Frimpong logged in an assist yesterday. Bakker scored one, assisted one. Leverkusen hammered Union Berlin (was second in the table) 5-0. Out of regulation territory. Botman remains unbeaten in any match that he’s been involved this season, Newcastle climbed to third in the table. Virgil captained Liverpool, defeated Spurs away.
Probably the only one as far as I can recall… anybody else comes to mind? Maybe Krul if you can call him a success.
Struijk?? He left NL at age 18 to play for Leeds. I would argue he's been reasonably successfull so far
It took much longer to get to that point than with players who first made their mark in the Eredivisie.
Ouch... Mourinho unleashed verbal criticism to Karsdorp after his failure to defense in the late equalizer. Drama!! More interestingly, the articles also says that Mourinho has not been happy with Karsdorp's attitude for a long time. And Karsdorp has been asked to look for a new club in January. Sounds like there is an established pattern of discontent here that finally burst to scene. Hmm... maybe there's a reason LVG has been ignoring Karsdorp https://football-italia.net/roma-news-whats-behind-mourinhos-outburst-against-karsdorp/
Thats actually not true. If we can define success by making it to one of the big EPL clubs, Aké was signed by ManShitty in 2020 when he was 25. Van Dijk didnt go to Liverpoop until 2017 when he was 26. So Aké beat him by one year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Aké https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_van_Dijk
Timber was shockingly poor the other day against Vitesse and I starting to see some bad signs from him creeping into his game namely getting manhandled and his lack of size which is a problem. In any case I think De Ligt if healthy needs to join Virgil and Ake in the starting roles for the Back 3. Timber like most of his Ajax teammates is not on top form.
Nathan Ake not in the Manchester City squad for today's game vs Brentford. Not to worry, though - he was given leave as his wife is due to give birth! Nathan Ake not in the City squad today as his wife is due to give birth #mcfc— Tyrone Marshall (@TyMarshall_MEN) November 12, 2022
Botman should be called up at the next international match. His good performance is consistent so far. If Malacia is not in form, why not Ake as left back and Botman as left centre back? It is a mistake to ask Botman to represent U21.
Ian Maatsen with two goals today for Burnley. He increased his tally to 4 goals and 4 assists this season. He still has a contract with Chelsea until 2024. At still only 20 years old, definitely another offensive left back to keep an eye on.
I've being closing monitoring him and I can tell you he will be a starter for NT in 2026. The reason why I say this is because of natural ability and the full package he brings with his qualities. Offensive, defensive, set pieces, ability to dribble holding ball and go around players. He is definitely a top left back in the making. Imagine him and frimpong on both flanks
Another clean sheet for Botman as Newcastle draw with Arsenal. Over nine hours since we last conceded a goal now. This man is a rolls royce
Mmm, we're a bit overloaded in the back line with qualified players. If he was the same, but as a striker/attacker, things would be quite different.
both are quick/fast. malacia's crosses are not good. he hardly crosses (Man United)and thats whats one of his downfall compared to shaw even . Maatsen is a better dribbler but then he has still a long way to go and continue with his development. he is only going to get better. Malacia right now is inconsistent.
Not looking good for VVD https://www.ad.nl/buitenlands-voetb...r-specialist-voor-hamstringprobleem~a25935a4/
The Left central-defense, in particular. Assuming Koeman goes back to a four-line pack, Ake is the leading candidate for LCD, with De Ligt is a viable option as well (he prefers to be in the left hand side). Then I guess Botman is next. That’s pretty stacked! I could also see a scenario Ake plays Left Back, given that Malacia has a lot of convincing to do. That will increase the prospect of Botman getting immediate minutes in Oranje. Struijk can make things interesting… looks like he had a nice back-to-back games after the league resumed (scored once v. Man City).
Do we have to have left foot center back and right foot center back? Is this a must or nice to have? If this is a must, we will not see Botman any time soon and to me that is a mistake. Good players should be able to adapt. At the moment Botman is better than De Ligt as well. I also see De Ligt did not play well on the right. Why not trying VVD Botman or Botman Ake sometimes in a friendly or NL game (perhaps not vs France)? I don't mind Frimpong, VVD, Botman, Ake as the starting 4 either.