Agreed -- after the chaos of this summer it will take a little time for them to gel again -- but remember how effective they were for the entire second half of last season. Just let us be patient and give the team a little time to come together and all will be well.Orange14 schreef:This is Alderweireld's second season as a starter and he is what 21 years old? Vertonghen has bounced around between midfield, left fullback and central defense. I think this will also be his second full year as well. I think they will get better. 90% of defense if mental and that's the part we fall down. Last year we were pretty solid and I think we will be solid this year as well. Don't rush out and buy anyone. I refer all of you to the Wielaert thread where the first 10 posts had him ranked as the second coming of Paolo Maldini.
I do agree, however, with the person who said that we need to do something about the left back situation. I never liked Anita there -- and it would be a big improvement overall if we found a really good defender for that spot. To tell the truth, I would even rather see Urby there than Anita. Maybe his defending ability leaves a little something to be desired (but it's not any worse than Anita's imo) -- but what he adds in his effectiveness coming up the wing makes up for it.
You are correct of course and it's one of the reasons why he isn't going to transfer away this season (at least at the €20 M value. I think Blind and de Boer really need to sit down with him (I assume they are the ones who work with the defenders) and go over all of his weaknesses. I do think he can be a top quality right back at the highest levels but there are some things that need working on. He came up as a central defender and I think has only been playing right back for a couple of seasons. He had a decent enough WC but was primarily playing in a "safety first" mode which he often doesn't do here.
