Mikhail Chigorin wrote:PeterParker wrote:I was always on the boat that he is a good defender. A bit distracted at times, but good defender. Some of the critics around him were harsh. I remember his debut with Chelsea. If was one of the best starts for a defender in the last years. We saw a lot of classs after Zaba was sent off.
I would recall him in a heart beat rather than going after that prick Laporte again.
I'm with you on this PP.
Moreover, I also think it's about player combinations.
Get the right centre-back partner for him and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, added to which he's already ours so bringing him back wouldn't impact on any transfer budget limitations we might have imposed upon us.
Would a Stones-Mangala partnership work ????
I am certain it could. The thing is, our defence lacks a leader. Chelsea has that, Cahill, that is why they are top. Vinnie should had been that leader for us, but with his injury record, things are looking bad. Stones needs to step up, even if he is young.
If I was Pep, I would go and try to get that fucker Bonucci, pay them 40 mil and get him. We need dirty fuckers on the back who can show opponents who is the boss, not soft players like Otamendi.
As a plan B, I was always curious why Howedes was not on Guardiola”s list. Benny is the leader of Schalke for 5-6 years now, solid defender, 28 or 29 now (without looking), world champions and most of all, sold and semi cheap (for our standards). Pep praised him a lot when he was at Bayern and I was certain he was going to put a bid on him. Weird.