How good is our squad? 4. Defence

The absolute bare minimum requirement for January is another centre back. One that will walk into the starting eleven and instantly improve the team and the other two CB’s playing alongside him.

No idea how much Vítor will be allowed to spend? I wouldn’t be disappointed if he spent the lot on one top quality replacement for Kilman.

Of course, we could have done this six months ago and be sitting comfortably mid table now.

comment by WeekendOffender (U22920)
posted 1 hour, 48 minutes ago
Of course, we could have done this six months ago and be sitting comfortably mid table now.
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No way would we be sitting comfortably mid table under GON. May have had a few more points at the time he was sacked, but we'd still very much be in a relegation battle.

It should be obvious to everyone that GON was the main problem after the last 3 games.

Agree with the general thinking behind your post Tam. However, we have played three teams all in a spell of very poor form.

I would wait until the end of January before announcing Vítor as the second coming of Christ. If we beat Forest on Monday I might start looking on his hands for the nail scars…..

Matt Doherty -- Probably should move him on in the summer

Rayan Ait-Nouri -- Obviously gonna go on to bigger and better things, likely this summer, but a class act and much better now GON has gone.

Santiago Bueno -- Dunno if i would want him as the first choice for long but he is capable.

Yerson Mosquera -- Shame we lost him for the season, he looked pretty handy though still a bit raw.

Craig Dawson -- Thanks Daws but time to drop down a level

Nelson Semedo -- Never rated him, beaten too easily too often, offers nothing in the final third, looks nice in the middle third, has his good games and for now he is an obvious first choice but dunno if he stays after the summer.

Toti -- Meh, get rid when we can

Bastien Meupiyou -- Promising

Pedro Lima -- Promising

Obviously we need a new CB as a matter of urgency

comment by WeekendOffender (U22920)
posted 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
Agree with the general thinking behind your post Tam. However, we have played three teams all in a spell of very poor form.

I would wait until the end of January before announcing Vítor as the second coming of Christ. If we beat Forest on Monday I might start looking on his hands for the nail scars…..
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I don't think Vitor is the second coming of Christ. I just think he is competent, whereas GON was grossly incompetent.

Far too early to have a true assessment of Pereira but so far he has made a really positive impact

Defence has clearly been our weakness this season and I would say the biggest reason for that was GONs inability to organise the backline, more so than the players themselves.

Lots of good things about Toti’s game but still at times he still looks so uncomfortable on the ball and an error waiting to happen.

Dawson was an excellent signing and has been the mainstay of our defence in recent seasons. But his legs have gone now and he has been poor in a number of games in the last couple of months.

Semedo has been one of our best players in the last year and would love us to agree a new contract with him.

Ait Nouri is really talented but has always been more of a wing back than full back. Hope we can keep him but suspect he might leave for a big offer in the summer.

Santi Bueno has really improved this season and no problem with him remaining in the first team squad. Mosquera looked good early season and clearly has a decent future. Probably time to move on from Doherty although in the last few games he has been excellent.

Haven’t seen enough of Meupiyou to comment. Same applies to Lima although when he played in the league cup earlier in the season he looked really promising. Would like to see him get a game against Bristol City in the cup.

The whole defence needs heading practice as far as I'm concerned. Leicester and United didn't really pose a threat, but against Spurs, another goal conceded from a set piece.

Mosquera was the only one who I thought handled the aerial threat and looked promising.
I wouldn't class Doherty, Semedo or RAN as out and out defenders, as they are better suited as wing backs. Although Doherty has done well in recent games.

Dawson is showing his age now and will likely move on.

Santi is improving all the time and is consistent.

Meupiyou and Lima are complete unknowns, but the later looked good pre season.

I like Toti. He is raw and he does have skills when he's on the ball. It's his distribution that lets him down.

Overall, I have no problem letting Doherty, Dawson and RAN go at the end of the season, or if a good offer comes in next month, then RAN can go.

We also have a youngster called Pond, who has made a first team appearance, but is likely to go on loan next season, especially if we bring in one or two.

Matt Doherty - good player to have in the squad, still has an eye for goal when going forward, adapted well to the back three role in recent games, rarely let's us down

Rayan Ait-Nouri - classy player with the ball, defensively he's improved but still gets it wrong positionally occasionally, expect we'll cash in in the summer

Santiago Bueno - our best defender in the post Kilman era, plays that central role that O'Neil was reluctant to play him in well, good distribution too

Yerson Mosquera - plenty of promise, but after his second major injury you wonder if he's built for football

Craig Dawson - was mr consistent, seems to have lost that with injuries and no doubt father time catching up with him, hopefully can be replaced in the jan window

Nelson Semedo - has now developed in to something like the player we thought we were getting when he signed, still not defensive minded enough for me but like RAN should work well in the set up that Pereiera had said he wants to play.

Toti - again a pretty good footballer but prone to defensive lapses, actually thought he had one of his best games against United pretty much error free and got in plenty of blocks and won his duels. And now of course of for a month. Would look to keep him but hopefully we being in better.

Bastien Meupiyou - looking forward to seeing what he can do

Pedro Lima - ditto