That goal last night was horrendous and it cost us at least a point. You cannot make errors like that at this level. He isn't good enough Karen and the fact that we were quite happy to let him go out on loan tells you everything you need to know about how the powers that be view him. The real error was in thinking that Demichellis would still be good enough and once we realised he wasn't, we were left with someone we were prepared to loan out as a first choice CB because we have no alternative. It has got that bad now that I would be tempted to play someone out of position as CB because neither he nor Demichellis can be trusted.
I appreciate his attempted clearance ultimately cost us the goal, but come on, he should not have been put in that position. Shame on our "senior" players for not using their heads at the free kick in the last minute of the first half.
IMO it's too early to write him off and I think if his right back was offering a little more support when needed, his confidence could return.
Delph was bought because he was a good squad addition , and english , probably the best english defensive midfielder available , and at £8m he is a snip , compared to some fees we have paid , he looks a competent player at premiership level , but he will be found out against europes best, because in general english players are shit compared to spanish,german,french and italian footballers , We have to sign or develop a quota of english players , and delph is one of the best of a very poor generation of english players.
Delph was equally as culpable I agree. Ridiculous pass but it's a recurring theme with Mangala.
I would have to agree but I would suggest he has some mitigation in that he is often left high and dry when Kolo goes AWOL from his defensive duties, which, IMO, is also a recurring theme
If it were my choice I would keep Eli and sell Kolo. Let's see what Pep does :)Totally agree with that. The left side is a weak area for us, so much so that teams have admitted targeting it.
Pep's not known for training great defenders. He likes sticking defensive midfielders into backlines ala Mascherano & Javi Martinez. His way of not exposing the backline is to keep the possession as tight as possible, something Mangala is obviously poor at - ball control.I want to see him under pep and a different system where he can just defend before i write him off
The whole defence has turned to shit and i don't believe they are bad players,it's the way they are being used i think