Goddamnit. Are we really reaaaaalllllyyy doing this again?
Comparing Holding who has played 1 PL game to a starting CB at one of our rivals who has proven a lot more.
After Senderos, Chambers, Miquel, Bartley, Gabriel, Squillaci and many many others that were pretty hyped early on, itās like yous donāt even want to learn.
Letās be real, no matter what promise he has shown, it is more likely Holding will be back at Bolton or something in 5-10 years than actually becoming a world class CB here.
Of course I wouldnāt want that to happen, but that is where the majority of talents have gone in recent years.
The other thing Stones has proven is playing more fixtures in the Premier League and that doesnāt really say much when players like Squillaci and Andre Santos got loads of appearances.
For all intents and purposes he was pretty bad last season and hasnāt shown much improvement this season.
Not that Iām saying Stones isnāt better than Holding, I just donāt think Stones has proven enough to be worth a Ā£50m price tag and that, realistically, with a little bit more experience for Holding there likely isnāt a huge gulf in quality.
Laugh all you want. Have you actually watched him? He played a huge part in the implosion of Evertonās season last year, making tons of critical mistakes in the defensive third that gifted other teams goals and penalties. He has been better this year at City but not great by any means.
He still could turn into a world class CB as he has elite ball-playing skills and the physical traits necessary to be a very good defender but he remains a very flawed defensive player at this point in his development. Thatās true for almost any CB his age but it is what it is.
I have to question whether or not you even watch the guy play A lot of people agree with what you are lolāing so heartily at. Stones is a top prospect thereās no doubt about that. And for his age heās impressive. But yeah the last couple of seasons heās made a ton of mistakes. Iām not sure if youāre just drinking the hype kool aid or what, but for 50m heās way overpriced and is being shoe horned into a team with no other options. I really doubt Pep would throw the poor guy into the deep end like that against Barca if he had some better players.
You know how it is with Per. No matter what he does itās always his lack of pace that will get highlighted. Even in this thread we have calls for a completely unproven young Holding to be ahead of a bona-fide veteran in Mertesacker. How anyone can want that after how solid Per has been overall for us and Germany is rather telling. Reading of the game and reliable qualities get overlooked for the time Ronaldo blew past him on FIFA.
Itās too easy to jump on Stones because of him being exposed to much higher level of competition and also a lot of media attention (and the highlighting of errors which get shown over and over again and make people feel more confident taking extreme positions on a player) thanks to his high profile.
Heās definitely a quality talent, maybe not worth his pricetag, but some people are being a bit too dismissive.
I donāt think itās ridiculous to suggest that Holding could end up being better than Stones, though, Holding might just prove to be the better defender. Still, I can appreciate @SRCJJ taking a cautious stance here, considering we really still havenāt seen Holding against much good competition (Liverpool and thatās it), nor over an extended period of time.
But the signs are certainly promising and him ending up better than Stones is certainly not out of the question.
I really like the idea that Pep Guardiola is some sort of moron who just got caught up in Stonesā hype and spunked 50m on him. Mourinho too I guess when he tried to sign him.
Hes clearly a player with a lot of talent (not 50m worth but that price tag is what it is) and clearly some of the worlds top managers seem to think so too.
Holding could well end up being the better overall signing and, yes, heāll almost certainly end up being better value, but weāre not there yet.
This all gets disregarded though because he doesnāt play for Arsenal. Which is why people feel comfortable enough to say a defender with 3 senior premier league appearances is as good or even better than him.
Holding is great wonderful and vastly superior to Stones in that he plays for Arsenal Football Club surely that is enough for anyone on this forum .
Stones is clearly a inferior player ,has personal hygine problems and is liable to wet the bed and be a bag Oāshite on the basis he plays for Madchester shitty ,is that not clear !
(graphs and flowcharts plus meaningless stats to follow)
Martinez didnāt exactly cover himself in glory tbh, he didnāt place emphasis on the defensive side much at all not too dissimilar from Wenger in that respect.
Despite recent performances in the past Stones has shown much deserving of praise, itās clear he has the potential to be a top class CB evidenced from Pep spunking all that money on him.
Some are being very quick to anoint Holding who no doubt looks an absolute bargain and future top class CB in the making if developed right, however, considering heāll get very little game time I hope his growth doesnāt suffer.
Not saying Stones is not a quality prospect but him being English & meeting the homegrown criteria certainly plays a role.
I highly doubt Mourinho has any interest in grooming a young talent.
He has no choice now. He has to play some young players(Rashford, Lindgard) in this United term as they do not have any experienced players.
Had there been couple of late 20s defenders, Bailly would have been on bench. Example : Luke Shaw
haha
He signs players for fun.
Felipe Luis, mainstay of Atletico Madrid; benched for most of season under Mourinho and sold next term back to A. Madrid.
Donāt buy this āsigned by Mourinho so rated by Mourinhoā narrative.
I donāt think those lads cost 50m combined so itās simply not the same thing.
As for Mr Luis i barely remember him but a quick read through his wiki seems to suggets he was bought as back up to that guy whoās name iām not going to even try to spell. So, again, not the same thing.
A lot of people agree with what you are lolāing so heartily at. Stones is a top prospect thereās no doubt about that. And for his age heās impressive. But yeah the last couple of seasons heās made a ton of mistakes. Iām not sure if youāre just drinking the hype kool aid or what, but for 50m heās way overpriced and is being shoe horned into a team with no other options. I really doubt Pep would throw the poor guy into the deep end like that against Barca if he had some better players.