Rúben Dias - FWA Footballer of the Year
- Thread starter Bastian
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SL Merda (is shite, right)? Thought you had a little dig at Benfica, being a Sporting fan and all. Just had a little laugh. Sorry if I misunderstood.what?
Which is strange, because many average Joe's (like myself) who's job isn't to scout players knew about this guy, similar to Fernandes really. It was like everyone heard of Fernandes 18 months prior to United signing him but up until United no one would take a punt and now look at him, 1 year on he's on of the best players in the Premier League.
Similar story with Ruben Dias, i remember him on PES 2018, developed him into a beast of a defender, similar to what he is right now in real life.
You implied that he could not be any good since he was still at Benfica. It was a bit of a flawed logic despite you refusing to admit it. What if Man City got their first choice, Kounde? He would still be at Benfica, and as a consequense would have to be poor going by your logic. It is just a silly way to assess footballers.
You would look better by admitting you were wrong about him. I also remember you predicting they would buy a new CB this summer to replace him.
With all the money City have thrown at the problem, they had to come up good at some point.
Pitty it doesn't happen with United then, other than Fernandes, every signing United have made have their critics or a question mark over them post-Sir Alex and the club have spent close to £1 billion.
United's best signings have been for free (Zlatan and Cavani).
which centre back have we thrown money at in recent years ? We bought mangala 7 yrs ago in 2014. Since then, Otamendi, Stones, Laporte, Diaz, Ake. Ake has been injured. The rest look like great signings and in the current market, the prices that looked expensive at the time now look like reasonable value
Any other upcoming talent in Portuguese league now? After dias and Bruno, it feels like Portuguese league have the best hidden talents now.
It's not the league, it's the football academies. Some players never played in the top tier. For example, Bernardo Silva or Cancelo. Don't think any of the best players currently are what United needs tbh, at best 1 or 2 for a Wolves level or Ligue 1. Regarding youth players the conversation is different.
A poster on here who follows the Portuguese league reckoned that Lindelof was a better player at Benfica than Dias was so that sealed it for me
No no you got it 100% right ! haha
Feck those bastards
Like Bruno still being at Lisbon in his mid 20s eh?
There are different circumstances why players may still be in a perceived weaker league and not signed until a later age, and its not always due to talent.
Dias has been really fun to watch this year (annoyingly). I think for as good as Stones has looked, a big part of that is due to Dias. The test will be for Stones when Dias is not next to him (either for City or for England as hes always flattered to deceive before Dias. Hes certainly cut out a lot of mistakes, and it could be due to Dias guidance (but again, we could base that on what weve seen before Dias and with Dias))
I still believe the system at city covers a lot of the individuals in it. That’s especially the case for the CBs. It’s such a shame for Maguire that he never went to City as he would be heralded as the best CB in the league by now. It’s a much harder job at Utd currently.
This!
I agree Dias has been good. So has Stones. It is probably a combination of Stones improving and Dias beeing a good player. At this point last year, City had concede 29 goals. This year it is 16. It is a huge improvement.
I do appreciate people having opinions and making predictions. But why is it so important to be right and so hard to admit when one are wrong?
Every one of the defenders that City "threw money" at under Guardiola are still at the club bar Danilo (who was involved in what's looking like one of the best deals in recent years when we swapped him for Cancelo). The only one that you could say has been a poor signing is Mendy, everyone else has performed. Compare this to United's defensive acquisitions : Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka and Dalot. Only Shaw and Bailly have really been anywhere near worth the money you spent on them (and even then Bailly has spent the majority of his time on the sideline so not really him either). If anyone's been playing trial and error with their defence recently, it's been United.
I agree. City changed their system because of the weakness of their CBs this season in my opinion - the few times players have had space to run at Dias/Stones they look vulnerable but they just shut that space down generally speaking by staring their press deeper, full backs come narrower and then Rodri sits just in front. Días is a solid out and out defender but, put him in our system, and there’d already be sections of our fan base crowing for his head.
First of all, there is no team in football that deliberately sets out to leave their defensive line exposed. Liverpool for the last 2 seasons have used their midfield as an excellent shield. Burnley plays with a low block and has Ashley Barnes, a striker, covering passing lanes. United concede many goals because of our inability to shield our defense...there's only so much a back 4 can do against wave after wave. So saying Dias wouldn't do well in our back line has everything to do with our uselessness and nothing to do with Dias' quality
Second, I've argued this for eons but you can't just slot any defender in City's backline and get away with it just because "they keep possession and press so well". That may reduce the opportunities the opposition has to test the defense, but mistakes in those situations almost always will yield a high quality chance on goal. In addition, because the midfielders press up so high, the defenders see a lot of the ball, and in addition to making sure they don't give away the ball, they need to play accurate passes that quickly switch the flank and/or cut through lines of defenders. Plus, they need to be adept at defending corners, free kicks... It's not the cakewalk many weirdly think it is.
Laporte was dropped because despite City's possession, he was making mistakes. Stones and Dias have been damned near flawless in the past few months. And saying they wouldn't do as well in a dysfunctional team misses the point, they are part of the reason City has gone 20 wins straight, that alone proves their quality.
Second, I've argued this for eons but you can't just slot any defender in City's backline and get away with it just because "they keep possession and press so well". That may reduce the opportunities the opposition has to test the defense, but mistakes in those situations almost always will yield a high quality chance on goal. In addition, because the midfielders press up so high, the defenders see a lot of the ball, and in addition to making sure they don't give away the ball, they need to play accurate passes that quickly switch the flank and/or cut through lines of defenders. Plus, they need to be adept at defending corners, free kicks... It's not the cakewalk many weirdly think it is.
Laporte was dropped because despite City's possession, he was making mistakes. Stones and Dias have been damned near flawless in the past few months. And saying they wouldn't do as well in a dysfunctional team misses the point, they are part of the reason City has gone 20 wins straight, that alone proves their quality.
Was Laporte really dropped because of performances? Thought he was injured for a while.
But yeah, Laporte never quite really impressed me.
Yeah he had some rocky performances, and screwed up in the Spurs game, after which he was dropped.
To his credit he's looked good in recent games.
With regards to the bottom point, I notice a pattern with some on here who double down on their opinions and will state they haven't been proven wrong despite evidence showing otherwise
Anyway it's nuts they've only conceded 16, and the majority were the first few games / part of the season. Probably would even be better if they had a pre season
I actually admire the strategy. Like United still have issues back there, we need to go to the well again.
So your evidence that Dias is better than Laporte was before his injury other than in the air is what?
City conceded 23 in 38 matches the season before last. Laporte has had injuries and hasnt been at his best since then. But at his best he was a very good CB that people were saying is great on here. Just like people are saying Dias is great now. And Laporte most certainly didnt have a partner at the back playing as well as Stones is now, next to him. He was clearly City's best CB
Dias has done well. Stones looks the best of the 3 right now though
Your opinion isnt evidence. Understand the difference
Where have I mentioned Laporte? What the hell are you talking about?
From the threads I've seen you in, you have agendas and youre too stubborn to realise it, where evidence one way works in your favour but your dismiss it when it works against you, and that's not just football related
With regards to the bold, I wish you would heed that Mr
I haven't been proven wrong yet
Laporte was poor after that bad injury plus he lacks leadership skills unlike Dias.
Which is exactly the case why our back 4 looks so shite. City organized pressing and 9 or 10 players working hard off the ball takes the pressure off defensive line.
Our back 4 has two midfielders doing 4 man job more often than not, because of front 4 staying high up the pitch.
And I'm not even arguing Dias is a very good defender. He does look excellent. But Lindelof is a defender who would look really well in that City setup.
Regarding second paragraph, whenever City defenders have the ball, there is a number of close passing options and because of that they rarely lose the ball in dangerous areas. Plus, it's not so smart to press City anyway.
I don't think our defense concedes goals because of individual errors. We look shite because it's very easy to put our defense under pressure. This is a collective issue, not individual.
Yes we spent how much on defenders? Yet still have a shit defence. City get it right a lot more than we do, hence more trophies than us since Fergie.
TBF, its not been the defence that has won them more trophies / titles in recent seasons.
Well I was refering overall regarding trophies, but I was also saying we cant knock Cities spending on defence when we have a similar spend, maybe even more, yet still nowhere near them over the last 8 years trophy wise.
And from the threads I've seen ive yet to see a reason why someone would listen to you.
And yet people do Ekeke, whereas most have realised how much you troll for interactions with certain agendas you cant let go off
No surprise there was no response to the Laporte point, which just shows what nonsense you come up with
I think City also having one of the top managers in the world can help navigate against weaknesses (although opposite way, he over thought it too much in Europe)
Back to Dias, I didnt watch him much if any before he joined the league. Hes been great. And I know hes been injured here and there, but being able to spend 60 on him and 40 on Ake is a luxury.
No surprise there was no response to the Laporte point, which just shows what nonsense you come up with
Thats fair. I think weve blown money all over the place. I think city have been helped with their structure in place which was always leading up to Pep being their manager. Meanwhile weve gone for different managers all with different philsophies. Im hoping we now have one in place, where if / when Ole leaves, we bring in somebody who is in similar mould in terms of youth and attacking (and taking that forward for trophies too)
I think City also having one of the top managers in the world can help navigate against weaknesses (although opposite way, he over thought it too much in Europe)
Back to Dias, I didnt watch him much if any before he joined the league. Hes been great. And I know hes been injured here and there, but being able to spend 60 on him and 40 on Ake is a luxury.
Agreed.
It's not a given. Plus you still have to hold your own at set pieces. I think this is one of Lindelof's setbacks.
Not every defender can do well in City's setup, it's not a position in that team where you can sit back with a chair and relax. See Mangala.
The CBs and fullbacks make themselves available for the pass even in the face of the press. It's not so smart to press City because their defenders are good at bypassing the press without making fatal mistakes, and getting the ball to the playmakers who given space will rip you apart. If their defenders made errors when pressed they would concede way more goals (this is what happened last season)
I agree.
Best CB in the league this season.
I can't see why people mention Maguire, Dias has had less time in English football and has performed better than anything Maguire has offered in his career thus far. These things happen and the reality is Maguire has showed nothing of the level required to be identified as a world class defender.
I don't see Maguire doing well for a team that is required to play a high line, it's a real weakness given his lack of mobility. The circumstances have to suit him dramatically with an athletic partner.
I don't see Maguire doing well for a team that is required to play a high line, it's a real weakness given his lack of mobility. The circumstances have to suit him dramatically with an athletic partner.
Imagine he came here. He'd convince Jones to get off the treatment table.
After years of poor recruitment in that position, it was typically inevitable they were going to get it right at some point.
Best player in the league by a mile this season.
Best player in the league by a mile this season.
We get Lindelof, they get Dias. Just our fecking luck.
Bruno is up there, but yes, Dias is on the shortlist
He's class.
Maguire's deficiencies go far beyond the fact that he plays in United's system. Dias is better in every area as far as I can tell.