[The Substitute]

Absolutely. And the ones who do get mentioned as the players we should sign play in a team with 3 at the back and they are in midfield as right midfielders. Dumfries at Inter, Frimpong at Bayer. They track back like Garnacho and Rashford but its the RCB who is defending the RB area for most of the game, with them as the extra.

We dont play this system. We play 2 CBs who dont want to spend most of the game down the flank dealing with a winger with the ball. They want to be in the box defending there. And our fullbacks need to defend against the wingers and usually attacking fullbacks over and underlapping them and midfielders getting involved too. Thats why AWB and Dalot are high ball winners compared to most rightbacks, because they are given a lot to do by the opposition and theres plenty of times when they dont have a lot of support and have to deal with it defensively on their own.

This is a good point. It amazes me that people seem to hail backs who spend more time as wingers than defending, and believe they are so unbelievably great. These players have huge flaws defensively, and we would be absolutely hammered in behind.

We've had problems with wingers and offensive players not tracking back, getting caught due to space issues between our midfield and back line. And then people think the answer is a super dribbler of a wing-back, it's just not what we need.

Big credit to Dalot, and I think it's a result of getting consistent field time on the right side, with a casemiro to link with.

 

[Tony247]

Covered a lot of ground today. Did his job.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Good game defensively and offered an option centrally. Didn't get forward as much and could have turned a couple of chances into assists or even a goal for himself, which was a bit poor.

Covers a huge amount. Bit worried about his stamina for the rest of the season if this ping pong football continues.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Can’t quite decide if he is the real deal or not. He does a lot of great things in moments and he is fairly solid. Thought he was good today, maybe even in contention to be our man of the match it’s maybe just that he needs to put a run where he is on it for 90mins a game and start putting in more dangerous crosses.

 

[Irwin99]

Another decent performance.

 

[Resonance]

Thought he was good today, had a brain fart and lost possession near his own box but tracked backed well to block the shot.

He’s definitely improved under EtH.

 

[massey]

Yep was decent today I liked how he was playing right back and centre forward aswell on occasions haha.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I really like him. He's not brilliant by any means but he's one of the few I would say keep.

 

[TempusFugit]

He seems to have gotten much quicker. He easily outran Chong today and can really turn it on when he wants to. Didn't he have the highest top speed in our squad? Quickest RB in the league last season as well. If he keeps progressing he might actually prove Jose right.

 

[Ali Dia]

It was obvious since around the time of the Milan loan and the euros that he was potentially a very good player. He’s been making good on his promise this season. He can make things happen in attack and he’s a good athlete getting back. I don’t think RB needs more and we are covered with Dalot and AWB. If someone like Frimpong is the second coming of TAA then bring him in, we should always be looking for the best but as things stand it’s low down the list. We need a good reliable LB far more

 

[Adnan]

It was obvious since around the time of the Milan loan and the euros that he was potentially a very good player. He’s been making good on his promise this season. He can make things happen in attack and he’s a good athlete getting back. I don’t think RB needs more and we are covered with Dalot and AWB. If someone like Frimpong is the second coming of TAA then bring him in, we should always be looking for the best but as things stand it’s low down the list. We need a good reliable LB far more

What we could do is sell AWB and replace him with someone who will provide genuine competition for Dalot. And I do believe we'll be buying a CB or two, and those CBs will hopefully be strong channel defenders, which will allow the fullbacks more freedom in possession. All the top teams have that in their locker where their CBs can hold down one side of the channel against the transition, which allows for a more effective press due to the extra bodies we can push up-field.

 

[Doracle]

Good match today. Good in possession and strong defensively. Is having a decent season generally.

 

[Still ill]

What a run that was! Brilliant! Pity he couldn't have finished that one off.

 

[NoPace]

It was obvious since around the time of the Milan loan and the euros that he was potentially a very good player. He’s been making good on his promise this season. He can make things happen in attack and he’s a good athlete getting back. I don’t think RB needs more and we are covered with Dalot and AWB. If someone like Frimpong is the second coming of TAA then bring him in, we should always be looking for the best but as things stand it’s low down the list. We need a good reliable LB far more

I think the market situation with mid-table Prem teams having so much money means selling AWB for like 22-24M somewhere (Castagne just went for 15M, 2 years older) and buying a good young RB (the best ones lately have gone for 25-30M) won't cost any more, so he should go.

 

[Trigg]

He’s a good player, I like him and never understood the criticism he gets.

 

[elmo]

His performance the past month has been a step up better. Before that he was still constantly having brain farts which led to huge problems each game.

 

[Rossa]

He seems to have gotten much quicker. He easily outran Chong today and can really turn it on when he wants to. Didn't he have the highest top speed in our squad? Quickest RB in the league last season as well. If he keeps progressing he might actually prove Jose right.

He is much quicker now than a couple of seasons ago. He's arguably the best example I can think of alongside of Ronaldo of a player improving his speed considerably in their twenties (Ronaldo was much faster at 25 than at 18 for instance). Dalot's stamina also looks improved, altough he can run out of gas from time to time. His reading of the game has improved too. I've said it before, he can be our Walker - not as devestatingly fast or ridiculously strong, but not that much slower, but technically much better.

 

[ForeverRed1]

He seems to have gotten much quicker. He easily outran Chong today and can really turn it on when he wants to. Didn't he have the highest top speed in our squad? Quickest RB in the league last season as well. If he keeps progressing he might actually prove Jose right.

Quicker than Kyle walker?

 

[justsomebloke]

He is much quicker now than a couple of seasons ago. He's arguably the best example I can think of alongside of Ronaldo of a player improving his speed considerably in their twenties (Ronaldo was much faster at 25 than at 18 for instance). Dalot's stamina also looks improved, altough he can run out of gas from time to time. His reading of the game has improved too. I've said it before, he can be our Walker - not as devestatingly fast or ridiculously strong, but not that much slower, but technically much better.

I'm hoping. This is the second straight season where's he's had a prolonged stretch of playing at a higher level, and high enough to be a viable starting option for a very good team. His biggest and most worrying weakness to me is his penchant for overly passive defending - when he's in that mode, he doesn't get close enough to his attacker to seriously interfere. Other than that, it's mainly about improving his consistency.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Excellent improvement. As I mentioned in another thread, if this continues I wouldn't bother looking for a starting RB next year. Dalot as first choice, sell AWB and buy some depth.

 

[TempusFugit]

Quicker than Kyle walker?

He's actually rapid.

 

[flameinthesun]

Still pretty young surprisingly.

 

[DWelbz19]

The physical transformation is apparent: he looks quicker, stronger, and his stamina levels are fantastic. Get Mainoo doing extra training sessions with him for his engine tank

 

[Cassidy]

Excellent improvement. As I mentioned in another thread, if this continues I wouldn't bother looking for a starting RB next year. Dalot as first choice, sell AWB and buy some depth.

Nope Dalot should be considered depth/competition

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

He’s quietly getting back to his pre World Cup form, in which he was unbelievable.

He's proved me wrong. Ever since he got destroyed by Danjuma in the 21/22 CL i thought he was finished. His defensive game has come on leaps and bounds.

 

[Abraxas]

He is much quicker now than a couple of seasons ago. He's arguably the best example I can think of alongside of Ronaldo of a player improving his speed considerably in their twenties (Ronaldo was much faster at 25 than at 18 for instance). Dalot's stamina also looks improved, altough he can run out of gas from time to time. His reading of the game has improved too. I've said it before, he can be our Walker - not as devestatingly fast or ridiculously strong, but not that much slower, but technically much better.

His whole physicality has indeed improved. Strength too. Seems to be able to go shoulder to shoulder and come out better most of the time.

I think he's done a lot of explosive physical work over the years. Or maybe just an unusually dramatic reaching of physical maturity but it's definitely been hugely noticeable.

Passing skills very good, defending has been helped by the above, my only complaint is he's quite annoying in the final third.

 

[ForeverRed1]

He's actually rapid.

Wow, the way city players talk about Kyle walker you’d think he was actually ussain bolt in disguise.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Nope Dalot should be considered depth/competition

You don't think if he continues this improvement he could be a starter, or considered starter?

Who would you look at who is better and attainable?

 

[Offsideagain]

I like Dalot, always puts in a shift. I'm not convinced he's a full back. I'd like to see him given a few games as a defensive midfielder, as a possible Casemiro replacement. Dalot on the right and Mainoo on the left in front of a back four.

 

[lex talionis]

Great performance yesterday. His development is outstanding and it’s not hard to see him lock down RB as his for years to come.

 

[Rossa]

Quicker than Kyle walker?

Of course he isn't. Many claim to be faster than Walker, but his top speed is almost unmatched in football. Vinicius had a head start and was still caught rather easily. Maybe Daniel James had him for speed once?

 

[Cassidy]

You don't think if he continues this improvement he could be a starter, or considered starter?

Who would you look at who is better and attainable?

I think over his time at United he has been inconsistent and six months of good form isn't going to make me think all of a sudden he has turned a corner, I have similar reservations about Shaw by the way (who has a longer period good form than Dalot but is also inconsistent more due to his availability)
A good example of how form can be temporary is Rashford.

I think we should be looking to sign a good right back and have Dalot provide quality competition, if he maintains and improves his form (he wasn't great yesterday) then he can fight for the starting spot.

I have not looked at the market for RBs however I do see we were linked with Frimpong from Leverkuson however I'm not sure about his defensive ability and have not watched him enough to comment on him being an upgrade/good signing

 

[Vault Dweller]

I think over his time at United he has been inconsistent and six months of good form isn't going to make me think all of a sudden he has turned a corner, I have similar reservations about Shaw by the way (who has a longer period good form than Dalot but is also inconsistent more due to his availability)
A good example of how form can be temporary is Rashford.

I think we should be looking to sign a good right back and have Dalot provide quality competition, if he maintains and improves his form (he wasn't great yesterday) then he can fight for the starting spot.

I have not looked at the market for RBs however I do see we were linked with Frimpong from Leverkuson however I'm not sure about his defensive ability and have not watched him enough to comment on him being an upgrade/good signing

Yeah fair enough. I also thought last season before he got injured though he was improving and showing very good form, so I thought this run is more being over everything and now constantly improving. I hope so anyway.

I also think part of the issue is we have so many other areas, including left back as you say, and even with all the positivity it needs to be tempered in the summer because we won't be able to do loads. If Dalot keeps this going, I think at the very least RB is a position that could be parked for the time being.

 

[MJay]

He seems to have gotten much quicker. He easily outran Chong today and can really turn it on when he wants to. Didn't he have the highest top speed in our squad? Quickest RB in the league last season as well. If he keeps progressing he might actually prove Jose right.

In the recent match at Anfield, I am pretty sure he visibly outran Salah and overtook one of our defenders chasing Salah with a head start. Incredible pace.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Back to his usual below average self today. Let's never use this guy's name in the same sentence as O'Shea ever again.

 

[Atheist]

Couldn’t play simple 5 yard passes, and was nowhere to be seen for the second goal.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Sometimes he plays well enough to mask the fact that he's a total moron.

Other times however...

 

[Irwin99]

Judging from the comments i take it the bad Dalot turned up today?

 

[mavradal]

Judging from the comments i take it the bad Dalot turned up today?

Not at all, Dalot was one of the better players today, people are just overreacting like always. The second goal was 90% Diallo's fault for losing his man.

 

[Leftback99]

Woeful