Con Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Man Utd sign a £16 million centre back Marcos Rojo. Is this their centre back problem fixed? As good as 24 year old Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic? I cannot comment because I've not seen Rojo play at centre back. My guess is he's not only not as good - when Utd got Rio from Leeds Utd they could have had anyone they wanted and did - he might not even be what Man Utd are looking for to get them into a Champions League place. He's not proven in the Premier League. How many South American centre-backs have proved a success here? Collocini for Newcastle is possibly the best, but still too inconsistent for the big clubs. Luiz was too inconsistent and has just been sold to PSG. Let's be honest even the most ardent Man Utd fan has to agree they're scraping the barrel with this signing. If it turns out that he's the best South American CD the Premier League's ever had then they got lucky. Meanwhile... Bundesliga - Mueller turned down 'astronomical' Man Utd offer: “I knew that I would have earned more money. ... The sums from other clubs which circulated had been astronomical." Are Man Utd now just another club... will they ever break back into the top four? They should this year but my feeling is they need another centre back. Evans-Rojo still does not convince me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 from what i saw at the world cup he didnt look like a CB that could play LB (ie vertonghen, vermaelen) he looks like a LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) Wouldn't be funny if LVG screws up Man U like he did Barca. Didn't they finish 10th under him? Man U have been punching above their weight for years. Fergie could make average players look awesome and the referee decisions each year were normally worth about 20 points. It's a level playing field now and Man U are slowly getting left behind. End of an era. About F'ing time! Edited August 20, 2014 by Vive_La_Villa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 no, the lowest barca finished was 6th i think, im sure since european football began barca have always been in it (UEFA cup or European cup) im sure the rivaldo hattrick vs valencia which scraped them in to the champions league was under him too that said that was his 2nd turn in charge, 1st time round he was succesful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Con - Heinze was miles better collocini. Demeichelles whilst started slowly but was actually really good towards the end of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Con - Heinze was miles better collocini. Demeichelles whilst started slowly but was actually really good towards the end of the season. Okay, two good examples I hadn't thought of, although Heinze was mostly a LB or RB. Demichellis is a very good one. He's probably the best South American CD there has been in the Premier League, but even so he'll need to follow up his good season last year with another because he was a bit dodgy in his first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Alex at chelsea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Con that's probably because it's only in recent years that a lot of SA footballers are coming to England. There has been many top SA defenders but most of them have played in Spain or Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Alex at Chelsea was the best South American central defender the Premier League's had. Let's clarify the confused situation with a list, that also includes a few others: Alex Demichellis Collocini Medel Luiz Jara Where is Rojos going to fit in on that list? I suspect somewhere between Demichellis and Luiz. However, it would be a good idea to see him play before making too solid a judgement... obviously. Con that's probably because it's only in recent years that a lot of SA footballers are coming to England. There has been many top SA defenders but most of them have played in Spain or Italy. The possible criticism of the South American defenders in the Premier League might be that they are talented bunch of ball-players and even the likes of Sideshow Luiz are a bit power-puff. The surprising thing is there has only been one Alex from Brazil whereas France have sent over Desailly, Distin, Gallas, Koscielny and even Denmark can name Agger and Laursen who are comparable with Alex. If you look at the list of Brazilian imports the number of defenders is disproportionately low and I can't name another CD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_Premier_League_players#Brazil OTOH Rojo is Argentinian and they've had more success in this position in the Premier League than the other SAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Con that was my point. It's not that they make bad defenders it's just that not many have come to the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) Con that was my point. It's not that they make bad defenders it's just that not many have come to the UK. You are right there will be some effect like that. I don't think it is the only effect. We should consider that maybe they've been considered not very good - deliberately avoided for some tactical reason, or for the reason they are simply not very good. Notice that Argentina and Brazil are geographically pretty much the same place compared to the UK: but Argentina have sent far more decent/dodgy defenders to the Premier League than Brazil. Argentina also has a much smaller population than Brazil. Calls for an explanation! The disproportionate numbers of reasonably successful Argentine defenders is a deliberate bias against the Brazilian style toward Argentinian style which is slightly more European. Likewise, the number of defenders being sent from Argentina compared to those sent from France may be reduced due to manager's deliberate choice against the more South American style represented by Argentina in favour of the more European French style. What style is Rojos an Argentinian who was brought from a Portuguese football club? We'll have to find out. Edited August 20, 2014 by Con Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adw95 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) "He's the best ever in PL" *someone else gets mentioned* "he's the best ever in PL" Edited August 20, 2014 by adw95 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) I thought Garay was a better defender but he's 3 years older Rojo looked good going forward though Edited August 20, 2014 by AshVilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RunRickyRun Posted August 20, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted August 20, 2014 (edited) How many South American centre-backs have proved a success here? Collocini for Newcastle is possibly the best, Demichellis is a very good one. He's probably the best South American CD there has been in the Premier League, Alex at Chelsea was the best South American central defender the Premier League's had. Edited August 20, 2014 by RunRickyRun 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 You gotta love him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 (this video is weird as hell) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 How many South American centre-backs have proved a success here? Collocini for Newcastle is possibly the best, Demichellis is a very good one. He's probably the best South American CD there has been in the Premier League, Alex at Chelsea was the best South American central defender the Premier League's had. LMAO, all on the same day, no less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 In less than 90 minutes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Really don't think LVG will get away with playing 5 at the back consistently in the Premier League and I'm also not convinced Rojo is a central defender from what I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 from what i saw at the world cup he didnt look like a CB that could play LB (ie vertonghen, vermaelen) he looks like a LB he is mainly a centre back that has been converted to left back though. I dont think he looked that great as full back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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