Clement Lenglet - Confirmed (On Loan)

[Ger Regan]

Judging a player last their time at spurs last year would be like us doing similar with McGinn under the lego-haired, kinehan-associating, sportswashing twat. As Bren and others have said, if unai wants him, that's good enough for me.

[PaulTheVillan]

Judging a player last their time at spurs last year would be like us doing similar with McGinn under the lego-haired, kinehan-associating, sportswashing twat. As Bren and others have said, if unai wants him, that's good enough for me.

Amen.

[paul_e]

I’m going to go with who is signing him versus what we’ve seen at Spurs or this perceived lack of pace. Positional awareness takes care of a lot of the pace concerns. Nether Carlos or Torres are fast but given our defence acts as a disciplined unit we rely less on pace, and more on structure and discipline.

Torres isn't fast? Are you sure about that one - https://ronaldo.com/football-news/top-5-fastest-la-liga-players-this-season/2/

He might be fast over a distance, but in small, tight areas he’s been beaten which is a lot of the game in the PL. Part of it might be him just getting used to the PL or general fitness and positional awareness as he’s got used to the game here.

I think the bold bit is probably a important part of it, the game in general in England is much faster than other leagues and the first few yards are in your head so experience of how how quickly teams transition make a big difference.

[pablo_picasso]

Don't what's happened to him then, because he clearly isn't very quick now. Been easily outpaced a few times.

The problem a lot of times is that an attacker is already in their running motion at pace in a forward direction.

A defender has to turn & start running from scratch, so its easy to see why a lot of pacy defenders look like they are being "outpaced".

Especially when its over a shorter distance...

[LeeB]

Don't what's happened to him then, because he clearly isn't very quick now. Been easily outpaced a few times.

The problem a lot of times is that an attacker is already in their running motion at pace in a forward direction.

A defender has to turn & start running from scratch, so its easy to see why a lot of pacy defenders look like they are being "outpaced".

Especially when its over a shorter distance...

See Risso this is why you've always struggled, not because you're shit.

[pablo_picasso]

If you've got an opinion on what you've seen or heard about him from his time at Barca and Spurs, then great.  If it's just based on 'Emery can do no wrong' then it adds nothing.

This.

Especially if someone is going to say it in a condescending patronising disrespectful manner...

[paul_e]

Bednarek has 155 PL appearances and 50 senior caps for Poland.  He was no Maldini, but Lenglet's form in recent seasons has been something of a joke. 

Perhaps their ceilings are very different, but I'm not that uncomfortable with the comparison.

Of course, Unai is exceptional and may help him become an excellent player.  It's just not something I'm expecting or counting on.

I’d disagree, if Lenglet has been chosen by Emery / Monchi as a player who can bring something to the squad then he is infinitely better than Bednarek who was clearly what they could get rather than want.

Let’s judge him on what he does for Villa rather than the perception of what he did at a car crash Spurs in front of a v poor goalkeeper and in a very average defensive unit.

These types of posts make a forum redundant.  Of course we'll judge him on what he does at Villa, but if we can't comment on a player based on reputation, form, history etc just because we've got a decent manager, then what's the point?

If you've got an opinion on what you've seen or heard about him from his time at Barca and Spurs, then great.  If it's just based on 'Emery can do no wrong' then it adds nothing.

It really depends how you express that opinion. From what I've seen of Lenglet he's the only player we've picked up this summer who is adding depth to the squad rather than quality. However if Emery wants him then I'm happy to hold off on calling it out as a poor signing because our performances and the improvement in players who had been written off as not good enough has been so impressive that he's earned that right. In these specific circumstances I don't think the forum is worse for people having that view. We're just not used to it because most of our managers have been nowhere near that.

[chrisw1]

I agree Paul, in the circumstances, it's probably a sensible signing with 2 days of the window left in the same way Bednarek was (but with a higher ceiling if it goes well).  It's forming a view entirely based on 'well Emery wants him' that I find a bit reductive.

[Sexual Ealing]

I have no opinion on Lenglet, but I kind of agree with Chris in that I'm uncomfortable with the frequency with which I see 'in Emery we trust' posts. Obviously he's been brilliant, as his track record suggested he might be, and hasn't got anything wrong so far. But a lot of big decisions have been made this summer, some of which may prove to be duds.

That won't mean he should be hounded out or anything, even if we struggle at times this season, but dismissing every doubt with 'but the manager...' might lead to some big disappointments down the line.

Still though, fuck it, he *is* incredible and I'm glad he's here.

[Brend'Watkins]

I'm totally comfortable with the amount of 'In Emery we trust' posts.  So much so that I'm changing my bank account to the Emery Bank and  my pension, I'm putting all my investments  in the Emery Trust Fund,

[paul_e]

I have no opinion on Lenglet, but I kind of agree with Chris in that I'm uncomfortable with the frequency with which I see 'in Emery we trust' posts. Obviously he's been brilliant, as his track record suggested he might be, and hasn't got anything wrong so far. But a lot of big decisions have been made this summer, some of which may prove to be duds.

That won't mean he should be hounded out or anything, even if we struggle at times this season, but dismissing every doubt with 'but the manager...' might lead to some big disappointments down the line.

Still though, fuck it, he *is* incredible and I'm glad he's here.

Again, it really depends, trusting the manager if he picks players in seemingly strange positions is fine because he's done it a fair few times and has got it right much more often than wrong. That isn't blind faith, it's appreciating that he knows what he's doing and trusting that he has a good reason for it. Disagreeing with selling Archer/AJ Ramsey is different because even if they do well and we end up bringing them back there's no evidence that what he did was right or wrong so it's all down to personal opinion and then a simple 'trust in Unai' is less worthwhile.

[kippaxvilla2]

Last time we did this messiahnistic approach the bloke walked out on us five days before the start of the season.

[Chris Smith]

Like any player we sign that I’ve not really paid enough attention to for me to have an informed opinion I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. That he’s been signed by this manager rather than, for example, Steve Bruce I’m optimistic that he’ll be up to the job that Emery has in mind for him.

[pauliewalnuts]

He’s only a loan.

[AV84]

I thought the "in Emery we trust" posts were quite comical when we thought we were signing Oxlade-Chamberlain and then Jack Harrison. Their threads were full of very hesitant "in Emery we trust" declarations.