He’s just so ridiculously talented. I’ll take all the teething pains that come with a young defender because this lad is going to be an absolute diamond. Just effortlessly class.
15
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 33
- Clean sheets
- 4
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 6
- Status
Think what you wish, that's not the criteria I was using. The 'consistent' ones were all good positive contributions where he did the right thing, or indeed did impressively well.
I've made the same point about the game overall. But looking at all of his own contributions, it comes out positively.
I’m impressed. The two things that impress me is the desire and ability, the consistency will come later. When he threw his head at that shot last night whilst on the ground like his life depended on it, that’s good enough for me. He started the game by dribbling out from The back and split them open. Him and Heaven are going to be top class.
His composure for a young CB is extremely impressive. Whenever the ball goes in behind and he has pressure on him as he's facing his own goal he manages to make the right moves to buy the time and space he needs to play the ball out of danger. He's going to be one of the best in the world in a few years for sure.
Agreed. One of our best signings for ages.
Brilliant last night. Not perfect, but brilliant.
Yeah, loved his marauding runs forward. Did well defensively as well.
Not flawless, but for a 19yo, this guy is already one hell of a player.
I do prefer him as the LCB, seems to be a notch better playing from that side compared to the RCB.
But loved watching him in the first half last night, really took the game to Lyon.
But loved watching him in the first half last night, really took the game to Lyon.
He can switch off a few times a game. But when he's on it, he looks the real deal. I admire his confidence bringing the ball up the field. Players are confused when they see it and his one twos were opening up opportunities.
People keep mentioning Phil Jones as a resemblance to a start he made vs Giroud. This, to me, is prime Vidic vs Swansea.
On the ball, the kid oozes class, especially going forward.
Yeah, defensively iffy moments, but central defenders don't usually hit their peak until mid to late 20s, after they've accumulated the experience and confidence that's needed to play that position. I'm convinced he'll be class.
He's probably even ahead of where he was projected to be at this age due to the injuries to Licha, Shaw and DeLigt during the season, so he's doing OK.
Yeah, defensively iffy moments, but central defenders don't usually hit their peak until mid to late 20s, after they've accumulated the experience and confidence that's needed to play that position. I'm convinced he'll be class.
He's probably even ahead of where he was projected to be at this age due to the injuries to Licha, Shaw and DeLigt during the season, so he's doing OK.
Yeah he's got the gift for sure.
I reckon he'd eventually be great in midfield if he or the club wanted to go that way.
Same sort of move Declan Rice has made.
Really enjoy watching him on the ball. Very silky defender.
Few concerns over his defensive positioning and awareness but hopefully he will learn.
Few concerns over his defensive positioning and awareness but hopefully he will learn.
The kid has it all really. Worth remembering he is only 19. There will be bumps, but they are worth hurdling over.
Good thing about getting him so early is there's time to coach him in that position though...and didn't he play in a back three at Lille?
He's sensational on the ball I think, he struggled with his positioning a little last night but that's bound to happen while he's so young. That Phil Jonesesque headed block was class
No, I'm pointing out that he was beaten by the forward just like Shaw was.
It doesn't come out positively at all, he was a defender in a team that conceded 4 goals, two of which he was the direct marker for the goalscorer.
I have no doubt he'll end up being a top defender, but a defender defending that badly is a poor performance.
He was fine for the fourth Lyon goal.
He's a capable box defender and in his recent performances the past 2-3 months, he has shown a lot more commitment being proactive in his aerial duels and clearances. I think his issues are concentration as he's trying to do everything and of course the fact he's playing with no consistent experience head next to him, not to mention how open the team is. He's driving from deep, making clearances in the box, progressing the ball with his passing, getting touch tight pressing high, making recovery runs tracking back, jumping in for aerials etc etc. If he could do all those things consistently, he would be one of if not the best defender in the world already.
As I've said before though, I like that he is daring to be involved. Hopefully he'll be able to play in a team where he can concentrate on clearing his lines and watching over his shoulder and not need to be as worried about progressing the ball from the back because if he doesn't, the team doesn't move forward and needing to press wide players around the half way line.
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There's a huge difference in his play in the first half compared to the second. In the first half on the left hand side, he's moving forward with the ball and actually makes tons of ground up for us. In the second, he's playing much deeper and on the right due to Shaw coming on. Positionally, he doesn't look great there and there are a few moments where he actually drifts back over on to the other side of Maguire and out of the spot where he should be.
The switch with Shaw coming on was, unfortunately, to his detriment. We also defended much worse in general due to that switch. Our whole play was very lopsided in the second half and very much down the left, whereas we had a lot more going down the right hand side in the first half in an attacking sense, including where both goals came from. The balance was wrong in the second half.
The switch with Shaw coming on was, unfortunately, to his detriment. We also defended much worse in general due to that switch. Our whole play was very lopsided in the second half and very much down the left, whereas we had a lot more going down the right hand side in the first half in an attacking sense, including where both goals came from. The balance was wrong in the second half.
Tbh I think you’re overly critical. Both the markings is situations were the ball comes fast across from unpredictable situations due to poor play from Casemiro and Dorgu x2. I don’t disagree it would be possible to be closer to his man in the situations, but it’s situations were experienced top defenders would struggle as often as not.
He’s not cool headed and proactive enough yet, but made up for a lot yesterday IMO
Love him. Sacrifices everything. Needs a bit of work on positioning himself in the box at times but he brings the ball forward when necessary and solid for the most part.
He was fine because Shaw was there to give away a penalty and save his blushes. Had that not happened, he was beaten and a huge chance was given away.
You're right that if he could do everything defensively perfect he'd be one of the best defenders in the world already. But the match against Lyon demonstrates conclusively that he isn't there yet. His concentration levels were really poor on Thursday, it's something he needs to work hard on.
I agree he would be better with a calmer more experienced heads around him. Daring to be involved is great, and I'm confident he'll go on to be a top defender, but we have to be honest about his current shortcomings, which were laid bare against Lyon.
It's interesting that you're happy to assign blame to Dorgu for being beaten in the box, another young player with the same mitigating factors as Yoro. I think you may be letting his very high ceiling colour your opinion of the player he currently is.
Yoro did some stuff really well on Thurs, and showed a huge amount of potential, but also demonstrated that he needs to work on his defensive concentration and positioning.
His fearless header tackle gives me Phil Jones and John Terry flashbacks. Hes going to be an absolute monster in a few years. I just hope he stays healthy.
I think heaven will also have these attributes, a possibly great pair of CBs.
Don’t know if you mix my post up with someone else? Youre last paragraph seems to echo my last paragraph pretty well. I just thougt you were overly critical in some of your previous phrasings.
I don’t see how you gather that I’m ‘happy’ to criticize Dorgu, I just thought he made clearly bigger mistakes in both the marking situations you pinned on Yoro, and more relevant to Yoro’s case - it’s a lot more difficult to mark a player close when unpredictable things happen just milliseconds before - like Casemiro failing to clear the ball or Dorgu not being there for duels.
Dorgu and Yoro are both very young and tasked with responsibility way above what’s reasonable When anyone expect them to be starters in a team supposed to fight for the highest spots in the Premier League and Europa League. Yoro for me is more refined even positionally and tactically, but he has a more demanding role as well. They both make mistakes every game that you would not expect an experienced player to make at that level.
I think both making them out to be superstars and being overly critical will be a mistake at this point.
I was thinking during the game he’s one of those players that could probably play anywhere on the pitch and excel. He was playing like a winger at times as it was!
Dorgu was there for the duels though, for the first goal he was having to mark 2 players as Shaw wasn't paying attention, second one he was just beaten.
In contrast Yoro was beaten for Lyon's first and second goals, and charged out of position leaving a huge space for their 3rd.
It's just faulty logic to suggest that pointing out that Yoro was beaten by the goalscorer for two of Lyon's goals is being overly critical, yet pointing out that Dorgu was beaten in the build up to them isn't. It was a fairly poor defensive showing from them both.
He's amazing, just fecking amazing. Sure, like people say, there are some things to iron out - but that is natural given his age. Don't forget that Rio was 24 when he signed for United and still had to improve a little bit in terms of positioning and especially concentration.
You need to watch the sequence leading to Lyon's penalty again:
Casemiro inexplicably decides to poke the ball back to Lacazette, who then plays a pass to Fofana. Yoro covers both of them and then is in line with Fofana before Shaw makes that stupid tackle. Would Fofana possibly have had an extra touch (in the close up you can tell he is already stretching for the ball so it's not like he got clear separation) and got away from Yoro? Maybe or perhaps Yoro would have gone shoulder to shoulder with him too. You are really stretching on this one.
Between being the best defender in the world and 'the match against Lyon demonstrates conclusively that he isn't there yet' there is a middle ground, which I think most people are saying.
As for your last sentence, I don't think many would disagree. I've said the same, you can check my last several posts in this thread. He does has a tendency to switch off, get too tight or just leave things but some like myself are a little bit more lenient when you look at the overall picture.
All I can say is that Yoro is an outstanding 19 year old professional footballer who's performed very well under brutal circumstances. Is there a 19 year old defender, or even a 22 year old defender, who's better than Leny Yoro?
Casemiro's touch wasn't inexplicable, he was challenging for a loose ball that came from a sloppy clearing header.
I think it's fair to say that we're just making assumptions about what could have happened had Shaw not conceded the penalty, so I'll withdraw my criticism about that.
In my opinion, you're "really stretching" just as much in your attempts to be lenient. You certainly aren't looking at the overall picture by turning a blind eye to a poor defensive performance, in which he was beaten or heavily to blame for 3 of the 4 goals we conceded.
Considering Casemiro had more momentum and was the favourite for that loose ball then yes it was inexplicably bad, which if you didn't realise was a figure of speech and not literal. To say Yoro's header was sloppy is again stretching it; IIRC it was a looping high ball and headed back into the vicinity of his teammate aka as routine as an aerial duel as it gets.
We're both making assumptions of whether Yoro would have been beaten as you have conclusively stated except one subjective opinion is probably 'right' more than the other. I don't feel the need withdraw my comments but I'm glad you have after mine.
If acknowledging the good with the bad is being lenient, then sure I'm stretching my judgement by trying to look at the overall picture. My initial disagreement or points of discussion with your posts were 1) you unequivocally stating he was fault for Lyon's penalty, which now you have retracted and 2) you saying he's more comfortable in open spaces and not in his box, whereas I think he's shown equal promise and concern in both areas.
Pretty shocked how some people here are attacking him, what is he like 19 years old? He started on the left then got shoved to the right.
How about:
1. He plays out with the ball with confidence and leadership unlike most of our other defenders these past 10 years
2. He put his brain on the line on Thursday to block that ball - so he's as brave Maguire, Jones, Vidic and Bruce
3. He did that endearing childlike giggle at the end of the interview on Thursday - the kid absolutely loves it
He's already one of my favourite players and it's mental that the glass half empty gang just wanna moan some more. Give it a rest lads.
How about:
1. He plays out with the ball with confidence and leadership unlike most of our other defenders these past 10 years
2. He put his brain on the line on Thursday to block that ball - so he's as brave Maguire, Jones, Vidic and Bruce
3. He did that endearing childlike giggle at the end of the interview on Thursday - the kid absolutely loves it
He's already one of my favourite players and it's mental that the glass half empty gang just wanna moan some more. Give it a rest lads.
Have to disagree with this also. Casemiro could get his body between himself and the challenger and shield the ball. He tries to play it back but drops it into the pocket.
It looks like Yoro has the run covered as Shaw takes him out. You could probably blame 3 people here before you get to Yoro.
Your initial disagreement involved suggesting he was a bit of consistency away from being "one of if not the best defender in the world already". That's stretching far more than any blame I assigned to him for the 4th goal.
For point 2 in this post, I think him being more comfortable further forward is accurate, as he has the pace to recover most of the time (unless he wildly overcommits, like for Lyon's 3rd), whereas his poor concentration and marking in the box on Thursday night cost us a couple of goals.
We generally agree that he's likely gonna end up brilliant, but we're doing him a disservice by glossing over shortcomings and poor performances.
I'm a big fan, but point 2 and 3 don't mean much. Just waffle.
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