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Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa joins AS Roma then Lyon


KaKa

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He's been impressive so far on the whole, but those saying he is better than Colo clearly jumped the gun.

 

The idea that Colo is third choice at the club is/was ludicrous.

 

Most certainly. Colo and Yanga-Mbiwa would be my preferred partnership due to how good both are on the ball as well as defensively. They showed it away at Metallist, that was the best display as a pairing from our central defenders this season.

 

Concerned with us aerially with that. I know Mapou's fast but is he strong? Not sure about him in the air either. I know Colo's not the best in the air and he isn't the strongest. A cerebral defender at his best.

 

I'm not sure that Mapou is the greatest at defending set pieces, and Colo certainly isn't. Their partnership would worry me long-term.

 

Mind you, all the signs are that Colo is off and we're looking for another CB.

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Agree with that completely. Given the choice though I'd take two of the latter over two of the former any day of the week in this league.

 

Has that ever worked for a side? You end up with teams launching it long and trying to be bullies.

 

 

Closest thing I can think of is Ferdinand/Evans and they got bullied in the past despite Rio always being pretty strong and good in the air.

 

Ramos and Varane perhaps but Ramos just looks soft and can play a bit. He's very strong, aggressive and great in the air.

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Agree with that completely. Given the choice though I'd take two of the latter over two of the former any day of the week in this league.

 

Has that ever worked for a side? You end up with teams launching it long and trying to be bullies.

 

It worked back in the day with Bruce and Pallister.

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Agree with that completely. Given the choice though I'd take two of the latter over two of the former any day of the week in this league.

 

Has that ever worked for a side? You end up with teams launching it long and trying to be bullies.

 

It worked back in the day with Bruce and Pallister.

Pallister at Manu, a perfect example of how you have to be patient wth new players settling in. A more inept first season would be harder to find than his and then he went on to be very good indeed.

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I don't know about PL sides but its worked in the CL for many European teams.

 

Nesta-Thiago Silva being one of many, i think it can work definitely if the defenders in question are clever enough.

 

 

 

The opposite type of pairing to what I was getting at, but never mind. :)

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I don't know about PL sides but its worked in the CL for many European teams.

 

Nesta-Thiago Silva being one of many, i think it can work definitely if the defenders in question are clever enough.

 

 

 

The opposite type of pairing to what I was getting at, but never mind. :)

 

I thought you was talking about two mapou's :lol:

 

My bad and yeah i can't think of a two bruiser partnership working.

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You can see at times he's nervous when the ball comes to him, he's obviously had some scares with how quickly opposition close him down, but he'll adapt to that quickly. His actual defending has been very good, in open play at least.

 

He's entitled to be nervous when his passing options to his fellow defenders are so limited.

 

He looked really confident on the ball in his first couple of games, but Pardew has likely told him not to fuck about with it and get rid. Shame, because he had a reputation as an excellent footballing centre back when he won the French league last year.

 

Probably too early to make the assumption, but perhaps another example of skill, flair and ultimately confidence being "coached" out?

 

 

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Thiago-Nesta are phsyically immense all-rounders. Even when Nesta lost a fair bit of his pace he was still very strong and great in the air.

 

If Barcelona can have Mr. Gutsnglory Puyol so can we.

 

Tbh i agree and i'd rather it that way i was just saying that i think you can have 2 Colo types and be successful.

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Guest Brendan_Rice

English football is a bit different in that Centre Backs have to deal with more aerial set pieces. You can't afford to be weak in that area.

 

Just got flashbacks of Carroll when he played for us, was always back in the box dealing with set pieces.

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After Sissoko, I'm most confident about this guy. He's had some shaky moments but I think it's clear as day that he's an excellent footballer and has the potential to be a quality CB for us. Such a shame that we've finally got someone reliable with genuine quality to partner Colo, and the latter is almost certainly leaving.

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