Ryan Bertrand

[wavydavy]

Jethro Williams

Solid defender in the Devon premier league.

This is no time for levity. If Bertrand signs there'll be an Est Waco-style mass suicide. These are dark times.

[Mostar]

Don't really see Bertrand as an improvement on Enrique at all. or Flanagan of that matter. Very few options available at LB unfortunately. IMO we will pay the extra for Moreno.

Trying to rack my brains to think of any other potentials. Only other ones apart from Moreno & Bertrand i can think of would be:

- Rodreguez (Not going to happen)
- Coentrao (Not going to happen)
- Daley Blind
- Jetro Willems
- Schmelzer
- Siqueira
- Criscito

Schmelzer is a good call but he is not going anywhere.

Siqueira signed with Atletico few months back but otherwise he'd be a great signing.

Blind is versatile and can play in few different roles but cannot give you much offensively.

As it stands our choices are limited for this summer.

[Le Chef]

Typo but yeah

I haven't seen anything in Bertrand's game to make me feel encouraged about our interest.

Not a fan of him at all.

Rafa had him before Cole in fairness so he must have something

[Le Chef]

Don't really see Bertrand as an improvement on Enrique at all. or Flanagan of that matter. Very few options available at LB unfortunately. IMO we will pay the extra for Moreno.

Trying to rack my brains to think of any other potentials. Only other ones apart from Moreno & Bertrand i can think of would be:

- Rodreguez (Not going to happen)
- Coentrao (Not going to happen)
- Daley Blind
- Jetro Willems
- Schmelzer
- Siqueira
- Criscito

Over Flanagan - I do he's left footed for a start

[G]

Stick an O on the end of his surname and he sounds more exotic, I'll give him a chance then

[danperkins]

Schmelzer is a good call but he is not going anywhere.

Siqueira signed with Atletico few months back but otherwise he'd be a great signing.

Blind is versatile and can play in few different roles but cannot give you much offensively.

As it stands our choices are limited for this summer.

yup choice is limited.

[Paddy]

Wouldn't say Blind is offensively weak. Looked to get forward plenty during the WC. Think he'd fit in well in Rodgers' system.

[MrMichael]

I understand mate. Like I said I'd prefer us to aim higher because I'm not his biggest fan but I do think he could do a solid job for us.

I tend to agree Marcus, I think he's decent if not exciting and definitely quite solid & disciplined defensively. When Rafa gave him a run of games a couple of years ago I thought he did well and am not quite sure why everyone seems to think he is so bad.

Personally I regard £20m for Moreno as a crazy asking price given his current level, sure he has bags of potential but I can absolutely see why we've baulked at that sort of money.

[rudedog]

Over Flanagan - I do he's left footed for a start

He's not an improvement on Flanagan - in fact, Flanno blows him out of the water defensively

Here is a comparison between Flanagans stats last season and Bertrands 2012/2013 Chelsea stats:

http://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix#premier_league/2012/2013/ryan_bertrand/126/2/437/33/p|premier_league/2013/2014/jon_flanagan/126/64/528/0/p#defence_score/pass_completion/key_passes/tackles_won/blocks/interceptions/clearances/defensive_errors#90

[RedReet]

I'm not Bertrand's biggest fan. Would like to see us aim higher especially as he's soon to be 25 and don't think he'll get much better than he already is. However, he could be our Finnan who for me didn't have any outstanding attributes but he was reliable, solid and consistent. Bertrand is pretty much the same. Also the more I think about it the less convinced I am that spunking £20m on Moreno who is defensively suspect is a wise thing to do. Perhaps spending £8m on Bertrand will save us money to spunk it on a top draw midfielder.

Finnan was a very strong defender and excellent crosser. He was also Fulham's POTY and PL's best RB the year we signed him, so not exactly the same.

I do agree with the sentiment though, that we don’t necessarily need to go spending £20m+ on a fancy, exotic full back to improve our current squad.

[The_weatherman]

He's not an improvement on Flanagan - in fact, Flanno blows him out of the water defensively

Here is a comparison between Flanagans stats last season and Bertrands 2012/2013 Chelsea stats:

http://www.squawka.com/comparison-ma...sive_errors#90

Judging by that......what does Bertrand do?

[rudedog]

Judging by that......what does Bertrand do?

He has more key passes than Flanagan so looks like he contributes more going forward. He also has 0 defensive errors and his pass completion stats are decent at 84%.

His defensive stats don't seem that great though.

[Pablo]

Finnan was solid and suited our style of play at the time. I do feel that nowadays you need more from a fullback though, they are expected to provide so much width and effectively be a second overlapping winger.

I'm not sure players like Finnan are what you need these days, although there should always be a place for a solid reliable fullback I guess.

[The_weatherman]

He has more key passes than Flanagan so looks like he contributes more going forward. He also has 0 defensive errors and his pass completion stats are decent at 84%.

His defensive stats don't seem that great though.

Hasn't he played in midfield somewhat? I'm hoping for Moreno or a proper LB but if Bertrand is coming for a god value I'm all for it I suppose, we still have Enrique and Flanno.

[Gazzla]

Wouldn't say Blind is offensively weak. Looked to get forward plenty during the WC. Think he'd fit in well in Rodgers' system.

Blind got 3 assists in the world cup if my memory serves, from reading the stats Bertrand hasn't got 3 assists in his career let alone a goal