So why waste time discussing players that aren't available?
New Left Back
- Thread starter OohAahMartial
- Start date
So why waste time discussing players that aren't available?
Bertrand is the common sense option for me; proven Premier League competent who's solid at everything. I'd suggest loaning Shaw there as part of a deal to see if he can rediscover some form before cutting losses on him, but Saints already have Matt Targett and Sam McQueen on their books who both look capable at that level so they'd likely be reluctant to accommodate Shaw simply to prime him for a second coming at United.
Rose is expensive and has been plagued by a dodgy knee this year, while all other leftback imports are a risk in England (Kolarov and Alberto Moreno looked incredible elsewhere.)
Rose is expensive and has been plagued by a dodgy knee this year, while all other leftback imports are a risk in England (Kolarov and Alberto Moreno looked incredible elsewhere.)
Tierney is a typical attacking fullback. More similar to Marcelo than Darmian(Whom are opposites in term of style of play and abilities.)
As for how he ranks overall compared to our other LB:
Typical problem with comparing the quality of the league and opposition with players, but we can draw some comparisons with the VVD.
VVD: When he played in Celtic he was head and heels above the rest of the league. And did perform immediately after the transfer to Southampton. And after a year was regarded as the best CB outside the top 5 clubs.
Tierney: The difference between him and the rest of the league and the rest of the Celtic team cannot be compared to the VVD case. But he is one of maybe 3 main attacking threats in the Celtic team. And easy to see that he COULD take the level in PL. Big uncertainty in his defensive contribution, but he has stamina and physique(And Tony V) performs well defensively with only these abilities.
Bertrand: Safe, cheap, PL experience. Both ways. Improvement, but not CL-challenging class.
Sandro and Marcelo: World class, not available.
Dalbert: Signed for another club.
Emerson: ACL injury in may.
Guerrero: Midfielder often, expensive.
Alba: Class, but unsure if he is available for a decent fee.
++++ Many others who would improve our LB position. But reckon we need to sell of some deadwood first.
Realistically how much do you think we would need to pay to get him though, £30-40 mills? Buying anyone from a premier league team costs way too much and you dont get any value whatsoever. He is a good player dont get me wrong, but he isn't world class yet that is the fee you would be expected to pay.. You are better off taking a chance on Tierney or going into europe to get a stop gap for someone who can cover Shaw in my opinion.
The answer is obviously: David Alaba.
I know Bayern won't sell and Alaba is settled, but I love his versatility and forward push up the left side. Could also spend time at CB or CM if needed. I would break the transfer record for defensemen for Alaba.
I know Bayern won't sell and Alaba is settled, but I love his versatility and forward push up the left side. Could also spend time at CB or CM if needed. I would break the transfer record for defensemen for Alaba.
We don't need a new left back as we've got Blind, Darmian, Luke Shaw as well as Demetri Mitchell. Unless we plan on losing one of them, it makes no sense to get one. Yes, it can be argued that neither of them are good enough which I kind of agree but it makes no sense to stack them up and not have them play any games. Our biggest issue is actually stringing passes in the final third. Yesterday's game showed us how bad our wingers are. Mhiki can play as a right winger but that's not his best position and while it may work against the lesser teams in the PL, it won't work against the top 5 sides in the PL or the CL. Rashford needs to be played up front and not on the wings and Lingard should never in a million years being starting for us. He's a good squad player but against the top teams, he gives you nothing. There was no support provided to Lukaku yesterday.
Jonas Hector
Left back is definitely out weakest link at the moment. I do think that if we bring in someone like Perisic who can attack and defend equally would make it much more bearable until we can get Shaw back that we would be fine with our left back options for now.
We definitely need one or the other though, getting both would be a big plus.
We definitely need one or the other though, getting both would be a big plus.
Don't agree wth you at all about Tierney and VVD. Both performed at similar levels. Tierney can also defend, he played CB for Scotland against England too.
I would love Tierney. Has the right attitude, and ability. He captained Celtic in their last game as well.
Our left side is looking our weakest link. Darmain does a job but he's not good enough. We need Shaw to hit the ground running when he returns. Jose will strengthen in January if its not working.
I want to keep faith in Shaw but Jose probably doesn't; Bertrand with Mitchell as his understudy would be the next best thing IMO.
Wouldn't be more than £30m, or perhaps Smalling plus cash when Van Dijk goes.
Swapping in smalling would be a great shout and suit both parties.
30m by itself would be best case in my opinion.
Let's be honest, if Jose didn't want to place faith in Shaw he'd be gone. He's pretty brutal when it comes to that stuff, see his treatment with Bastian, Depay etc.
I genuinely believe he's going to give him another season, which is why we haven't actively pursued a replacement LB. I just hope it pays off and Shaw starts making that position his own. It's been a problem position for us for years now and imo is our weakest position on the pitch currently. We can't have another season of rotating 4 different make shift left backs all season.
This
We have enough numbers I guess. But none of those players deserve to start for us. I see a common trend that the best teams have the best fullbacks. Our left flank is pretty much non existent because Darmian(who looks to be the starter for now) offers feck all in attack. So our LW will always struggle because he'll be 2v1 most times. So buy a proper LB and sell one of these squad players.
Felipe Luis would be immense. I've always been a huge fan of his. Too bad he is likely unavailable.
van Gaal's criticism of Shaw wasn't nearly as significant as you imply. He said Shaw wasn't fit enough to play wing-back (which probably requires the most energy and stamina of any position) at the start of his first pre-season with the club and was praising him just a few weeks later.
Mourinho is the only manager who has had significant problems with Shaw. But then he's also had problems with Smalling, Jones, Mkhitaryan and Martial over the last year.
Great player but not only will Atletico refuse to sell because of the ban, I don't think Luis himself would play for José again as, for whatever reason, it didn't work out for him at Chelsea.
all of which were justified
shaw is not part of jose long term plans , neither is smalling and martial has a make or breack year coming up
I believe it was competition for the left back spot between him and Azpilicueta
Well, if he departed on good terms with José that's nice, but that bloody transfer ban! I think he's probably the 2nd best LB in the world behind Marcelo.
As a norwegian i saw a number of games with Celtic, because R. Deila was the manager. But that is two years ago. And my knowledge of Tierney might be outdated.
But if he, at this date, is as superior as VVD was in his last season for Celtic, then sign Tierney up.
Do you know if he is available this transfer window, if he will come and if there has been any mentioning of the price for Celtic to let him go?
Tierney seems the exact sort of 'why don't we ever move for these players before they join Southampton or Dortmund or whoever' type.
We can't ignore these types as Real and Barca typically eat before us, and then PAG and City are basically cheating and changing the landscape too.
We can't ignore these types as Real and Barca typically eat before us, and then PAG and City are basically cheating and changing the landscape too.
Celtic would find it hard to turn down 25m imo.
My thoughts exactly. Too much to love about his game. Scary thing is that they both play for the same country
The best available option - Mendy just moved to City and now we realise that we need a new left back, how did that happen?
Yeah, feels a bit late in the day to decide we want a new left back. Unless something has happened with Shaw behind the scene's which has made Mourinho's mind up.
Think we were put off by the transfer fee along with his wage maybe?
He went on a burger crawl in the states. Wendys, White Castle... you name it.
We'll get Rose from that random club who never wins anything
How do you know this?
Because Rooney is gone and these guys need another player to call fat.
I'm surprised there's no Bertrand links anywhere. Would be a decent lb for us
Should have gone toe-to-toe with City for Mendy. Dude is a powerhouse on that left flank. Unless he flat-out rejected United...but I genuinely doubt that.
If we weren't in for Mendy then we are idiots. It was clear as day that left back was a major concern and it should have been one of our top priorities.
Seem to be a big thing at the time?? It was more a proffessional player thinking its ok to come back overweight. Shaw clearly learned from that as he took his PT on his next holiday....