Gary Cahill

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I think he is "good" but nothing more. Meaning he will never be classified among the JTs and Vidics and Kompanys and the sort. But then again very few are. That does not take away that he is a very good and fairly consistent defender.

Now, seeing as he only has 6months left on his contract, 5-7m seem about right for him. If it weren't, then why would Bolton accept? Coyle is not stupid.

[Hd123 5]

I think he is "good" but nothing more. Meaning he will never be classified among the JTs and Vidics and Kompanys and the sort. But then again very few are. That does not take away that he is a very good and fairly consistent defender.

Now, seeing as he only has 6months left on his contract, 5-7m seem about right for him. If it weren't, then why would Bolton accept? Coyle is not stupid.

at one point (in fact it was until a year ago) nobody dared to mention Kompany in the list of those names. Just saying.

[HNKS 508]

at one point (in fact it was until a year ago) nobody dared to mention Kompany in the list of those names. Just saying.

Excellent point. I for one will wait to see him play with a better team than that of Bolton. He has done immensely well for England.

[Ashblues 30]

at one point (in fact it was until a year ago) nobody dared to mention Kompany in the list of those names. Just saying.

Yup! Very good point. He was even labeled as bad defender after the community shield match against United (where he made a terrible last minute error). He did not play well against us as well at the Stamford bridge.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

at one point (in fact it was until a year ago) nobody dared to mention Kompany in the list of those names. Just saying.

That's because a couple of years ago, Kompany was 23 years old and still in development. He still hadn't reached that list yet.

I would be very happy if Gary proves me wrong.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

You have two types of central backs, stoppers and sweepers. Stoppers are Puyol, Terry, Pepe, Vidić and Silva. Sweepers are Pique, Luiz, Carvalho, Jones and Nesta.

As far as I'm concerned Cahill is sweeper and he's really good for high-line. He passes a lot and you can often see him in the oposition half or even in front of goal.

We can play Ivanović/Luiz/Cahill and Terry in defence. I'm worried about our stoppers, we only have JT.

Spot on.

When I think of this defenders theory I always go back to the Manchester United model. Vidic & Ferdinand (in the latter's prime) were an exceptional example of this. Vidic will the be the first defender who will attack the ball, he'll be up there for the first header, coming in with the hard tackles etc. Rio will collect the second ball, he won't necessarily play it out, but he will do the last-man job.

You could argue Ivanovic is a stopper, because his ball skills aren't really good and because of his superior strength he's good at the one-on-ones. However even then, I don't trust Ivanovic at centre-back as of late. There's is a general decline of stoppers around right now, because of the way the game's evolved in the last 10years. Chalobah is also a sweeper, as is Bruma.

Cahill, as a sweeper, isn't "world-class", he's decent back-up though.

Edited December 24, 2011 by RZA

[Hd123 5]

Spot on.

When I think of this defenders theory I always go back to the Manchester United model. Vidic & Ferdinand (in the latter's prime) were an exceptional example of this. Vidic will the be the first defender who will attack the ball, he'll be up there for the first header, coming in with the hard tackles etc. Rio will collect the second ball, he won't necessarily play it out, but he will do the last-man job.

Is Terry-Carvalho not the perfect example?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Is Terry-Carvalho not the perfect example?

Yep

[Ashblues 30]

What do you guys say about Diego Godin? Is he a stopper or sweeper?

[Melanicus 5,208]

Is Terry-Carvalho not the perfect example?

Yes it is. Our best defensive duo ever. But young stopper is must.

[Melanicus 5,208]

What do you guys say about Diego Godin? Is he a stopper or sweeper?

I believe he's sweeper, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Who're best young (age 26 or younger) stoppers out there?

• Chiellini
  
• Hummels
  
• Thiago Silva
  
• Kompany
  
• Subotić (?)
  
• Vertonghen (?)
  
• Benatia (?)
  

[Term-X 7,891]

Sign him up to a pre contract agreement and get him for free. Instead of splurging £7m away, just so he can play a part in the rest of this season. Propose a £4/5m deal plus Josh on loan, the club should have a more cut-throat approach with Bolton, after the treatment Kakuta received. We could always loan an obscure youngster from somewhere like Oriol for the rest of the season.

[Peace. 4,352]

Think it's a bit unfair to judge a player solely on his teams league position.

You didn't get my point, or I misspoke. When I mentioned the ranking of his team, it wasn't to mean that he was a poor defender or whatseover. It was to highlight the fact his team wasn't in a strong position to negociate, hence we should be able to lower the price they ask.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Dunno if this has been posted -

[Tomo 21,733]

You didn't get my point, or I misspoke. When I mentioned the ranking of his team, it wasn't to mean that he was a poor defender or whatseover. It was to highlight the fact his team wasn't in a strong position to negociate, hence we should be able to lower the price they ask.

Aah right fair play

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Sign him up to a pre contract agreement and get him for free. Instead of splurging £7m away, just so he can play a part in the rest of this season. Propose a £4/5m deal plus Josh on loan, the club should have a more cut-throat approach with Bolton, after the treatment Kakuta received. We could always loan an obscure youngster from somewhere like Oriol for the rest of the season.

Exactly! Bosman transfer would save us so much money. However this is a transfer solely to be backup for Terry & Luiz, due to Alex leaving in January, which is the only hindrance in doing that.

Edited December 24, 2011 by RZA

[Hd123 5]

Dunno if this has been posted -

Where'd you get that from?

[Joker10 946]

Cahill is more of a stopper then sweeper.