Kongolo incoming? is he the answer?

[I Ronic]

Most of us had never heard of Brede when Roy signed him and i can't remember anyone saying Arron Hughes was amazing. Roy's system and the understanding they developed made us pretty rock solid for a few seasons. So I dont nessacarely think we have to break financial records for a CB just someone that's going to fit and play for and with the team.

[AnOldBrownie]

As long as he isn't the only defender we're signing, we absolutely should sign him. On his day, he gets into our team but his injury will mean it could take some time to get match fit so another CB would be required. I doubt hes the only one we're looking at though. So i'd 100% expect two defenders if Kongolo is one of them.

Agree.

Plus, in the game where Terrence got hurt...he stayed in the game and finished it out even after he was noticeably injured.   Admirable (if also foolish) on his part.   May have even resulted in him being out longer than he would have been had he took himself out the game the minute he hurt his foot.

If he wants to come back and he doesn't prevent us from getting a starting CB (one that's great at playing the ball in the air defensively) I'm all for having him on our squad.   He seems like he wants to be a Cottager.

[The Rational Fan]

Plus we were never going to bring chambers back as a center back after he played so badly there for us last time out.

Whilst I do get the urgency to sort out a competitive team for a decent PL challenge, what Chambers did in 2018/19 is meaningless so far as 2020/21 is concerned.  What I fear is precisely this lack of coherent appraisal whereby we tend to rush into identifying causes and then have difficulty working out where we went wrong in doing so and why.  I'd prefer to go with Hector and Ream rather than make things even worse with another batch of 'let's have another go'.   I am sure Parker has his views on which players would help or hinder and I rather believe he is not at all spoilt for choice.   We may all have to be very humble in the circumstances and hope we can find a way forward.

Very wise, if we can find a centre back that can get us 17th this season or 2nd in the Championship next season then we should buy him. What we shouldn't do is waste £20m getting a centre-back that will get us to 18th position and miss half next seasons championship. Any money we don't spend now, can be spent later when we really need it.

[RaySmith]

Kongolo's hardly a panic signing when they wanted him last season, and he did play, well, for Huddersfield in the Prem - so he has experience of playing against top strikers in a team that's often under pressure in the Prem from the top teams.

[Bassey the warrior]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

[..FOF..]

I don't know.

I'm just keeping it simple and thinking of the pun first.

KINGKongolo? KongoLOVE?

[The Rational Fan]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

[..FOF..]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

Well, there goes my pun.

How about TAHriffic!  076.gif

[AnOldBrownie]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

What are they basing that on?

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

That's based on a very small sample size correct?

[Sting of the North]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

What are they basing that on?

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

That's based on a very small sample size correct?

He played 30+ games in the 18/19 season, so that should be a decent sample size. As for the weaknesses, I guess that is based on several seasons. Not that it matters though, because I am pretty sure that our recruiting process has now evolved beyond Whoscored. We did for example have Kongolo here training with the first team for a while. If we want him back, it is reasonable to assume that we at least had a good impression of him. Also worth noting that 18/19 Huddersfiled were even worse than 18/19 Fulham, and it is not necessarily only Kongolo's fault, so maybe should not look too much into a players worst season without context.

[Bassey the warrior]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

What are they basing that on?

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

That's based on a very small sample size correct?

I'm not sure how they worked it out, but in general I do rate their analysis. I really don't know enough about his style and attributes to judge it. I liked what little I did see.

[rebel]

Most of us had never heard of Brede when Roy signed him and i can't remember anyone saying Arron Hughes was amazing. Roy's system and the understanding they developed made us pretty rock solid for a few seasons. So I dont nessacarely think we have to break financial records for a CB just someone that's going to fit and play for and with the team.

Agree 100%, Roy would drill his squad so they knew their jobs on the pitch, their positioning etc. That's how he keeps teams up, he concentrates on defence.

[fulhamben]

Most of us had never heard of Brede when Roy signed him and i can't remember anyone saying Arron Hughes was amazing. Roy's system and the understanding they developed made us pretty rock solid for a few seasons. So I dont nessacarely think we have to break financial records for a CB just someone that's going to fit and play for and with the team.

Agree 100%, Roy would drill his squad so they knew their jobs on the pitch, their positioning etc. That's how he keeps teams up, he concentrates on defence.

the problem we have, is that we play a system where only a handful of players in the world can excel at it in the center back position and they cost a fortune. Look at how much city have spent on center backs trying to find one that can play out from the back and defend well.

[bencher]

Most of us had never heard of Brede when Roy signed him and i can't remember anyone saying Arron Hughes was amazing. Roy's system and the understanding they developed made us pretty rock solid for a few seasons. So I dont nessacarely think we have to break financial records for a CB just someone that's going to fit and play for and with the team.

Agree 100%, Roy would drill his squad so they knew their jobs on the pitch, their positioning etc. That's how he keeps teams up, he concentrates on defence.

the problem we have, is that we play a system where only a handful of players in the world can excel at it in the center back position and they cost a fortune. Look at how much city have spent on center backs trying to find one that can play out from the back and defend well.

This isn't wrong; but I think the playing out from the back is being slightly overplayed. When you look at Ream, his strength is playing out, his weakness is certain aspects of defending e.g. pace/aerial battles. We're looking to upgrade because of the defending. I would say Hector's strength is more his defending. He's decent on the ball but it's not his best quality. If you look at Mawson, the talk has been about playing out from the back, but the truth is his defending was not up to scratch either.

[Jim©]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

That site stats are a bit of a farce. Incredibly the top 10 rated players for that season are exactly the same as the top ten scorers for that season.
3rd worst rated CB is Conor Coady.
Kongolo is/was a superb player in Holland and it seems destroyed by the Cowley brothers wanting him to not play football just lump it about.
I reckon most would be more than pleasantly surprised with him if he plays for us regularly.

[Bassey the warrior]

Most of us had never heard of Brede when Roy signed him and i can't remember anyone saying Arron Hughes was amazing. Roy's system and the understanding they developed made us pretty rock solid for a few seasons. So I dont nessacarely think we have to break financial records for a CB just someone that's going to fit and play for and with the team.

Agree 100%, Roy would drill his squad so they knew their jobs on the pitch, their positioning etc. That's how he keeps teams up, he concentrates on defence.

the problem we have, is that we play a system where only a handful of players in the world can excel at it in the center back position and they cost a fortune. Look at how much city have spent on center backs trying to find one that can play out from the back and defend well.

This isn't wrong; but I think the playing out from the back is being slightly overplayed. When you look at Ream, his strength is playing out, his weakness is certain aspects of defending e.g. pace/aerial battles. We're looking to upgrade because of the defending. I would say Hector's strength is more his defending. He's decent on the ball but it's not his best quality. If you look at Mawson, the talk has been about playing out from the back, but the truth is his defending was not up to scratch either.

Ream is good playing out but he doesn't make many long range passes. MLM and Hector have that in their locker,  it's good to have that as an option.

[Lordedmundo]

I would be interested to know how good he is at passing. Whoscored says that's one of his weaknesses and it does seem a necessary attribute under Parker that centre backs are comfortable passing out from the back.

Whoscored rates Kongolo as the 2nd Worst Centre Back of 2018/19 that played more than 5 games, Tim Ream was the worst. I wouldn't touch Kongolo, when we upgrade it should be with the right player a not slightly better player.

I think he is a superior player to Ream and is also much quicker.  Having a faster back line is absolutely essential in the Premier League.  It seems that Tete/Aina have pace and Antonee does as well, so if we can sign a centre back with pace (whether it is Kongolo or someone else) I'm confident that we will concede a lot less goals than 2018-2019 provided they integrate well...