How quick is he?
Nicolas Otamendi | City Player
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I think we'll be surprised to see that Rojo will start more often than we think because he's the left-footed CB that LVG wants on the left.
Seeing some reports come in now that Ramos has just been named the new captain of Madrid.
So that rules him out leaving. Otamandi is so on! And i'm personally glad. Ramos is a c***.
So that rules him out leaving. Otamandi is so on! And i'm personally glad. Ramos is a c***.
Evans is gone. McNair i dont rate as a CB. Jones is back up & Rojo is a warrior but wrecks himself far too much proving it. I like him though, so yeah i have faith in him, but not the others.
I really dont get this not needing 2 top-class CB's thing. Are there not better CB's out there than what we have?!
Absolutely there are, so go get them & no more pissing around conceding 5 goals against relegation scrappers like Leicester & the rest. Teams dont fear us at OT anymore - nevermind at their own ground & if we sign top-class CB's - we'll get that aura back.
We used to beat teams in the tunnel. Those days are long gone until we sort our shit out & that starts at the back. We've not got the fear factor at the back & that needs to be addressed now. Midfield is sorted thank God though..
Maybe, but I think LVG really warmed to Smalling (after benching him at the start) as the season went on, and is now considered as our #1 CB.
When all 3 of Smalling, Jones, & Rojo were fit, he usually went for Smalling & Jones if I remember correctly. Seems to me the plan is Smalling + Otamendi/Ramos, which I'd be very happy with.
It seems our disagreement comes with how highly we each rate Smalling. For me, he's one of the best CBs in the league, and he'll only get better, especially with a class partner like Otamendi/Ramos.
There's no rush in this one. He would be joining the tour later should he sign for us. Keep working on Ramos and if we still find no joy sign this fella up and keep DDG.
Your comments are way over the top, first of all it doesn't matter that you don't rate McNair the important thing is the manager rates him highly, secondly a club needs 2 top quality CBs and two capable back-ups and we have those in Jones and Rojo and the starter in Smailling so one CB is enough.
I rate him aswell man, but its keepin him fit i worry about more than anything & Jones etc. (bar Rojo's potential) arent anywhere near Smalling's level & never will be, so if Smalling's injured - we're snookered again & we shouldnt be.
Gettin 2 top-class CB's in is a must imo; so then we have 5 of them (Smalling, Rojo, Jones & 2 additions) competing for 2 spots. That's healthy competition & most importantly - we need to address the Rio / Vida partnership we've lost. Bringing in 2 top-class CB's is gonna help us find that/those combo(s) again..
How are they over the top? I'm sayin it like i see it. It does matter what fans opinion's are - what would be the point of this website if it didnt?! You were probably in the "we only need on CM'er" camp too?!
You think we have a top-class CB squad capable of winning titles & cups? You think Smalling & Jones are gonna stay fit for 2/3's of the season?
I'm saying buying Otamendi to partner Smalling is enough, with Jones and Rojo as cover in case of injuries.
Ramos is not coming. Never was. So we are left with this chap - he's somehwat underwhelming for me - he can be a bit of a calamity at times, reminds me of Rojo. He wouldn't be a player that makes me think our defensive issues are solved, however I rate him higher than Jones, so he'd be an improvement, but I think he'll disappoint many.
The problem is the absolute lack of good defenders on the market. If we can get him for a decent price, we did good since he is one of, or maybe even the only realistic defensive addition to the squad possible.
I'd settle for that no probs tbh man. Just wanna see us being really solid at the back again & keeping Smalling fit is a must. That's where the 2 CB's desire kicks in for me though, as i dont see him stayin fit to play a whole season or even 2/3's of it, on a regular basis..
I'd imagine this deal is being held up with de gea. Signing otemendi now would lessen the need for Ramos, our bargaining chip for gea. As soon as Madrid say we can't have Ramos, we say you can't have gea then get this guy.
This is a no brainer, but I'm guessing LVG doesn't want to give them a heart attack (rival fans) so he's saving him for August.
I can understand your concern, but if needed we can always buy in Jan or next summer as it's a bit unfair replace Smalling right now.
We are never getting Ramos because he'll never leave Madrid. Kinell. He has played us. De Gea leaving is all about a fat fee - nothing else.
I know we wernt getting him. He was playing Madrid, and just using us. But we also used him.
We'll never know how good he can be for us & no transfer is a given to be a success; which we've seen that with Falcao & Di Maria last season.
He looked pretty shit-hot last season & he did pretty well at the Copa, so i'm kinda baffled why you have a poor judgement of him - no offence intended, just curious is all Dans..
I don't have poor judgement of him. I have a lower opinion of him than many on here. Whenever I have seen him in the past, he has looked less than consistently solid, prone to the odd major error. That's my memory of him anyway - he looked pretty all over the place against Chile recently. We were linked with him years ago, when he was at Benfica, but I think he was deemed not good enough. Perhaps a year at Valencia has made all the difference? I hope so, considering it looks like he'll be our new CB.
Oh i wasnt sayin to replace him man, but just havin a desire to have 3 top-class CB's competing with each other for the 2 slots. Rojo would be in that mix also, if he stops tryin to kill himself that is. Feckin Kamakaze that lad. Gotta love his hard as nails / no bullshit attitude
Rojo is an odd man out for me actually - assuming Shaw gets the LB position for himself that is. I think Smalling has proven himself to be a starting CB (hopefully he keeps developing), Jones is a back up, and an Otamendi is the other starter if he comes. Rojo is better at LB than CB for me, so one position to play for only. If Otamendi joins and Smalling stays fit, I don't see many games at CB for Rojo.Oh i wasnt sayin to replace him man, but just havin a desire to have 3 top-class CB's competing with each other for the 2 slots. Rojo would be in that mix also, if he stops tryin to kill himself that is. Feckin Kamakaze that lad. Gotta love his hard as nails / no bullshit attitude
That's fair enough mate. No-one's right or wrong with these things, we all have our own opinions & i respect everyone's.
It's really hard to fathom how a player is gonna perform for a team, so even if we signed the best in the world - there's no guarantee's he'll be shit-hot; so what you're buying is basically reputation more than anything, but its that rep. that attracts the club in the 1st place.
The club have obviously scouted / scoured most of Europe tryin to find upgrades, so if we settle for Otamendi - i'm cool with that. We were close to buyin Benatia last summer & from what i've seen - he's not so shit-hot for Bayern, but again his rep was sky high at the time & present form is all you've got to go on when deciding on player to bring in.
I think Otamendi is ready-made for the Prem tbh, but that's just my opinion. It could go tits up, as much as it could go ribbon's on trophies..
Is he significantly better than Rojo?
Sorry to disagree with you man
, but i think Rojo is a terrible LB & much better at CB. He doesnt look interested playin LB with us. CB is where he wants to be imo.Blind is a better LB than Rojo imo. Him & Shaw have that position sorted for quite a few years to come thank God..
He has a beard, so yeah.
Just thinking... with ADM and Rojo not going on tour because of the COPA... then obviously, signing Otamendi before we went abroad wouldn't have really been a priority...
Yes. The question is, is he significantly better than Smalling? And I'd say based on last season, yes. He's a level above
Fair enough can't say I've watched Valencia a lot except a couple of the big games vs Barca where he looked like a world beater.
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Let's be honest - if we are after Otamendia he'll know it already and he'll know that it'll happen when he comes off of his holiday. Valencia have set what fee they want.
Aye, which makes me think this is a definite goer. Makes all sorts of sense.
I think so too to be honest, it'll be us haggling with Valencia over the fee.
Not only this but you imagine the second we sign him some of our leverage with Madrid disappears. If we assume the Ramos discussions are merely to force Madrid into a much larger transfer bid; then buying Otamendi somewhat undermines our stance. You could compare it to how Liverpool got burned with the Suarez departure. There were rumours of them demanding either £75-80m in cash or £30m and Sanchez. The second Sanchez intimated that he wouldn't sign for Liverpool in favour of Arsenal; the Suarez transfer went through pretty quickly at a lower price - £65m.
If this is the case I imagine the Otamendi transfer could roll into early August; with us knowing the price, knowing the player's wage requirements and just being patient. We may even set Madrid a deadline for any De Gea transfers and once that passes wrap up this deal.
Hopefully this is in the bag as well and will be concluded when he returns from holiday
LVG can't have everything his own way
LVG can't have everything his own way
Do you like his passing? The few times I've seen him I wasn't particularly impressed in that regard.
That's not the question at all. It's going to be Smalling +1
Smalling worked well when partnered with an experienced defender, like you suggested he'd do with Ramos. But when we had Jones/Evans and Smalling our defence looked like where I go in the morning to pick my eggs for breakfast.
We need a partnership like Vidic and Ferdinand 2007-2009 again. I am of the opinion that Smalling is not at that level.
Evans have had quite a few chances IMO, especially last season, and he hasn't taken them.
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