Kalidou Koulibaly

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Didn't reply to my post so it's safe to assume now.

No point getting worked up over an opinion of someone whose seen a 5 minute highlight of 1 game.



Schmeichel was shit as well.
 
Mick321 said:
Correct. See this is the problem, you overrate others because we have crap at our own club.
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Not really, that just your opinion. I am not even calling him world class, he would be very good for us as a CB just like he is for Napoli. He is miles better than Jones Rojo and Smalling too, its a bit silly to say he wouldn't significantly improve our defence by a long way (e.g transform) both defensively and in terms of bringing the ball out and defending higher up the pitch

Anyway opinions opinions I guess. He would instantly be the best CB at the club and arguably one of the best in the league (the only CB in the league who you could argue is better is VVD) but apparently that wouldn't be a huge improvement on what we have now in terms of a CB partnership. I think that is a bit ridiculous to be honest.
 
Mick321 said:
You seem to think calling someone not as good as the hype means I'm calling them shit. Totally clueless, impossible to debate with someone this dim.

Again, given you can't read, he's a good player, one of the better defenders in Serie A, top 5 or so. But he isn't world class and wouldn't come here and transform our defence. Toby Alderweireld is a top 5 defender in England and guess what? He isn't world class and wouldn't transform our defence either. You can be one of the better defenders in your league and still not be that great, it's that type of era for CB's at the moment.

Anyway, this is boring as feck. I'm busy watching Roma where Manolas who is a top 5 defender out there wouldn't transform our defence either. Enjoy your day.
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Who's the top 5 defender who's available?
 
Mick321 said:
And you can pretend every player is perfect just because we get linked with them, that worked so well with Sanchez, Lukaku, Bailly, Mkhitaryan and a zillion others. Meanwhile I'll stay in the real world.
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There were LOADS of United fans that didn't want Lukaku and plenty that questioned whether Mkhitaryan had the mentality to play for United and most of us had barely even heard of Bailly to make any kind of judgment. So you are not sold on Koulibaly? Cool, who do you want us to bring in? As one way or another we need another CB.
 
Mick321 said:
Except no one has called Koulibaly shit, Mr Strawman.
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Quote me.

You did say "Shit defending is shit defending."

But you also said he isn't as good as the hype. Many people called Schmeichel one of the best premier League goalkeepers ever, but he made mistakes.

You're getting overly defensive because you made a judgement based on a player based on highlights of one game and got called out on it. You said he doesn't match up on the stats, and then were proven wrong.

You're being pretty irrational, both in your initial claim and your defence of that since.
 
Did koulibaly defend the 2 piatek goals badly? Yes.

Is he head and shoulders better than all our defenders? Yes.

That was genuinely out of character for him, hes usually very aggressive and tight marking.

I’d say the majority of us who want koulibaly have watched him more than once or twice, he’s consistently excellent.

Saying he cost them at anfield is a joke.
 
Mick321 said:
Some shocking defending tonight from him from what I've seen in the highlights, he's nowhere near as good as the hype. Good but not a world beater, defence transformer that some seem to think.
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Great. I was arguing with a guy who's only ever seen highlights.

Busy watching Roma he says. I guess if you can find enough 10 minute highlights you may actually watch an entire 90 minutes of football someday.
 
His head is clearly in Manchester. The little boy inside him has spoken.


Last part did not sound right...
 
Pyro19 said:
Great. I was arguing with a guy who's only ever seen highlights.

Busy watching Roma he says. I guess if you can find enough 10 minute highlights you may actually watch an entire 90 minutes of football someday.
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Yes, saying I watched highlights of Milan v Napoli clearly suggests I've never, ever in my entire life seen Koulibaly play a full game. Of course. The strawman arguments are out in full force tonight.
 
Mick321 said:
Yes, saying I watched highlights of Milan v Napoli clearly suggests I've never, ever in my entire life seen Koulibaly play a full game. Of course. The strawman arguments are out in full force tonight.
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I straight up asked you if you'd only seen those highlights and you failed to respond.

Fair for people to assume after that point.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Did koulibaly defend the 2 piatek goals badly? Yes.

Is he head and shoulders better than all our defenders? Yes.

That was genuinely out of character for him, hes usually very aggressive and tight marking.

I’d say the majority of us who want koulibaly have watched him more than once or twice, he’s consistently excellent.

Saying he cost them at anfield is a joke.
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I agree with both your answers to those questions. However let me ask you a third question. Is it worth spending the ridiculous amount of money Napoli will be asking for him? You see, Napoli might not be London but their team is relatively rich. They don't need to sell us Koulibaly and would want to take us to the cleaners just like arch enemies Juventus did with Pogba.
 
devilish said:
I agree with both your answers to those questions. However let me ask you a third question. Is it worth spending the ridiculous amount of money Napoli will be asking for him? You see, Napoli might not be London but their team is relatively rich. They don't need to sell us Koulibaly and would want to take us to the cleaners just like arch enemies Juventus did with Pogba.
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You think Pogba was expensive?

Looks like a bargain now.

Mind you, some people think we sold Ronaldo cheap, but that record transfer stood for years.
 
85m for Koulibaly is a joke. He's a good defender, better then what we've got but he's no Stam. If you ask me, Id rather see us distributing the money wisely across the defence. We should get Toby for 25m, get Milenkovic for 50m, sell Rojo and bring in Tierney. Toby and Smalling would give us consistency with the former providing great leadership for Milenkovic, Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe to settle down at OT. Tierney would give Shaw a run for his money, while Milenkovic would provide top quality cover/competition not only for Dalot but also for the CBs.
 
Sassy Colin said:
You think Pogba was expensive?

Looks like a bargain now.

Mind you, some people think we sold Ronaldo cheap, but that record transfer stood for years.
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Pogba and Ronaldo were young when they were signed up by United (second time round) and Real. This is different. You've got a 27 year old, whose nowhere near to the likes of Stam or Rio, who'll cost 85m to get him here.
 
devilish said:
85m for Koulibaly is a joke. He's a good defender, better then what we've got but he's no Stam. If you ask me, Id rather see us distributing the money wisely across the defence. We should get Toby for 25m, get Milenkovic for 50m, sell Rojo and bring in Tierney. Toby and Smalling would give us consistency with the former providing great leadership for Milenkovic, Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe to settle down at OT. Tierney would give Shaw a run for his money, while Milenkovic would provide top quality cover/competition not only for Dalot but also for the CBs.
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I'd rather spend 85m on Koulibaly than a combined 75m on Toby and Milenkovic. We need real top quality, rather than bloating our squad with more players than it needs.
 
devilish said:
Pogba and Ronaldo were young when they were signed up by United (second time round) and Real. This is different. You've got a 27 year old, whose nowhere near to the likes of Stam or Rio, who'll cost 85m to get him here.
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He's absolutely at the level of Stan and Rio. He's the best centre back in the world.
 
Skills said:
I'd rather spend 85m on Koulibaly than a combined 75m on Toby and Milenkovic. We need real top quality, rather than bloating our squad with more players than it needs.
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Agreed, I wonder how many clamouring for Milenkovic have actually seen him play?
 
Skills said:
I'd rather spend 85m on Koulibaly than a combined 75m on Toby and Milenkovic. We need real top quality, rather than bloating our squad with more players than it needs.
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I disagree. Koulibaly is a good defender but as said he's not a Stam, a Vidic or a Rio and at age 27 I can't see him improve enough to justify that fee. Honestly I can't see anyone whose good as those three and whose currently available.

Under such circumstances then it would be wise to strengthen the defence as a whole unit rather then hope we'll sign someone who can bail us out. Milenkovic is quite promising. He provides more defensive cover then Dalot, more goals then Dalot + he's comfortable playing as CB. Toby brings experience and leadership in the mix. That's crucial for Milenkovic, Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Bailly's development. Tierney on the other hand is the classical old fashioned FB. He's got a good cross, he's aggressive and he's solid.

My plan is not that different to what SAF had used throughout time to strengthened defence. Vidic and Evra for example were promising but hardly WC when we signed them up. There were way bigger names then Stam and Rio as well.
 
abdo99 said:
Who's better?
Currently i don't see anyone at that level. Chiellini maybe.
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Just because there's no Stam or Rio available that doesn't mean we should splash the cash on someone who doesn't justify the price tag. As said, unless there's a prime Baresi, a prime Rio or a prime Stam available then spending 85m on one player would be crazy. Instead we should do what we always did ie strengthening the backline by bringing in the right sort of players while hoping they would be able to stand up and be counted.

Don't forget that Rio, Stam, Vidic and Evra weren't always the WC players we learnt to love. They came at OT as highly promising players, some on decent fees.
 
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devilish said:
Just because there's no Stam or Rio available that doesn't mean we should splash the cash on someone who doesn't justify the price tag. As said, unless there's a prime Baresi, a prime Rio or a prime Stam available then spending 85m on one player would be crazy. Instead we should do what we always did ie strengthening the backline by bringing in the right sort of players while hoping they would be able to stand up and be counted.
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Our backline is crying out for 1 commanding experienced CB. We dont need any potential . Theres potential there with Lindelof and Bailly. We should pay the money . 27 is not old for centre backs. Infact they get better. Godin at 33 is still one of the best. In addition we're looking for LCB and he fits that profile
 
The same folks criticizing his fee are likely the same ones that laughed at the fee pool paid for VVD. Personally I’d rather go for a younger version like De Ligt
 
devilish said:
I agree with both your answers to those questions. However let me ask you a third question. Is it worth spending the ridiculous amount of money Napoli will be asking for him? You see, Napoli might not be London but their team is relatively rich. They don't need to sell us Koulibaly and would want to take us to the cleaners just like arch enemies Juventus did with Pogba.
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Honestly? Yes.

Everybody was shocked when Liverpool spent £75m on Van Dijk, but he's transformed their team. Koulibaly is as good as him IMO.

Especially for the way that Solskjaer wants this team to play, a high energy press game needs mobile defenders who are aggressive, this is Koulibalys game.

I don't think we will have to spend £100m, I think around 70/80 will be enough. Still a big chunk but it's doable. We just need the quality.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Honestly? Yes.

Everybody was shocked when Liverpool spent £75m on Van Dijk, but he's transformed their team. Koulibaly is as good as him IMO.

Especially for the way that Solskjaer wants this team to play, a high energy press game needs mobile defenders who are aggressive, this is Koulibalys game.

I don't think we will have to spend £100m, I think around 70/80 will be enough. Still a big chunk but it's doable. We just need the quality.
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This.

It is what it takes now, get on the train or stay behind at the station.
 
I ll take Varana over Koulibaly … but i would certainly take Koulibaly over 99.5% of the other defenders in the world
 
Why on earth would Napoli want Rojo in part-exchange?
Some people are living in a dream world, seriously. IF, IF, they sold Hysaj I might see a weird situation where perhaps Darmian plus £80m or something would appeal....
 
abdo99 said:
Our backline is crying out for 1 commanding experienced CB. We dont need any potential . Theres potential there with Lindelof and Bailly. We should pay the money . 27 is not old for centre backs. Infact they get better. Godin at 33 is still one of the best. In addition we're looking for LCB and he fits that profile
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That's something someone like Toby can do, possibly better then Koulibaly. However, I think our biggest issue in defence is the lack of talent across the back 4. Our CBs aren't that talented (Smalling, Bailly, Rojo) while our FBs are mainly failed wingers. So I'd say, lets not break the bank to get leadership and let instead strengthen the backline in a significant way.
 
I love how defensive people get of Koudibaly in this thread :lol:. Avid followers of Napoli I take it?
 
Adam-Utd said:
Honestly? Yes.

Everybody was shocked when Liverpool spent £75m on Van Dijk, but he's transformed their team. Koulibaly is as good as him IMO.

Especially for the way that Solskjaer wants this team to play, a high energy press game needs mobile defenders who are aggressive, this is Koulibalys game.

I don't think we will have to spend £100m, I think around 70/80 will be enough. Still a big chunk but it's doable. We just need the quality.
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Lets start from the last comment first. If we really want to sort defence out then we need an experienced top quality CB + two fullbacks (RB and LB). That will cost us more then 100m. Now instead of blowing most of it on Koulibaly who I promise you, is good but hardly a Rio Ferdinand level of defender lets properly strengthen the back 4 instead. Milenkovic will provide us top quality for both RB and CB. He's tall, he's very talented, his distribution is top notch and while his positioning is still a bit meah he's improving year after year. Tierney on the other hand will provide aggression, a mean cross and will push Shaw to perform. Last but not least, Toby would provide us with the commanding experienced figure we need as CB. He isn't as agressive as Koulibaly is and tbf he doesn't really need to be with the likes of Bailly and Hodor around. In exchange he bring EPL experience to the mix, which is valuable considering its a much more aggressive and pacier style of football then the Serie A is.
 
devilish said:
Lets start from the last comment first. If we really want to sort defence out then we need an experienced top quality CB + two fullbacks (RB and LB). That will cost us more then 100m. Now instead of blowing most of it on Koulibaly who I promise you, is good but hardly a Rio Ferdinand level of defender lets properly strengthen the back 4 instead. Milenkovic will provide us top quality for both RB and CB. He's tall, he's very talented, his distribution is top notch and while his positioning is still a bit meah he's improving year after year. Tierney on the other hand will provide aggression, a mean cross and will push Shaw to perform. Last but not least, Toby would provide us with the commanding experienced figure we need as CB. He isn't as agressive as Koulibaly is and tbf he doesn't really need to be with the likes of Bailly and Hodor around. In exchange he bring EPL experience to the mix, which is valuable considering its a much more aggressive and pacier style of football then the Serie A is.
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You're not a fan I can tell.

I've watched plenty of him before and I think he's perfect for what we need, but everybody has their own opinion.

Milenkovic does look good too, but I would worry about his speed in a high line.

Hodor I assume you mean Jones? can't see him sticking around much longer. Bailly is potentially a reason to not need a 80M CB, but we need a run of consistency from him first.

Alderweireld is on the way down, he's got big injury problems. I wouldn't want to bank all my hopes on him.

The good thing about Koulibaly too is that he plays LCB, none of our centre backs favour that position. Lindelof/Smalling/Bailly all prefer the right.
 
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Adam-Utd said:
You're not a fan I can tell.

I've watched plenty of him before and I think he's perfect for what we need, but everybody has their own opinion.

Milenkovic does look good too, but I would worry about his speed in a high line.

Hodor I assume you mean Jones? can't see him sticking around much longer. Bailly is potentially a reason to not need a 80M CB, but we need a run of consistency from him first.
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I am a big fan of him actually. He's among the best CBs in the Serie A in fact alongside the likes of Chiellini and Skriniar. What I am not a big fan off is his fee. Mainly because I believe we need to sort 2 possible 3 positions in defence and I don't think he'll be able to paper the cracks by himself.

And FFS do you watch Game of Thrones? Jones is Bran ie someone whose constantly injured, he needs to be carried by other players, whose caught day dreaming during key moments etc. Hodor is big, dumb, kind, he's effective if someone else is doing the thinking for him and can only do one thing in which he excels in He's basically Smalling in a nutshell.
 
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