Pau Torres

[PaulWinch again]

You don’t have to get snarky just because I don’t agree with you. I just think there’s a pretty obvious point at which our defensive problems, in the main, started. It’s when Kamara and Doug stopped being a regular combo in midfield. It doesn’t mean the defenders don’t have individual weaknesses, but it does suggest the idea it is all about their levels of competence is probably misguided.

[pauliewalnuts]

Indeed.

It’s why pointing at any given back four combination and the goals against column and saying “that’s the best” because numbers, which seems to be an ongoing discussion on here, is entirely bogus - it ignores what is going on in the team elsewhere.

The defence have a penchant for comedy goals of late but to a degree, they are just partly a symptom of the problem not the entire cause.

[VillaTim]

He's an absolute liability in the centre of defence . It's there in black and white to see .

[PaulWinch again]

It’s really not, as per the above. But you might be right - philogene was the answer and Barkley was hopeless as well right?

[Percy McCarthy]

Is there any chance at all that someone could post the evidence of Konsa and Pau being a better defensive partnership than Carlos and Pau? Only the thing is, they concede more goals and keep less clean sheets, so I’d be really interested to see the working out.

[Villafirst]

Mings and Konsa are our best CB pairing. Torres is a great passer but weak in the air. Mings is a good passer of the ball and immense in the air and vocal with his organisation. Pity he had to pull out last night with illness.

[PaulWinch again]

And I’ll keep coming back to it, our defensive issues are broader than just landing on a particular pair of centre halves. They’re all capable in different ways, and it’s obviously important to get two centre halves playing well. But  identifying the statistical best pair of Mings and Konsa, or Pau and Mings, or Mings and Carlos etc isn’t going to fix our problems in isolation. It is a wider problem, the midfield is a big part of it. Kamara on his own was never going to fix it. We need to reduce the constant stress on our defence.

[Percy McCarthy]

Kamara on his own was never going to fix it.

One myth debunked.

[Neil Hawkes]

How about:
Cash - Konsa - Mings - Torres
Onana - Kamara - Digne
Rogers - McGinn or Tielemans
Watkins or Duran
Until we start having a bundle of clean sheets?

[ChicagoLion]

How about:
Cash - Konsa - Mings - Torres
Onana - Kamara - Digne
Rogers - McGinn or Tielemans
Watkins or Duran
Until we start having a bundle of clean sheets?

That would make us vulnerable on both flanks and where we are getting hurt now.

[Olneythelonely]

Is there any chance at all that someone could post the evidence of Konsa and Pau being a better defensive partnership than Carlos and Pau? Only the thing is, they concede more goals and keep less clean sheets, so I’d be really interested to see the working out.

I think both combinations are shite at the moment, so really, I struggle to care about historic data. I know only one combination has kept a clean sheet in the league this season. We’re playing tactically different this season, so I’m not sure previous data is helpful in deciding who is the best defence in this current system.

As much as Dim keeps saying it’s all Pau’s fault, I know that’s just attention seeking.

[Risso]

Moaning about different pairings is as I said before, like complaining about the deckchairs on the Titanic. There's one constant though: Torres. He's a great player bringing the ball out of defence, he's just nowhere near as good when the ball's being played into our area. I really hope it's only a minor illness for Mings, we need his leadership and organisational ability right now.

[Olneythelonely]

Until we start slagging Mings off and saying he’s not good enough. Again.

[Percy McCarthy]

Is there any chance at all that someone could post the evidence of Konsa and Pau being a better defensive partnership than Carlos and Pau? Only the thing is, they concede more goals and keep less clean sheets, so I’d be really interested to see the working out.

I think both combinations are shite at the moment, so really, I struggle to care about historic data. I know only one combination has kept a clean sheet in the league this season. We’re playing tactically different this season, so I’m not sure previous data is helpful in deciding who is the best defence in this current system.

As much as Dim keeps saying it’s all Pau’s fault, I know that’s just attention seeking.

We’ve kept two in the league and four in the CL this season, all six with Carlos and Pau playing. Not sure why the CL games don’t count.

[Percy McCarthy]

Until we start slagging Mings off and saying he’s not good enough. Again.

Indeed. Maybe mistakes resonate more with certain people more than results/stats, whatever you want to call them.