Collocini - glad he's flying under the radar....

a lot is made of the likes of arsenal et al chasing a top class centre back and we hear the same names being thrown around such as samba, cahill and jagielka etc.

I've got to say i was amazed when they signed mertesacker as he was never going to fit in their side in my opinion. Cahill is decent with the ball at his feet and is quite cultured and far more suited that the german.

however i think the form of colo this season and last has been outstanding to say the least. he's incredibly comfortable with the ball at his feet and his positioning is excellent and is one of the main reasons why we haven't been punished badly having raylor at LB.

I've never once heard his name linked with an english club even though i'd say he was one of the best CB in the league in my opinion. you reckon its because of his wages or people only remember his first season where he struggled to get to grips with the PL?

I'm glad he seems to be going relatively unoticed by the media outside of the north east though.

 

Good point there. Agree on the Mertesacker comment - he is bullshit!

As for Colo, I just don't think other clubs really appreciate how good he is tbh

 

Mertesacker is complete dross.

I don't really know why no other clubs look at him, but that's great from our point of view and hopefully he signs a contract extension soon. It may be a combination of him being happy, on a high wage, and memeories of his early struggles when he arrived. And obviously managers like Wenger know that Tiote would kick his head in should he ever try to tempt Colo away.

 

thats what i mean. unless the landan press are cooing over a player no one will ever hear of how good they actually are.

 

My ill educated friends still think Colo is ****e, just because of his first season with us.

 

Long may that continue!

Everybody thinks we have a poor side which has just got lucky so far this season

 

Colo is a good player. Wouldn't say he is one of the best due to him being weak in the air.

 

i think on current form its criminal that colo isn't being recalled to the national side.

 

Happy for them to miss him completely. Actually thought he had his worst game so far on Saturday. But Colo is just top class. He would be a great signing for any team, and I include the top 4 in that.

I don't think Mertesacker is as bad as some suggest. He's a top centre back and has proven it many times for a solid German national team. The problem is he lacks pace and I don't think they've got the balance right in defence Arsenal. They would have if the pacey Vermelaan could stay fit but I think you have to basically discount him. I must admit I was shocked to see Wenger go foreign. They were crying out for Cahill or Jagielka (or both!).

 

i think he's better in the air than peiople give him credit for. i think his hair just looks insane when he goes up for a high ball. haha

 

I first noticed Mertesacker when he played for Germany in the world cup a few years back and him and Metzelder were dreadful. Soft as ****e and slow imo

Agree that they should have got Cahill - ridiculous how he went for Mertesacker instead when Cahill would fit the bill perfectly

 

i reckon saylor will be the one that gets the most plaudits from dan saf as he's english. however any newcastle fan that actually watches the games would say that colo is the better player.

 

I've watched Mertesacker a fair bit and I think he'll surprise you in time. He needs pace alongside him but is a seriously good reader of the game. I wouldn't say he is one of the best but he's very good. I just don't understand why go foreign when Cahill/Jagielka would have needed no settling in time etc whereas, experienced as he is, Mertesacker will need time surely. Came down to money I would think which is daft as Arsenal should have plenty and they'd only be paying the going rate. I think Jones signing for Man U really hurt Wenger, he makes no bones he was the guy he wanted.

 

Colo and Taylor are the best CB pairing in the Prem without a doubt.

 

My mate is man utd crackers and i watch all their games with him and he's adamant that jones shouldn't play at centre back as his positioning is woeful. he does well at RB but my mate reckons that you'd see the best of him playing DMF at least until he has the exp' to play at CB. smalling is the better 'defender' of the two in my opinion but jones looks a very good all rounder.

 

Yeah, he missed out on a few I think.

For me Arsenal's centre back pairing should be Vermaelen (when fit) and someone else. He is by far their best defender imo

 

Hands down

 

Imo Colo looked lazy on Saturday and it nearly cost us, several times. Saylor was a little better, bar his ridiculous challenge where he just ran over O'Hara (I think it was) for no reason at all and should have given away a penalty.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, they haven't actually been tested for a sustained period of times. When Chelsea or ManU come and put pressure on them for 80 minutes we'll see how good they are.

Raylor I thought was much better on Saturday, than he has been. Maybe leftback is growing on him. It's definitely been the longest run in the team Raylor has had since arriving. Possibly the longest run in his career.

 

he is extremely well complimented by Saylor and he is proving the perfect captain in leading by example.

to think only a short time ago people were debating whether Colo or Barton should be captain, Pardew made the right call.

clearly, contracts are worth **** these days, but I want him signed up again soon as Colo seems to be a stand up guy and a top professional.

 

i'm actually quite impressed at how decent raylor is with his left peg. he's obviously pretty two footed which is probably how he ended up being regarded as a utility player.