Glen Johnson

[dww]

Alves is great going forward but an appalling RB IMO.

I think he is better than most give him credit for. His defensive work is based on athleticism and pace but he gets in a lot of cover tackles and blocks.

[Mattshark]

Maicon, Lahm, Ivanovic?

Personally i think that there is a serious lack of quality full backs in the world today. Anyways i thought Johnson was excellent yesterday. Defenders should be able to defend first and foremost, he did that superbly yesterday so credit where credit is due even though i'm not his biggest fan.

Lahm and Maicon are both very much attacking fullbacks neither are particularly defence minded. Ivanovic is not attack minded enough imo.

Fullbacks need to be able to offer attacking width to a team as well as defend, especially in in formations outside a rigid 442.

[dww]

Lahm and Maicon are both very much attacking fullbacks neither are particularly defence minded. Ivanovic is not attack minded enough imo.

Fullbacks need to be able to offer attacking width to a team as well as defend, especially in in formations outside a rigid 442.

Ivanovic is an interesting case. I think he can be very good - and actually has a very good cross on him and is good in the air. He is a bit like a better, right sided version of Lescott in my mind.

Maicon seems to be capable of doing a disciplined defensive job (as he did against Barcelona in the CL the other year for Mourinho) but can get rattled if a player beats hima few times (see Gareth Bale demolishing him in this years CL).

I like the balance Lahm has to his game. Don't see very much of him though as I rarely watch the German league or Bayern in Europe.

[Mattshark]

Ivanovic is an interesting case. I think he can be very good - and actually has a very good cross on him and is good in the air. He is a bit like a better, right sided version of Lescott in my mind.

Maicon seems to be capable of doing a disciplined defensive job (as he did against Barcelona in the CL the other year for Mourinho) but can get rattled if a player beats hima few times (see Gareth Bale demolishing him in this years CL).

I like the balance Lahm has to his game. Don't see very much of him though as I rarely watch the German league or Bayern in Europe.

No doubt Ivanovic very good in the air, he seems much more reserved as a fullback though when I have seem him there.

Agree with you on Maicon. Brazil tends to produce very attacking full back though as the 4222 system is very popular there.

I don't think Lahm is helped at club level with Bayern's centre backs who I don't think are very good imo. But for Germany he is able to move up and down the pitch with ease.

[Reece]

Describing Alves as "an appalling RB" is a massive exaggeration. He is very much an attacking full back but that isn't to say he has no defensive qualities.

If one of the best teams club football has ever seen can get away with having an appalling RB then God help the rest of us.

[RedReet]

Ivanovic is an interesting case. I think he can be very good - and actually has a very good cross on him and is good in the air. He is a bit like a better, right sided version of Lescott in my mind.
Maicon seems to be capable of doing a disciplined defensive job (as he did against Barcelona in the CL the other year for Mourinho) but can get rattled if a player beats hima few times (see Gareth Bale demolishing him in this years CL).

I like the balance Lahm has to his game. Don't see very much of him though as I rarely watch the German league or Bayern in Europe.

I couldn’t help but think during the Chelsea/United game when everyone was saying we should have signed Luiz how much of an asset Ivanovic would be for us. There was talk not too long ago that he was unsettled at Chelsea, but I suppose he’d never be interested in joining us anyway.

And he's a good bit better than Lescott to be fair.

[Mostar]

I couldn’t help but think during the Chelsea/United game when everyone was saying we should have signed Luiz how much of an asset Ivanovic would be for us. There was talk not too long ago that he was unsettled at Chelsea, but I suppose he’d never be interested in joining us anyway.

And he's a good bit better than Lescott to be fair.

I think he is a very good CB (strong, physical, very good in the air, can pass etc.), which is the position he prefers to play and would definitely be an upgrade for CBs that we have.

Unfortunately he extended his contract till 2016 and he is going nowhere.

[Exiled_red]

Alot of people go on about a lack of good full backs, but the problem is that probably more than any other position on the pitch modern fullbacks have to cover alot of ground they are expected to get forward and overlap but get back and be part of the back four. This is a hell of alot of work to do and ground to cover. If you expect them to do both they will make mistakes and will be caught out of position. I don't have a problem with the job that Johnson has been doing at either left back or right back.

[Shaggy]

Describing Alves as "an appalling RB" is a massive exaggeration. He is very much an attacking full back but that isn't to say he has no defensive qualities.

If one of the best teams club football has ever seen can get away with having an appalling RB then God help the rest of us.

Absolutely. He's quality. Better than Maicon IMO. Although I thought he was ****ing garbage at Arsenal the other week.

[RedReet]

I'm pretty sure I heard on Revista that Xavi set a new Liga record this year for number of completed passes in a game only for Alves to beat it a few games later.

Anyone else see this?

[RichC]

I'm pretty sure I heard on Revista that Xavi set a new Liga record this year for number of completed passes in a game only for Alves to beat it a few games later.

Anyone else see this?

http://www.offthepost.info/2010/12/barcelona-break-the-record-for-most-passes-in-a-la-liga-match-maybe/

[JHP]

Glen Johnson is one of our superstars. I wouldn't swap him for any other right back in the world apart from maybe Dani Alvez. Actually I wouldn't even as Dani Alvez is a cheating c*nt.

We've got 5 really classy players (for now)and we need to hold onto them:

Reina
Agger
Johnson
Gerrard
Suarez

Shame we wasted £35m on someone who can't get onto your list

[little dave hedgehog]

Shame we wasted £35m on someone who can't get onto your list

i think we all know we signed potential, not somebody who is a finished article, world class player. don't even front.

[Exiled_red]

Shame we wasted £35m on someone who can't get onto your list

I think it's impossible to say how Carroll will turn out given that yesterday was his first run out. Time will tell.

[Gibbo]

Shame we wasted £35m on someone who can't get onto your list

I dont think Carroll is a 'classy' player though, he's not massively skillful more of a powerful player that will cause disruption in defenses and hold the ball up.