Player Topic: Eliaquim Mangala (2015/16)

[George Hannah]

Looks like, it was the case with Mangala.

As.com was reporting something similar, and stated that Pelle was the one who changed his mind about him... as he said the player in the summer, that if a new defender will be signed, he will have to fight for his place, or go to the bank...

http://futbol.as.com/futbol/2015/08/18/primera/1439894885_586525.html

That's probably where Castles got it from then. We all thought that Valencia must have had some encouragement.

A couple of games look to have changed the course of Eli's career with us and that's excellent. What's not so good is what it says about the confidence we have in our player appraisal process.

A £30+m buy only a season ago after a lengthy period of detailed assessment was about to be ditched and then he was brought back from the brink by two good performances. Not sure about that at all but I'm relieved he's still here.

As someone else posted, the signing of Otamendi is born out of opportunity not necessity and the result is we have added a world class defender for stock.

Sure, it will improve competition for places and squad depth but we have other important weaknesses that need to be addressed as the priority.

If we do further business and improve our midfield then OK but I fear KDB will be our last summer signing of note and with the addition of Otamendi our defence could now be disrupted and team spirit and cohesion possibly even damaged.

 

[Dribble]

Duncan - 100% -Castles, revered by some on here, is mouthing off about Mangala being told to find another club in the summer.
http://www.oneworldsports.com/stories/eliaquim-mangala-assured-man-city-spot

I've said all along that good players don't turn bad overnight and this can be said of our whole defence which was turned from the best in the league 3 years running to the shambolic nervous mess we saw on many occasions last season.

What's changed? The formation and tactics that's what. The world class defenders we have are on the rise and looking supremely confident again, because they are no longer being left exposed by our previous Kamikaze all out attacking tactics. It explains why Sagna, Kolarov, Kompany and Mangala looked utterly shit last season, but look as secure as the walls of Strangeways this season. We can't rely on MDM at the highest level forever so 20 year old Denayer will have many years ahead of him to cement his place as will Mangala.

Its amazing the difference not putting square pegs in round holes, a tactical plan and the formation suit can make and hopefully we've now turned that corner forever never to return to the madness of 442.

 

[zeven]

Otamendi werent a planned purchase, the oppertunity come and we toke it! another huge reason why we did it i think, is Otamendi and Mangala know eachother well and played together so they know one an other already! we know those to are work great as partners

 

[blueheart84]

Funnily enough I think the Otamendi signing will have Kompany looking over his shoulder. With Otamendi and Mangala's history as defensive partners and their age (27 for Ota and 24 for Mang) showing they are signings for the future. Kompany has been in great form in the first 2 matches but he has had a few rough patches in the past couple of years. Hopefully having 3 top draw centre-backs will motivate them all to get to their best, but in my opinion any 2 of those 3 could turn out to be our best defensive partnership....including the one without Kompany.

Game on.

 

[NanaToure42]

Whoa! how small does Mangala look here alongside this freak of nature NBA player (Timofey Mozgov)

Can't believe Mangala is 6"2 haha....

What is Mangala doing with Timofey Mozgov? Last thing I expected to see when I clicked the thread.

 

[NanaToure42]

In 2 weeks we went from...

our captain coming off the worst season of his career,
Mangala strugling and looking like a waste of money,
And an aging DeMichelas.

to

Vinny scoring in both matches, absolutely on fire.
Mangala playing two almost perfect matches (and almost scoring)
PLUS we've signed arguably the best CB in la liga last year...in his prime. An absolutely amazing player. For like 7 mil because we're selling them Negredo

...works for me

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

What is Mangala doing with Timofey Mozgov? Last thing I expected to see when I clicked the thread.

The last thing you expected to see in a Mangala thread was a photo with Mangala in it?

 

[George Hannah]

Otamendi werent a planned purchase, the oppertunity come and we toke it! another huge reason why we did it i think, is Otamendi and Mangala know eachother well and played together so they know one an other already! we know those to are work great as partners

Except that we apparently told Eli to find another club to make room for Otamendi. Doesn't add up friend - although what you say about their pairing at Porto being a plus is true.

 

[zeven]

Except that we apparently told Eli to find another club to make room for Otamendi. Doesn't add up friend - although what you say about their pairing at Porto being a plus is true.

I dont believe we told our young 30 million CB after one year, a year when the entire team were shit to find a new club.

 

[George Hannah]

I dont believe we told our young 30 million CB after one year, a year when the entire team were shit to find a new club.

I couldn't believe it either!