Baba might have a cute name, but he ain't no top premier league defender that's for sure.............believe me I have seen better wing backs at Welling United in non-league football.........the guy can't defend to save his life............a complete waste of money...........whoever signed him should be shot.

Why are we not being linked with ANY LBs.

 

Even assuming we are keeping Baba, surely we need another in the squad. Dave is not a LB, its frustrating that he may be seen as a serious alternative in that position for the coming season. Which ultimately means branna at RB.

Why are we not being linked with ANY LBs.

 

Even assuming we are keeping Baba, surely we need another in the squad. Dave is not a LB, its frustrating that he may be seen as a serious alternative in that position for the coming season. Which ultimately means branna at RB.

 

To be honest, Dave has played better at LB than he ever has at RB. We also have Aina, who should arguably get starts this season.

Left back is now, in my opinion, the area we need to strengthen most, followed by centre back.

 

I can't believe anyone at the club (or anyone at all for that matter) can serioulsy believe that Baba is good enough to be our first choice starting left back, based on last season anyway.

 

He was so far from the required level defensively that, bar a miracle, he just isn't suddenly going to be good enough this year. Genuinely think he would be a player to loan out, ideally at a Premiership club, and then review the situation in 12 months time.

 

He is not good enough to be our starter and too young to be a squad player.

 

He needs to play to get to the standard and hopefully fulfill his potential, but Chelsea can't afford to carry him in the mean-time.

Edited July 18, 201610 yr by mclovin83

To be honest, Dave has played better at LB than he ever has at RB. We also have Aina, who should arguably get starts this season.

 

Cant agree with that. Very unnatural on the left side. Offers nothing going forward as has to check all the time (not his fault). Gives our side a massive imbalance, teams squeeze the middle and allow him to be our out-ball knowing he can only come back inside.

 

Agree with Aina. Another Rb that we would be doing a disservice if played at LB though.

Edited July 18, 201610 yr by jamie#8

Cant agree with that. Very unnatural on the left side. Offers nothing going forward as has to check all the time (not his fault). Gives our side a massive imbalance, teams squeeze the middle and allow him to be our out-ball knowing he can only come back inside.

 

Agree with Aina. Another Rb that we would be doing a disservice if played at LB though.

 

With Azpi on the left he has been solid and allowed Hazard the freedom to do as he pleases. On the right, against PSG i think it was, he was awful. Out of position so much. If anything he looks far more comfortable on the left.

 

Same with Ola, he looks comfortable everywhere.

Really makes you appreciate Ashley Cole - one of the best LBs of this generation. Able to attack like a winger but an absolute rock at the back, and kept at a world-class level for nearly a decade. Dominating C Ronaldo in his prime really is something. Sticking it to the UTD fans with the hand-in-pocket gesture was a beautiful thing.

 

How on earth did we not hold onto Luis? Another player who fell through the cracks during Jose's second stint. Can't blame him with the form Ivan and Dave showed during 14/15.

 

Had enough of the inverted RB -> LB business - it only slows our attack down and minimises crossing chances. This is what should be happening down that left flank:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QosfuJpaqW0

Edited July 20, 20169 yr by joshd24

Ashley Cole was undoubtedly the best LB in the Premier League era bar none

Set to join Schalke on loan for the season according to various reports.

What a shambles. To think we sold two very competent left backs in Bertrand and Luis only to end up with a very average player in Baba.

Here we are potentially buying our third left back in as many years, not great is it?

I'd settle for an experienced head coming in to play there for a couple of years.

Not playing Luis was a big mistake. Luis at left and Azpilicueta was the obvious option.

Or we should of just gone all out and gone for Luke Shaw.

Hopefully this means Aina is going to get a chance, Conte seems pretty keen on him

Didn't take Conte very long to decide that Baba isn't up to it. 

 

Pretty embarrassing that Dortmund have signed Raph Guerreiro for less than half of what we paid for Baba.

is rodriguez available, anyone know? only decent lb i know of. who else is out there? selling luis was a ridiculous decision, but hey ho, so was selling a couple of others we could have done with right about now in the squad. 

Edited July 31, 20169 yr by enigma

Good luck to Baba, hope he will revive his good days in Bundesliga again. 

Or we should of just gone all out and gone for Luke Shaw.

Yeah should have open the wallets for him, would have sorted our LB needs for the next ten years.

The thing that annoys me about Rahman is how predictable it was. Could see it a mile away he was a run of the mill African defender. Good with the ball at his feet and decent going forward, but absolutely no positional awerness and complete sh*te 1v1. Poor at every aspect of defending

Makes me miss Ryan Bertrand. We should really start using buy back clauses if possible.

Ake already being sent out on loan just makes this about a 100 times worse. 

 

Sending him back to the german league is a clear intent of us looking to sell, he's already proven himself there. If he had any future here he would have been sent to a english team so he can adapt to the league. 

Does this mean we will definitely be buying a full back? I bloody hope so...

I question more about why we didn't even give Nathan Ake a damn chance I do genuinely feel pissed off about that, I thought Ake did pretty good at Watford and he really isn't getting anything off of it not a single chance this season we just loan him out so quickly makes no sense.

Genuinely think baba could be a great player,had a bad couple of games but so dis everyone else

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Didn't take Conte very long to decide that Baba isn't up to it. 

 

Pretty embarrassing that Dortmund have signed Raph Guerreiro for less than half of what we paid for Baba.

 

I have no doubt Emanalo was behind Baba's signing. Never seemed to fit the profile of someone Jose would have actively seeked to sign. Having a medical at Schalke apparently.

I question more about why we didn't even give Nathan Ake a damn chance I do genuinely feel pissed off about that, I thought Ake did pretty good at Watford and he really isn't getting anything off of it not a single chance this season we just loan him out so quickly makes no sense.

Left Back has been such a self-inflicted problem. Why couldn't we just hold on to Filipe Luis or line up a proper replacement before getting rid of him? Similarly to the Nathan Ake situation, we fail to make contingency based decisions. Unbelievable the mismanagement!!

Edited July 31, 20169 yr by Boricua Blue

Yeah should have open the wallets for him, would have sorted our LB needs for the next ten years.

The thing that annoys me about Rahman is how predictable it was. Could see it a mile away he was a run of the mill African defender. Good with the ball at his feet and decent going forward, but absolutely no positional awerness and complete sh*te 1v1. Poor at every aspect of defending

We was linked fairly heavily with Aaron Cresswell last summer, I'm thinking he would have been a better signing than Baba.

We've thrown far too much money at fullbacks in the last few years without actually improving the team which is frustrating.

Club needs to stop dicking about with signing these players like Baba, Kenedy etc who bring little to squad.

My main irritation is that once again a player who cost substantial money is being farmed out on loan rather than us cutting our losses and just selling them.

We have the option of buying a right back too, thanks to Cesar's versatility, but we again fail in that department too. After the Madrid game, I am really concerned about our defense. Ola Aina can be adequate but he needs seasoning and might be overwhelmed once the regular reason intensity turns on. Hopefully Conte can coach him up.