Was surprised to read that AV were the third highest spenders this summer behind Man C and Liverpool.
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Was surprised to read that AV were the third highest spenders this summer behind Man C and Liverpool.
Strange piece from Paul Wilson in todays Observer about Dunne. For the last few weeks now he has been sniping at Dunne....
"Manchester City fans do not know whether to laugh or cry about losing Richard Dunne. Laugh, probably, since Aston Villa paid £6m for him and his opening-day display at Blackburn made it clear why Mark Hughes spent the whole summer stalking first John Terry and then Joleon Lescott. Cry because, like Maine Road and Oasis, Dunne was firmly in the City tradition of having risen above some obvious limitations to become really quite splendid.
The defender with a whole Google section devoted to his own goals and whose wife apparently conducted the compensation negotiations with City does not seem to know whether to laugh or cry about his latest move, either. He clearly fancied staying at City a while longer, both for the testimonial and to be a part of something exciting after so long as captain of a team of underachievers, and, due to the lack of time left after the protracted Lescott transfer, he probably feels he was hastily pushed out against his will.
Footballers are not paid their millions to have it both ways, however, and Hughes, who was transferred a time or two himself in his playing days, was quick to step in when Dunne began accusing the club's hierarchy of flogging him to raise money. Clubs can still do that, even mega-rich ones like City, and a condition that goes with the handsome salaries players now enjoy is that the paymaster can change at a moment's notice.
Dunne seemed to expect loyalty from the club that tried to prise Kaká from Milan and Terry from Chelsea, before settling for breaking David Moyes's will over Lescott. More surprising still, he did not realise that when Hughes told him his first-team chances would now be limited and he could talk to other clubs if he wished, it was a hint to get fixed up elsewhere and not an invitation to make himself comfortable."
Great to see Man City conceed 4 goals yesterday. Shows up how they have made 20million pound error by getting rid of dunne for lescott.
Organisational wise they were a shambles. Dunne provided that and leadership, which is absolutely crucial to any defence regardless of how good the players may be individually. OK, they have been up against Man Utd and Arsenal but the difference since Dunne has left is phenomenal.Quote:
Originally Posted by aidz1
Dont forget who the goalie is!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by aidz1
But if you saw the game you'd know that the goalie in question was the only reason the game didn't finish 8-3.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Agree with the Dunne comment above - City have conceded 6 goals in 2 games while their first two games (which Dunne played) were clean sheets. Dunne now has 2 clean sheets at Villa as well.
Interesting stat: Both Dunne and Lescott have started 4 games this season.
In those games Dunne's defence have conceded 0 goals.
In those games Lescott's defence have conceded 12 goals.
I suppose the one weakness that Shay Given has is that his coming for crosses. This has not been an issue for Ireland as Richard Dunne is there. City were very very foolish. I think Dunne is better than Lescott.
DunneQuote:
Originally Posted by Murfinator
Blackburn (a)
Wolves (h)
Birmingham (a)
Portsmouth (h)
Lescott
Arsenal (h)
Portsmouth (a)
Arsenal (h)
Man Utd (a)
As impressive as the scoreline of 0-12 suggests, the level of competition is far from similar. The both kept clean sheets against the most comparable opponent.
It distorts it a bit, but I genuinely don't think a Dunne led defence would concede 6 to Arsenal or 4 to United.
Lies, damned lies and statistics! I know which one of the two I'd prefer to have in my team though (and I think Shay might be feeling the same way).Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
no way would the opposition have won 4 headers (Berbatov x 2 and Fletcher x 2) in the 6 yard area with Dunne in defence eitherQuote:
Originally Posted by Murfinator
Not to mention allowing Owen to stand unmarked in space for ages before his goal. Probably Richards' fault, though you can point the blame at the CBs and also Given for not communicating.
City were a joke defensively. I actually quite like Lescott as a player but have seen Toure's inconsistencies & poor decision making over the years as an Arsenal fan. The two together don't seem right to me.
Yeah I agree, but to be fair to Lescott he was part of a watertight Everton defence. He may not be worth what they paid, or even better than Dunne, but he's far from rubbish.Quote:
Originally Posted by Murfinator
That Owen goal has to go down to Richards, I couldn't believe it when I saw him half way towards the half-way line when without the ball in the 95th minute! Remember when England fans/press believed he was the best young defender on Europe :D
city now have two centre halves that don't/cant head the ball...
Micah Richards is an abysmal player, every time I see him play I literally facepalm at some point in the match when he does something ridiculous which pretty much always happens.
I don't understand why a far superior player Zabeleta is on the bench behind him. :confused:
I reckon that was around the time Michael Johnson was supposedly the best young midfielder in Europe too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jicked
Though I think everyone knows not to take the British media seriously on British players these days.
The trouble is neither of them are marshallers, they are both good second center backs. The likes of Campbell and Gallas were more of an organising defender than Kolo Toure, I'd argue the same of Lescott.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Who would you credit the organisational skills of the Everton back 4 to last season if not Lescott....Jagielka, Yobo?Quote:
Originally Posted by cfdh_edmundo
I actually thought Jagielka was the main man for Everton last season, he was brilliantQuote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Me too but I would have considered Lescott a decent organiser also. He's only finding his feet at City.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
David Moyes?Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I mean didn't he play 4-1-4-1 with Carsley infront of the defense making it hard to break down?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Carsley wasn't even there last season. Anyway we were talking about on pitch organisers, obviously Moyes would be credited with setting them up right in the first place.Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Lescott is an average player with a huge ego. He definitely isn't worth the money that was paid for him. I rate Dunne much higher, but that doesn't matter.
So thats what that thing on his forehead is called!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Predator
I'd probably credit Everton's defence to Howard last season to be honest, he was on awesome form.
Yes no doubt you are right on that but I expect he plays the same defense minded system, I am not sure who plays the '1' but they still play a 4-1-4-1 I believe which should make it easier for the defense overall.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
I'm not sure who plays the '1' though as I don't follow them much.
Dunne riding high in the defenders list on fantasy football............
he's always good for bonus pointsQuote:
Originally Posted by Junior
There was a funny entry in the "Live Football Updates" on BBC online on Tuesday, asking was it unkind to point out that Everton have scored 12 and conceded none since Phil Neville got injured! I thought it was funny in context of the Dunne v Lescott remarks above.
Just saw Dunne's handball that led to the penalty that cost Villa a point.
It's worrying that he's throwing in these clangers far too often.
Most pundits were of the view it was not a a peno.
Looked liked a peno to me, there was no reason why he should have had his hand sticking out like that.
funny, if hed stuck his head in there he would have prob won the freekick for dangerous play.
A lot of referees would have given a free out for dangerous play. You can't blame for putting his hand up if someone's boot is inches from his head. Very harsh peno.
Jagielka to a lesser extent, but I think having Phil Neville in front of the defence was a key factor. I also think adding Fellaini to the team was a smart move. Fellaini and Cahill are full of stamina and their runs and the sheer ground they covered on the pitch freed up Neville to concentrate of fixing the defensive areas of the team.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Well if you want to stop an almost certain goal there is :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Carrigaline
Anyhow it looked like he was trying to keep his balance to me, I think your arm
tends to go up when you stick a leg up high.
If you look at the guy doing the overhead kick his arm is up
in pretty much the same position, so it seems like the natural think to do in that situation.
So rather harsh on Dunne I think, you have to put your hand somewhere so I'd say it is accidental.
It was fired towards him from close range but his hands shouldn't have been up in the air like that. Think the ref probably got it right but it was unlucky enough from Villa's point of view. He was always likely to give it after sending off Grella.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
If a guy had done that against Ireland I'd have been screaming for a penno. Not deliberate but careless, not to mention a bit unlucky. He didn't do too well for the first goal either. He got muscled out a bit after letting a high ball bounce. It reminded me a bit of Henry's goal in Dublin where he let the ball bounce instead of attacking it.