Areas to Strengthen: Central Defence
19 Jun
The title-winning season is over and thoughts are already turning towards a new campaign, so what better time to assess which areas of the squad need freshening up and who might leave.
Central Defence
Having conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League last season, it might seem a touch unusual to suggest that our backline needs strengthening, but even if the first choice pairing does not necessarily need changing, the replacements most certainly do. Vincent Kompany will obviously begin the new season as captain and leader in defence but who partners him and who is chosen as backup remains to be seen.
Joleon Lescott was magnificent last campaign and was, for me, better than Kompany in terms of consistency over the season. His aerial prowess is known but his reading of the game improved beyond sight and he began to look more comfortable in possession. However, Roberto Mancini is known to have his doubts about Lescott’s ability at the highest level and has often been linked with Thiago Silva and Gerard Pique as replacements. It would be harsh in the extreme on the former Everton man if he were to be relegated to third choice, but there is no room for sentiment and if a top class centre-back became available, I’m sure Mancini would look to strengthen.
The back-up options for this season, Kolo Touré and Stefan Savic, both failed to convince and could be looking for new clubs. The Ivorian was sidelined for a while at the start by his drugs ban but even when he returned, he never oozed authority. He seems to have lost that spark that made him so dominant for Arsenal and the main reason for keeping him appears to be in order to appease Yaya, but that shouldn’t really be a valid argument.
Savic, who was only added last summer, didn’t feature too regularly but appeared nervous when he did. Bearing in mind his age (21) and the occasional glimpses of potential that he has shown, I would like to see him spend the season on loan somewhere, enjoying the chance to play first team football every week and hopefully settle down in the process. The club clearly saw enough talent in him to buy him last summer, so it is a matter of remaining patient and waiting for him to produce consistently better displays.
My instinct is that Kolo Touré will leave this summer, Savic will be sent out on loan and a new, top quality centre-back will be brought in to partner Kompany.
I hope you’re right. A speed winger or a world class cb are all we should really be looking at..despite all of these striker links.
If Kolo leaves, I hope we see Boyata back
Considering the way Lescott has upped his game, I do not think we need another top CB. Sell Kolo Toure and integrate Boyata into first team. I have seen Savic doing a lot better job as RB but for some reason he is being played as a CB. Much like Boateng who was a world class CB but was played as RB!