Leftback99
Oscar the Grouch.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2015
- Messages
- 15,936
The better of our CBs today again.
Apart from failing to defend the first cross on the first goal. Same old same.The better of our CBs today again.
He has +1 year option. I think we will "protect the value" and exercise it.He'll be gone next summer for free (which is a shame given how much club paid for him) and have 2-3 solid years at another club. Good enough squad option to have this season as he showed last year as well.
100% agree. I can't believe we still have him at the club, he's just one example of the type of mediocrity the club has accepted over the years. And calling him mediocre is being generous.Dreadful signing and an equally abject footballer at this level. There are people who desperately cling on to this silly idea that he has transformed and is the ultimate "professional". Slow on the turn, slow on the ball, does not scan and has the mobility of a rotating shipping container. Ten Hag already has significant pressure on him - if he persists with Maguire then he will be sacked quicker than a bicycle crossing Amsterdam.
I missed their first goal as only caught the second half but thought he played alright from what I seen.
Maguire wasn't the reason we lost today.
Intriguing that none of the other defenders same to get the same criticism or blame for the shambolic defending for the second goal.
Not one defender to the left of the penalty spot where they had 3 attackers waiting for a cross and ultimately scored from it.
I hope he's dropped next week so I can enjoy the mental gymnastics in this thread where people will still somehow find a reason to blame our defeat on Maguire.
the worst one coming at the beginning of the second half where he deliberately gave a throw-in away because he got spooked by the existance of opponents.
Another moment to mention.
Milner had a 1v1 with our keeper 2nd half which Dalot cleared off the line. He ran across Maguire and Maguire didn't have the quickness to stop him, or get back and make the block. And Milner is 65 years old. A centre back of decent pace and agility is surely matching Milner's run there and stopping him from getting a clear shot away?
We're so used to things like this though that we forget that it doesn't actually need to be the case. Sign quick centre backs and they're able to put out fires before the blaze even starts. Just because we rarely expose our centre backs to a 1v1 footrace in large open space doesn't mean their lack of pace doesn't cost us. Every time the attacker is first to a forward pass ahead of our centre back we really should be asking ourselves "would a quick centre back have been first to that ball instead?"
Now, the fact De Ligt and Martinez aren't quick either is another issue, for another thread. But lack of pace through the middle of the pitch at CB and CM is not ideal, particularly with our high risk pressing, high turnover rate and propensity to get hit in transition.
Yep. Hopefully when Maguire/Evans leave next summer our next CB signing also has pace. It's a huge asset.Look at Saliba there. Even when he was younger, Maguire was never able to do that. Now he doesn't need to do that every game but it definitely helps the team to push up more and be aggressive when they know they can deal with situations like those.
The hope is that Yoro develops into that kind of CB for us if he's as generational as everyone says.