gets it so wrong that he's jumping for a ball from a standing start, facing his own goal, trying to use the back of his head to clear the ball, with a 6ft3 cf running & jumping at him, or gets it so wrong he loses all perspective & grabs the opponent or barges into the back of him, sometimes in the penalty area, hence we are relying on the ref not to see it, or reacts late, lets his man get a run on him & ends up marking fresh air as somene behind him gets the ball, or is running in treacle as an oppo player cruises away from him.

The last one, is physical & can't be helped. It will happen to most cbs.

The others are all, poor quality, technical mistakes, & if he was 20 years old & a City academy prospect, people would be all over it, saying how he 'must' improve if he is to have a future at City.

Well Otamendi, 'must' improve if he is to have a future at City & he's 28.

No amount of bollocks will cover that up. Arsenal was a great improvement, but it needs to continue, or he won't be in the team next season.

I personally believe he's got the talent to be a top CB, but I don't think he's been coached enough off Pep so far. All his efforts seem to be on Stones at the moment.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I personally believe he's got the talent to be a top CB, but I don't think he's been coached enough off Pep so far. All his efforts seem to be on Stones at the moment.

The problem isn't 'talent' it's decision making.

Mangala has even more talent.

Neither have been able to apply it consistently so far. The same could also be said of John Stones, but he is younger, therefore more likely, in theory, to respond to coaching.

Otamendi has been at City for a season & a half & hasn't changed in that time. But, he spent a full season learning nothing, under Pellegrini, so it's only fair he gets a chance under Pep.

 

[Lancet Fluke]

The problem isn't 'talent' it's decision making.

Mangala has even more talent.

Neither have been able to apply it consistently so far. The same could also be said of John Stones, but he is younger, therefore more likely, in theory, to respond to coaching.

Otamendi has been at City for a season & a half & hasn't changed in that time. But, he spent a full season learning nothing, under Pellegrini, so it's only fair he gets a chance under Pep.

Mangala should have been given that same chance too IMO. Neither of them covered themselves in glory since they joined us but I honestly don't think it was fair to judge any of our defenders on the basis of playing under Pellegrini. I can't help but think Mangala's pace and strength could have been useful in a few matches this season and with the money we paid for him, I just don't get why he didn't get some chance under a different manager.