Nicolas Otamendi - 2016/17 performances

Status
Not open for further replies.
Terra Passenger said:
Nonetheless, Pep is not at all happy with Otter's rash decisions - diving in and/or making reckless challenges when unnecessary. He's got to cut that out of his game.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree. He has to cut it down. But he shouldn't cut it out. That's part of what makes him good. I'm much more concerned when he goes chasing balls way out of his position. The rash slides I can live with. Lord know been living with it at with Komps for years.
 
Terra Passenger said:
+1

Otters just needs to maintain position and not dive in or go for a risky challenge. Pep has told him as much. And yet, he continues to play this risky style.

Talented enough to be a great defender. But too risk prone currently to start for us if Kompany and Stones are fit.
Click to expand...
Thing is he seemed to rein it in for a little while at the start of the season having dived in and had a bollocking very early on. It all resurfaced in the first half at Celtic Park where quite a few players seemed to revert back to the way they played under Pellegrini. people were diving in unnecessarily all over the place and leaving us exposed. Not sure that defensively we have really recovered our composure since that night.
 
Dax777 said:
I find it annoying when folks use the negative in O E player's game to justify why he sucks but ignore all the positives.

As of right now, if a get rid list was instituted, the only defender who'd still be around by the time we get to Ota's name is Stones. And that's coz he is young and just got here. Everyone else would be long gone before Ota considerations come up.

Is he rash and goes down too early sometimes? Absolutely! Is that the totality of his game? Absolutely not.

Every player on our squad has some shit they do I can't stand

Aguero's overdribbling
Silva's soft shooting
DeBryune's unforced errors
Gundogan's sideways too often
Sane's press
Dihno's fouling and collections of yellow card. Not to mention the recent rash of bad passes.
Sterling's ball control
Stones one vone defending
Zab's defending period.
Kolarov's well being Kolarov.
Nando's hiding from a pass
Navas's cross
Kompany's rashness, not to mention his injury record.
Kelechi's right foot


Frankly the only player I don't have anything substantial that bugs me about him is Nolito. But I don't base my conclusion on how good each and every one of these players are simply on just what they don't do well. But rather on the totality of their impact...

And on that, Otamendi is and has been City's best defender since he got here. Nothing has changed since I made this claim over a year ago to derision.

He oscillates between great and potentially awful. I get that. But as of now, no one on defense is even that close. Maybe Sagna when healthy and in good form. But no one else.
Click to expand...


Not a matter for this thread, but your list is probably why we've "underperformed" for the last few seasons under some good managers and even under the greatest manager in the world more recently. We've consistently bought high upside/high impact players with just enough warts that they weren't snapped up by Madrid/Barca/Bayern. Your list is a bit harsh but I think it illustrates how lacking we are in complete footballers. Coming back to the thread topic, Otamendi is actually quite close, but he needs to do a better job of staying within himself and not responding to pressure with more pressure.
 
I know everyone is on a massive high after an incredible result, but he was the one player who did not rise to the occasion. How many times is he going to go to ground and nearly cost us? Fernandinho and Zabaleta were constantly covering for his mistakes and on another night (like 2 weeks ago) we would have been punished for it.
 
karen7 said:
Fuck sake,this is not the time to moan at any of them
Click to expand...

Why? Why is after the match not the time to point out the player who consistently put us in situations where we could have conceded?

It shouldn't be lost amongst the many positives from this game. I can guarantee Pep won't overlook it because we got a good result.
 
Back to his worst again today I thought. Thought he was stupidly rash, and seems to lack a footballing brain at times, Had hoped Guardiola might be able to coach it out of him, but I guess it's not that simple.
 
Cross posting this from reddit user blueradium.

"I dream of a day when Otamendi will be afforded the same level of understanding that other players get when they make rash mistakes, like, Stones, Sterling. You are underestimating the importance of a CB who can play 3 games a week with 7 or 8 type performances, even with the internationals mixed in. Stones was rested against Palace and today. Otamendi doesn't get that kind of freedom. Plus he has to do a lot of dirty work along with Dinho because our other defenders easily back off from a tough challenge. Our only other defender who also puts his body on the line is always injured which is a massive tragedy."
 
Ric said:
Back to his worst again today I thought. Thought he was stupidly rash, and seems to lack a footballing brain at times, Had hoped Guardiola might be able to coach it out of him, but I guess it's not that simple.
Click to expand...
I remember after a couple of games Pep saying, 'I prefer my defenders to stay on their feet.' Well he has tried hard with Ota but I see no sign of improvement. With Stones becoming the new Raheem as far as the press are concerned I think we have a real CB problem.
 
ADegenerate said:
Cross posting this from reddit user blueradium.

"I dream of a day when Otamendi will be afforded the same level of understanding that other players get when they make rash mistakes, like, Stones, Sterling. You are underestimating the importance of a CB who can play 3 games a week with 7 or 8 type performances, even with the internationals mixed in. Stones was rested against Palace and today. Otamendi doesn't get that kind of freedom. Plus he has to do a lot of dirty work along with Dinho because our other defenders easily back off from a tough challenge. Our only other defender who also puts his body on the line is always injured which is a massive tragedy."
Click to expand...
I doubt anyone is underestimating the importance, we just need to sign one who fits that description in January.
 
lancs blue said:
I doubt anyone is underestimating the importance, we just need to sign one who fits that description in January.
Click to expand...

Or we could spend some money and supply Nico with some serviceable fullbacks and stop giving up on our investments before they even play two seasons. Maybe, just maybe buying a new CB every year and quitting on the previous isn't a good strategy. Especially with the way we pick em. Boateng, Savic and Nastacic combined for a whopping 84 appearances combined then we followed that up with Demichelis as a stop gap that was destined to end poorly. Otamendi's been the most capable CB we've bought in the last 7 years and we're already shoving him out the door?! 50 appearances surrounded by kompany, yaya, fernandinho who isn't a typical DM, mangala, kolarov at CB AND LB!!!, 4 past it fullbacks in total, John "Mr lackadaisical" Stones and also let's top it off by installing a new system that's devastatingly error prone to the back line if not executed properly. Fuck it. Nico's the problem! Yep. Nico's gotta go. He's too aggressive. Virgil Van Dijk will solve everything surely. I'm not entirely serious here but it's an absolute joke that he's the scapegoat here.
 
Last edited:
A wholehearted sometimes impetuous defender. Always under the spotlight with the unfavorable refereeing we suffer. I like him, his play saves us a lot of points.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top