[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Really needs to work on his weight of passing. Does a lot of nervy pass backs but I think we're better with him in the defence.

Darmian Jones Smalling Shaw would have been nice to witness.

If we could combine his physical strengths with Blind's on the ball ability we'd have one incredible defender.

 

[NoPace]

Comes down to "do you pick a CB for when you have the ball or when you don't" and it's a no-brainer. Jones is superior to Blind in most aspects and certainly deserves to start.

They are 3rd and 4th CBs for a team looking to win the title and join Barca/Bayern/Madrid at the top of Europe. If we sign a clear starter at LCB and sell Rojo to cover about 1/3rd to a half of the money required, then we have this:

Shaw-LCB-Smalling-Darmian
backed up by
Blind-McNair-Jones-Valencia

which looks really strong to me. Blind can play instead of McNair if he beats him out (and provide cover at DM once Carrick moves on) and maybe in the summer of 2017 Valencia moves on and we sign a top RB if Darmian hasn't become one.

 

[Loublaze]

Harsh to criticise him for the penalty incident. It was completely unexpected and it just happened that doumbia reacted first. Could have very easily gone the other way.

Smalling wouldn't have let Doumbia past him

 

[Dante]

I think a lot of his critics in this thread are the ones who lack footballing intelligence.

 

[Dante]

Smalling wouldn't have let Doumbia past him

Smalling was even further away from the ball than Jones when the follow up came in.

As a striker, you take chances. As a defender, you have to react. Jones could have done better, but if he'd made an instinctive run he could have just as easily ended up leaving an even bigger gap. It's difficult to criticise a defending player for not following a ricocheting ball in the penalty area.

 

[Akshay]

Cost us on the penalty, but was solid defensively otherwise. His passing, however, was pretty bad. Normally you pick defenders by their ability to defend first and foremost, but when our strategy is based on building up from the back we are really hampered by the Smalling-Jones pairing. Blind is less defensively solid, but does an excellent job of complementing Smalling and driving our attacking play from deep. It's a dilemma.

 

[devilish]

He's a squad player. We should bring in a quality CB to partner Smalling

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He's a squad player. We should bring in a quality CB to partner Smalling

If we're going on last nights performances we need to replace Smalling too. He was gash as well.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Smalling was even further away from the ball than Jones when the follow up came in.

As a striker, you take chances. As a defender, you have to react. Jones could have done better, but if he'd made an instinctive run he could have just as easily ended up leaving an even bigger gap. It's difficult to criticise a defending player for not following a ricocheting ball in the penalty area.

It's easy to criticise him. Defending a penalty your one and only responsibility is to beat your man to a potential rebound. They literally have no other responsibility.

 

[itso 7]

Fitness issues haven't allowed him to kick on as he should have but against decent teams he has to play because in spite of his limitations he is still a much better defender than Blind when we need to defend well. Last night his passing was disappointing at times, should have done better at times but I think overally he was good, especially in the second half.

 

[devilish]

If we're going on last nights performances we need to replace Smalling too. He was gash as well.

We need at least 1 world class CB. We've been having too many players whose on decent for a short period of time

 

[Dante]

It's easy to criticise him. Defending a penalty your one and only responsibility is to beat your man to a potential rebound. They literally have no other responsibility.

Just seen another replay. He definitely should have done better. Other than Schweinsteiger, none of our players were sharp enough.

 

[Rozay]

Wasn't particularly impressed.

 

[Bwuk]

Just seen another replay. He definitely should have done better. Other than Schweinsteiger, none of our players were sharp enough.

Awful. Just switched off entirely.

 

[Minimalist]

He scares the feck out of me.

Not good enough.

 

[prateik]

He scares the feck out of me.

Not good enough.

You are easily scared/
He is doing fine

 

[Cheesy]

He's been...eh, shaky.

 

[Skills]

Defended very well. One shaky moment but he might not have got a shout from De Gea.

 

[Sied]

He only scares me when he's on the ball and under pressure.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Fortunately you guys being scared has no actual effects on the game.

 

[Randall Flagg]

People watching a different game to me, he has been good

Had an awkward moment which was not his fault when maybe DDG should have given a Shout but he did the right thing and cleared it

 

[Snow]

Been spoiled with Blind at CB. Blind is such a good passer whilst Jones is probably the worst passer on the pitch. Every time he gets the ball City stop pressing and get organized. If he brings up the ball he's playing into their hands.

 

[SteveW]

People watching a different game to me, he has been good

Had an awkward moment which was not his fault when maybe DDG should have given a Shout but he did the right thing and cleared it

Yep. Defended well. I would have been more concerned had he let that ball bounce when De Gea didn't give him a shout. He had to clear it.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Think he's done pretty good to be honest, offered support to Valencia a lot when dealing with Sterling.

 

[Minimalist]

Impressed me much more in the second half. Loved his interceptions this half.

 

[Cheesy]

He's had a good half, to be fair. Looking a bit better.

 

[the hea]

Made some minor mistakes in the first half but has been really good in the second.

 

[devilish]

He's a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. He's not a bad player but he lacks composure and his passing is a bit meah

 

[villain]

Few dodgy mistakes but he's played well overall

 

[Skills]

Defense was the least of our worries.

 

[limerickcitykid]

He was fantastic in the second half. He didn't let Bony touch the ball and was on the end of every single one of their clearances. He was a big part of our dominance in the first 20 minutes of the second half. He simply didn't let them have the ball. Was great today.

 

[CG1010]

Well played today at City.

 

[Eugenius]

The way some people go on every half like he's had about 5 moments where he's looked dodgy, you'd think we would concede a lot more goals than we do.

 

[ZDwyr]

Played well. Him and Smalling do look a decent combination.

 

[lem8sh]

Thought he was dodgy.

 

[PvsNP]

Dodgy? He had a great game IMO.

 

[worldinmotion66]

What? Jones is far better on the ball than Smalling, and he brings it out with confidence. I thought Jones had an excellent game, his pace is a great asset and he's strong too. I can see the merits of Blind when playing against weaker opposition but the Jones-Smalling partnership is one that really excites me. We look very solid these days, and Valancia continues to improve defensively.

Man of the match today for me.

 

[limerickcitykid]

The way some people go on every half like he's had about 5 moments where he's looked dodgy, you'd think we would concede a lot more goals than we do.

Yeah but you should check the alternate looking like you are going to mess up league table. We've lost every game he has played in this alternate league due to all of his looking like messing up but not actually messing up.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Dodgy? He had a great game IMO.

Yup he did very well

His 3rd game of the season and him and Smalling are going. To form a good partnership assuming they stay fit

 

[Cheesy]

He was mostly very solid, but he has some terrifying moments. Still often feels like he's just a minute away from an error much of the time.