Tom Cato
Godt nyttår!
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 7,580
It's funny that the discussion has been diverted into Maguire vs Koulibaly vs Upamecano. There are so many center backs all over the world and with such a huge scouting network, I'm not sure why we can't find a decent one with a reasonable price. For example Leicester has upgraded Maguire with Soyuncu using just 20m, who is equally good on the ball, much quicker, much agiler, much more athletic, and much more suited to play a high line.
Besides I've heard enough about "ball playing defenders" and honestly I'm not a fan of it as we barely benefit from it. How often do Maguire and Lindelof successfully play a direct ball through the lines and create a chance? More often than not, we give the ball away unnecessarily in dangerous positions leading to opposition's counter attack. The idea of playing out from the back is to keep the ball and bring the ball forward safely, but with the lack of quality and creativity in midfield, we usually swing the ball forward eventually, making the whole philosophy meaningless. For example the goal against Wolves came from a hopeful long ball from Maguire, just like Smalling always did.
I also don't agree with those who say transfer fee doesn't matter. Of course it does matter because if we had allocated 20m on center back, we'd have had an extra 60m for other positions, meaning we could have invested in a right winger or brought in Bruno half a season earlier. Either way could have brought a larger impact to the team.
We've allowed 2 goals in the last 11 matches. ELEVEN! If we're giving away so many chances as you seem to indicate, well, other teams have really, really bad attackers. Someone should tell Pep and Lampard their teams are dogsh*t, Harry is giving away the ball all the time.
Are you sure you're not supposed to post on the Tottenham boards?