I have a friend who lives in France and watches a lot of French football. He claims that Kone is a very underrated defender who will improve your defence immeasurably. If it helps, he told me Cabella would flop in the PL but thought Thauvin would be a decent signing!
He's not been stand out at all, but he's part of a back four that aren't exactly a brick wall. He had a very poor RB to play alongside and was often left with the job of two defenders so I'd guess there's more to him when he's only got to concentrate on his own game. He seemed to be out of position a lot but that's more of a coaching thing, maybe he was being coached zonal rather than man-to-man. He's decent at carrying the ball out of defence, and evidently strong. It'll all boil down to how well he merges into your side and how well he follows instructions, Mamadou Sakho looked truly world class in France and he looks like the worst centre half going in this league, so you just have to hope he hits the ground running and arrives with the right attitude.
Sakho has looked decent the last couple of games I have seen him play in (mind I had a few sherbets at the time) difference is Kone will be coached by Sam who was a canny centre half so I am sure he will impart some good advice to him (said with fingers crossed)
M. Sakho's a complete donkey in my opinion, absolutely drowned since the day he turned up in England. Get Wes Brown through his coaching badges and keep him on your books, your 'future' defence will be sorted then, he sees things other defenders just can't see, he's the Paul Scholes of defending although his body can't keep up with his mind anymore.
I don't know what Wes would be like as a coach - bloody good defender tho just we got him a few years too late. Booby Moore wasn't the fastest but he didn't need to be as he could read a situation developing and snuff it out before it got critical.
Wes is one of the best defenders I've seen in a Sunderland shirt! Just, as said above, wish we'd got him sooner! If he was fully fit he'd have been an England regular for years. Think he'd make a great coach
"Booby Moore wasn't the fastest but he didn't need to be as he could read a situation developing and snuff it out before it got critical." That could easily have read "Colin Todd wasn't the fastest, but he didn't need to be because he could read a situation developing and snuff it out before it got critical."
I must have been thinking of something else while I was typing that Gordon and aye I agree Toddy was like that as well
Hard to get excited about this signing, a defender who hasn't played in England before and coming from a team with one of the worst defensive records in the French league. I've never seen him play so can't really judge and it's about time we had a bit of luck with one of these cheap transfers from abroad.
