Vlad and Kaboul seems like the logical choice - Kaboul's got the pace that Dawson lacks...unless the rumours of a long-term knee injury are true.
I thought that Kaboul's presence at centre-half was one of the many reasons that we got battered by City. Dawson may occasionally get done for pace, but it's not that much of an issue in most games, despite our high line. I assume that Villas-Boas sees his long-term 1st choice partnership as Vertonghen and Chiriches, though. Both very comfortable on the ball and happy to get involved in attacks. A little suspect in the air, for me.
The way i read it, and it could be wrong, is that height is less a problem with the high line, its pace pace pace. Height becomes an issue at set pieces but we have a bunch of biggies in midfield that _should_ be able to mark for those.
I feel bad saying it because Dawson seems like such a great guy. His type are a dieing breed nowadays. However, football is about results. If Dawson was playing deeper, I don't think too many players would give him problems. He reads the game very well which makes up for his lack of pace and he always gives his all. Unfortunately for this set up, that's still not enough. The last few games I've watched, I've witnessed a few occasions where he's been in no mans land. Considering we're not scoring goals, we really can't afford any mistakes at the back now.
None of our midfielders or forwards are any good in the air, though. Adebayor, maybe. That's about it. We'd still have to deal with crosses if we don't have the ball and are forced to retreat by a slow build up, too.
No player has been in "no mans land" more often this season than Vertonghen. How he gets off so lightly on this board always surprises me. Anyway, I have said it before and I will say it again, Dawson has been our most consistent CD so far this season. At the risk of contradicting myself, I do accept he has been found out on occasions during and since the Newcastle game, but with Kaboul still struggling and looking very shaky in the City thrashing, I think Villas Boas is more than happy to continue with Daws. I believe Dawson is currently on 4 cautions which means he has until 31 December to avoid another and so be suspended. Should he get another yellow card, it will be interesting to see if he regains his place straight after any suspension.
I've noticed it with vertonghen as well spurcat, but I've never said anything because he's out of position, so i don't think it's fair to criticise. I agree re Dawson since the Newcastle game. It's since then I've been watching him, and I've counted about 6 or 7 occasions where I've cringed. - This is why I picked up on it. The only reason Kaboul has also escaped criticism from me is because he's on his way back from a long injury. But as i mentioned elsewhere, he looks rusty and nothing like the player he was, at the moment. But i'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Paulinho's also on 4 yellows. Expect late 'tactical' cautions against Liverpool, if neither he or Dawson pick one up in the meantime.
I believe the authorities are watching out for these "tactical bookings". They recently found a Leyton Orient player had got himself deliberately booked and so overturned the caution so he remained on 4. Barry Hearn went nuts about it but it didn't get him anywhere.
So Dawson and Paulinho are available for last-minute-injury-causing-assassinations? Excellent, we have Suarez coming up
I was thinking in case they get a straight red by mistake. If they can do it with a yellow, then yes first minute
Fa suspensions for bookings are a load of bollocks anyway. If a player signs from abroad late in January it's near impossible for them to get themselves banned for yellows as it's impossible to pick up a ban for 5 or 10 bookings due to the deadlines so the only way they can get 15 bookings in there 15-17 games. I'm surprised no player has deliberately exploited that yet, it seems like a gift to me, they can boot the ball away or put in cynical fouls at the end of games with virtual impunity.
I'd rather we claimed the goals conceded against West Ham and Man City were tactical so the games became 0-0 draws...
Dawson over Kaboul for me, unless Kaboul starts resembling the player he was. The high line is not friendly to a player with Dawson's lack of speed. But his positioning is good, and he's a good captain. Kaboul, unfortunately, is still not back to anywhere near what he was pre-injury. I wonder how many of us picked Chiriches as our best signing? I'm probably one of the few who thinks Paulinho, up and down as he's been, may have been even better. It's definitely a high-wire act with Vlad, which is one of the reasons I like him. He seemed on the verge of giving the ball away in a dangerous area a number of times against Man U, but always managed to keep it from happening. But I'll take a ball playing CB like that any day, if he has Vlad's talent. I can't imagine not starting him in a meaningful game under any circumstances bar injury or card trouble at this point.
