nayenezgani
Jimmy Neighbour
Some of his forward passing, releasing players early was outstanding.
Thought he was alright today, the partnership with Alderweild was obv not great (as you'd imagine having barely played together) but individually he did ok, decent on the ball. I like him, I'd have no fears playing him if one of our two Belgiams were injured.
Play both Wimmer and Vertonghen away at Leicester??
Unless we play a full-strength and firing front 4, that'll be a disaster!
Why?
They are both excellent players. It's hardly the Chiriches and Kaboul show
I think Vertonghen is poor when he is next to CBs who are less experienced or would look to him to be their guide.
Verts would return to his lax/absent-minded style we've all seen before esp in the second half of seasons and Wimmer will suffer as a result. Wimmer will learn and get better far more alongside Alderweireld imo.
Plus aren't both left-footers?
Verts is our vice-captain, 28 years old, and an experienced international. If he can't lead a line, we need to give up. He and Dier played well together last season. I think he just gets bad press still for giving up during those 6-months under Timmeh.
Footedness for CBs is far less of an issue than FM suggests. Front (first ball) and back (sweeping) is more how CBs orientate themselves.
Like what Wimmer had to offer. Should play more in Europe and Cups.....sadly he will not get the defensive time needed to sort his few defensive shortcoming out!
I think Vertonghen is poor when he is next to CBs who are less experienced or would look to him to be their guide.
Verts would return to his lax/absent-minded style we've all seen before esp in the second half of seasons and Wimmer will suffer as a result. Wimmer will learn and get better far more alongside Alderweireld imo.
Plus aren't both left-footers?
Vertonghen is a very good player. Also many top teams play with two right footed centre halves, its not a big deal
When Vertonghen is the 'senior' of the CBs AND his partner is as green as Wimmer is in this league, it tends to show up Vertonghen as a good CB who is NOT a good leader of the line. He simply is not good in that way. We have 2/3 years of evidence to see that here.
Am happy to concede that perhaps playing with two left-footers may not be an issue though (however, wasn't that an issue with some of our CB combos in the past, like Gallas and Dawson etc?)
Were these partnerships made up of two CBs that were both left-footed? Genuine question.Vidic/Rio - Dawson/King, Woodgate/King Terry/Cahill etc all were excellent together.
Btw I really dont agree with you on Jan and I think he's a player who gets overly criticised because of his style and perceived attitude - I think he is an excellent addition to our squad and we are lucky to have him.
What did you see as his defensive shortcomings? I didn't notice any in particular - he looked calm, strong, aggressive when he needed to be, decent positioning. Alder was at fault the times they threatened us
I ask you: when has he formed a good partnership with us when paired with a CB who is younger/less experienced/less senior?
With Dier, second half of last season
Were these partnerships made up of two CBs that were both left-footed? Genuine question.
I have not said that Jan is not a good player, i'm saying that he is not a good leader/teacher for a rookie CB to play alongside. He tends to go to pot when he is the senior CB and the number of clean sheets we get plummets when this happens. I ask you: when has he formed a good partnership with us when paired with a CB who is younger/less experienced/less senior?