The College Dropout

I want more British players fro footballing reasons. the only great/trophy winning sides to play with barely any English players is The Invincibles" Arsenal side. They had two starters at the back - Campbell and Cole. Keown was a presence off the bench. And even then Vieira had joined Arsenal at 20, Ljungberg & Toure since 21. With the first two in their 6th/7th PL campaigns.

Michael Owen even managed to make 400 appearances. Which is not a bad total tbh.

Woodgate is still playing. Though that barely alters the point you're making. Doubt he'll make it to 330 like Dyer. Not including the 30 odd England appearances Dyer made.

Sissoko was terrible at AM apart from 3 tremendous games early doors. He's more a wide man than an AM.

Oh and that lad that tried to break Haidara's leg.

Really need to invest properly in our own youth academy. If there's one position there's a number of decent options coming through the ranks in Britain, it's on the wings. I'd take Ince, Sinclair and Hoillett. Hoilett's Canadian I know but he's HG.

Do we though? I find this line of thought quite disturbing because I think there's a large undertone of xenophobia/racism attached to it. No there's not.

Woodgate never managed 300 appearances

He has quality no doubt and I think he could be very good for us. He was pretty poor though let's be honest.

Not getting purposefully sent off because he's in a bad mood would be a start. he did that one time! And it's all some people remember for some sad reason. What? Danny "heart of a pea" Simpson got that reputation for less!

Aye rock solid against Chelsea and S'hampton

Typing on an iPhone.

IMO CB is the most part partnership orientated area of the pitch. In CM or attack different partnerships work for different scenarios but not with CB. It's because organisation, regiment and understanding is So important at the back. I remember last season Wenger brought Vermaelen back at CB for one game as the opposition had a lot of pace. Arsenal looked a mess. We get brought Mertesacker Back in with Koscielny against every opponent and they where much better. The strength of the partnership was stronger than any individual weaknesses. No coincidence out best run at the back happened when we put the and Back 5 out consistently.

I've seldom seen John Terry play on the right side of CB for Chelsea. If he has to come across he will. But even if someone's causing him trouble with pace he doesn't swap sides. Likewise Colo has his side and I rarely see him move because he has been exposed. It's dead easy for the striker to continually attack his side anyway.

I know Mapou's fast. But everything else you've mentioned - I'm not sure about. I haven't seen it. Like intelligence, he has lapses in concentration that result in sloppy passes. The only games he impressed in, he was away from the heat at FB. He looks a tidy footballer and he has a bit of pace. Same thing with Santon, aye that's good and all but are they good natural defenders? I know Santon isn't and he can improve. I'm looking to see some real natural defensive ability from Mapou.

Honestly some of you guys are really showing your lack of intelligence. At least when it comes to football. Like any type of defence. You are drilled to keep position. CB's generally always play on the same side in defence. Whether its RCB or LCB. Constantly swapping would just cause confusion. Secondly, clearly swapping CB's in-play would leave massive gaps in defence and another man free. The point is - Sunderland clearly picked out Mapou as the weak one. The same way Pardew thought Shola could get change out of Evans physically and in the air and that Ba had enough about him to go toe-to-toe with Ferdinand. That wasn't a lucky accident.

Against Sunderland, Mbiwa had a hard time containing Danny Graham. What's the point in having a big strong lad like Taylor in the team if he's not going to mark the big target man? Danny Graham a big target man? Graham targeted Mbiwa, not a lot you can do about that. How about detail Taylor to man mark Graham? There's not much he can do if Danny Graham goes and puts himself onto Mapou. Is Mapou meant to run away? Are they meant to continuously swap sides?

Against Sunderland, Mbiwa had a hard time containing Danny Graham. What's the point in having a big strong lad like Taylor in the team if he's not going to mark the big target man? Strikers often choose their CB to attack, especially if they are playing 2 up top. No coincidence Drogba always picked out Senderos

Let's not count flick-ons like the one that sunk as against Stoke.

15% of goals come from crosses in open play. So let's call it 25% to include set-pieces.

Nah. You look at Owen, he was also injury-prone but he had a good 5-6 year prime where you could really rank him among his peers. Woodgate? Nope. We can only discuss talent and even then i'm not sure he's more talented than King or Ferdinand. Rio went to Leeds and was captain within a year of joining. I loved Woodgate as a player but he was a bit of a Myth. While Rio has been at the top of the pile for over a decade.

I doubt Mapou would really concede that many more headers than Taylor. And that's basically the only difference to what we play now. I admit there's a place for Tiote in certain games though, if he can recover something like form. With Colo being pretty poor in the air and Anita being a midget. Is it a good idea to even slightly further diminish the teams aerial ability?

My word Ronaldo you are on a roll. These people lack basic logic. "It's definitely our best option but it's not proven and we've never done it" ffs

No doubt Ledley was excellent. But for me it's Rio > Sol > Terry > Ledley > Carragher > Woodgate (that lad barely played) Talent wise it would be different - granted.

I think Ledley was class tbf, like Woodgate he would have been immense if he was ever fit for a decent run of games. England would have had an amazing selection of centre backs. Okay but those are what-if's. Sol Campbell was a better player.. in part because his knees worked. Ledley may have had more potential, more talent... but Sol Campbell was the better player. Ledley never hit the heights, sorry.