Really enlightening analysis of his play over the last two seasons from The Extra Inch, they just made this one free: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42962525
I love how strong he looks in the air (maybe not surprising because of his height, but he actually gets power on his headers) and how composed he is on and off the ball; he never looks panicked in any situation which is a calmness I'd especially appreciate in our backline right now. The other thing is that he's actually nimble - he's not just pacy in a straight run (which he is, as the earlier The Athletic piece highlighted), he's actually really agile and fleet-footed unlike Dier. Not easy to turn.
The main fear though - and why I think it might've taken us so long to sign him, and at such a reduced price - appears to be how badly his injuries have affected him, because he's definitely looking less nimble in those 1v1 clips after his injury. I'm hoping that that's something physical therapy and our medical staff can help him recover though because we have more resources and better facilities than Swansea. Maybe just have him train 1v1 over and over against Sonny, if he can handle Sonny he's good to go
The other thing is that (at least at Swansea) it looks like he's used to pushing up high, and likes to do some pretty risky long passing, some of which don't come off (81% pass completion). So we have to be patient with him because I guarantee we're going to concede to some mistake by him sooner or later. His partner probably has to be the more "conservative" CB (they suggest Dier as the potential best fit), and I think having PEH helps (for some reason it often looked like Swansea's CBs didn't have an outball, which is odd), but I can also see Mourinho encouraging him to keep raking those long passes for Sonny or Bale down the wings as a tactic.
I love how strong he looks in the air (maybe not surprising because of his height, but he actually gets power on his headers) and how composed he is on and off the ball; he never looks panicked in any situation which is a calmness I'd especially appreciate in our backline right now. The other thing is that he's actually nimble - he's not just pacy in a straight run (which he is, as the earlier The Athletic piece highlighted), he's actually really agile and fleet-footed unlike Dier. Not easy to turn.
The main fear though - and why I think it might've taken us so long to sign him, and at such a reduced price - appears to be how badly his injuries have affected him, because he's definitely looking less nimble in those 1v1 clips after his injury. I'm hoping that that's something physical therapy and our medical staff can help him recover though because we have more resources and better facilities than Swansea. Maybe just have him train 1v1 over and over against Sonny, if he can handle Sonny he's good to go
The other thing is that (at least at Swansea) it looks like he's used to pushing up high, and likes to do some pretty risky long passing, some of which don't come off (81% pass completion). So we have to be patient with him because I guarantee we're going to concede to some mistake by him sooner or later. His partner probably has to be the more "conservative" CB (they suggest Dier as the potential best fit), and I think having PEH helps (for some reason it often looked like Swansea's CBs didn't have an outball, which is odd), but I can also see Mourinho encouraging him to keep raking those long passes for Sonny or Bale down the wings as a tactic.