Do we really need a new CB, if so who?

Don't really know. If it's me, I would get one experienced CB. There ain't many cheap & good ones around.

I would throw Raul Albiol into this too. Won't cost a fortune. Experienced but not too old and won't block other younger CBs. Physical no technical proficient too. Won't cost a fortune.
 
Dec9003 said:
Is the difference not that it looked like you could have a good season but because you only had one player who could score consistently your season went tits up and you finished a fairly mediocre third?
Regarding the rest of what you wrote if you don't think having less money makes you financially weaker than I don't know what to say to you.
All in all you couldn't afford a striker in January, your season went downhill and now you can't afford to improve your starting eleven.
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If you copy your post to the Spurs 2016-16 thread then I'll respond ... otherwise not.
 
ti vu said:
Don't really know. If it's me, I would get one experienced CB. There ain't many cheap & good ones around.

I would throw Raul Albiol into this too. Won't cost a fortune. Experienced but not too old and won't block other younger CBs. Physical no technical proficient too. Won't cost a fortune.
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If we are looking at experienced CBs then we have to go for starters. No use getting a squad player who is third or fourth choice.
 
If we need an experienced central defender then we should take a look a Jose Fonte from Southampton. Good player who does not get enough recognition.
 
What about Jonathan Tah? I was really impressed with what I saw of him last season, he seems to have a lot going for him.
in fairness though if we can keep Bailly and Smalling fit then with Blind and TFM as back up we might be alright. At least until Axel and the other young centre half whose name I forget the name of are ready enough to be backup players.
Whatever happens though Jones and Rojo have got to go. Especially Rojo he's literally terrible.
 
RDCR07 said:
If we are looking at experienced CBs then we have to go for starters. No use getting a squad player who is third or fourth choice.
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Then there is none available except old and expensive ones: Bonnucci, Godin, Garay, Pepe...(doubt over PL adaptability as their age) Then past it kind of experience: Carvalho, Matthieu..., or experienced but not top level Fonte, Ashley Williams...

Dec9003 said:
What about Jonathan Tah? I was really impressed with what I saw of him last season, he seems to have a lot going for him.
in fairness though if we can keep Bailly and Smalling fit then with Blind and TFM as back up we might be alright. At least until Axel and the other young centre half whose name I forget the name of are ready enough to be backup players.
Whatever happens though Jones and Rojo have got to go. Especially Rojo he's literally terrible.
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Urg, another young CB, who may demand game time immediately is not what we really need right now
 
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ghagua said:
If we need an experienced central defender then we should take a look a Jose Fonte from Southampton. Good player who does not get enough recognition.
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I 2nd that, I said Ashley Williams during the season would be the best option. His stats were very similar to Mikes iirc
 
ti vu said:
Urg, another young CB, who may demand game time immediately is not what we really need right now
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Yeah that's an obvious problem we have is that we have Smalling and Bailly who are both still young then a couple of good prospects coming through the academy.
If we did get someone like Tah then either his career would suffer or someone we already have will suffer. The same can be said about bringing in a stop gap though. I think at this point we might be better off using Axel and Blind as stop gaps. Especially seeing as Smalling and Bailly touch wood should be able to play the vast majority of the season to a reasonable level.
 
As I have stated we really need experience in this department but after careful thinking there are not many available players that would suit us. In my opinion probably the only candidate who would improve us and not cost a fortune is Garay
Of course if we are willing to spend more on that matter we should concentrate on one of Chielini, Bonucci, Godin. There is a real scarcety of talent in world football at the moment. 10 years ago there would be like 30 candidates...
 
Dec9003 said:
Yeah that's an obvious problem we have is that we have Smalling and Bailly who are both still young then a couple of good prospects coming through the academy.
If we did get someone like Tah then either his career would suffer or someone we already have will suffer. The same can be said about bringing in a stop gap though. I think at this point we might be better off using Axel and Blind as stop gaps. Especially seeing as Smalling and Bailly touch wood should be able to play the vast majority of the season to a reasonable level.
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Smalling will be 27 in November, he is not that young...
 
Slavkov said:
Smalling will be 27 in November, he is not that young...
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He's not exactly old. At 27 he can still be playing for another 8/9 years permitting injuries.
 
Dec9003 said:
Yeah that's an obvious problem we have is that we have Smalling and Bailly who are both still young then a couple of good prospects coming through the academy.
If we did get someone like Tah then either his career would suffer or someone we already have will suffer. The same can be said about bringing in a stop gap though. I think at this point we might be better off using Axel and Blind as stop gaps. Especially seeing as Smalling and Bailly touch wood should be able to play the vast majority of the season to a reasonable level.
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Smelling is not particular young, but he lacks leadership quality.
 
ti vu said:
Smelling is not particular young, but he lacks leadership quality.
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He's not exactly getting on. It's not so much he lacks leadership quality as much as it is he's not as good as many make him out to be on here. If we are going to replace Smalling with someone better I'm all for it, but it's not at the top of our priority list and rightly so.
 
He seems some just want a CB who points a lot. I have no idea why people think Smalling can not be the leader of our backline.
 
Dec9003 said:
He's not exactly getting on. It's not so much he lacks leadership quality as much as it is he's not as good as many make him out to be on here. If we are going to replace Smalling with someone better I'm all for it, but it's not at the top of our priority list and rightly so.
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I don't think we should necessarily be replacing Smalling with someone better - he's more than good enough to feature in our team long-term, but I'd rather we added someone to the side who can perhaps play alongside him who is at least as good, or hopefully, better than him. Smalling's obviously not on the level of the world's top CB's, but as has been alluded to above there's arguably a scarcity of top class CB's around at the moment and the chances of us finding two better than Smalling (who is still a very good player in his own right) seems extremely slim.
 
Dec9003 said:
He's not exactly old. At 27 he can still be playing for another 8/9 years permitting injuries.
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He has been playing for 6 years for United and you cannot say for a player who will be 27 in four months' time that he is young.

ti vu said:
Smelling is not particular young, but he lacks leadership quality.
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Absolutely agree. that is the problem with our defence. We totally lack character in defence. For all his qualities DDG has not looked like a commander and we lack the likes of Bruce and Palli, Stam, Rio, Vida, characters whose presence was immense. That is the type of player we need but I really have no idea where we would get him from. There are only a handful of players like that and they certainly won't be available...
 
Keeps It tidy said:
He seems some just want a CB who points a lot. I have no idea why people think Smalling can not be the leader of our backline.
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Suppose people are perhaps worried that he's sometimes a bit rash (constantly tugging at players in the area), and last season often struggled a bit when under pressure in comparison to games where we were in control. Suppose that even someone like Vidic, who was an absolute rock most of the time, had his occasional mares though. I'd be more than happy with Smalling as a potential future captain, depending on how he's doing and the overall look of the side in a few years.
 
Slavkov said:
He has been playing for 6 years for United and you cannot say for a player who will be 27 in four months' time that he is young.
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Yeah, not exactly old as such but at 27 the vast majority of outfield players are in their prime years. Ideally he'll continue to play well and be a key defender well into his 30s, but it's also quite conceivable that he'll start to decline/struggle once he hits 30-31. Kind of happened to Vidic, although Vidic obviously had a lot more to deal with in the way of injuries and other such setbacks.
 
Slavkov said:
He has been playing for 6 years for United and you cannot say for a player who will be 27 in four months' time that he is young.
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What is he then? Is 27 the new 33?
 
Smalling's age is misleading.

Dont forget that Fulham found him in the conference and we signed him 12 months later.

He wasnt groomed in an elite acadamy and wasn,t slowly brought along like many of our players, he only really found his feet at this level a few years ago
 
Cheesy said:
I don't think we should necessarily be replacing Smalling with someone better - he's more than good enough to feature in our team long-term, but I'd rather we added someone to the side who can perhaps play alongside him who is at least as good, or hopefully, better than him. Smalling's obviously not on the level of the world's top CB's, but as has been alluded to above there's arguably a scarcity of top class CB's around at the moment and the chances of us finding two better than Smalling (who is still a very good player in his own right) seems extremely slim.
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Probably not no, Smalling doesn't need replacing as you say. But when you pay was it 30 million for a centre back (Bailly) then he needs to be playing more often than not.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
He seems some just want a CB who points a lot. I have no idea why people think Smalling can not be the leader of our backline.
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People literally have no idea if he is a leader or not it's impossible to tell bar from what other people say who have played with him.
 
Tiber said:
Smalling's age is misleading.

Dont forget that Fulham found him in the conference and we signed him 12 months later.

He wasnt groomed in an elite acadamy and wasn,t slowly brought along like many of our players, he only really found his feet at this level a few years ago
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But, he has been at the biggest club in England since he was 20.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
But, he has been at the biggest club in England since he was 20.
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And wasnt good enough to start for a lot of that time

LVG may have been awful but he did good work with Smalling, I didnt think he would make it at united a few years ago
 
We need a leader who is vocal in defence. All the top teams have a leader defensively, we don't....
 
Dec9003 said:
What is he then? Is 27 the new 33?
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Well he is far from young mate, he is in his prime...Bailly is still young at 22. When we bought Rio, he was 24 at the time and he was a leader and a key player, When we bought Vidic he was again 24 and in 18 months time he was a key player and a leader. If Smalling was a leader he would have shown it by now. I like him, he is a good player, but he is not a leader and at 27 he can hardly improve much more...
 
Slavkov said:
Well he is far from young mate, he is in his prime...Bailly is still young at 22. When we bought Rio, he was 24 at the time and he was a leader and a key player, When we bought Vidic he was again 24 and in 18 months time he was a key player and a leader. If Smalling was a leader he would have shown it by now. I like him, he is a good player, but he is not a leader and at 27 he can hardly improve much more...
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27 isn't old though not for a footballer. Saying that he's not even 27 anyway he's still 26 as it stands. Smalling will never command a defence he's not a good enough player but that's not to say 27 isn't fairly young given how most centre backs can play until their mid thirties.
 
It's hard to lead when you're playing next to Blind, who's thick as pigshit. Genuinely one of the stupidest players I've seen play for us.
 
Ramshock said:
Wheres Inigo Martinez these days?
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Not really live up to the early hype or exactly experienced.

Skills said:
It's hard to lead when you're playing next to Blind, who's thick as pigshit. Genuinely one of the stupidest players I've seen play for us.
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LOL, wut? If anything, Blind organized the defense at times despite not being a natural CB. Even Jones leads Smalling around.
 
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Skills said:
It's hard to lead when you're playing next to Blind, who's thick as pigshit. Genuinely one of the stupidest players I've seen play for us.
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Terrible post. Blind is a very intelligent footballer.
 
Dec9003 said:
27 isn't old though not for a footballer. Saying that he's not even 27 anyway he's still 26 as it stands. Smalling will never command a defence he's not a good enough player but that's not to say 27 isn't fairly young given how most centre backs can play until their mid thirties.
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I am not saying that he is old but his not young either...he is in his prime...
Can you please name a good central defender in his mid 30s at the moment? That is exactly what we are looking for...
 
Slavkov said:
I am not saying that he is old but his not young either...he is in his prime...
Can you please name a good central defender in his mid 30s at the moment? That is exactly what we are looking for...
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Chiellini is 31 and he looks like he will stay a brilliant player for the next few years.
Barzagli is 35 and he's still a very good player.
Jose fonté is 33 in December and is coming off the back of a brilliant season both for Southampton and he excelled for Portugal in the euros. Speaking of Portugal Pepe has to be at least 32 by now and although he's a Cnut he's been a top player for ages now and doesn't look like giving up his spot at Real.
Mascherano is 32 and he's brilliant although I doubt he'd cut it at centre back in the premier league.
 
Dec9003 said:
Chiellini is 31 and he looks like he will stay a brilliant player for the next few years.
Barzagli is 35 and he's still a very good player.
Jose fonté is 33 in December and is coming off the back of a brilliant season both for Southampton and he excelled for Portugal in the euros. Speaking of Portugal Pepe has to be at least 32 by now and although he's a Cnut he's been a top player for ages now and doesn't look like giving up his spot at Real.
Mascherano is 32 and he's brilliant although I doubt he'd cut it at centre back in the premier league.
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Barzagli is the only one in his mid 30s who can improve us. Can Jose Fonte improve us? I doubt it...What was the brilliant about his season at Soton? I think he is a decent player but he cannot improve us. Pepe at 33 can definitely improve us and that's it...Barzagli and Pepe. Chielini is 31, the other two are Bonucci and Godin, and there probably are Garay and Miranda but nowadays one can hardly see a center back in his mid 30s still playing at the highest level.
 
Slavkov said:
Barzagli is the only one in his mid 30s who can improve us. Can Jose Fonte improve us? I doubt it...What was the brilliant about his season at Soton? I think he is a decent player but he cannot improve us. Pepe at 33 can definitely improve us and that's it...Barzagli and Pepe. Chielini is 31, the other two are Bonucci and Godin, and there probably are Garay and Miranda but nowadays one can hardly see a center back in his mid 30s still playing at the highest level.
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I wasn't asked which could improve us I was asked to provide a list of centre backs who are good and in their mid thirties.
Jose Fonte would definitely improve united if he came he's incredibly solid and as I said he showed that at the Euros.
Bonucci and Godin are 29 and 30 they're not in their mid thirties anyway.
I also think you're forgetting it was only last season Terry was one of if not the best centre backs in the premier league at about 34.
Mid 30's centre backs are more prevalent then you would believe.
More importantly though, if we're bringing someone in why exactly do they have to be in their mid thirties?
 
Dec9003 said:
I wasn't asked which could improve us I was asked to provide a list of centre backs who are good and in their mid thirties.
Jose Fonte would definitely improve united if he came he's incredibly solid and as I said he showed that at the Euros.
Bonucci and Godin are 29 and 30 they're not in their mid thirties anyway.
I also think you're forgetting it was only last season Terry was one of if not the best centre backs in the premier league at about 34.
Mid 30's centre backs are more prevalent then you would believe.
More importantly though, if we're bringing someone in why exactly do they have to be in their mid thirties?
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No they do not have to, I have just said that we need character and leaders and named 10 players or so. If a player is in his mid 30s he would be much cheaper.
You are saying that center backs are very good in their mid thirties and have only named two players- Barzagli and Terry, and probably Pepe but he is still 33, who played at the top at such an age, in the whole world of football, which exactly is the more prevalent in that, mate? Fonte is a mediocre player, he started the Euros as a back up to Carvalho and his season with Soton was nothing special. The modern game is not like it used to be. There are hardly any players still doing it at 35...
 
Slavkov said:
No they do not have to, I have just said that we need character and leaders and named 10 players or so. If a player is in his mid 30s he would be much cheaper.
You are saying that center backs are very good in their mid thirties and have only named two players- Barzagli and Terry, who played at the top at such an age, in the whole world of football, which exactly is the more prevalent in that, mate? Fonte is a mediocre player, he started the Euros as a back up to Carvalho and his season with Soton was nothing special. The modern game is not like it used to be. There are hardly any players still doing it at 35...
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Hang on, do you think mid thirties is literally 35? Is your mind that fixated on the 'mid' part to think mid thirties is literally 35?
Seriously?
 
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