Lloris Walker Caulker Kaboul Verts Thats an impressive backfive if they gel together.......all we need is for someone to remind walker that his main duty is the team, is to defend!
That's f*cking awesome in my opinion. The French number 1, England's future RB (providing he does learn to actually defend!), England's future CB, a French international beast and a silky versatile Belgian. If Walker's form doesn't improve by the time Kaboul returns (well sooner to be honest) then I'd be happy to see: Kaboul (Gallas/ Naughton while Younes is out), Caulker, Verts, Ekotto As our first team back four.
with regards to Walker and defending - there's a little section on it, in this interview with Zoo magazine. http://www.zootoday.com/sport/archi...tenham-full-back-kyle-walker-talks-to-zoo.htm Perhaps the "encouragement" to get forward might be hampering him defensively...
As others have said, I think the Lennon Wlaker combo doesn't play to both players' strengths fully, but ATM it's the best we have Maybe Naughton will do better with Lennon, but I'm not convinced he would. He'll surely get his chance though. After the international break we should see some different line ups with Ade Naughton Parker and Jake all looking to return What particularly bugs me with Walker is for a big guy he's so poor in the air, you'd have thought after all his years as a defender he'd have got the hang of it by now, but apparently not I think at Sheff U there was talk of him becoming a CB, well with his lack of progress heading and positioning-wise that avenue seems closed ATM but hey, he's still young, etc.
If everyone returns to fitness and Caulker keeps his place in the side, then we could see a back up defensive unit of Friedel, Naughton, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto and Parker. That's better than most teams' first choice.
Hi G10, Do you mean different line ups in the cups or in the league? Because at the moment, with the exception of Lloris hopefully coming in for Brad soon, I wouldn't want to see the League formation/ selection tampered with too much providing all can stay fit/ injury free. The players are starting to settle and gel, especially Sandro and Dembele who are looking a fab CM/CDM partnership and Vertonghen and Bale have caused trouble along the left in the brief time they've had together. Will be great to have the names you mentioned back in contention but I wouldn't want the league selection being switched around yet again while we're on a good run. You're right in regards to Walker being touted as a make shift CB in his SUFC days, it's safe to say that at the moment, we won't be exploring that avenue, his defending overall, not just aerial ability and positioning are worrying, a great force going forward but if I saw him at CB I'd sh*t my pants!
Smalling also has also suffered from being moved around the defence before he's become truly comfortable playing at such a high level. I don't see the comparison between the two if I'm honest.
Doesn't Vertonghen see himself as a centre back? I think Benny will go back in at left back when he returns.
I do worry about Caulker's future slightly, not due to lack of ability, but injury issues. He seems to have had a fair number of knee cartilage issues already. We may have another Ledley on our hands, in more ways the one.
He plays at left-back for Belgium, so he might not be that bothered, especially if it works out well. Assou-Ekotto might have to piss off to the ACON in January, too.
Players will often sacrifice their positional preference for their country, less so with their clubs. Vertonghen is, in my opinion, the best player at the club, and it won't be long till other 'bigger' clubs start touting him, we need to show him respect and keep him onside. Having said that the advantage of playing him at left-back is clear. Although he is very strong defensively, he has always shown a great tendency to get forward. At left-back he will have a license to do this, at centre-back less so.
It also gives us additional height and aerial presence on set-pieces, which is an area where we've struggled badly to impose ourselves for bloody ages.
Caulker's slower and stronger though, arguably more more comparable to Jones if we're doing a young, English defender comparison. He's sort of somewhere between the two really.
No way, Smalling and Caulker are clearly more alike because they're both black. In the same way that Taarabt is the new Zidane...
Are we giving up on Naughton already then? I'd be surprised if Gallas is still first choice by the run in at the end of the season so I can see Caulker getting plenty of games regardless and I don't see why Kyle 2 can't be given the opportunity to impress again, given that his injury has meant he's not been able to take advantage of Ekotto's injury as much as he'd like.
I don't think Caulker is similar to Jones or Smalling. All three have attributes better than one another. I think Caulker's main strength is his aerial ability: Caused the own goal vs QPR from a header. Last ditch header vs QPR where Cisse was waiting at back post. Goal wrongfully disallowed vs Lazio from a perfectly timed jump. As he's not the quickest, he'll need to improve positionally to read the game and know where to tackle at the right moment, that's something that'll come with time & experience though and working with the likes of Gallas, Dawson, Kaboul and Vertonghen... It's not a bad group of lads to learn from is it
Hi SOS, I think there will be changes in the Lge and Cup. I'd hope the Lge line up isn't changed around too much, but I'm sure there will be changes As I'm sure you know I want Lloris in for Brad and the sooner the better for me Naughton might replace Walker, but I'm not convinced on that one Parker is bound to get Lge time, I assume and for me Ade is a step up from JD so I'd want him in for plenty of lge games too, maybe him and JD at times, and lose one of Sandro Dembele Dempsey - hard to say in advance Also for me the Cups are as important as the Lge, and so I don't want a Harry system of concentrating on the lge and playing weak(er) Cup teams I'd rather win the Europa than finish 4th, so I want extremely strong teams there, and if we have to play an occasional weaker player in the lge, because of that, that may be a risk we have to take I think it just has to be looked at on a game by game basis I want JV to have a rest tomorrow,because he's played a lot of games recently, but to me he has to play. Had Naughton been fit, i'd have played him at Carlisle, the Lge Cup is the one comp i don't mind weakish teams in, as it's the EL and to a lesser extent the FA Cup that I want us to win. Mind you if we get ****ed over by the refs again tomorrow, I might completely change my mind, and say a plague on the EL. If they're going to make it impossible for us to win, then **** it, concentrate on the Lge and domestic cups I just want us to win something
Re the LB position, it'll be great to have BAE back, but I think JV is better than him, so it'll be a difficult call As long as we're in the Cups there will be plenty of games for everyone, and I hope AVB can get over to the players, he wants to win something, that it's not just about the CL. If the players can buy into that, and I grew up on the philosophy that winning trophies was what matters not finishing 3rd or 4th, then players shouldn't be too disadvantaged by only playing in say all the Cup games but few lge games. we'll have to see how it goes, each week brings new challenges, Naughton would have hoped to got a run in the side but got injured, Kaboul would be a mainstay at CB but got injured and gave Caulker a chance - stuff happens - all the time
Verts is our best centre back, yet personally I feel ekotto is a weak leak in defensive sense, as is walker, but with verts at left back and kaboul in the centre, it gives us greater quality then if we have verts in centre and ekotto at left back. This is assuming verts is happy to play at left back!
