Monreal is a liability. Kos should pack him in his suitcase.

That's it for me as well. Kolasinac's defending is bad, but at least he can attack while Monreal can't do neither. AMN is a fine backup when Bellerin is back. Really sucks that Bellerin's and Holding's injuries were so severe that they didn't make it back until the start of this season. We don't really have a clue how they'll be.

We need a RB, both Bellerin and AMN are decent going forward but defensively woeful.

AMN is a very poor RB and a borderline liability but I am OK with that position being low on Raul's list of priorities this Summer. There are much more pressing needs.

Considering how imperfect our squad is, I wouldn't even look for a RB until next summer. I think people forget how helpful Bellerin was to our game before his injury.

He's great going forward and winning the ball back in advanced positions, but 1v1 against physical players he gets overrun, same problem as Bellerin.

Ray wrote:

He's great going forward and winning the ball back in advanced positions, but 1v1 against physical players he gets overrun, same problem as Bellerin.

Have to say I am happy with Bellerin for now. He's no Cafu but he's good enough to help us back to where we want to be.

AMN on the other hand I have very little hope for unless he learns to concentrate for 90 minutes. He could become an Oshea type player if he improves that area of his game though.

I think AMN and Bellerin are pretty much the same level, both defensively weak, and offensively good, that is only okay if you are technically quality which neither of them are. It's a position that absolutely needs to be fixed, short term maybe Dani Alves.

Segway wrote:

Ray wrote:

He's great going forward and winning the ball back in advanced positions, but 1v1 against physical players he gets overrun, same problem as Bellerin.

Have to say I am happy with Bellerin for now. He's no Cafu but he's good enough to help us back to where we want to be.

AMN on the other hand I have very little hope for unless he learns to concentrate for 90 minutes. He could become an Oshea type player if he improves that area of his game though.

Agree with the O'Shea comparison, handy players to have around too.

Also think Bellerin gets way less credit defensively than he should. All Premiership full backs get fucked over by wingers sometimes, its just part and parcel of the position. Trying to improve on Bellerin would take a big fee and a lot of luck. Just look at United paying £50m for Wan-Bissaka, I think he's a talent but its a big fee for a guy not yet at Bellers level.

Qwiss! wrote:

Also think Bellerin gets way less credit defensively than he should. 

Don't understand it myself. He is a very good two way fullback. Not a Sagna defensively but by no means an Eboue there either. 

I think he gets flack because he gets run past more often than he should when you consider the speed he had before, but the reality is that he isn't as quick anymore.

I think you need to plan ahead when thinking about the defence. Come the end of the next summer window, what do you want our defence to look like?

Bellerin - Saliba - Holding - Tierny
AMN - Sokratis - New CB - Kolasinac

For me the above is more than adequate. You're not going to get Cafu as fullback cover so that'll do.

So we need to get Tierny and ideally a new centre back in this season. If Kos and Mustafi are going, then we need to keep Chambers to compete alongside Sokratis, Holding, New CB and maybe Nacho who can been deep cover, especially if we play a back 3. Worth keeping in mind that Chambers can also fill in at right back until Hector is up to speed.

I don't think Monreal will be leaving this season. Emery will keep him as backup for CB if we let Kos and Shitstafi leave

Chambers at RB  :ffs: ...I'd honestly rather play Mustafi

Qwiss! wrote:

Monreal can't play LB in a back 4 any more. He's awful at it. I'd rather let Kolasinac go missing because he's attacking in a back 4 than play Monreal who can neither defend nor attack well any more.

AMN is a flawed right back but he's all we've got and he's not a natural defender anyway.

A defender that goes missing in defence? That's not exactly selling his case.

I agree, Monreal should be shipped, but if it's between him and Kolasinac. The latter cause tactical problems. He's been a terrible signing, not necessarily because he's a bad player but because we have to change formations just to accommodate him. I would understand if we had to change it, due to an additional striker or midfielder but a bloody wing back? Lord save us. Ship him out with Mustafi and Xhaka.

I don't think much of Kola but we have too much other work to do on the squad this summer. He'll have to do as back up until next summer. Monreal isn't even up to the job of back up any more. He's been declining for years and at this point he's a much bigger liability than Kola.

Qwiss! wrote:

I don't think much of Kola but we have too much other work to do on the squad this summer. He'll have to do as back up until next summer. Monreal isn't even up to the job of back up any more. He's been declining for years and at this point he's a much bigger liability than Kola.

agree with this. monreal is shot physically, barely anything left in his legs. at least kola offers something going forward.

When you see Monreal in training, it's easy to get fooled.
Muscles bulging everywhere, top ball juggling skills and intensive effort in the drills.
On the pitch, he cannot keep up and writhes about in pain after every tackle.