Mendy

[Chico1958]

Two games and two wins together.

Happy for them, happy for the team, happy for us.

And long may it continue, although I am worried about where the goals are going to come from.

However so far so good

[Lambert09]

5 hours ago, whoareyaaa said:

Its hard to drop Nididi but I think we should try and swap it around abit we have plenty of options I wouldn't mind seeing something like this..

          Kasper

Ricardo Evans/Morgan Maguire Chilly
 
Ghezzal  Iborra  Mendy  Gray
             
         Maddision
    
           Nacho 

 

As long as we don't try that for the Liverpool game. Ndidi is the best tackler in the team, for me he'd be the first name in the team against attacking sides. 

[whoareyaaa]

7 minutes ago, Lambert09 said:

As long as we don't try that for the Liverpool game. Ndidi is the best tackler in the team, for me he'd be the first name in the team against attacking sides. 

I agree we need him in there I wouldn't play it against Liverpool but against weaker opposition it would be good to see

[Koke]

8 hours ago, Bluetintedspecs said:

Can I slip a comment in for the hyper critical football experts on here......it's only their 2nd PL game this season in a new partnership, new formation and a very young side.

Let's not consider that though, let's break up the partnership and label one or both of them crap after 180 mins... incredulous.

 

I agree with this comment but Ndidi's passing has been an issue for a while. This isn't a new criticism of Ndidi.

Most City fans are fans of Ndidi ftr. 

[funkyrobot]

18 hours ago, Babylon said:

Your idea? Pffft.

Yep 

[Vardinio'sCat]

17 hours ago, AlloverthefloorYesNdidi said:

Mendy is officially our most tidy player.

If he hadnt got injured immediately when he came in it would have softened the blow of Kante leaving a bit

This is absolutely true... we can add bad luck with injuries in key positions to the mistakes the club made, after our unlikely triumph.

If Mendy had produced the season he arrived, we might have had a very different situation now. Like Wilf, he ain't as exceptional as Kante, but he is a very decent effort from our recruitment team.

It's funny how our narrative of the post-title farrago is still changing, in my eyes at least. Mendy was clearly a good piece of business

[Vardinio'sCat]

17 hours ago, Gforce19 said:

And if my Auntie had balls she'd be my uncle 

 

 

[I Kante Live Without Him]

5 hours ago, Vardinio'sCat said:

This is absolutely true... we can add bad luck with injuries in key positions to the mistakes the club made, after our unlikely triumph.

If Mendy had produced the season he arrived, we might have had a very different situation now. Like Wilf, he ain't as exceptional as Kante, but he is a very decent effort from our recruitment team.

It's funny how our narrative of the post-title farrago is still changing, in my eyes at least. Mendy was clearly a good piece of business

If Mendy didn't fail, we wouldn't have signed Ndidi who is likely to be the first name on the teamsheet at the moment.

[BenTheFox]

5 hours ago, Vardinio'sCat said:

This is absolutely true... we can add bad luck with injuries in key positions to the mistakes the club made, after our unlikely triumph.

If Mendy had produced the season he arrived, we might have had a very different situation now. Like Wilf, he ain't as exceptional as Kante, but he is a very decent effort from our recruitment team.

It's funny how our narrative of the post-title farrago is still changing, in my eyes at least. Mendy was clearly a good piece of business

I've said this before, but signing Mendy wasn't the issue. Mendy came in on the back of a very good season for Nice. The issue was not signing another central midfield player which would have made sure we weren't light in that area, especially as we had to play more games. 

Edited 26 August 2018 by BenTheFox

[Vardinio'sCat]

17 hours ago, I Kante Live Without Him said:

If Mendy didn't fail, we wouldn't have signed Ndidi who is likely to be the first name on the teamsheet at the moment.

 

Ah, if that is the case it is a good point.

They do look pretty promising as a pair, let's hope they stay fit and form a good understanding.

 

 

[volpeazzurro]

On 26/08/2018 at 11:26, whoareyaaa said:

Iborra?

but has been masked as 'too slow' wtf

Iborra is capable of a good pass, usually about 1 in 3! He gives the ball away quite a bit. He's been masked as slow by people because they've noticed that he is just that. He doesn't even appear to see 'runner's' let alone have the pace to track them. Possibly that may be because he's been used to a different pace of game as Silva appeared similar. There have been many players that have struggled with the pace of our game in their first season and it has been seen on many occasions that they have improved greatly in their second year so Iborra and Silva shouldn't automatically be written off. However, given their ages it may be a worry whether they can adapt or not. Iborra's physicality doesn't appear to be an issue and he certainly has a presence about him at set pieces. 

[Koke]

This make me wonder, who a our best passer in central midfield? Iborra, Ndidi, Mendy, Silva, King, James, Hamza?

[Blue ROI]

3 minutes ago, Koke said:

This make me wonder, who a our best passer in central midfield? Iborra, Ndidi, Mendy, Silva, King, James, Hamza?

Mendy looks the best overall. Plays it a bit safer than others apart from King and looks like he's jumping a bit when he kicks it but finds the intended target more often than not.

[TeePee]

https://www.football365.com/news/leicester-spend-100m-and-then-find-hero-in-a-cupboard

Bit flowery and overstated for me (it's only been a couple of games, let's see if his knees explode before October before we proclaim him to be the next N'golo!) but a nice piece on Football 365 about Mendy's start to the season, as well as an aside about Puel and the squad. 

[whoareyaaa]

On ‎18‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 17:07, Mark said:

He was just ok, I’d have concerns playing him against the better sides

what about now? 

[inckley fox]

He did very well again. My only concern, and it's a concern with the side as a whole, is whether some of these players could be out-muscled against the more physical sides. We were losing our duels today for the first 15-20 minutes after which, fair enough, there was a lot more conviction in our challenges. But it's something sides will try to exploit as the season progresses. And it's very hard to know how we shoehorn more physicality into the line-up.

[TonyN11]

Of course Mendy was the player Claudio wanted originally and we ended up with the Kante twins

[TonyN11]

I would suggest that for Mendy it suits him playing with Ndidi rather than Drinkwater, Iborra or anyone else

[Clever Fox]

13 minutes ago, inckley fox said:

He did very well again. My only concern, and it's a concern with the side as a whole, is whether some of these players could be out-muscled against the more physical sides. We were losing our duels today for the first 15-20 minutes after which, fair enough, there was a lot more conviction in our challenges. But it's something sides will try to exploit as the season progresses. And it's very hard to know how we shoehorn more physicality into the line-up.

Very valid point and I've been saying this for a long time now. We need 3 in the middle with Chilwell and Ricardo providing the width.

with 3 in there we'd stop teams further up the pitch. whereas first half we were over run which led to the Goals.

[CosbehFox]

He’s half decent isn’t he?

[inckley fox]

5 minutes ago, Clever Fox said:

Very valid point and I've been saying this for a long time now. We need 3 in the middle with Chilwell and Ricardo providing the width.

with 3 in there we'd stop teams further up the pitch. whereas first half we were over run which led to the Goals.

I suppose one of the advantages of a 3-5-2 is that, by virtue of adding an extra CB, you automatically increase the physicality of the team.

 

If you treat a 4-2-3-1 as a variant on 4-5-1/4-3-3, with the central three as Mendy, Ndidi and Maddison, then that's not a very physically imposing unit, and if we're driven wide - as was the case today - then the likes of Iborra might be useful as part of that unit because it's someone who stands a chance of getting on the end of the crosses. I'm not Iborra's biggest fan, I must admit, and he's done nothing in a City shirt to indicate he can play a more advanced role, but even so I wouldn't have minded seeing him in the '10' role today, instead of bringing Shinji on.

 

I have to say that I totally understood the decision to bring Maddison off, which some people seem to be questioning. There's a lot of promise there, but we might be getting a bit carried away with his displays, which haven't been nearly as wonderful as some are suggesting. In time he'll get there, I'm sure, but the question marks remain over the attacking '3' in the 4-2-3-1.

[deep blue]

37 minutes ago, inckley fox said:

He did very well again. My only concern, and it's a concern with the side as a whole, is whether some of these players could be out-muscled against the more physical sides. We were losing our duels today for the first 15-20 minutes after which, fair enough, there was a lot more conviction in our challenges. But it's something sides will try to exploit as the season progresses. And it's very hard to know how we shoehorn more physicality into the line-up.

This is spot on. Our challenges weren't solid enough and we usually lost the second ball. After 20 mins we seemed to grow into the game, get more confident and match their physicality. Something needs to be done to get us to match the intensity of the opposition from the start.

[Clever Fox]

6 minutes ago, inckley fox said:

I suppose one of the advantages of a 3-5-2 is that, by virtue of adding an extra CB, you automatically increase the physicality of the team.

 

If you treat a 4-2-3-1 as a variant on 4-5-1/4-3-3, with the central three as Mendy, Ndidi and Maddison, then that's not a very physically imposing unit, and if we're driven wide - as was the case today - then the likes of Iborra might be useful as part of that unit because it's someone who stands a chance of getting on the end of the crosses. I'm not Iborra's biggest fan, I must admit, and he's done nothing in a City shirt to indicate he can play a more advanced role, but even so I wouldn't have minded seeing him in the '10' role today, instead of bringing Shinji on.

 

I have to say that I totally understood the decision to bring Maddison off, which some people seem to be questioning. There's a lot of promise there, but we might be getting a bit carried away with his displays, which haven't been nearly as wonderful as some are suggesting. In time he'll get there, I'm sure, but the question marks remain over the attacking '3' in the 4-2-3-1.

Good post.

I think in the absence of another 6 footer in midfield I'd prefer to see Choudhury in there. he's young, brave, Mobile and has a pass in him. I'd give him the licence to get forward and join Maddison in attacks. Currently Maddison has to look wide when he gets the Ball. 

This would at least keep us in games longer first half.

Like you Iborra noe Silva has done enough to justify inclusion in the team. Puel has been saddled with them on big salaries which he can't do much about.

Yet they're taking up two valuable spaces in the squad.

It's a similar situation with Iheanacho, But at least he's young and has a chance to improve.

Maddison is finding his feet also in the premiership and needs to be cut some slack. He will get better but he'd do so much better if he had someone to pass to on his right.

The team is evolving and will take time to get it balanced and achieve a settled side. With a few additions still to to come yet.

Keep the faith.

[whoareyaaa]

On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 17:02, volpeazzurro said:

Iborra is capable of a good pass, usually about 1 in 3! He gives the ball away quite a bit. He's been masked as slow by people because they've noticed that he is just that. He doesn't even appear to see 'runner's' let alone have the pace to track them. Possibly that may be because he's been used to a different pace of game as Silva appeared similar. There have been many players that have struggled with the pace of our game in their first season and it has been seen on many occasions that they have improved greatly in their second year so Iborra and Silva shouldn't automatically be written off. However, given their ages it may be a worry whether they can adapt or not. Iborra's physicality doesn't appear to be an issue and he certainly has a presence about him at set pieces. 

I don't think he has struggled we must have been watching a different player

[ronnup]

Absolute revelation.