Kalidou Koulibaly

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130 mil seems very excessive. No doubt he is decent but he’s not that exceptional. Just like us to let players like Militao, Hernandez, DeLigt go somewhere else then move for the most expensive one that in all honesty I’m not convinced is truly the level that many seem to think he is.

I honestly can’t believe we never went after Laporte or Virgil. We were linked with Laporte way back when even SAF was still in charge and Virgil was a no brainier. Probably the 2 best defenders in the league now.

Honestly think scrap the search for a Dof, hire the CAF to run as a committee, we’ll have the club sorted in no time at all.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
130 mil seems very excessive. No doubt he is decent but he’s not that exceptional. Just like us to let players like Militao, Hernandez, DeLigt go somewhere else then move for the most expensive one that in all honesty I’m not convinced is truly the level that many seem to think he is.

I honestly can’t believe we never went after Laporte or Virgil. We were linked with Laporte way back when even SAF was still in charge and Virgil was a no brainier. Probably the 2 best defenders in the league now.

Honestly think scrap the search for a Dof, hire the CAF to run as a committee, we’ll have the club sorted in no time at all.
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He won’t cost anywhere near that. They sold their best striker for 90m to Juve, they aren’t getting more than that for a defender.

I think they’ll accept around 60-80m at a push, if not we move on.
 
Phil Jones not considered clumsy. Was that Wreck it Ralph nickname/meme phase a figment of my imagination then?
 
There's a difference between considering Phil Jones clumsy when we've been subjected to nearly a decade of his clumsiness and believing a player is basically the same as Bailly (physical, clumsy, can't pass) because he's from a similar part of the world.
 
MAME DIOUF 32 said:
There's a difference between considering Phil Jones clumsy when we've been subjected to nearly a decade of his clumsiness and believing a player is basically the same as Bailly (physical, clumsy, can't pass) because he's from a similar part of the world.
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Pretty much.
Also there is little evidence to suggest he is clumsy as opposed to Jones (who regularly injures himself and teamsmates)
 
What you're forgetting is that sirea A is effectively an uncompetitive league with 1 great team 2-3 also rans and then a lot of bumfight teams.

Against poor opposition week in week out I'm sure he looks good.

The game he needs to perform well he has culpability in two arsenal goals.
passing-wind said:
That's a singular game maybe you should assess his performances over a season.

One thing for sure is that he's not clumsy he's better In possession on the ball than both VVD and De Ligt
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Serie A is an uncompetitive league. 1 top team and 2-3 also rans.

Sure he can look good week in week out against bad opposition.

In their biggest game of the season against english opposition he is made to look awful.

Is that just coincidence or is it because he's overrated and got shown up playing a higher quality team.

If we bought him and he played against arsenal like that we are no better off than how Phil Jones performed against them.
 
Ballist1x said:
What you're forgetting is that sirea A is effectively an uncompetitive league with 1 great team 2-3 also rans and then a lot of bumfight teams.

Against poor opposition week in week out I'm sure he looks good.

The game he needs to perform well he has culpability in two arsenal goals.


Serie A is an uncompetitive league. 1 top team and 2-3 also rans.

Sure he can look good week in week out against bad opposition.

In their biggest game of the season against english opposition he is made to look awful.

Is that just coincidence or is it because he's overrated and got shown up playing a higher quality team.

If we bought him and he played against arsenal like that we are no better off than how Phil Jones performed against them.
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Hahaha you do talk some rubbish! He was definitely not awful against arsenal.

You have to remember he’s practically a 1 man defence. Napoli are so open and his cb partner is not good.

Arsenal at home can give many sides a problem if you play that open, but he made 1 mistake all game.

I seriously don’t get how people can watch him and not think it’s a good idea? He would improve our build up play from defence so much! That’s worth paying the money alone.

He’s pretty much a Smalling and blind rolled into 1 player, what’s not to like?
 
For all the talk of KK and Lindelöf, and I appreciate that ball-playing is given so much importance now - but I think Smalling and KK would be a real rock of a central defence, and if the deal happened, I’d expect them to start as first choice.
 
Rozay said:
For all the talk of KK and Lindelöf, and I appreciate that ball-playing is given so much importance now - but I think Smalling and KK would be a real rock of a central defence, and if the deal happened, I’d expect them to start as first choice.
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If we want to finish top 4 it might work. If we aspire to win the league, Smalling ain't gonna cut it.
 
shamans said:
If we want to finish top 4 it might work. If we aspire to win the league, Smalling ain't gonna cut it.
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Honestly, I'd like to see us get in the top 4 consistently for three seasons. And not scrapping by. Comfortably. That would be a good start. So whatever that takes.

I like when Jose was realistic about it. I like that Ole has changed his tune to be more realistic. It will help us get there.
 
Rozay said:
For all the talk of KK and Lindelöf, and I appreciate that ball-playing is given so much importance now - but I think Smalling and KK would be a real rock of a central defence, and if the deal happened, I’d expect them to start as first choice.
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I think Lindelof and Koulibaly will be first choice. Smalling can come in when we play against teams with battering rams. None of the top teams have strikers who are battering rams.
 
Sterling Archer said:
Honestly, I'd like to see us get in the top 4 consistently for three seasons. And not scrapping by. Comfortably. That would be a good start. So whatever that takes.

I like when Jose was realistic about it. I like that Ole has changed his tune to be more realistic. It will help us get there.
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That’s not how things work. If you aim for top 4 consistently, you end up with Arsene’s Arsenal.

Players grow old. So whoever helps us get consistently to top 4 will need replacing soon enough and you end up perpetually in those positions
 
Cal? said:
That’s not how things work. If you aim for top 4 consistently, you end up with Arsene’s Arsenal.

Players grow old. So whoever helps us get consistently to top 4 will need replacing soon enough and you end up perpetually in those positions
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We have only been in the top 4 twice in the last six seasons. It's fair to say that we're a 'Top 6' team right now. I'd like to see slow but sure progress. So get us in the top 4 consistently. But unlike Arsenal, who stopped pursuing more, I'd like to use that as a platform to then consistently challenge for the title.

'How it works' is a strange thing. We could do what you're suggesting and spend millions and millions of dollars to get the quality of the squad up to challenge for the title more immediately. I am 100% for that. I don't care about existing contracts. I would love to see us just sign the players we need and let the others not in plans force their agents to get their moves sealed in time or rot away til the contracts expire. I give no shits about balancing our budget.

But on the flip side I see a lot of fans doing the math selling and trading players to create some sort of balance sheet for the club. Talking about managing contracts and all that. It's more realistic perhaps but that means we will have a much harder time challenging for the title right away. Because before we sign players of that quality we need to actually convince them to join a mess of an organization and team that is, right now Europa League regular. Not a Champions League giant. So we likely have to sway them with exorbitant wage structures to even get them here.

So realistically, a bit of a slower moderated approach is the best and probably how it will work out. And being in the Top 4 every year is a start to that improvement.
 
flappyjay said:
The Arial duel stat concerns me a lot. How it that Lindelof who we consider average at best in the air better than him?
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That's where Smalling comes in. No point stressing about that when there's not many teams that play that sort of football in the PL these days. When we come up against them then we'd just drop Smalling in, who barely loses an aerial dual.
 
Adnan said:
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That aerial duels won is a concern to me, we lack a dominant CB in the air apart from Smalling, so Koulibaly won't improve that by the looks of it.

On the other side that stat about tackles per possessions is a good indicator for how Lindelof plays and his passive way of defending, it's a big difference and a concern that Victor must improve.
 
pocco said:
That's where Smalling comes in. No point stressing about that when there's not many teams that play that sort of football in the PL these days. When we come up against them then we'd just drop Smalling in, who barely loses an aerial dual.
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Yep, horses for courses.

No point having 2 lumbering giants against 3 nippy midgets.
 
pocco said:
That's where Smalling comes in. No point stressing about that when there's not many teams that play that sort of football in the PL these days. When we come up against them then we'd just drop Smalling in, who barely loses an aerial dual.
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Glen Murray, Benteke, Troy Deeney, Rondon, Kane not a brute but saw him destroy Jones in the air, Calvert Lewin. There is still a lot of these big 9's. But has you you said Smalling could remedy that problem.
 
flappyjay said:
Glen Murray, Benteke, Troy Deeney, Rondon, Kane not a brute but saw him destroy Jones in the air, Calvert Lewin. There is still a lot of these big 9's. But has you you said Smalling could remedy that problem.
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Lindelof is quite small for a CB, but also not physically imposing either. Koulibaly is a much broader/stronger defender who doesn't get muscled quite as easily as Lindelof.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Lindelof is quite small for a CB, but also not physically imposing either. Koulibaly is a much broader/stronger defender who doesn't get muscled quite as easily as Lindelof.
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Going by those stats above (stats don't tell the whole story) lindelof wins more Arial duels than Koulibaly.
 
Kostov said:
That aerial duels won is a concern to me, we lack a dominant CB in the air apart from Smalling, so Koulibaly won't improve that by the looks of it.

On the other side that stat about tackles per possessions is a good indicator for how Lindelof plays and his passive way of defending, it's a big difference and a concern that Victor must improve.
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Aerials won per 90 mins (and win %) of a selection of CBs:

Van Dijk 4.8 (74%)
Maguire 4.2 (78%)
De Ligt 4 (66%)
Smalling 4 (63%)
Milenkovic 3.2 (64%)
Jones 2.9 (71%)
Tah 2.3 (72%)
Andersen 2.3 (53%)
Koulibaly 2.2 (55%)
Lindelof 2.1 (59%)
Skriniar 1.8 (46%)
Bailly 1.7 (63%)
Alderweireld 1.6 (52%)
 
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Infra-red said:
Aerials won per 90 mins (and win %) of a selection of CBs:

Van Dijk 4.8 (74%)
Maguire 4.2 (78%)
Smalling 4 (63%)
Milenkovic 3.2 (64%)
Jones 2.9 (71%)
Tah 2.3 (72%)
Andersen 2.3 (53%)
Koulibaly 2.2 (55%)
Lindelof 2.1 (59%)
Skriniar 1.8 (46%)
Bailly 1.7 (63%)
Alderweireld 1.6 (52%)
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Where does De Ligt fit? He seems quite good in the air
 
That tweet gives the impression that Koulibaly being better than Lindelof is a hot take that will surprise people. Obviously Koulibaly is the better player, that's why he will cost about 3x as much as Lindelof did. I wonder what tweets we can look forward to in the future, a stats comparison telling me that Messi is better than Mata perhaps.
 
Cassidy said:
Where does De Ligt fit? He seems quite good in the air
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He is pretty good and compares favourably with Smalling.

De Ligt 4 (66%)

Vidic's old numbers are still available, too, so by way of comparison, in 2009/10 he won 4.6 aerials per 90 (74% win rate), which I guess puts him about on par with Maguire and Van Dijk in that regard.
 
flappyjay said:
Going by those stats above (stats don't tell the whole story) lindelof wins more Arial duels than Koulibaly.
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I guess it depends what they count as a duel?

Is it a standing jump where they're both together? maybe Koulibaly attempts to challenge for headers he knows he won't win, but might disrupt the striker? That'll be seen as a lost duel but still might be good defending. Stats aren't the best way to determine these things really.

From the eye i'd take Koulibaly over all our centre backs any day.
 
Infra-red said:
Aerials won per 90 mins (and win %) of a selection of CBs:

Van Dijk 4.8 (74%)
Maguire 4.2 (78%)
Smalling 4 (63%)
Milenkovic 3.2 (64%)
Jones 2.9 (71%)
Tah 2.3 (72%)
Andersen 2.3 (53%)
Koulibaly 2.2 (55%)
Lindelof 2.1 (59%)
Skriniar 1.8 (46%)
Bailly 1.7 (63%)
Alderweireld 1.6 (52%)
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Maguire and Koulibaly it is. Go on Ed, will only set us back £160m!
 
Sterling Archer said:
We have only been in the top 4 twice in the last six seasons. It's fair to say that we're a 'Top 6' team right now. I'd like to see slow but sure progress. So get us in the top 4 consistently. But unlike Arsenal, who stopped pursuing more, I'd like to use that as a platform to then consistently challenge for the title.

'How it works' is a strange thing. We could do what you're suggesting and spend millions and millions of dollars to get the quality of the squad up to challenge for the title more immediately. I am 100% for that. I don't care about existing contracts. I would love to see us just sign the players we need and let the others not in plans force their agents to get their moves sealed in time or rot away til the contracts expire. I give no shits about balancing our budget.

But on the flip side I see a lot of fans doing the math selling and trading players to create some sort of balance sheet for the club. Talking about managing contracts and all that. It's more realistic perhaps but that means we will have a much harder time challenging for the title right away. Because before we sign players of that quality we need to actually convince them to join a mess of an organization and team that is, right now Europa League regular. Not a Champions League giant. So we likely have to sway them with exorbitant wage structures to even get them here.

So realistically, a bit of a slower moderated approach is the best and probably how it will work out. And being in the Top 4 every year is a start to that improvement.
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The problem with that is, except City, there are 5 teams fighting for 2 spots, consistently finishing top 4 does nothing when you have a bad year and fall out.

We could have challenged for the title this past season if Woodward did the sensible thing and went for Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm convinced Real would have been okay with it if we offered them 20-30m (half a Fred) on top of Juve's offer.

Any idiot will challenge for the title with the GOAT.
 
MAME DIOUF 32 said:
There's a difference between considering Phil Jones clumsy when we've been subjected to nearly a decade of his clumsiness and believing a player is basically the same as Bailly (physical, clumsy, can't pass) because he's from a similar part of the world.
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True. Wouldn't call Bailly clumsy though, just rash and erratic. Bailly moves well, looks classy on the ball, every inch the modern ball playing CB, Then has 5 mins of looking like he has never played the game and/or is engaged in some massively advanced form of sleepwalking.

Haven't seen enough of Koulibaly to make a judgment and stats alone are pointless.
 
Le Red said:
Lindelof operated really well in the WC alongside a more experienced and commanding CB. If we get that kind of player to form a partnership with him I think Lindelof is ok.
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Think I trust the guy more who we’ve challenged the league with already tbh.

Albeit don’t think either are good enough long term.
 
Dont care about the stats, I've seen KK play, he's twice the defender Lindeloff is.
 
pocco said:
That's where Smalling comes in. No point stressing about that when there's not many teams that play that sort of football in the PL these days. When we come up against them then we'd just drop Smalling in, who barely loses an aerial dual.
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Is this the same Smalling that everyone wants to sell?
 
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