03 Aug 2015 12:16:26
Anyone else miss the days when your CB's just had to be CB's to be worthy of your team?

Loads of you now want, a 100% pass accurate, tough tackling, giant, skillful, precision shooting speed demon. And yes, don't get me wrong, if there was a player like that was around then sure, i'd wanna sign him. But there isnt.

Every day i read this site and see someone name a new defender, and read down and someone ELSE has already banished the idea because they aren't fast/tall/good at passing/dribbling?

All seems very strange when in my eyes all you need as a defender is to be brave. Yes i know there is more to it than that, but what i'm trying to get across is yes we need a CB. But if they are good at tackling, who cares if the only got 79% pass accuracy in their pre-season.

They are defenders, not wingers.

1.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 12:32:46
Evans is good at Tackling

2.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 12:43:52
The reason why most fans want more from their centre backs than just defending is because in this modern age, teams are very happy to just sit back and absorb pressure which sees us playing most of our football in the opposition half leaving our attacking player cramped for space.

Eventually this leads to the centre backs/full backs and holding midfielder having more and more of the ball. Just think about the evolution of the full back, they're pretty much converted wingers and in some teams the main source of attacking threat when teams are playing against a defensive team.

Therefore having a centre back whose comfortable on the ball makes it easier to build up play from the back and in some cases gives us an extra attacker.

3.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 12:54:05
Actually all we need is a good stable defender who can pass it from behind for our midfielders (this job is being done by carrick and blind when they have played.) The problem with a midfielder doing this is it leaves only one midfielder up ahead in the middle hence we end up passing the ball behind to de gea or try to get ahead passing sideways through our fullbacks.

Now if this job can be done by a defender it leaves us with many options in the middle and out wide and that's the reason people on this site are crying out for a ball playing defender.

4.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 13:14:15
Very well explained by DSG. Important thing is we need such a player because its an important part of the tactic and thts the reason lvg tried out Blind there. Just hope we get a good defender who can fit in well. don't want to end up with Blind at the back.

5.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 13:36:39
Random Red - No he isn't.

DSG - Good points you have made, but that the maybe give good reason for the passing, but doesn't explain speed, i get the whole, 'being versatile' and how it can help you but i stand by my fact that i'd rather have someone who is the best at the world in defending, even if they couldn't pass for #hit. Than have someone who is average at it all.

Simply put I'd rather have a master than a jack of all trades.

6.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 13:57:18
the fundamental job of a defender is in the name. TO DEFEND. If the job of the CB was to carry the ball out before delivering a pin point pass then Vidic wouldn't fit the bill. If you judged a full back by his ability to play as a winger then G Nev wouldn't have fitted the bill either. I would much rather sign a defender who is going to win that crucial header, make that last ditch tackle and be in the right place at the right time rather than someone who is going to get caught out of position( raphael) or get caught in possession(evans).
If there is another Rio out there, fine, but if not judge a defender first and foremost by his ability to defend and not attack, after all no one would sign an attacker just because he was good at defending at set pieces!

7.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 14:05:19
Harry good point. One thing you have to understand is lvg will want us to play a high line defense which will require good speed and positioning.

8.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 15:00:33
Allan gets it!

And yes Mumbaianc but some people are saying Hummels is a bad defender because he isn't fast enough etc. etc. it gets ridiculous

9.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 15:21:39
Hummels is exactly the defender we need. What he lacks in pace he makes up with his brilliant positioning and reading of the game. Also defending is about your central pairings. A defender like hummels will be great with someone like smalling or rojo. The reason i mention cb pairings is no matter how good a defender is at defending he can be taken out of the game by clever runs from good forwards which brings the other cb or fullback or midfielder into play.

10.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 15:30:56
Allan, I think you will find that Gary Neville was one of the best best crossers of the ball in the league. Using a similar analogy the fundamental job of a winger is to provide chances for the striker, Neville did this better than most other teams wingers.

11.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 15:42:26
I think that's it though Allan, you need one player who can play the ball out (Ferdinand) and one player who will win that last ditch tackle (Vidic), at the moment we have the players who would throw themselves at the last tackle (be it not to the same quality as Vidic) but we do not have the player who can pass it out from the back with composure. We need our Ferdinand.

12.) 03 Aug 2015
03 Aug 2015 17:03:46
Harryutd - i agree about the hummels lack of pace point. The way people were going on it was as if mertesacker could outpace him

But being a centre back in this day and age. Unless you can read the game at an extremely high level there will come points in games where youll have to rely on pace to bail you out of situations. If i remember correctly in rio's earlier years he used to have brainfades and only saved face because of his pace.