Pepe

[Big_Fan]

Re: Pepe

we only have two top centre backs, thats vk and mn, lescott is a liability, boyata is no way good enough, garcia cant even play in his proper position midfield never mind defence, i say lets get pepe in!

I think "mn" is overrated by alot on here. He is still young and for is age has big potential but I still think he needs to improve and would not like to see him as my main cb along with vk. I think because he looks well on the ball people get carried away, but a midfielder could do what he does in this area. I think he gets beat in the air to often which he needs to improve on and can be beaten by a drop of the shoulder and pace.

As for Lescott being a liability I dont think is the case. Not taking age into account I would prefer Lescott and VK to start against Newcastle and bleed MN into the cb he is going to be. As for Boyata and Garcia I 100% agree.

I think Nasty is already a better than Lescott...Better at reading the game..you rarely see him on the back foot, where as for Lescott, he loses his man all too often, and hasn't got the pace to catch a quick player..Also can't remember a glaring mistake from Nastasic during his time here..Lescott almost cost us the league with one of his
Yeah Joleon is stronger and better in the air, but the game is becoming far more technical and Joleon isn't a technical CB, he comes undone against movement and pace....Throw him in against the likes of Benteke by all means...But against fluid, quick passing opposition, Nastasic for me 10/10 times

This is my point ! Just because Lescott does not look fluid on the ball and has made a few glaring mistakes then people under rate him. Ok he nearly cost us the league with that mistake against QPR but in the end was vital to us winning the league over the course of the season and look how far we were behind last season. Have a look at highlights from last season and see how many times Nastasic is beaten in the air for goals or leading up to goals for the opposition. Also see how many times Zab, VK and GC cover for him when he loses his man.

This isnt an attack on MN and it isnt a hype on JL but just find myself arguing with Rag fans when Lescott plays for England when they say he is hopeless and now Im seeing it on here. MN potential is exciting but needs to be bled into the squad rather than thrown in like against Real Madrid when a good partnership was already there with JL and VK.

 

[adrianr]

Re: Pepe

I think all clubs looking to challenge on all fronts need 4 CB's. Two of them need to be 'leaders' and the other two need to be 'younger' players who will offer competition and look to improve. You look at some of the great defences and they have all had two defenders who are more than capable of bossing the defence. Terry and Carvalho, Rio and Vidic, Campbell and Toure etc.

At the moment the only lead defender we have is Vinny and despite Nastasic's maturity he is still a young player. We are still lacking another lead defender and this is why I believe we need to sell and replace Lescott.

Lescott is without doubt a very good defender who would improve the majority of PL teams. Despite his lack of technical ability he is still a reliable old school defender who rarely makes mistakes. However the reason we need to replace him is because he sadly is not a leader and he tends to hide away from the responsibility of being the experienced defender.

Someone hit the nail on the head in another thread when they said Lescott is quality alongside Vinny. This is true but so is Nastasic who about 10 years younger than Lescott. The problems appear when Vinny is out and there was a reason why Mancini picked Kolo instead of Lescott to partner Nasty in Vinny's absence last season. It was because Kolo is a natural leader.

Signing another lead CB is a must for us and it also helps the younger defenders develop. We could easily keep Lescott but IMO he is too good to be on our bench when he could be starting for any team outside the top 6 especially in a WC year. FWIW I think Lescott has been a brilliant player for us and has played a big role in helping our defence become the best for the past 3 years. But as we have moved on Lescott's weaknesses have made him a liability in our team and combined with his age means we need to look elsewhere.

Nail on head.

 

[Martin*]

Re: Pepe

I think all clubs looking to challenge on all fronts need 4 CB's. Two of them need to be 'leaders' and the other two need to be 'younger' players who will offer competition and look to improve. You look at some of the great defences and they have all had two defenders who are more than capable of bossing the defence. Terry and Carvalho, Rio and Vidic, Campbell and Toure etc.

At the moment the only lead defender we have is Vinny and despite Nastasic's maturity he is still a young player. We are still lacking another lead defender and this is why I believe we need to sell and replace Lescott.

Lescott is without doubt a very good defender who would improve the majority of PL teams. Despite his lack of technical ability he is still a reliable old school defender who rarely makes mistakes. However the reason we need to replace him is because he sadly is not a leader and he tends to hide away from the responsibility of being the experienced defender.

Someone hit the nail on the head in another thread when they said Lescott is quality alongside Vinny. This is true but so is Nastasic who about 10 years younger than Lescott. The problems appear when Vinny is out and there was a reason why Mancini picked Kolo instead of Lescott to partner Nasty in Vinny's absence last season. It was because Kolo is a natural leader.

Signing another lead CB is a must for us and it also helps the younger defenders develop. We could easily keep Lescott but IMO he is too good to be on our bench when he could be starting for any team outside the top 6 especially in a WC year. FWIW I think Lescott has been a brilliant player for us and has played a big role in helping our defence become the best for the past 3 years. But as we have moved on Lescott's weaknesses have made him a liability in our team and combined with his age means we need to look elsewhere.

Balance.

Nastasic and Lescott are left footed. Toure and Kompany are right footed.

Toure and Nastasic is a better balanced pairing. If the roles were reversed and Nastasic was injured Lescott would have played.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Re: Pepe

I think all clubs looking to challenge on all fronts need 4 CB's. Two of them need to be 'leaders' and the other two need to be 'younger' players who will offer competition and look to improve. You look at some of the great defences and they have all had two defenders who are more than capable of bossing the defence. Terry and Carvalho, Rio and Vidic, Campbell and Toure etc.

At the moment the only lead defender we have is Vinny and despite Nastasic's maturity he is still a young player. We are still lacking another lead defender and this is why I believe we need to sell and replace Lescott.

Lescott is without doubt a very good defender who would improve the majority of PL teams. Despite his lack of technical ability he is still a reliable old school defender who rarely makes mistakes. However the reason we need to replace him is because he sadly is not a leader and he tends to hide away from the responsibility of being the experienced defender.

Someone hit the nail on the head in another thread when they said Lescott is quality alongside Vinny. This is true but so is Nastasic who about 10 years younger than Lescott. The problems appear when Vinny is out and there was a reason why Mancini picked Kolo instead of Lescott to partner Nasty in Vinny's absence last season. It was because Kolo is a natural leader.

Signing another lead CB is a must for us and it also helps the younger defenders develop. We could easily keep Lescott but IMO he is too good to be on our bench when he could be starting for any team outside the top 6 especially in a WC year. FWIW I think Lescott has been a brilliant player for us and has played a big role in helping our defence become the best for the past 3 years. But as we have moved on Lescott's weaknesses have made him a liability in our team and combined with his age means we need to look elsewhere.

Balance.

Nastasic and Lescott are left footed. Toure and Kompany are right footed.

Toure and Nastasic is a better balanced pairing. If the roles were reversed and Nastasic was injured Lescott would have played.

Not neccasarily. Rio and Vidic, Terry and Carvalho and even Adams and Bould were all right footed defenders but played together. The main problem is Lescott isn't even comfortable on his left foot never mind his right foot so is always likely to be over looked unless he is playing alongside Vinny. Good defender but we need someone who can lead when Vinny isn't available or who can add to the leadership even when Vinny is available.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Re: Pepe

More than happy with kompany-nasty or kompany-lescott pairing but would not be comfortable with lescott-nasty partnership, like others have said neither of them 2 are leaders like Kompany, It's not just about defending you need somebody to organise the entire line and keep everybody talking and in check. Kolo was a leader and Pepe is a leader too.

 

[decmancity]

Re: Pepe

Making good points here fellas and something I said a year ago but I was talking about Savic.

Savic basically played when Kompany didn't and he was alongside Lescott who as we all know just isn't a leader and Savic looked completely shot of confidence every game he played and it was no wonder he made mistakes.

I know you can't compare but you only have to watch him play for Fiorentina to see how he has improved alongside a "stronger" CB.

Back to Pepe, would be a top signing. Real won't be selling him till they have Bale and have brought in a CB I think though.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Re: Pepe

Making good points here fellas and something I said a year ago but I was talking about Savic.

Savic basically played when Kompany didn't and he was alongside Lescott who as we all know just isn't a leader and Savic looked completely shot of confidence every game he played and it was no wonder he made mistakes.

I know you can't compare but you only have to watch him play for Fiorentina to see how he has improved alongside a "stronger" CB.

Back to Pepe, would be a top signing. Real won't be selling him till they have Bale and have brought in a CB I think though.

Savic was fucking shite, that was his main problem. Garcia is just as bad at centre back. Nastasic is much better & younger but not the God people are making him out to be.

Another top defender would be a good buy.

 

[Blue Haze]

Re: Pepe

I think all clubs looking to challenge on all fronts need 4 CB's. Two of them need to be 'leaders' and the other two need to be 'younger' players who will offer competition and look to improve. You look at some of the great defences and they have all had two defenders who are more than capable of bossing the defence. Terry and Carvalho, Rio and Vidic, Campbell and Toure etc.

At the moment the only lead defender we have is Vinny and despite Nastasic's maturity he is still a young player. We are still lacking another lead defender and this is why I believe we need to sell and replace Lescott.

Lescott is without doubt a very good defender who would improve the majority of PL teams. Despite his lack of technical ability he is still a reliable old school defender who rarely makes mistakes. However the reason we need to replace him is because he sadly is not a leader and he tends to hide away from the responsibility of being the experienced defender.

Someone hit the nail on the head in another thread when they said Lescott is quality alongside Vinny. This is true but so is Nastasic who about 10 years younger than Lescott. The problems appear when Vinny is out and there was a reason why Mancini picked Kolo instead of Lescott to partner Nasty in Vinny's absence last season. It was because Kolo is a natural leader.

Signing another lead CB is a must for us and it also helps the younger defenders develop. We could easily keep Lescott but IMO he is too good to be on our bench when he could be starting for any team outside the top 6 especially in a WC year. FWIW I think Lescott has been a brilliant player for us and has played a big role in helping our defence become the best for the past 3 years. But as we have moved on Lescott's weaknesses have made him a liability in our team and combined with his age means we need to look elsewhere.

Good post.

Lescott doesn't really suit Pellegrini's system of pressing the other team high up the pitch. He lacks the pace to recover, as all teams that press get caught out. And like you said, he isn't the kind of defender who will take charge and boss the man in front of him for 90 minutes (unless it's a Stoke forward). Look at Ajax last season, he couldn't cope with their pace or technical ability. Hence why we conceded 3 and Lescott hauled off by Mancini for another defender.

 

[pee dubya]

Re: Pepe

I think this whole left-footed, right-footed thing gets way over emphasised.

 

[samharris]

Re: Pepe

I think this whole left-footed, right-footed thing gets way over emphasised.

If the shoe fits..