@devilish has a point - getting a Godín or Bonucci would be ideal, but that's not exactly realistic at this point in time, so the alternative should be replacing middling players with someone who can become a world class defender in the near future with regular playing time (Giménez and Rugani are arguably the standout young centerbacks in Europe from a defensive standpoint) - to provide an element squad renewal and improvement on a year-to-year basis. And Giménez/Bailly will hardly be very young at 23 and 24 years of age by 2018, respectively, when you consider that someone like Terry became Mourinho's go-to leader and club captain at age 23. The primary emphasis of this particular transfer would be to bring a potential generation defining defensive player to the club - and build a sustainable central defensive structure for atleast the medium term. The only major snag is his fit with Bailly because ideally you'd want one of the centerbacks to be an excellent distributor from the back, but then Mourinho did play Lúcio (who was more of a dribbler in space to bring the ball out) + Samuel at Internazionale.
Strange post. Savic is a very good defender who keeps getting better every season. And having just turned 26, with 5 years experience and 100+ games in Italy and Spain, he probably hasn't even reached his prime.
That's an entirely hypothetical situation. Plus, Arsenal's biggest players leaving for greener pastures toward the end of the last decade and the start of the current one was different from where United is now - especially in terms of financial clout and their contract situations (which often forced Arsenal's hand), so I don't believe our best players will abandon ship like theirs did. As for Sir Alex's template - it took a while to implement (which isn't always possible in the current climate), and the circumstances of that period of football are different from the current one - plus, there's no hard and fast rule for building a team. Fergie built a team in the way he wanted to, and the current manager can build it in the way he wants to - be it signing younger players, or older ones - either one can be successful, it's just that older ones have a greater sample size - which is reassuring, and ideal terms - yes, the composition should be staggered between young players, and older leaders.
Giménez has leadership mentality, too - he was the defensive leader for Uruguay in 2013 when they reached the U-20 World Cup final and conceded just 3 goals despite being the youngest player in the unit. At Atlético, he doesn't get to display his leadership traits because of the presence of Godín (arguably the best centerback in the world), Juanfran (top 3 rightback in Europe), Luís (top 3 leftback in the world), Gabi, Koke, Griezmann and the likes. He's not going to stand out as a leader, especially in that defensive unit with contemporary defensive behemoths flanking him and exerting their influence on the team. Expecting him to be a leader in that backline would be like expecting young Terry to be a leader in a hypothetical backline consisting of Blanc, Thuram and Lizarazu - it's not going to happen, and is all about relatives.
Are you thick or you missed the part on him having issues with Simeone and getting injured once he got back in the team?
Yeah, that was my point earlier, he shouldn't be a standalone signing.
He's really not doing well this season. Consistently the weak link in their defence. Gimenez also regressed in the last year though
Can't agree with that. He's had a few loose games but so has Ramos and Madrid fans are very happy with him. Overall Atleti as a defensive unit have not been as good as we expected them to. By January they had already conceded as much goals as they did in the entire previous season. But they seems to have tightened things up in the back in the last couple of games.
I think it also depends on the way Jose wants to play. Gimenez is more closer to the old fashion centrebacks. Alderweireld is much more refined, he can even play as a defensive midfielder because he has a very good passing range. Alderweireld gives away very few fouls, Gimenez is more physically imposing and also more prone to giving away fouls. I see them as very different players. Personally i like Gimenez a lot as i have never seen such a young centreback play so consistently well at a high level, i was too young to watch young Maldini. The way he took his opportunity as a 19 year old playing like a season veteran since his first game was very impressive. But as someone mentioned above, we cannot rule out the influence of Godin, and Atleti's setup probably also suited him just as much as it didn't suit Alderweireld. The way Spurs play suits him very well.
Players do get injured, it doesn't mean they are broken like Jones.
That makes no sense whatsoever. You clearly know feck all about him.
Why are you so antagonistic? What don't I get, do elaborate, please? If you re-read the post, you'll realize that what I said was - yes, Fergie did well with a certain template of having an experienced core to then launch the younger players, but that's not always a realistic option (especially in the current market where the best experienced players have gravitated towards clubs that won't let them go, and aren't as readily available from Premier League clubs because of the TV revenues). It's like saying we should sign the equivalents of Drogba (Onze d'Or winner) and Carvalho (UEFA Defender of the Year and Ballon D'Or 9th) to herald the Mourinho era at United without taking the current football climate into context - where players of that caliber aren't readily available at selling clubs like Marseille and Porto. So you might have to decide between building an experienced core by signing experienced players (which can take time, and isn't always realistic because you have to consider the quality, too) or going for players who aren't world class yet, but have the potential to be world class in the near future to become your experienced core - and are quite experienced for their age. Being a middle aged played and 'having experience' isn't some magic recipe if you aren't that good or proven as a potential elite club level player (which is where a lot of people doubt Van Djik and Manolas and the likes as centerback solutions for United - because they don't play for clubs of a similar stature).
Cheers for spelling out that U20 experience is different from United experience. I'd never have figured that out in a million years without your snarky response!
