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Swansea (a) Post Match Thread
- Thread starter balotelli's back pocket
- Start date
Peggy's a blue
Well-Known Member
Thank god it is all over, our defence is horrible, conceding just on half time. It's also as well Swansea did not have a full team out. God Mangala, if wit was shit he would be constipated. Roll on next season, and let's see what Pep can do!
OB1
Well-Known Member
Pep would be trolling half the posters on Bluemoon if he kept Fernando ;)
Agree though he's been very very good in recent weeks and does look bothered (although IMO he went missing at the Bernabau).
He's going to have to keep quite a lot of them, more than I would like, and Nando may well be one of them. The thing with Nando and several regulars is that they need to become squad players and, pretty much to a man, all the incomings that don't go straight out on loan need to be guys that one would expect to feature in our strongest 11.
Completely agree. Otamendi is a shocking defender and will repeatedly leave us exposed if we stick with him. It's the basic fundamentals he's terrible at, and there simply isn't any way of coaching that if you've made it to 28 and are still incapable of holding your position and staying on your feet. He's garbage.
His biggest fault is as you have pointed out. He goes to ground far too easily.
However, there are 2 things I'd argue. Sometimes that diving in like a fucking goalkeeper has actually saved our ass once or twice. I'm not saying I agree with it, just that it's been effective. The 2nd part is that for me, it can absolutely be coached out of him. I'm pretty certain Pep will do so.
These 2 have cost us 70 million pounds. I get the feeling they will be staying. In fact I'm almost certain they will be our primary centre backs next season.
His biggest fault is as you have pointed out. He goes to ground far too easily.
However, there are 2 things I'd argue. Sometimes that diving in like a fucking goalkeeper has actually saved our ass once or twice. I'm not saying I agree with it, just that it's been effective. The 2nd part is that for me, it can absolutely be coached out of him. I'm pretty certain Pep will do so.
These 2 have cost us 70 million pounds. I get the feeling they will be staying. In fact I'm almost certain they will be our primary centre backs next season.
I would argue him diving in has cost us a lot more than it's saved us though. Looks great the 1 in 10 times it comes off. How can you coach something out of someone at this late stage of his career though?
If they are our primary centre backs next season then we are well and truly fucked.
Bill
Moderator
just thinking that :)It was a thriller compared to Kiev at home.
OB1
Well-Known Member
O
Our defence has not been great but yesterday Swansea scored a lucky goal from a free kick that came about because a forward didn't take the ball in and protect it. Throughout the season we have conceded too many goals for sure but only four teams in the league conceded less and not by any huge difference plus (just for Bob K) we conceded the fewest shots on goal. I would venture that had Vinnie been fit all season, we could easily have had the best defensive record.
Next season, I will be very disappointed if we do not continue to be the league's top scorers whilst also conceding the fewest goals.
Thank god it is all over, our defence is horrible, conceding just on half time. It's also as well Swansea did not have a full team out. God Mangala, if wit was shit he would be constipated. Roll on next season, and let's see what Pep can do!
Our defence has not been great but yesterday Swansea scored a lucky goal from a free kick that came about because a forward didn't take the ball in and protect it. Throughout the season we have conceded too many goals for sure but only four teams in the league conceded less and not by any huge difference plus (just for Bob K) we conceded the fewest shots on goal. I would venture that had Vinnie been fit all season, we could easily have had the best defensive record.
Next season, I will be very disappointed if we do not continue to be the league's top scorers whilst also conceding the fewest goals.
OB1
Well-Known Member
Of course you can coach someone at that age and Pep's staff most assuredly believe that: the point to that effect is made quite clearly in Pep Confidential. As I said yesterday, everyone on here should be made to read that book :-)I would argue him diving in has cost us a lot more than it's saved us though. Looks great the 1 in 10 times it comes off. How can you coach something out of someone at this late stage of his career though?
If they are our primary centre backs next season then we are well and truly fucked.
BillyShears
Well-Known Member
Of course you can coach someone at that age and Pep's staff most assuredly believe that: the point to that effect is made quite clearly in Pep Confidential. As I said yesterday, everyone on here should be made to read that book :-)
I would tend to agree with DB. Sure you can improve players and coach certain things out of them, but there's IMO too many inherent flaws in both Mangala's and Otamendi's game. Personally I think Ota will be the one who survives simply because he backs himself when he gets given the ball at his feet (not matter how naive that is at times). Mangala seems to shit himself whenever he's given the ball. That won't fly for Pep i reckon.
Lancet Fluke
Well-Known Member
Did Otamendi dive in all the time when he was playing in Spain? Difficult to see how he got such a decent reputation if he did, unless he just had an incredible season where more or less every time he dived in it worked out well?