Medhi Benatia (14 Viewers)

Cerval

Senior Member
Feb 20, 2016
26,829
Of course I wouldn't. He had a terrible season at Milan. That doesn't change his previous 3 years under Allegri, where he was a major part of 3 straight domestic doubles, and two CL finals runs on the strength of our defending. Where his 1v1, marking, defending headers, anticipation (which was actually very good), etc was nowhere near as bad as you're making it out to be.

Add to that we have a far better defensive record this year than we did last year, even with Bonucci not finding his best form yet, in large part because he makes it so much more difficult for teams to press us and cause mistakes playing the ball out.
The question remains, when was the last time Bonucci was in his best form in terms of defending? We're talking about years. It's fair to say that he's not the same player as he was until he proves otherwise.

At the moment, for me, his weaknesses are more of a concern than what he can provide with the ball even if the team benefits a lot from the latter. We're pretty much exposed and it defeats the purpose a defender should have. What good is it if he can spread out the play and give an assist if he can simply allow a goal Duvan Zapata style?
 

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Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky

Tzu
Administrator
May 27, 2007
88,436
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #1,663
    Horrible decision to sell him and even more horrible to sell him in January. Makes zero sense.

    I'm sure we'll sign some shit defender who will :gsol: replace him :gsol:
     

    DAiDEViL

    Senior Member
    Feb 21, 2015
    62,568
    Why didn't we offer him a contract extension he was earning wages which were even less than barzagli
    Why would we offer a contract extension to a moaning player who can't live with competition? If he thinks he's too good for the bench and doesn't want to continue to fight for the starting spot, he has to go...Just not now. We should have waited til the summer window to sell him.
     

    juve123

    Senior Member
    Aug 10, 2017
    15,332
    Why would we offer a contract extension to a moaning player who can't live with competition? If he thinks he's too good for the bench and doesn't want to continue to fight for the starting spot, he has to go...Just not now. We should have waited til the summer window to sell him.
    For the same reason that atleast he would have stayed till the summer if we had offered him a contract extension but anyway time has come for Rugani to make the step up
     

    Cerval

    Senior Member
    Feb 20, 2016
    26,829
    I'd say defense should be much more of a priority in the Summer than midfield although we need help there as well.

    Crying for midfield with the state of our defense is just nitpicking
     
    Last edited:

    dolph

    Senior Member
    Mar 30, 2006
    2,599
    Of course I wouldn't. He had a terrible season at Milan. That doesn't change his previous 3 years under Allegri, where he was a major part of 3 straight domestic doubles, and two CL finals runs on the strength of our defending. Where his 1v1, marking, defending headers, anticipation (which was actually very good), etc was nowhere near as bad as you're making it out to be.

    Add to that we have a far better defensive record this year than we did last year, even with Bonucci not finding his best form yet, in large part because he makes it so much more difficult for teams to press us and cause mistakes playing the ball out.
    I would rather take a Bonucci howler once in a while, than witness the shitshow that was our distribution from back last season, one more time.
    Bonucci and Cancelo makes such a difference, in our ability to play out of pressure.
    To be honest I am okay with selling him even if getting Caceres to replace him is a big downgrade. I doubt that selling a 4 choice CB, who never playes will hurt us.
     

    Hængebøffer

    Senior Member
    Jun 4, 2009
    25,185
    Wtf :lol:
    I’m not following transfers here that much anymore, but this transfer happened out of the blue to me. Saw on a Danish website that we signed Caceres. Then logged on to this forum to se if true, only to find out that we might sell Benatia (didn’t understand to which club).

    And now, I see his name in the ‘Rookies’ section :lol2:
     

    Post Ironic

    Senior Member
    Feb 9, 2013
    41,845
    I would rather take a Bonucci howler once in a while, than witness the shitshow that was our distribution from back last season, one more time.
    Bonucci and Cancelo makes such a difference, in our ability to play out of pressure.
    To be honest I am okay with selling him even if getting Caceres to replace him is a big downgrade. I doubt that selling a 4 choice CB, who never playes will hurt us.
    I don't agree with selling him now, mostly because we will be in a massive spot of bother if Chiellini gets injured. He's our 3rd best CB, even if Rugani could surpass him one day. And that's pretty tough to lose with 3 competitions to compete in through the back half of the season.

    I'm with you on the Bonucci howler thing, over how terrible our distribution from the back was last season, plus how easy it was to press us into major mistakes. Hopefully it won't be a case of either/or as the winter progresses. To really have a great shot in CL, we need Bonucci back to his 14-15 to 16-17 best.
     

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