Potential CB Options

[sincher]

Have only seen Milenkovic a few times but he has not impressed me.

 

[Judas]

Milenkovic strikes me as the exact sort of purchase we'd be looking to shift in a year or two with people on here asking why we bought him in the first place.

 

[stubie]

I really hope we go for Andersen, tall commanding centre half at a good age. I reckon he would fit in well here and wouldn’t cost over the odds.

Other names mentioned would roughly be double what Andersen would cost

 

[friendlytramp]

I really hope we go for Andersen, tall commanding centre half at a good age. I reckon he would fit in well here and wouldn’t cost over the odds.

Other names mentioned would roughly be double what Andersen would cost

joachim?

 

[stubie]

joachim?

Yes

 

[mazhar13]

I haven't watched him and I'm cautious of judging him based off highlights especially when no one's really talking about him given his price tag. Anyone that watched him this season with a review?

In short, he hasn't really stood out. He was stuck to his tasks and did them adequately enough but no more than that.

• Strengths: tackling, pressing, 1-on-1 defending, pacy, heading, defending set pieces, ball recoveries (doesn't often boot it out when winning the ball), defending the near post in open play, blocking shots
• Weaknesses: positioning, lack of awareness of his defensive line, can lose awareness of other threats, defending the far post in open play

Basically, you'd want him in the lineup to win to disrupt the opposition, win the ball quickly, and slow down counterattacks.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

In short, he hasn't really stood out. He was stuck to his tasks and did them adequately enough but no more than that.

• Strengths: tackling, pressing, 1-on-1 defending, pacy, heading, defending set pieces, ball recoveries (doesn't often boot it out when winning the ball), defending the near post in open play, blocking shots
• Weaknesses: positioning, lack of awareness of his defensive line, can lose awareness of other threats, defending the far post in open play

Basically, you'd want him in the lineup to win to disrupt the opposition, win the ball quickly, and slow down counterattacks.

Thanks. Doesn't really seem like the improvement we need

 

[lex talionis]

The fact that even most non-defenders in our team struggle with defending set pieces tells me that this is either a problem with their focus/attitude or a problem with our half-zonal-marking approach. Even if we get better defenders, we'll still struggle with set pieces if we change nothing about our approach to them.

We really do have a problem with our zonal approach to set piece defending. Until we sort that out it doesn’t really matter who we’d bring in.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

£34 mil buyout clause for Konaté just saying.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Milenkovic strikes me as the exact sort of purchase we'd be looking to shift in a year or two with people on here asking why we bought him in the first place.

Another Darmian case. Buy average players you'll get average results.

 

[Infestissumam]

£34 mil buyout clause for Konaté just saying.

better add to our medical department then. Having Bailly, Jones and Konate in our CB room would probably be too much for them to handle.

Konate is a good talent, but injuries have really slowed him down. He's only played 22 games in the last 2 seasons combined, and when he was on the field, he didn't look nearly as good as he did in 18/19. I'd stay far away from him, in all honesty.

if there's a Bundesliga CB I'd gamble on, it's Tapsoba. Probably not the best fit for us though, he's still a bit raw and needs time.

 

[TheGame]

Sven Botman from Lille looks a decent player.

 

[Dazzmondo]

Cristian Romero of Atlanta is a good shout. Have always been impressed with him and unlike some of the other most talented options we're considering like Koundé and Torres, I can't really think of any major flaws he has. He's a very well-rounded cb, he's good in the air and wouldn't be bullied by strikers. Decent option.

 

[bosnian_red]

£34 mil buyout clause for Konaté just saying.

Hes going to Liverpool.

It'll be Pau Torres IMO. A lot of noise but also makes sense.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Hes going to Liverpool.

It'll be Pau Torres IMO. A lot of noise but also makes sense.

Report the other day was Liverpool can’t pay the fee unless it’s spread out or they sell players.

Damn it, Romano has given it the “Here we go”

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Hes going to Liverpool.

It'll be Pau Torres IMO. A lot of noise but also makes sense.

So Maguire moving to RCB?

 

[A-man]

So Maguire moving to RCB?

I’m not sure Torres would be given in the starting xi.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

I’m not sure Torres would be given in the starting xi.

In my opinion we need one of the two:

- A young centre back with high potential
- An elite centre back that will slot in next to Maguire.

In Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe, we have decent squad options. We dont really need anymore, which, based on what you said about Pau Torres suggests he would be that type of player.

 

[bosnian_red]

I’m not sure Torres would be given in the starting xi.

Why do you think he wouldn't be a starter? I think anyone we get is almost certain to be a starter back there. Lindelof is alright but nothing special.

 

[A-man]

Why do you think he wouldn't be a starter? I think anyone we get is almost certain to be a starter back there. Lindelof is alright but nothing special.

Lindelof and Torres are similar in style and at the same level. Lindelof has the advantage that he has played several seasons in the PL while this is new and a big risk when it comes to Torres. Lindelof has played about 80 games together with Maguire. A partnership is not built over night. Lindelof and Maguire have got some good results this season. In 26 PL games they have conceded zero or one goal in 20 games ie only more than 1 goal in only 6 games. Thats not bad and I’m not so sure Ole would prioritise introducing a new CB without testing him
out first

I think Torres would start as third CB and have to fight his way in by playing cup games and rotating some PL games with Lindelof. If he shows he has what it takes for the PL and is better than Lindelof, then he’d become a starter after half the season but I don’t see that he’d walk straight in. But here is also the outcome that he’ll become a Donny van de Beek signing.

In my opinion we need one of the two:

- A young centre back with high potential
- An elite centre back that will slot in next to Maguire.

In Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe, we have decent squad options. We dont really need anymore, which, based on what you said about Pau Torres suggests he would be that type of player.

I’m really not an expert in Pau Torres, what I wrote are my amateur reflections. But I believe we really need a CB at average PL level who could fill in at injuries and for rotation and challenge for the starting xi. Both Bailly and Axel have shown to be very injury prone and not sure they can be trusted.

 

[Sea-Cow]

One criteria I would have in looking at potential new CBs -- I only want a CB that regularly plays as a two-man CB pair, not as one of a 3. I think its risky if we scout someone that is playing in a 3 man backline, and then ask them to switch to exclusively partnering with Harry Maguire.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

I’m really not an expert in Pau Torres, what I wrote are my amateur reflections. But I believe we really need a CB at average PL level who could fill in at injuries and for rotation and challenge for the starting xi. Both Bailly and Axel have shown to be very injury prone and not sure they can be trusted.

That's fair.

We apparently put in bids for both Badiashile and Gabriel (now at Arsenal) last season, so Ole, as you said, may just be looking for a player who could rotate but also have the potential to work his way into the starting XI.

 

[croadyman]

That's fair.

We apparently put in bids for both Badiashile and Gabriel (now at Arsenal) last season, so Ole, as you said, may just be looking for a player who could rotate but also have the potential to work his way into the starting XI.

Think a lot of it hinges on how much we spend in other areas, if it's all in on Sancho & maybe Rice too then my gut feeling is that we are looking at more of a rotational CB but having said that the links to those have gone very quiet a while back

 

[sp_107]

Milenkovic strikes me as the exact sort of purchase we'd be looking to shift in a year or two with people on here asking why we bought him in the first place.

you nailed it....He is too slow

 

[sp_107]

Konate for 35M ?

 

[A-man]

That's fair.

We apparently put in bids for both Badiashile and Gabriel (now at Arsenal) last season, so Ole, as you said, may just be looking for a player who could rotate but also have the potential to work his way into the starting XI.

Considering we’ve spent quite a lot on defenders lately I think we will put the big money on midfield and attack. Also, the CBs we’ve been linked with are all quite expensive and also some kind of risks as nobody could know how they would cope in the PL.

 

[croadyman]

Considering we’ve spent quite a lot on defenders lately I think we will put the big money on midfield and attack. Also, the CBs we’ve been linked with are all quite expensive and also some kind of risks as nobody could know how they would cope in the PL.

Yeah that could well be the case but if we can sell a couple of assets then maybe we can get a top CB too

 

[Mr Smith]

Konate for 35M ?

I'm fairly certain the reason we haven't been in for him is concern about his injury record. After recent history, I'm sure our scouting team are extremely wary of any player who has regular visits to the treatment table.

 

[justsomebloke]

Did a stats job (based on fbref.com) on some of the main candidates, and put Maguire, Lindelof and Bailly at the bottom of the chart for comparison.

The players are ranked according to how they compare with Lindelof. Everyone from Romero down are actually on minus compared with VL - they have more categories where they have lower values than him than categories where they have higher values.

I was surprised by how good Süle looks statistically. I understand he's being made available too.

90s

npxG+xa/90

Cmp%

Prog

Prog/90

Cmp

CMP90

SCA90

TklW

TklW/90

Blocks

Bl/90

Int

Int/90

Touches

T/90

Prog

Prog/90

aewon%

Niklas Süle

16,7​

0,09​

91​

94​

5,6​

1194​

71,5​

1,61​

18,0​

1,1​

29,0​

1,7​

21,0​

1,3​

1472​

88,1​

110​

6,6​

57,9​

Edmond Tapsoba

29,5​

0,05​

91​

145​

4,9​

2497​

84,6​

0,85​

34​

1,2​

72​

2,4​

49​

1,7​

3107​

105,3​

150​

5,1​

64,2​

Jules Kounde

33,1​

0,08​

90,7​

141​

4,3​

2144​

64,8​

0,85​

23​

0,7​

42​

1,3​

42​

1,3​

2691​

81,3​

180​

5,4​

63,8​

Kalidou Koulibaly

24,5​

0,04​

89,6​

85​

3,5​

1555​

63,5​

0,69​

29,0​

1,2​

54,0​

2,2​

30,0​

1,2​

1964​

80,2​

103​

4,2​

57​

Sven Botman

36,8​

0,03​

88,3​

173​

4,7​

2245​

61,0​

0,35​

30,0​

0,8​

46,0​

1,3​

38,0​

1,0​

2883​

78,3​

133​

3,6​

69,3​

Cristian Romero

28,3​

0,1​

90,5​

68​

2,4​

1128​

39,9​

0,81​

46​

1,6​

52​

1,8​

81​

2,9​

1623​

57,3​

81​

2,9​

67,5​

Nikola Milenkovic

33,4​

0,09​

87,1​

97​

2,9​

1443​

43,2​

0,53​

40,0​

1,2​

57,0​

1,7​

30,0​

0,9​

1987​

59,5​

109​

3,3​

77​

Raphael Varane

30,2​

0,07​

91,1​

86​

2,8​

1588​

52,6​

0,53​

12​

0,4​

42​

1,4​

36​

1,2​

2013​

66,7​

94​

3,1​

75,3​

Pau Torres

33,0​

0,07​

89,2​

138​

4,2​

1822​

55,2​

0,45​

10​

0,3​

50​

1,5​

30​

0,9​

2316​

70,2​

167​

5,1​

60,6​

Ben White

35,5​

0,04​

83,2​

116​

3,3​

1470​

41,4​

0,73​

33,0​

0,9​

69,0​

1,9​

45,0​

1,3​

2064​

58,1​

108​

3,0​

53,1​

Harry Maguire

33,9​

0,07​

89​

104​

3,1​

1904​

56,2​

0,92​

18,0​

0,5​

45,0​

1,3​

61,0​

1,8​

2500​

73,7​

200​

5,9​

77,5​

Victor Lindelof

28,7​

0,05​

91,1​

92​

3,2​

1640​

57,1​

0,31​

16,0​

0,6​

40,0​

1,4​

32,0​

1,1​

2036​

70,9​

113​

3,9​

65,7​

Eric Bailly

10,2​

0,01​

90,3​

29​

2,8​

494​

48,4​

0,29​

5,0​

0,5​

17,0​

1,7​

22,0​

2,2​

653​

64,0​

34​

3,3​

61,4​

 

[A-man]

Did a stats job (based on fbref.com) on some of the main candidates, and put Maguire, Lindelof and Bailly at the bottom of the chart for comparison.

The players are ranked according to how they compare with Lindelof. Everyone from Romero down are actually on minus compared with VL - they have more categories where they have lower values than him than categories where they have higher values.

I was surprised by how good Süle looks statistically. I understand he's being made available too.

90s

npxG+xa/90

Cmp%

Prog

Prog/90

Cmp

CMP90

SCA90

TklW

TklW/90

Blocks

Bl/90

Int

Int/90

Touches

T/90

Prog

Prog/90

aewon%

Niklas Süle

16,7​

0,09​

91​

94​

5,6​

1194​

71,5​

1,61​

18,0​

1,1​

29,0​

1,7​

21,0​

1,3​

1472​

88,1​

110​

6,6​

57,9​

Edmond Tapsoba

29,5​

0,05​

91​

145​

4,9​

2497​

84,6​

0,85​

34​

1,2​

72​

2,4​

49​

1,7​

3107​

105,3​

150​

5,1​

64,2​

Jules Kounde

33,1​

0,08​

90,7​

141​

4,3​

2144​

64,8​

0,85​

23​

0,7​

42​

1,3​

42​

1,3​

2691​

81,3​

180​

5,4​

63,8​

Kalidou Koulibaly

24,5​

0,04​

89,6​

85​

3,5​

1555​

63,5​

0,69​

29,0​

1,2​

54,0​

2,2​

30,0​

1,2​

1964​

80,2​

103​

4,2​

57​

Sven Botman

36,8​

0,03​

88,3​

173​

4,7​

2245​

61,0​

0,35​

30,0​

0,8​

46,0​

1,3​

38,0​

1,0​

2883​

78,3​

133​

3,6​

69,3​

Cristian Romero

28,3​

0,1​

90,5​

68​

2,4​

1128​

39,9​

0,81​

46​

1,6​

52​

1,8​

81​

2,9​

1623​

57,3​

81​

2,9​

67,5​

Nikola Milenkovic

33,4​

0,09​

87,1​

97​

2,9​

1443​

43,2​

0,53​

40,0​

1,2​

57,0​

1,7​

30,0​

0,9​

1987​

59,5​

109​

3,3​

77​

Raphael Varane

30,2​

0,07​

91,1​

86​

2,8​

1588​

52,6​

0,53​

12​

0,4​

42​

1,4​

36​

1,2​

2013​

66,7​

94​

3,1​

75,3​

Pau Torres

33,0​

0,07​

89,2​

138​

4,2​

1822​

55,2​

0,45​

10​

0,3​

50​

1,5​

30​

0,9​

2316​

70,2​

167​

5,1​

60,6​

Ben White

35,5​

0,04​

83,2​

116​

3,3​

1470​

41,4​

0,73​

33,0​

0,9​

69,0​

1,9​

45,0​

1,3​

2064​

58,1​

108​

3,0​

53,1​

Harry Maguire

33,9​

0,07​

89​

104​

3,1​

1904​

56,2​

0,92​

18,0​

0,5​

45,0​

1,3​

61,0​

1,8​

2500​

73,7​

200​

5,9​

77,5​

Victor Lindelof

28,7​

0,05​

91,1​

92​

3,2​

1640​

57,1​

0,31​

16,0​

0,6​

40,0​

1,4​

32,0​

1,1​

2036​

70,9​

113​

3,9​

65,7​

Eric Bailly

10,2​

0,01​

90,3​

29​

2,8​

494​

48,4​

0,29​

5,0​

0,5​

17,0​

1,7​

22,0​

2,2​

653​

64,0​

34​

3,3​

61,4​

Nice work. Even if it’s hard to compare players in different leagues, it gives a little bit a picture of what type of players they are.

 

[hubbuh]

Is Badiashile too young and not yet not ready? We were snooping around him last year. Go balls to the wall on a Tchouameni, Badiashile double?

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

Hearing Varane rumours, not sure I'm sold on him tbh.

 

[justsomebloke]

Is Badiashile too young and not yet not ready? We were snooping around him last year. Go balls to the wall on a Tchouameni, Badiashile double?

For some reason, his stats doesn't seem to be on fbref.

 

[Adcuth]

His stats in the air are actually pretty good as well. We're talking about a 21 year old defender whos an ever present in a team thats on the verge of finishing ahead of PSG in whats supposedly a one horse race. I think theres enough evidence of his potential there. 22 goals conceded in 37 games is nothing to sniff at.

Psg also didn't score past them in both league games

 

[Zed 101]

Remember the rumours that Maguire wants an English speaking CB partner, if not BS then that list narrows considerably, shame it seems to be Tuanzebe or Maguire as opposed to Tuanzebe and Maguire, even still Lindelof is just so bang average at best we need an upgrade on him regardless, Bailey is a better defender but needs somebody with him who can organise him

 

[Impulse]

For some reason, his stats doesn't seem to be on fbref.

https://fbref.com/en/players/06df8256/Benoit-Mukinayi

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Is Badiashile too young and not yet not ready? We were snooping around him last year. Go balls to the wall on a Tchouameni, Badiashile double?

Apparently, we put in a 22M bid for him last season.


https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/23/manc...onfirms-benoit-badiashile-22m-offer-14129400/

 

[hubbuh]

Apparently, we put in a 22M bid for him last season.


https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/23/manc...onfirms-benoit-badiashile-22m-offer-14129400/

Interesting. I wonder if we've seen enough this year to go back in for him again?

 

[croadyman]

The only person that topples Varane on my dream CB list has to be Marquinhos

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Interesting. I wonder if we've seen enough this year to go back in for him again?

Possibly, but I guess it all depends on what Ole wants from his centre back. If its a young player to come in and potentially work his way in, then you'd think Badiashile would be an option. If, on the other hand, Ole wants someone to come in and slot in next to Maguire straight away, then we'd need to look elsewhere.

However, the fact that Ole did put in a bid for him suggests he may prefer the former option.