Player Topic: Eliaquim Mangala (2015/16)

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Haters gonna hate I guess. I for one think he's been fine recently, the press are just making shit up and some of you gullible lot are lapping it up.

Why is it when people have a different opinion than you they must be believing what the press say?

I make my opinion based on what I see as I'm sure many others do. That's my opinion and it may turn out to be wrong as yours may do but it doesn't mean I sit here reading the press and thinking "oh look Jamie Rednapp thinks Mangala is shit so he must be"

It's just different opinions. Mangala splits opinion as does Kolorov. For me they are weak links, for others they are great players.

And I don't hate him. I just wish we had someone better in. For me it's about what the team does not what individual players do. I don't care about them as individuals. If he stays and turns out decent then I'll hold my hands up, if he goes and is replaced by someone better then I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

[cibaman]

I think the issue really is whether the club have enough faith in him to continue giving him the opportunities to eliminate the weaknesses from his game.

I can remember when Joe Corrigan made the transition from being the butt of everyone's jokes to the safest goalkeeper in the league. He said that his career was turned round by having a run of 10 "quiet" games. A run at the end of the season when we were in mid table, playing other mid table teams in games that nobody was watching. He didn't keep clean sheets in all of those games, we lost 3 or 4, but all of the goals he conceded were clearly unstoppable. That run gave him the confidence he needed.

I think Mangala needs that sort of run and it seemed at the start of the season that he might get it. But it was over too soon. Unfortunately this month is make or break for Mangala. He faces losing his place if/when Kompany returns and, if he has more games like yesterday, the club must be tempted to bring in a new CB, especially because of the doubts over Kompany's fitness and DeMichellis's decline. Which piles immense pressure on Mangala.

To be honest I think the writing was on the wall for him when the club tried to offload him in the summer. That demonstrated a lack of faith in him. He's had a few good games this season but he needed to be error free to restore the club's faith in him. He was the first five games, but not since. And he's 25 now. Not an age when a centre back would be in his prime, but he should still be experienced enough to have developed his game further than he has.

 

[waspish]

Haters gonna hate I guess. I for one think he's been fine recently, the press are just making shit up and some of you gullible lot are lapping it up.

Err no I make my own mind up on a player and it's very rare I say player is garbage if ever! I rate Kolorav Otemendi and fernando looks player also bony gets a bit of stick but he is decent enough and score goals but this Mangala for me ain't a good player.

 

[Kinkladze 1]

I think mangala is very good on the ball. Where he falls down is his diving in and making challenges he doesn't need to make

I thought he was good at Leicester and good today. I know we should still have defended the corner, but Mangala was clearly fouled as he knocked it over the line for a corner. If it wasn't for that it would probably have been two clean sheets from two difficult away games

You think Mango is 'very good on the ball'.? A truly unbelievable assessment....

 

[mancunial]

If added on added time Atkinson had done his job then they wouldn't have scored,their has been a lot of sly little fouls I've noticed on our side that are going unpunished especially over the past two games, I think sides are realising that they can get away with their pushing ankle tapping pulling at our players whilst running with the ball etc, this was happening throughout the match especially yesterday, mangala will come good but only if we allow him too, it will be totally detrimental to what we has fans want to achieve if we start to give this guy shit, Pellegrini will play him no matter what, he won't be the last to have a nightmare when first arriving in the premier.

 

[Steve68]

Err no I make my own mind up on a player and it's very rare I say player is garbage if ever! I rate Kolorav Otemendi and fernando looks player also bony gets a bit of stick but he is decent enough and score goals but this Mangala for me ain't a good player.

You don't punt 40 mill on a defender maybe coming good. We made a bad buy, expecting a great defender and now after 50 games we are still hoping he might come good. He's as good as he's ever going to be in the premiership.

 

[Kinkladze 1]

i thought I'd heard it all on here, but now I read that it's not just the fault of the system he's forced into playing or the ageing players around him but the wet conditions that made him shit. It really is laughable. This guy is so far below the standard we need him to be at its untrue.

 

[Dax777]

Mangala could become s great defender but he'd almost certainly never be a good footballer. He has strenght, speed and agility.But he's ball skills are painfully pedestrian.

So yes, if he gets all the defending part right, he may become a very good CB, but he'll never be a great footballer. He simply doesn't have the footballing know how or the ball skill to be a great footballer.

This was a worry for me when we were after him, and I see nothing that even suggests my evaluations were wrong.

Top teams need footballers first and foremost not specialized position players. Or at least, that is what I believe. Center backs who can pass out of the back and bring up the ball comfortably, fullbacks with marauding ball skills. Every player should be able to comfortably and seamlessly play as a CM. If you can't, you probably aren't best equipped to succeed at a top club.

Or at least, that's what I think :)

 

[Dobsy]

I feel for him, he's nowhere to hide and he clearly struggles to handle the pressure.

What pains me is that I genuinely don't think he's doing a better job than Richards or Nastasic would have done in his position. And yet we spent £32m on him!

Txiki and the scouts, as well as Pellegrini and the coaching staff, need to share the responsibility for how it's going for Mangala.

 

[shevtheblue]

Positionally he is completely inept, can't read the game or even the flight of the ball. Problem is the backup is MDM who is positionally good but no longer has the legs to cover any space.