looks like he's leaning on other player.
Jules Koundé | Signs for Barcelona
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According to the article he says he's getting targeted by teams due to his height and he's won more aerial duels than Sergio Ramos due to no one daring to test Ramos in the air. He also says that it gets complicated for him against players who are 1.90 in aerial duels.
Also according to the article he's won 2.4 aerials per game which is worse than Lindelof's 2.5.
That article is February 2020 not 2021 or even August 2020. And he also says against 190cm it will necessarily be more complicated so he prepares how to handle it and to be ready, the article shows the mentality of him as player and his confidence. Last season he had 3.2 per game while Lindelof had 2.7 per game.
But how much aerial balls is he facing per game? Because according to the article he admits he's getting targeted aerially and due to the high volume of aerials he's facing, has meant he wins more aerial duels than Sergio Ramos who teams daren't target in the air.
He’s being targeted due to his height and publicly telling everyone that he can still handle it then shows it’s not big problem isn’t it?
It might be a problem if he's losing more than he wins. The Premier League is also more demanding in that regard so I hope we don't mess this potential signing up and cover all bases and sign someone that is best suited to dealing with all eventualities in both a high-line and a deep block.
I don't know a lot about Kounde but if he's the correct profile of player then I'll be happy.
Losing aerial duel to someone like Calvert Lewin is not big problem since he’s one of the best in the game or others with above 190cm but if you lose aerial duel to someone like Schlupp a 178cm player or strength to strength with Obafemi or not even bothered or committed to heading the ball clear away against Sevilla, that’s big problem.
Heading is not just about aerial duel but technique how to aim it. Bissaka missed it when Everton scored that 3rd goal because he’s not good in the air, good example of part of technique problem too.
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I completely agree with you that a Man Utd CB shouldn't be getting beat in the air by Schlupp and Lindelof has been heavily criticised for it. Wan Bissaka is also not good aerially which he's also criticised for defensively but with his height he might improve upon that in the next few years.
I want the new CB to be a match for Calvert-lewin aerially and also have the rest of the attributes required to help us play a more expansive game. Maybe I'm asking for too much.
I think you are asking for VVD no 2.
I just want someone who is not bottler, top class attitude & determination like Bruno, top class ball playing, have pace, physically still strong enough & likes to commit with no injury prone but not scared in the air and can head/aim the ball with his head properly.
That's fair enough mate.
Yeah completely agree we need to focus on sorting out the defence because we are a shambles right now, there are issues at CDM & RW no doubt about it but DDG just looks like he can't be trusted these last couple of years. There has been so many mistakes since that game with Spurs in Jan 2019 and they are becoming far too costly for us. The trouble is finding someone willing to sign him in this market and on these wages looks impossible.
I would say force him to be no 2 next season and the board just needs to accept it was a mistake to give the guy long contract with big wages. CB & Keeper and then Pogba's situation. I think those three things we need to make big decision.
Be much harder for the club to accept they made a mistake with DDG compared to Sanchez though due to how long he has been with the club and can see Ole also being a bit sentimental about it too.
Does anyone actually believe we will get a new keeper this summer? Given the size of de gea and hendersons contracts i suspect we are stuck with one of those two for a couple of years
Nah don't believe we will at all but Dean at least deserves a proper opportunity until the end of this season
The issue is not height, but leap, timing and aggressiveness. Lindelöf lacks everything. Kounde is brave, while not the biggest, possesses the other qualities important to winning headers.
People make it sound like we play every week against a pairing of Crouch, Giroud, Carrol et al.
Kounde and Maguire together should be enough in 99,9% of the games in the season 2021/2022.
I think we have other, more urgent defensive issues than height or headers, like GK, organisation, dead ball situations (that are also partially a mix of the first two), defending as a team from the front, cutting out the stupidity.
People make it sound like we play every week against a pairing of Crouch, Giroud, Carrol et al.
Kounde and Maguire together should be enough in 99,9% of the games in the season 2021/2022.
I think we have other, more urgent defensive issues than height or headers, like GK, organisation, dead ball situations (that are also partially a mix of the first two), defending as a team from the front, cutting out the stupidity.
Probably not. I imagine we'll give Henderson more time towards the end of the season then a proper go the season afterwards. Whether that works or not remains to be seen.
Maguire will need replacing soon enough
Agreed, hopefully he will come good but i do have my concerns about him as well
Buy this guy and Tapsoba.
Get rid of Jones, Tuanzebe & Bailly (I like him but he is to injure prone). Alternatively loan out Tuanzebe for a full season at PL team where he gets minutes to prove he canbe of use in the future
Get rid of Jones, Tuanzebe & Bailly (I like him but he is to injure prone). Alternatively loan out Tuanzebe for a full season at PL team where he gets minutes to prove he canbe of use in the future
There seems very little reason to not sign Milenkovic. He is complimentary to what we have and is also going to be cheap. If it doesn’t work out, we can sell him for a small loss. It’s a potentially big payoff for little risk. We can also sign another CB (Kounde or Konate etc) and sell one of Bailly or Lindelof.
Yeah I could get on board with Milenkovic at CB for around £30m provided we also get a top drawer CDM too
He may have to compete for more headers and/or may be more aggressive in going to compete for them than other centre backs. But that doesn't mean he isn't losing a large % of his duels. I worked out the percentage from below.
https://www.whoscored.com/Players/301019/Show/Jules-Koundé
Just out of interest - where do people draw the line on a centre back's height? Is 5ft 9 acceptable? What about 5ft 8? We're entering absurd territory if we think "well he has a good leap" can compensate for having a shortarse at centre back.
Been watching this he looks a really really good player
Because heading is not just about being tall. 5ft 9 can be a better header of the ball than someone who is taller.
Looks a natural CDM with control like that
For anyone who watches La Liga, how does Koundé compare to Pau Torres?
That’s brilliant for a centre back.
Do i just imagine or is it easier to find good attacking player (with big money of course) than good CB? Why i feel CB:s are always a little bit gambling. You can find a worldclass CB with small money (Vidic) or then they will never reach their potential. At least centrebacks will develope slower than attacking players. I just have always feel that it isn´t very good business to spend huge money to centrebacks. Just because you can´t be sure about their future. Of course it is same with attackers but i think you know what i mean.
He looks smaller than what i thought. Please, no.
That was a good goal and he's a excellent footballer. But the below dribble by Konate was arguably even better and he finishes with his weaker foot. I can see both players being a excellent pairing France injury permitting.
You can't be serious with this, look at how badly he scuffs the finish.
Yeah calling it better is bit too much.
And also Barcelona is not Dusseldorf either.You're being too harsh on a CB who was only 19 at the time and had his back towards goal and not only did he turn his marker superbly he also finished with his weaker foot. Kounde did score score against Barca at 22 years old but he got the rub of the green too if you evaluate the dribble where he got a lucky ricochet in the passage of play.You can't be serious with this, look at how badly he scuffs the finish.
Also Konate is younger than Kounde and was selected ahead of Kounde for the French u21s for the European Championships.
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And boxing is not about being big but we're not going to throw Floyd Mayweather in there with Deontay Wilder.
A centre back should be both tall and competent in the air for his size as a basic requirement. Again, where do you draw the line, would you play a 5ft 8 or 5ft 7 centre back because heading isn't all about height?
Again, it's not about being tall but technique. It's about aiming the ball with your head properly. Small player can also outjump the much taller player (like picture below).
Puyol is short but he's good in heading and much better than Lindelof who is taller.
Steve Bruce is shorter than Lidelof & Bailly but better heading.
Cannavarro is small but was highly regarded for his aerial ability.
I have to agree with you here. I do like Kounde though and think he's a very good player. But I've always felt given the choice, both my CBs would be tall and technical. If we look back at some of the greatest CBs that have played in our league at Chelsea (Terry), Man City (Kompany), United (Vidic&Ferdinand) and Liverpool (Van Dijk), they have all been tall. Even Steve Bruce was 6ft at a time when our league wasn't considered among the best in Europe.
Kounde has himself stated he gets targeted due to being short and in Spain he might get away with it but in England that might be a issue because I feel England tests a CB aerially like no other league in Europe. If he wins only 59% of aerial duels then for me that isn't good enough because that's one of a number of criticisms we have of Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe who are aerially not great.
Marcelo Bielsa targeted Wan Bissaka with the long diagonal in our game earlier this season and having a RCB like Kounde next to AWB would invite a similar ploy by other managers to target a even bigger area on the right side of our defense IMO. A aerially dominant CB will help AWB greatly.
I'm not discounting Kounde as a potential option totally but there's doubts due to his height which I believe is even less than 5'10 even if it is stated as being 5'10 like Koulibaly's is 6'5 and he's in-fact 6'1.
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Wow. Brilliant.
Definitely nowhere near as good.
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