Player topic: Eliaquim Mangala (2014/15)

[Gaylord du Bois]

Re: Mangala

Why are ye fearful, o ye of little faith?

 

[OB1]

Re: Mangala

Some unfair criticism on the last few pages imo.

The first goal was a very cruel one.

Clichy got fucking skinned, then the 'covering' from Yaya was non existent, and the cross was slung in. Mangala did well to intercept it before it reached the danger area but unfortunately it went in off his head. 9 times out of 10 he'd have headed it out and we'd be highlighting it as 'great defending'. Mangala was basically the 3rd part of the Clichy-Yaya-Mangala chain and as it went in off him posters are 'blaming' him for it. Truth is he was left exposed by the inadequacies of Clichy and Yaya and did his best to cover but was unlucky.

Fine margins.

The second one was again unlucky. The two initial mistakes came from Yaya. Firstly, a shit 'stray' ball out of defence to their player, then a pathetic attempt at closing Diame who just waltzed round him, then a dinked ball over Mangala's left shoulder which he went 'high feet' on and connected with their player. Yes Mangala went in to high but the situation had no other course of action. Again he was left exposed by Yaya's inadequacies in the defensive phase and he paid the price.

Fine margins.

2 goals where better defensive team work would've prevented them.

I'd wager with Fernando playing in the holding role neither situation would've reached the stage where Mangala's input was required.

Therefore, very harsh to judge him on either goal.

Other than these two incidents I felt he played well. He recovered his composure well after the goals and although didn't reach the high standards of his debut looked comfortable.

I agree that he was a bit unfortunate and he was not helped by his team mates. However, he has the pace to have taken up a better position and got his body shape right on the first goal. I think it was MotD where they contrasted his body shape to Vinnie, who was behind him.

He was also rash in making the challenge on the second goal when it looked like Vinnie could have come in and dealt with the situation.

These are things that the coaches can address with him and, as I said above, so long as he keeps learning.

He wasn't just 'a bit unfortunate', he was dropped right in the shit on both goals by poor defensive covering from those who should know better. A huge mountain of shit was falling on top of him and he tried his best in split second circumstances to deal with it.

His body shape was fine. Had he not been so unlucky and it'd had gone out off his head for a corner not a single pundit or poster would've criticised his body shape. Very snidey and sloppy punditry from Chuckleface.

Using MOTD to support your point is barrel scraping of epic proportions imho mate. This the same MOTD who mentioned absolutely nothing about how excellent he was in his debut against the league leaders? Sounded more like an opportunity to undermine the lad's confidence in much the same way they tried with MDM last season.

Ha, ha, ha.

I referenced you on post about Dzeko because I agreed with a point that, I think, you made about him.

In this case, I agree with one of the Brothers Grimm. Chris Camara was far more forgiving on Goals on Sunday and I much prefer him to the boring little Rag but, by his standards, Mangala jogged back on the o.g. and I think with his pace he could have taken up a better position. He made mistakes, he will make plenty more but he is at a club that aspires to be the best in the world and he has a £32m price tag so he will be judged against the highest of standards. He plays alongside a guy who is a master lf getting into the right place to cut out crosses on the front post.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Re: Mangala

Some unfair criticism on the last few pages imo.

The first goal was a very cruel one.

Clichy got fucking skinned, then the 'covering' from Yaya was non existent, and the cross was slung in. Mangala did well to intercept it before it reached the danger area but unfortunately it went in off his head. 9 times out of 10 he'd have headed it out and we'd be highlighting it as 'great defending'. Mangala was basically the 3rd part of the Clichy-Yaya-Mangala chain and as it went in off him posters are 'blaming' him for it. Truth is he was left exposed by the inadequacies of Clichy and Yaya and did his best to cover but was unlucky.

Fine margins.

The second one was again unlucky. The two initial mistakes came from Yaya. Firstly, a shit 'stray' ball out of defence to their player, then a pathetic attempt at closing Diame who just waltzed round him, then a dinked ball over Mangala's left shoulder which he went 'high feet' on and connected with their player. Yes Mangala went in to high but the situation had no other course of action. Again he was left exposed by Yaya's inadequacies in the defensive phase and he paid the price.

Fine margins.

2 goals where better defensive team work would've prevented them.

I'd wager with Fernando playing in the holding role neither situation would've reached the stage where Mangala's input was required.

Therefore, very harsh to judge him on either goal.

Other than these two incidents I felt he played well. He recovered his composure well after the goals and although didn't reach the high standards of his debut looked comfortable.

I agree that he was a bit unfortunate and he was not helped by his team mates. However, he has the pace to have taken up a better position and got his body shape right on the first goal. I think it was MotD where they contrasted his body shape to Vinnie, who was behind him.

He was also rash in making the challenge on the second goal when it looked like Vinnie could have come in and dealt with the situation.

These are things that the coaches can address with him and, as I said above, so long as he keeps learning.

He wasn't just 'a bit unfortunate', he was dropped right in the shit on both goals by poor defensive covering from those who should know better. A huge mountain of shit was falling on top of him and he tried his best in split second circumstances to deal with it.

His body shape was fine. Had he not been so unlucky and it'd had gone out off his head for a corner not a single pundit or poster would've criticised his body shape. Very snidey and sloppy punditry from Chuckleface.

Using MOTD to support your point is barrel scraping of epic proportions imho mate. This the same MOTD who mentioned absolutely nothing about how excellent he was in his debut against the league leaders? Sounded more like an opportunity to undermine the lad's confidence in much the same way they tried with MDM last season.

Whilst you're right in so much as MotD analysis is rarely anything other than selective and superficial at best, on this occasion I think you're wrong. Mangala's body position was a contributory factor in the goal, albeit a relatively minor one. Basic defending rule no.1 to have yourself diagonally facing the wing from which a cross is coming, so that you can be alive to the dangers coming in behind you. The greater issue though was being (not his fault) left flat footed by Clichy's hopeless efforts initially and not getting far enough back in time to deal with the cross

 

[fatbloke]

Re: Mangala

I don't think there's a single defender good or bad in world football who hasn't stuck one in his own net at some stage, if they haven't then I'd question their commitment. I'd much rather a defender make a mistake going for a ball than back off and just let it go.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Re: Mangala

He gambles at everything. Needs to learn to think more, learning when and when not to challenge for the ball and also needs to be a lot more composed. Otherwise we might have a david luiz type centre half centre half who drops too many clangers. The Chelsea game shows what a powerful player he is capable of being though and hopefully his confidence won't be too rocked with Dzeko and co bailing him out yesterday. The phil neville hatchet job on him on motd was preidctable and harsh

 

[Bluekiwi]

Re: Mangala

I don't think there's a single defender good or bad in world football who hasn't stuck one in his own net at some stage, if they haven't then I'd question their commitment. I'd much rather a defender make a mistake going for a ball than back off and just let it go.

May I suggest that people listen to Vinnie's post match interview. And also remember the screw-up that Vinnie himself made that led to Liverpool's winning goal at Anfield. These things happen. The important thing is how the player reacts and grows from these mistakes.

I was annoyed with him at the time but I still think we have a very good defender in him - just give him some time.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Re: Mangala

Manchester City stars rallied around Eliaquim Mangala after his Hull shocker.

Fellow defender Pablo Zabaleta congratulated the big Frenchman for picking himself up from his own goal, penalty giveaway and yellow card to help his team to a 4-2 win at the KC Stadium.

And skipper Vincent Kompany had a message for those who were criticising the £32m signing: “Don’t let your kids be defenders!”

Mangala’s mistakes were ultimately academic as the Blues rallied to win 4-2 on Humberside but they brought an abrupt end to his excellent start to life at City.

Zabaleta had the perfect antidote to his personal misery.

“I said to him after the game ‘Congratulations for the game’,” said the Argentine defender. “Sometimes you can make mistakes, but he showed real character and personality in the second half to go onto the field and do well for the team.

“Everyone makes mistakes. I did it in my last game against Chelsea, getting sent off and letting the team down because then we only had ten men. It was probably the same for him at Hull.

“He scored an own goal and gave away a penalty but then he did really well to keep playing well and he was fantastic in the second half.”

Zabaleta made the point that rather than be worried by Mangala’s Hull blip, people should be surprised he has started so well in a new league in a new country.

“This is the Premier League and it is always tough at the beginning, even for big lads like him,” said Zabaleta. “It’s a very physical league with a lot of contact and some teams play a direct style.

“That’s why it’s the best league in the world – you have to be prepared to face teams that play good football but you also have to be ready for different styles of football.”

Kompany knows all about traumatic days at Hull after being sent off early in last season’s clash and seeing his team-mates rally to win 2-0.

He also had encouraging words for his 23-year-old defensive partner.

“It’s part of being a defender,” he said. “If your children ever choose to play football, sign them up as strikers and then this won’t happen to them!

“As defenders, we have to deal with this, it’s part of the job. I always look at the reaction and we saw it from him in the second half.




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“It could have been so dangerous because it had gone to 2-2 and you’ve got time to think about it in the dressing room but he just got on with it and stood up to the task.

“The rest of the game he played well, he stayed professional. You could not have asked for more.

“There’s no harm done. It’s part of the game. Sometimes you say ‘Get these things out of the way early’. As a defender, it’s a bit like being a goalkeeper, you kind of know these things will happen to you. You just never know when.

“It’s an honest error. There’s nothing wrong with it and it will happen again to me, to him to
anyone else. That’s just the nature of it.

“I can mention the own goal I scored at Fulham. I think that is still on a few trailers for Sky Sports. That’s part of the job.

“The main thing is to stick to your job, it’s part of your job, just put it away. Sometimes you get half an hour like this but you still have half an hour to play well. That’s all you can do, it’s always about the next minutes. That’s how I think about it.

“I’ve seen in him a great reaction and in the second half, he was spot on.”

Zabaleta added that the whole squad has felt the strain of a hard start to the season.

“It’s been a little bit tough for everyone, the beginning of the season because some players came back late from holidays and last season was a long season with the World Cup,” he said.

“We didn’t have a long break so it has been a little difficult start but now the team looks better and we are progressing.”

 

[supercity88]

Re: Mangala

He had to try and get his head on the ball and it was just one of those things. I think the penalty was harsh but again the ball was pinging around and he just got caught out.

He will get better and better the more he settles in the side. It was an odd game, with lots of chances. Our "defensive" midfield element isn't particularly good at the moment but we are starting to tick and we will only get better.

 

[Sir Joe Aguero]

Re: Mangala

Demichelis was terrible first half of last season and had one of the worst positional senses of any defender I'd seen. Now he's absolutely solid and dependable. Mangala has all the necessary physical attributes to be world class and is learning from perhaps the best active CB in the world. A bit more concentration and experience and we'll have someone very very special.

Plus look on the bright side, his own goal shows he can thunder a ball into the net with a header. We're shit at corners; sort out how shit we are at corners and it could easily get us 9 or more points extra a season.

 

[wythenshaweblue£££]

Re: Mangala

Had a bit of a shocker but that happens hopefully back to normal Tuesday night against Roma