Not to be xenophobic (?) but Im not really a fan of African defenders.

All I remember about Babyraro was his stupid celebration and that he scored with his right foot in a 1-0 win against Middlesboro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PccT4l5GXy0

My first match on my own (not being chaperoned by a parent lol)

Not to be xenophobic (?) but Im not really a fan of African defenders.

Taribo West and rigobert song would be disgusted!

Not to be xenophobic (?) but Im not really a fan of African defenders.

 

Why?

My first match on my own (not being chaperoned by a parent lol)

They obviously spotted trouble from a young age... :p

Would prefer Gaya but this guy'll do 

Would prefer Gaya but this guy'll do 

 

why do you prefer Gaya?

Why?

 

Maybe because African national teams aren't exactly known for producing great defenders. 

There's a ton of countries that aren't known for producing great talent, yet there are always exceptions. Look at traore as an example; he is burkina faso! Evem belgium are only recently starting to produce some top players, but before 5-10 years ago we heard nothing about top belgium players. Uruguay produced suarez, the list goes on.

Maybe because African national teams aren't exactly known for producing great defenders. 

 

This is a very very bad statement to make. Very bad. I dont even know how to react to it because its a very bad statement.

 

 

Lucas Radebe

Samuel Osei Kuffour

Christian Chukwu

Wael Gomaa

Uche Okechukwu

Nouredine Naybet

Stephen Keshi

Kolo Toure

Lauren 

Rigobert Song

Taribo West

 

Present day, I can think of:

 

Mehdi Benatia (Bayern Munich)

Abdennour (Monaco)

Serge Aurier (PSG)

Nkoulou (Marseille)

Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli)

Matip (Schalke)

Bailly (Villareal)

 

 

It didnt take me long to make this list from memory. I am sure i'd find more if I go to google. I am disappointed in your shocking comment. Simply because one is blind does not mean that the sun is not out. You need to educate yourself. No need for ignorance.

There's a ton of countries that aren't known for producing great talent, yet there are always exceptions. Look at traore as an example; he is burkina faso! Evem belgium are only recently starting to produce some top players, but before 5-10 years ago we heard nothing about top belgium players. Uruguay produced suarez, the list goes on.

 

Funny enough, Burkina Faso has one of the most talented teams in Africa right now. Same as Senegal. 

This is a very very bad statement to make. Very bad. I dont even know how to react to it because its a very bad statement.

Lucas Radebe

Samuel Osei Kuffour

Christian Chukwu

Wael Gomaa

Uche Okechukwu

Nouredine Naybet

Stephen Keshi

Kolo Toure

Lauren

Rigobert Song

Taribo West

Present day, I can think of:

Mehdi Benatia (Bayern Munich)

Abdennour (Monaco)

Serge Aurier (PSG)

Nkoulou (Marseille)

Faouzi Ghoulam (Napoli)

Matip (Schalke)

Bailly (Villareal).

And not a single one of those are great defenders, none of them would get a game here. Rigobert Song, Taribo West and Kolo Toure (in his prime) were very good Id give you that. So thats 3 defenders in the last 20 years were very good. We arent talking about a single country here, its an entire continent. Just watch the African cup of nations, its littered with absolutely shocking defending and horrible goalkeeping.

Not trying to offend anyone, just saying African defenders are rarely any good. Great attackers and midfielders sure, but defenders rarely turn out that well. Its just statistics

Edit: Sorta forgot about Benatia. I think hes good, best one on that list. Lets be real though, he moved to Bayern and then couldnt get a game. Hes not better then Cahill and Zouma will already be better next year.

And the one arguably great defender on that present day list, Benatia was born in France. 

 

Obviously, this doesn't mean an African defender can't be great, it just gives us a reason to be skeptical. But I'm not going to bother arguing with someone who acts like they are the ultimate authority on football.

Equally I don't think there is any intrinsic reason why there shouldn't be great African defenders. I suspect it's the football system there.

Brazil didn't produce many great defenders prior to 1986. Perhaps they still don't

Shall we just wait and see. Anyway, is this signing a certainty?

Equally I don't think there is any intrinsic reason why there shouldn't be great African defenders. I suspect it's the football system there.

Brazil didn't produce many great defenders prior to 1986. Perhaps they still don't

One of our best defenders of the modern era was born in Ghana.

I think it really depends on where a player has played previously and the coaching they've received. It seems he's been playing at a high(ish) level for a good while now, so I would expect him to be decent. The great thing is he is still really young and has plenty time to improve. Zouma was the same when he came, relatively unknown and awkward on the ball but he's slowly learned a lot and improved over the last year at Chelsea. I expect baba to improve in a similar way. I, for one, find it exciting to have so many young players.

Edited July 22, 201510 yr by enigma

One of our best defenders of the modern era was born in Ghana.

 

He played all of his football in France though.

 

But there will be exceptions to any theory of course and ultimately, if our scouts and manager think he's good enough, then that is more than enough for me. 

I think he is a right prospect, I think he could have it all.

, Benatia was born in France. 

 

.

 

And Desailly was born in Ghana. 

 

The internet is the worst thing to happen to mankind. smh

Like a lot of people here I don't know much about the kid, but he's still very young and seems to have a lot of potential.  I do think we need a back up left back though, so it's a good signing because it gives us cover and if things go well he may be a starter in a couple of years, with Azpi moving over to the right as Ivanovic is 31 already, so would be about 33 if/when Baba is ready to slot in at left back as our number 1.

Any progress on this rumour anyone? Not heard/seen anything today.

First bid rejected apparently.

As is standard.

There's a ton of countries that aren't known for producing great talent, yet there are always exceptions. Look at traore as an example; he is burkina faso! Evem belgium are only recently starting to produce some top players, but before 5-10 years ago we heard nothing about top belgium players. Uruguay produced suarez, the list goes on.

 

Belgium had some great teams in the '80s and '90s. They had a period of decline in the last decade or so but to say we heard nothing about top Belgium players before the latest crop, is wrong.