Well done Aleks...

[kenzie115]

Had a great game despite receiving less cover from Nasri than he should have done. Rangel was constantly bombing forward but Nasri was caught infield or napping, leaving Kolarov with a 2 vs 1 on more than one occasion.

His cute ball through to Dzeko at the end of the first half would have been a great assist if he'd converted it and his goal was just brilliant. He read the pass, intercepted the ball and immediately surged upfield, the Swansea defenders seemed to think marking others was more important so he just kept going into the space and smashed it in. He made a lot of interceptions and vital tackles yesterday, top drawer performance.

Even without his improved defensive displays, with Pellegrini's "We don't care if you score, we'll score more" attitude, his attacking influence would put him ahead of Clichy for me but he's defending just as well as the Frenchman now. Happy days.

 

[Manchester33]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

 

[aguero93:20]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

We do, thus;
Gk: Hart

Rcb:Kompany
Lcb:Nasty

Rm: Zaba
Cm:Yaya
Cdm:Dinho
Cm:Silva
Lm:Kolarov

Rf:Navas
St:Negredo
Lf:Aguero

That's what it looks like when we have the ball tbh, I'd rather buy a left out and out winger than another left back.

 

[kenzie115]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

May sound odd but you'd lose his impact offensively if you played his further up the pitch. At left back he can often find the opposition's right winger out of position or napping and overlap into free space. If he plays on the left wing he'd have the right back with him for the whole game.

 

[Manchester33]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

May sound odd but you'd lose his impact offensively if you played his further up the pitch. At left back he can often find the opposition's right winger out of position or napping and overlap into free space. If he plays on the left wing he'd have the right back with him for the whole game.

Good point.

 

[Barcon]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

May sound odd but you'd lose his impact offensively if you played his further up the pitch. At left back he can often find the opposition's right winger out of position or napping and overlap into free space. If he plays on the left wing he'd have the right back with him for the whole game.

Pretty sure we have played him further up the pitch with Clichy at left back before. Or am I imagining things (again)?

 

[aguero93:20]

I may well have to prepare my tin hat for this post.

But has anyone else ever thought we should just play him as a left midfielder away from home? He isn't great defensively, and could offer something different on the wing to Nasri and Silva (Not saying he is close to being as good a player though). Then if we bought another LB this month to compete with Clichy?

May sound odd but you'd lose his impact offensively if you played his further up the pitch. At left back he can often find the opposition's right winger out of position or napping and overlap into free space. If he plays on the left wing he'd have the right back with him for the whole game.

Pretty sure we have played him further up the pitch with Clichy at left back before. Or am I imagining things (again)?

No you aren't but its usually to close out a game or out of necessity and he's not been as effective offensively as he doesn't find himself in as much space, full backs get more space and time on the ball than any other player, wingers not so much.

 

[cccc]

I'm delighted that Kolarov has changed the views of lots of people on here. It's good to see that people who slated him have now come round to knowing that he is indeed a good player.

You will never get absolute defensive solidarity from him. One thing that bothers me is how lax he is when it comes to tracking back - because whilst he is not fast, he definitely bombs forward a lot quicker than he does coming back. Also, he rarely ever blocks a cross. That said, he has been a lot better defensively despite the potential howler against Liverpool.

But you take the rough with the smooth and what he contributes going forward is something not a lot of LB's do.

He may have something like 4 assists in the PL this season but he could have EASILY double that if chances were converted, not too mention how many goals have come about from his crosses/passes. Another thing people do blast him for is his passing, but to be fair his passing is very good. He's a smart passer, and calm.

Definitely one of Pellegrini's most improved players this season and long may it continue.

 

[BosnianDiamond]

I'm really impressed with his form this year. He's really flourishing under Pellagrini. Clichy seems to be down in the pecking order.

 

[Matty]

For the past few seasons now we've really left our left backs out to dry defensively, and this season isn't a great improvement on that front. On the right we have the likes of Navas and Milner who are willing to track back and help provide cover, on the left we tend to have either Silva or Nasri, who don't track back all that well, and seem to drift infield anyway, leaving the left back exposed. This has meant that both Kolarov and Clichy have, at times, looked like they are pretty poor defensively when, in reality, they are just having to deal with a midfielder and an overlapping right back on occasion.

I'm not Kolarov's biggest fan. He really doesn't have the pace needed of a left back/wing back in the Premier League. When he's adding to our attacking play he's pretty decent, he can whip in a good cross, and he is happy to overlap which in our current formation is vital. He's better at the attacking aspects of the game than Clichy is. Clichy however is a better defender, he's quicker, and his positional sense is superior. Having said all that I've been underwhelmed by Clichy this season, and Kolarov has been a pleasant surprise. He's still managing to contribute offensively, but he's also looked far more solid defensively. For me he's been the surprise of the season (in terms of what he's doing compared to what I expected, narrowly pipping Negredo who I thought would be good but nowhere near as good as he has been).

Ultimately however I see left back as a position we need to look at in the summer. I don't believe either Clichy or Kolarov are World Class fullbacks and I think there must be someone out there who we can attract who would be a better fit for us. Kolarov's exploits this season will hopefully attract more interest than we would have expected and we might be able to get a decent amount of money for him, that would be my aim here.