5 - Iñigo Martínez

Andresito

Senior Member
Staff member
Christensen, Araujo, Iñigo, Eric and Kounde is a good CB setup. Sure could throw in likes of Ndicka there but for a club in our position it's more than fine when other positions are bleeding.

Can hope Chadi Riad gets some playing time too if he doesn't get loaned out.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Chadi should definitely be loaned or sold with buy back. Would be like 7th CB option and wouldn't get minutes at all.
 

Porque

Senior Member
Osasuna want to loan Chadi last I read. Good move for him. Alot of talent but needs some rocketfuel to reach it.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Could be a good destination for Chadi and could potentially also get some European football if they qualify for ECL.

Osasuna's best two CBs might leave. Aridane Hernandez is 34 and out of contract and there were reports Bilbao could go after David Garcia to replace Inigo (Probably hard to imagine Osasuna would sign an unproven 19 yo kid to replace their captain though). And they don't have much depth behind them so he could get minutes even if they both stay.

Wouldn't really expect Riad to establish himself as a starter like Abde though as it's usually easier for young attacking players to make a breakthrough than for defenders where you need more experience.

I think to give them more incentives to play and develop Chadi would probably be better to sell him for around 5-6m (they could afford that if they sell David Garcia for 20m which is his clause IIRC but tbh for that money they can surely find a more proven CB so they would really need to rate Chadi's potential high) and include a buy back for around 12-15m. We need money now and if he develops well we can bring him back in 2-3 years when Inigo will be gone and we could also be looking for a potential Christensen replacement.
 

Andresito

Senior Member
Staff member
Wouldn't really expect Riad to establish himself as a starter like Abde though as it's usually easier for young attacking players to make a breakthrough than for defenders where you need more experience.
Would say it's the opposite actually. Looking at it very simple, attacking players are expected to provide something different, craete havoc, in best case be match winners. If you don't, you're replaced by somebody else and can end up in a period where you have 5-10 minutes to prove yourself.

At CB main thing that's expected is to be solid. If Chadi gets a chance through suspension or injury and the defensive unit works well he'll keep getting chances.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Would say it's the opposite actually. Looking at it very simple, attacking players are expected to provide something different, craete havoc, in best case be match winners. If you don't, you're replaced by somebody else and can end up in a period where you have 5-10 minutes to prove yourself.

At CB main thing that's expected is to be solid. If Chadi gets a chance through suspension or injury and the defensive unit works well he'll keep getting chances.

Look at how many teenage forwards are emerging every season and compare them to CBs. Don't have numbers but would think there is quite a big difference and there is a reason for that. CB is alongside GK the most responsible position.

If you're a winger and lose the ball there can still be 4, 5 or more players covering behind you, if you feck up as a CB it's usually a great scoring chance for the opponent.
 

ajnotkeith

Senior Member
Look at how many teenage forwards are emerging every season and compare them to CBs. Don't have numbers but would think there is quite a big difference and there is a reason for that. CB is alongside GK the most responsible position.

If you're a winger and lose the ball there can still be 4, 5 or more players covering behind you, if you feck up as a CB it's usually a great scoring chance for the opponent.
That's actually very true. In football, CB can even be more of a demanding on the ball position than striker these days.

At CB you're responsible for the build up of the team too and even losing the ball once can cause a goal. Forwards have a license to lose the ball in their attempts to score.
 

jamrock

Senior Member
Defending is the easiest thing to do in football, never forget that.

Which is why the sport is a low scoring game.
 

Andresito

Senior Member
Staff member
Look at how many teenage forwards are emerging every season and compare them to CBs. Don't have numbers but would think there is quite a big difference and there is a reason for that. CB is alongside GK the most responsible position.

If you're a winger and lose the ball there can still be 4, 5 or more players covering behind you, if you feck up as a CB it's usually a great scoring chance for the opponent.
Yeah but look at how many are failing to make an impact too.

Team leading? Sub off attacking player.
Team losing? Sub off underperforming attacking player.

Easier to get continuity at CB. But of course differs from case to case and always the risk of ending up longer periods in the sidelines as CB. But if a team wants him they'll probably have a plan for him.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Defending is the easiest thing to do in football, never forget that.

Which is why the sport is a low scoring game.

Defending good is the toughest thing in football because you need whole team to work as a unit.


Yeah but look at how many are failing to make an impact too.

Team leading? Sub off attacking player.
Team losing? Sub off underperforming attacking player.

Easier to get continuity at CB. But of course differs from case to case and always the risk of ending up longer periods in the sidelines as CB. But if a team wants him they'll probably have a plan for him.

It's easier to sub atacking players as you don't risk your defensive stability. That's why you rarely see coaches taking off CBs in close games unless they're injured, on the verge of a second yellow or having a really bad day. But you don't see often unproven CBs coming on "to get experience" for the last few minutes in 1-0 type games like it happens with forwards.

Another reason for subbing attacking player is they usually ran more than CBs (who in general cover the least ground) so they get tired faster. And if you have a young fast skillfull winger to bring on for the last 10 minutes against tired opponents ofc you'd rather do that than bring on a defender.

Getting continuity at CB might be easier once you prove yourselves but getting established in the XI is harder. Especially if you have two experienced CBs who have worked well together for years like Garcia and Aridane in Osasuna. Breaking that pair won't be easy for a 19 yo kid who has never played above the Segunda B/Primera RFEF level. But ofc if one or both of them leave there would be a chance for Chadi to come in and impress coaches from the start.

That's also a reason why we should loan out players (those we don't want to give up permanently yet) early so they can start preseason with their new teams and improve their chances to succeed.

Should be the case with Chadi (who I just don't see a spot for in the first team next season) and Pablo Torre as well. Xavi has seen him training for a whole season and he doesn't believe he's good enough for more minutes that he got so far so almost impossible a preseason with first team would change his mind. Send Pablo on loan to Villarreal, Betis, Celta or whoever is interested and let see if he can prove himself there.

Another thing is that clubs who want our players on loan in May/June are usually genuinely interested in them and those players are one of their primary targets. Much different than loaning them in late August to clubs who for some reason couldn't get their 1st, 2nd, 3rd and potentialy 4th or 5th prefered option so in the end they settle for one of our loanees.
 

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