Laporte wasn't even Spanish until 1 month ago! Really shows the lack of talent at the back for Spain.
Mind you, looking at Kimpembe, I bet France wished they called up Laporte instead
Pau Torres
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Mind you, looking at Kimpembe, I bet France wished they called up Laporte instead
Should be playing for a bigger team. So good on the ball.
Impressive.
I won't lie, I did imagine what it'd be like having him LCB next to Varane.
Better than Lindelof and Bailly combined. Ship them both there for him.
Thought he was excellent.
Used the ball consistently well, both in terms of incisive passing and the ability to dribble through the lines.
Used the ball consistently well, both in terms of incisive passing and the ability to dribble through the lines.
I suspect he's ultimately bound for one of the big two Spanish teams once they can afford him.
Good on the ball and bringing it forward, didnt have a lot of defending to do as Villarreal were organized and he was rarely called into action by other players being caught out. The defence were largely protected with Foyth being a madman winning the ball from right back in his battles with Sancho, Fernandes, Ronaldo and everyone else that drifted left
Ole wouldn't do that to the main CB that he brought to the club
He was brilliant, easily one of the best players on the pitch.
I said in the summer that I thought he might even have been a better option than varane, but have to add that Lindelof did nothin wrong at all on wednesday night
He was taking the piss. One moment, he was even doing nothing because of our lack of pressing. Seriously we are so shit that we can't even judge if the opposition players are actually good or they are really good.
He's a bad defender and would be exposed in our side. He'd suit City or a side that dominates the ball.
Him doing nothing was just a tactic to draw the opposition out. Bruno said in the interview afterwards that they had to know when not to press. Given you can never accuse Bruno of a lack of enthusiasm for pressing, I think you can take it at face value that we left him to do nothing for a reason.
Of course, the fact he’s so good in possession is what makes it necessary to drop off him every now and then. He exploits those gaps really well.
But their patient possession play is designed to frustrate the opposition into pressing in the wrong moments. Without those gaps to exploit they’re a really ineffective team, hence the 4 0-0 draws in 9 games this season. And that approach to the game offers Torres a lot of protection and comfort. He wouldn’t have the same kind of protection in any other team, that’s what makes it hard to tell how good he is.
We should be a side that dominates the ball.
he's doing exactly what he should be doing. Why when the opposition are sat back would you try to force a ball into midfield or over the top? just wait it out until they get impatient and start pressing and leaving gaps.
This is exactly how they managed to pass through us so easily. They knew the crowd would get restless and we'd start running at them 1 by 1 and they'd pass it around us no problem.
Thought he was excellent last night. Always been a bit on the fence with him previously, but he showed last night he is ready for a move to an elite club.
He is a brilliant player and it showed last night.
As someone else said if we could get him and sell Bailly and Jones. Ole wont sell Maguire, so that would leave us with 2 fantastic Cb and Maguire/Lindelof for rotation.
Meh. Lindelof looked like a million dollars vs Spain recently. CBs have an easy life when they're surrounded by teammates and can defend as a team all game. At big clubs you're exposed to 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 defending. You're exposed to fast counter attacks, you have to cover bigger gaps and you have to react quicker. It's a completely different ball game to life at Villarreal.
I find this place baffling at times. We've got three good CBs + Bailly who could chip in with a couple of games in case of crisis. Why is there talk of buying another CB? It's like some of you live in an alternative reality where we don't have major midfield problems, we're not short at RB and we won't need a CF next year. But yes, let's throw a further 70m on yet another CB.
I find this place baffling at times. We've got three good CBs + Bailly who could chip in with a couple of games in case of crisis. Why is there talk of buying another CB? It's like some of you live in an alternative reality where we don't have major midfield problems, we're not short at RB and we won't need a CF next year. But yes, let's throw a further 70m on yet another CB.
And Tuenzebe.
Varane and Maguire are peak players.
Pau can come as our one and only left footed CB so it gives him some advantage too for bad form of Maguire/Varane (unlikely but still).
Ole has changed the atmosphere and big names are on the bench for us now like Laporte at City. He rejected Spurs for not being a CL club, I don't think he would reject us.
Varane, Maguire, Pau, Lindelof + youngsters
That's a complete reshaped CB'S group with a bit of everything.
There's just no dying need for it right at this moment compared to CDM's,CM's, Attacking RB's etc. So I doubt it would ever get in our plans.
Why when the opposition are sat back would you try to force a ball into midfield or over the top? just wait it out until they get impatient and start pressing and leaving gaps.
Yes, that's what I meant too. It wasn't a stick to beat him. Fact that we can't do a collective press forced him to do that. That was their tactics . Do you think they would do this against Liverpool or City ?
Excellent player and played well last night.
Then let Ronaldos header down go and left for the keeper because he hadn't seen Lingard and we scored the winner.
That's Lindelof and it's "fecking hoof it you useless ######"
Then let Ronaldos header down go and left for the keeper because he hadn't seen Lingard and we scored the winner.
That's Lindelof and it's "fecking hoof it you useless ######"
Fair enough - and yes they'd probably try but Liverpool and City can press far better + more cohesively than we can.
Good analysis
If we want a first-choice ball-playing LCB, he's as good as we'd get.
We were already interested last summer and the shift to ETH football would make him a better fit now as his strengths will be emphasised further.
I'd be surprised if CB was enough of a priority that we'd spend that much on it this summer though. I would have thought a cheaper bargain buy to effectively replace Bailly/Jones as back-up was more likely.
We were already interested last summer and the shift to ETH football would make him a better fit now as his strengths will be emphasised further.
I'd be surprised if CB was enough of a priority that we'd spend that much on it this summer though. I would have thought a cheaper bargain buy to effectively replace Bailly/Jones as back-up was more likely.
Unless we’ve found a suitcase full of bills under the sofa there’s no way we can afford all these players
Sign him up. Is perfect for us.
We have too many CB so if he is to come in, Bailiy and Jones must be off first. But there's also Tuanzebe + others out on loan who could be in with a better chance of getting a first team spot if they leave. Very very doubt this move will happen. Don't we have any LCB in the loan system somewhere or are they all RCB?.
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Please please please
He's brilliant. I used to think Albiol does a lot of the dirty work in this pair (and I think he still does more) but Torres has got it in him too.
Torres and Varane would be a brilliant pair. With Lindelof, Maguire and Mengi backing up.
Torres and Varane would be a brilliant pair. With Lindelof, Maguire and Mengi backing up.
12 months ago the majority didn't want him, too Lindeloffy apparently. Amazing what a season of an under par Maguire has done
I wonder how press resistant he is , we will find out very soon.
I really like him but it could make our cb situation even more convoluted than it already is.
I really like him but it could make our cb situation even more convoluted than it already is.
We should have signed him instead of Varane.
Give them back Bailly and some cash? Sounds like an ideal addition for ETH.
The new manager is also a big factor, tbf.12 months ago the majority didn't want him, too Lindeloffy apparently. Amazing what a season of an under par Maguire has done
A lot of the comments at the time (including one from someone who described him as a bad defender above) noted he'd suit a side like City who dominate the ball. ETH is a massive leap in that direction compared to Ole, so our need for that type of defender has increased. Horses for courses and all that.
60m is a lot but we could raise funds by selling Bailey and Tzunzabe and releasing Jones. That should bring in a total of approx 40m between sales fees and salaries saved over 12 months. Ideally we would sell Maguire to Newcastle but just don't see that happening unfortunately. Varane, Torres, Lindelof and Mengi would be great as centre back options for next season and that would mean zero net spend....probably a transfer surplus.
Do the same also for right back, sell both Dalot and AVB and bring in a proper right back with Laird as back up. Again little or no net spend there as we should get 40m between AVB and Dalot.
Continue doing this for each position where we have difficulty in the team and the overall outlay would be significantly reduced and we would also have a much less bloated and happier squad.
It's not rocket science, just takes the balls to get it done.
Do the same also for right back, sell both Dalot and AVB and bring in a proper right back with Laird as back up. Again little or no net spend there as we should get 40m between AVB and Dalot.
Continue doing this for each position where we have difficulty in the team and the overall outlay would be significantly reduced and we would also have a much less bloated and happier squad.
It's not rocket science, just takes the balls to get it done.