our best CB pairing?

new

« Prev
1
Next »

germanc18
Full Member

Posts: 571

our best CB pairing? Dec 15, 2016 9:50:01 GMT

Quote

Post by germanc18 on Dec 15, 2016 9:50:01 GMT

What is best CB pairing and do we need to sign a CB?

A lot has been discussed about our defence, some players not being good enough, playing in wrong positions, all being injury prone, 2 big talents in waiting and many established players to be signed. What is the truth.

JONES

+ brave

+ very good tackle

- decision making questionable at times

- a little too small for a centre-half

- injury prone

ROJO:

+ good agression

+ better passing skills than others

- weak positioning

- prone to errors

SMALLING:

+ good in the air

+ best at defending

+ pace

- less ability to play from the back

- should communicate more

- injury prone

BAILLY:

+ good aggression

+ best footballing abilities from the bunch

- bit harsh at times in tackling

BLIND:

+ very good positioning

+ good play from the back

+ versatile, our O'Shea 2.0

- missing strength

- pace

FOSU-MENSAH:

+ strength

+ pace

- unproven

- would rather see him in midfield

Jones, we all knew had that ability but I am still surprised about his recent form, same goes for Rojo whom I had on the list to sell!
Still I'd go for Smalling and Bailly as the best pairing.

Should we sign a CB or trust Tuanzebe and Williams to be the next big thing from our acdemy? I love the idea of having them around the first team.

Despite Rojo being much better at CB as he has been at LB, he is still the first of the list I'd replace if we are going to sign a world-class CB. Important is to me, if we sign a CB, he must be clearly above the rest in quality and undisputed stater. Otherweise I'd stick to ones we have and promote the 2 youngster.

What do you think?

Dave
Moderator

Posts: 7,553

our best CB pairing? Dec 15, 2016 12:28:31 GMT

Quote

Post by Dave on Dec 15, 2016 12:28:31 GMT

Smalling, Blind, Jones and Rojo would be my overall picking order based on their United careers thus far, Bailly looks to be a very good signing and a great defender but he has played a handful of games for us so it's difficult to judge. From the small sample size though as a defender I'd rate him just below Smalling but with huge potential.

I think you've covered the pro's and con's pretty well so no need to go over them again.

This season we've not really had a settled partnership, Bailly and Blind started off well but then Smalling came back, Smalling and Bailly then Bailly got injured, Rojo and Blind wasn't so good and now we're onto Jones and Rojo who have been brilliant so far but they aren't without their faults.

Given the looks and sounds of things lately it doesn't look like Mourinho fancies Blind in that position, which is fair enough and history tells us that he probably wouldn't fit Jose' usual profile of a centre back.

Jones has been excellent since coming back, hasn't put a foot wrong and is probably on his longest run of games since he joined. On pure talent/ability he's probably ahead of Smalling it's just always been about whether he can stay fit, maybe this season will be the turning point but we shall see.

Rojo has also been very good centrally this season and was for a period in his first, his passing though at times is absolute trash and him lunging in two footed is absolutely brain dead. No thought for his team, if you want to win to be a title winning team you can't have that.

Let's see how Jones and Rojo keep doing, what happens when Bailly and Smalling are back fit and challenging, can they keep their place. I'd like to see Jones/Bailly combination but come the end of the season I'd say we'll be back to Bailly/Smalling.

As for the youngsters it's difficult to integrate them given where we are at the moment/where we want to be and there isn't one mainstay/leader centre back thus far for TFM to learn from, who'll just have to get the games when and where he can for now. Tuanzebe and Williams are probably another year or so off from the squad.

January window is coming up and I expect us to be on the lookout for a CB, we probably won't be able to get the quality that we need so the Summer is more likely but even then I'm not sure who we could go for and manage to bring in. Still it depends on how these lot do, can Rojo keep up this level and can Jones stay fit etc.

Jie
Administrator

Posts: 2,597

our best CB pairing? Dec 20, 2016 8:31:00 GMT

Quote

Post by Jie on Dec 20, 2016 8:31:00 GMT

This debate is doing my head in. Over the last months my answer has changed approximately 12 times so anything I say here is most likely going to change tomorrow.
Started the season thinking Smalling and Blind were the way to go - I really enjoyed the way they paired last year - Smalling taking on the physical challenges and Blind bringing the calmness. But with Bailly coming in everything changed - so he takes on the physical role, absolutely crushing people which I love, but then he and Smalling (which I believe has a Rio-like quality to him) didn't really click. Bailly and Blind - also didn't look that good. So Bailly gets injured and Rojo comes in. I'm not particularly fond of Rojo, because in my mind he's more of a stopper and while he's very good with challenges, doesn't have the ability to play from the back. And then on comes reckless Jones, who I forgot even existed and I was sure he'll never play for United again. And somehow these two work, despite being the least talented and reliable defenders in our squad in my opinion.

So at this stage I'll go for Jones-Rojo because if it ain't broken... but ultimately I'd love to see Bailly and Smalling.

As for Fosu-Mensah, I think he'll make a great understudy for Valencia, as much as people would love to see him in midfield, I enjoyed watching him in the RB role and with his strength and pace would be able to cause trouble. Also it looks unlikely at the moment that he'll have a chance in midfield.

Also, I think this whole debate goes on to show how much class we have in defense and how many different options, so I'd rather stick to what we have than spend money on Lindelof or whoever.