Centre Back... Who do we go for?

ThinkTank@Cafe said:
the problem is that we live in the age of average CBs.
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We can blame this on Pep and the idea of total football aka Cruff football I think.

These days a good CB must play like a DM when in possession. We demand a CB not only to be good in the air, tall, fast, strong, good tackle, etc well good in defense but also good with the ball at his feet, can pass like a decent midfielder, can keep the ball under pressure like a midfielder. No wonder there are not so many qualified. Instead of having CBs who are great defensively but not so good with the ball, now we generally have CBs who are average in both. Very few exception like VVD or Laporte, who are good in both.

Koulibaly looks great in highlights but according to my friends who watch the serie A, he is pretty similar with our Bailly. Fast, strong, good tackle, pretty good with the ball, etc. But he has a pretty big issue with his concentration. He's 29 so just forget about him please.

Many here would bash me for saying this. However imo our Lindelof - Maguire are actually pretty decent. Look at the CBs other clubs having and you'd see. Even City, with their unlimited funds have a really hard time to find a good CB partnership.

We can all agree that our CBs are not good enough to our supposed standard. However, who come to your mind that we would buy and surely be an upgrade ? I guess none.
 
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Adnan said:
Upamecano is in his final year and they (RBL) have gone on record to say he will be sold because they can't afford to see him leave on a free. I think around €40m will do it. Konate it was reported wants to leave and come to the EPL by German media and it was reported he has a buy out clause of around €40m.
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Well if that is the case then we should be all over one of them but remains to be seen if we do that after selling Smalling & Rojo
 
croadyman said:
Well if that is the case then we should be all over one of them but remains to be seen if we do that after selling Smalling & Rojo
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I think Upamecano looks the more likely due to his contract situation. But L'Equipe did report a few weeks back that he still wants to leave but not to a top European club due to the competition and he rather wants to join a European club who are in the champions league. And if not, he may even sign a new contract at RBL. So if that is true, then one must ask the question that, why on earth would you want to leave RBL in the first place.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.c...-a-clear-summer-transfer-window-plan-lequipe/
 
Adnan said:
I think Upamecano looks the more likely due to his contract situation. But L'Equipe did report a few weeks back that he still wants to leave but not to a top European club due to the competition and he rather wants to join a European club who are in the champions league. And if not, he may even sign a new contract at RBL. So if that is true, then one must ask the question that, why on earth would you want to leave RBL in the first place.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.c...-a-clear-summer-transfer-window-plan-lequipe/
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He just wants a big raise, his current wage is £38k a week. Tbh I don't really rate this guy and it seems the big clubs don't either.

Honestly I can't remember a CB from the Bundes that moved elsewhere and became a hit. If my memory serves me right Mustafi looked like a very good CB there.
 
Strelok said:
He just wants a big raise, his current wage is £38k a week. Tbh I don't really rate this guy and it seems the big clubs don't either.

Honestly I can't remember a CB from the Bundes that moved elsewhere and became a hit. If my memory serves me right Mustafi looked like a very good CB there.
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I think we might hear him sign a contract renewal with improved terms if you're correct about his wage.
 
You dont even need a new CB, if bailley and Tuanzebe can stay fit you got CB covered. Maguire/Lindelöf is good combo, even if they are slow.
What you need is AWB to get better position, and most important, get a new GK.... Im sorry, never liked DDG, a GK need to own the box and set up the defense, he doesnt, and will never do. If you had a GK that that left the goal line and commanded the defense everything would look a lot better.
 
Catania said:
You dont even need a new CB, if bailley and Tuanzebe can stay fit you got CB covered. Maguire/Lindelöf is good combo, even if they are slow.
What you need is AWB to get better position, and most important, get a new GK.... Im sorry, never liked DDG, a GK need to own the box and set up the defense, he doesnt, and will never do. If you had a GK that that left the goal line and commanded the defense everything would look a lot better.
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Bailly can't stay fit, ignoring his latest issue which could have happened to anyone, and Axel has his own injury issues and is still very much an unknown quantity.

We're being naive once again going into next season with what we've got, but I think that's probably the plan.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
What happened to Milenkovic? We have always been linked with him or has he been bad this season
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No, he has been fine. Probably even impressive for a 22 year old. But the hype and expectations on social media these days are huge for certain type of players. It is as if their status fall when they start playing more regularly and people realize that a central defender at 22 probably will not be as good as van Dijk or Rio/Vidic in their prime. But Milenkovic will be a great player. He just needs a bit of time first. Give him one more year at Fiorentina and he will be ready for a big club.
 


Those interested in Kabak. Don't know if it's reliable though. Also looks like the opposite of Lindelof but it's just highlights
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:


Those interested in Kabak. Don't know if it's reliable though. Also looks like the opposite of Lindelof but it's just highlights
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I kept hearing earlier on in the season he was one of the best center halfs in the Bundesliga. I'd personally prefer Ake over him, with Bournemouth basically going down I've no idea why we aren't showing interest.
 
Strelok said:
He just wants a big raise, his current wage is £38k a week. Tbh I don't really rate this guy and it seems the big clubs don't either.

Honestly I can't remember a CB from the Bundes that moved elsewhere and became a hit. If my memory serves me right Mustafi looked like a very good CB there.
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He never played there and was always an average CB talent.

Another option might be Tah from Bayer. I've not seen lots of matches from him but looks like a talent and can't see him being very expensive.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
What happened to Milenkovic? We have always been linked with him or has he been bad this season
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It was me that used to mention him often and I still believe he would've been a better option than Maguire at half the price. Strong in the air, quick and decent on the ball. Could also play at RB if needed like he does at Fiorentina.
 
Still think we might still go for Upamecano as we know him from having a trial here a few years back.

Will be also interesting to see if anyone else other than Hirst links us with Torres over the coming weeks.
 
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unplayable said:
He hasn't played a single Bundesliga match in his career, so your memory doesn't serve you right.
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Kostov said:
He never played there and was always an average CB talent.

Another option might be Tah from Bayer. I've not seen lots of matches from him but looks like a talent and can't see him being very expensive.
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Yeah you're right, my bad :wenger: . I have a bad memory anyway but tbh I can't remember a CB from the Bundesliga that moved to another big league and did well there. Bad memory again ?
 
Strelok said:
We can blame this on Pep and the idea of total football aka Cruff football I think.

These days a good CB must play like a DM when in possession. We demand a CB not only to be good in the air, tall, fast, strong, good tackle, etc well good in defense but also good with the ball at his feet, can pass like a decent midfielder, can keep the ball under pressure like a midfielder. No wonder there are not so many qualified. Instead of having CBs who are great defensively but not so good with the ball, now we generally have CBs who are average in both. Very few exception like VVD or Laporte, who are good in both.

Koulibaly looks great in highlights but according to my friends who watch the serie A, he is pretty similar with our Bailly. Fast, strong, good tackle, pretty good with the ball, etc. But he has a pretty big issue with his concentration. He's 29 so just forget about him please.

Many here would bash me for saying this. However imo our Lindelof - Maguire are actually pretty decent. Look at the CBs other clubs having and you'd see. Even City, with their unlimited funds have a really hard time to find a good CB partnership.

We can all agree that our CBs are not good enough to our supposed standard. However, who come to your mind that we would buy and surely be an upgrade ? I guess none.
Click to expand...

Koulibaly is on another level completely to Baily.
The comparison is just lazy and embarrassing.
 
Catania said:
You dont even need a new CB, if bailley and Tuanzebe can stay fit you got CB covered. Maguire/Lindelöf is good combo, even if they are slow.
What you need is AWB to get better position, and most important, get a new GK.... Im sorry, never liked DDG, a GK need to own the box and set up the defense, he doesnt, and will never do. If you had a GK that that left the goal line and commanded the defense everything would look a lot better.
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WUM Post if ever I saw one. :lol:
First of all Bailly & Tuanzeba squad players, the former being the better of the two. So you reckon it's perfectly exceptable to have slow CB in the hardest league in the world? yeah right if you say so. :lol:

You've never liked De Gea? Not even when he got player of the year 4 times out of 5? Not even when he saved us time and time again?
A goal keeper needs a good line of defence and ours is average which isn't good enough to fight for the top spot.

Goodbye Mr WUM
 
Strelok said:
Yeah you're right, my bad :wenger: . I have a bad memory anyway but tbh I can't remember a CB from the Bundesliga that moved to another big league and did well there. Bad memory again ?
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Kompany was pretty great for City.
 
Maguire's a LCB. I don't think the footedness matters anymore - was potentially a problem last season with Lindelof and Smalling preferring the RCB position.
 
Such an irony that if Bailly and Tuanzebe were less injury prone we would have a helluva CB line up to rotate from.

Please just give those two some miracle medicine.
 
theklr said:
Such an irony that if Bailly and Tuanzebe were less injury prone we would have a helluva CB line up to rotate from.

Please just give those two some miracle medicine.
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I love Bailly and think there is incredible talent there but he gives you the same amount of heart attack moments as Rojo does. I feel for Axel though, if it wasn't for injuries I think he would have got a run of games beside Maguire this season.
 
keithsingleton said:
WUM Post if ever I saw one. :lol:
First of all Bailly & Tuanzeba squad players, the former being the better of the two. So you reckon it's perfectly exceptable to have slow CB in the hardest league in the world? yeah right if you say so. :lol:

You've never liked De Gea? Not even when he got player of the year 4 times out of 5? Not even when he saved us time and time again?
A goal keeper needs a good line of defence and ours is average which isn't good enough to fight for the top spot.

Goodbye Mr WUM
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First off, Im not a UTD supporter, not a supporter of any premier league team.
So what DDG did for you 3 seasons ago doesnt effect me at all, I view DDG as a neutral. And DDG have never ever had good basic GK skills, period.

Lets put it simple, is DDG currently among the top 4 best GK in the league? I say no. to be honest, not even close this season.
Is the maguire/lindelöf pairing among the top 4 best in the league? Yes

Them being slow isnt the biggest problem, your not letting in that amount of goals because they get outrun, your biggest problem this season have been set pieces and crosses close to the goal, where the GK should dominate.
 
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