Sentences with phrase «struggling centre back»

Harry meanwhile, having triumphantly routed the prosecution at his trial, inexplicably failing to substitute the struggling centre back William Gallas against Chelsea at Wembley seeing Spurs slip away in the concluding games of the season, architect of those superb displays against Milan in the European Cup, he remains as a supreme wheeler dealer, much though he hates the description, immensely wiser, shrewder and more worldly wise than he ever claimed to be in court, I feel he would always be happier at club level.

The struggling centre back is at best linked to clubs that would eventually fail to reach out.

Even in retrospect, it is hard to understand how he condemned a plainly struggling centre back in William Gallas to persevere for the whole Wembley match, having been almost contemptuously brushed aside by Didier Drogba, who scored that first Chelsea goal.

Not exact matches

Monreal has been very composed in the centre back position and I don't expect him to really struggle much against Anderlecht.

From what u saw in the last 5 mins of the psg game, sanchez was struggling badly clutching his back etc surely he won't be 100 % and to throw him bk in the strikers position to get more knocks from the centre backs is criminal you ask me

Xhaka for all his advantages, does struggle to compensate positionally if the ball is lost deep in our half and with our wing backs are stationed out like wingers, we leave a big chunk of turf around Xhaka and particularly between him and his centre backs in which counter attacks can and will flourish.

We can [cope] but we have now lost Debuchy, who could play centre back... Gibbs as well has been out, of course if we have another injury or two we will struggle.

Our defence has been inconsistent this season, with main centre - back Laurent Koscielny missing plenty through injury, as well as Shkodran Mustafi also struggling to remain fit on occasion.

Giroud could get himself on a red hot scoring streak while all the other strikers at the club struggle to find the back of the net, thereby making the France international centre forward a key member of the first team that the boss could not, in all conscience, let go, but not many of us expect that to happen.

News has broken this week stating that Inter Milan have terminated the contract of veteran centre - back Nemanja Vidic after struggling to make an impact during his time at the San Siro.

He has struggled to unsettle the starting centre - back pairing of David Luiz and Thiago Silva, and while he earned some gametime at right - back during Serge Aurier's suspension, the Ivorian wideman returned to the starting XI for the Champions League draw with Manchester City.

Bordeaux are prone struggle without towering centre - back Lamine Sane; they did so earlier in the season when the defender was out injured for the away fixture against Paris Saint - Germain, losing 3 - 0.

Arsenal were seen to struggle in defence without a recognised experienced centre back, whilst we failed to create as many chances without Ozil in the side.

The England centre - back was totally dominant in the air, but he struggled to cope with the trickery of the German side's attack, as he committed two fouls.

One of the very best centre - backs in the world, Gerard Pique is easily in ahead of Chelsea's defenders this season with the likes of David Luiz and Gary Cahill struggling.

Monreal has been surfice at cb the problem was chambers came into cb forcing mertesacker to the left centre back position were he struggled

We signed a world class player (Alexis) and because Arsene Wenger struggled to find a defensive midfielder or centre back, cheap as Scrooge.

The experienced centre - back has struggled to keep pace with the Premier League, emphasised by a recent red card against Liverpool.

Admittedly, many a strapping centre - back has struggled with the young France prospect this season, but El - Kaoutari was given a particularly uncomfortable time.

With Monreal struggling at centre back, it seemed an ideal chance to play Bellerin in his right back role with Calum Chambers in the middle, but the boss did not seem to have faith in him.

Rojo has struggled to make an impression as the main centre back at Old Trafford since signing from Sporting Lisbon this summer — he was targeted by Chelsea here and gave away possession far too cheaply.

I think the move is positive for all parties, my only concern is that with Mertesacker and Gabriel currently out injured for a few months at least, one more injury in defence could see Arsenal struggle for centre backs once again.

In his debut season the centre forward often struggled at his new club and while a bit of confidence clearly helps, Giroud did not hide when things were going wrong and has proven his ability to shrug off disappointments and bounce back before.

Whether it is Luke Shaw, Blind or Rojo at left back, the pace and movement of Theo Walcott should cause them all sorts of problems, while the centre backs will struggle to cope with the pace and skill of Alexis Sanchez or the physical challenge of Giroud.

Summer arrivals Sebastien Squillaci and to a lesser extent Laurent Koscielny, have struggled to adapt to the Premier League and the former may well be sold if Arsene Wenger manages to bring in a new centre back to which end he has targeted Per Mertesacker and Gary Cahill most prominently.

Klopp stated this week that he intends to make defence a priority this summer in the wake of the team's struggles with conceding late leads and the potential ban for star centre - back Mamadou Sakho.

Their report adds that Mourinho is looking to sign a centre - back such as Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld in the summer, so Lindelof's struggles may well continue, if not get even worse next season.

The 23 - year - old centre - back has endured a tough season so far as he has struggled to establish himself as a regular at Old Trafford.

We do not have the centre back partnership or strikers to win the league and we will struggle to get a top four because we haven't strengthened like every other club.

And although the injuries to Mathieu Debuchy and Laurent Koscielny were very damaging for our defence, it was actually our first choice centre back Per Mertesacker that was struggling as much or more than Calum Chambers of Nacho Monreal.

A centre - back is believed to be high on our agenda in the coming window, with Gabriel and Per Mertesacker having struggled to earn a regular starting role this season, and we have two possible defensive additions to bring to you today.

The Red Devils have struggled to find the back of the net on a consistent basis this season and are short of options in the centre forward role following the departures of Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez in the summer transfer window, which has left captain Wayne Rooney as the only genuine option to lead the line.

The centre - back recently confirmed that he would not commit to the struggling Bundesliga club with words, but said that he has already shown in the past that action speaks louder than words.

Dominic Solanke (5): Struggled, and found himself isolated and ineffective over the 90 minutes (I promise I'm not describing myself here), but no fault of his own, as the Everton centre - backs stuck very tight to the big man.

The veteran has struggled for game time at the back under Ernesto Valverde, with the Catalan giants often settling on a centre - back pairing of Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique.

With Arsenal struggling for defensive numbers ahead of the new season, we look at five centre - backs they could target.

The 4 - 3 defeat by Liverpool highlighted the need for a new centre - back, with Calum Chambers and Rob Holding struggling in the absence of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista, and Wenger looks to have addressed that area with the signing of Mustafi.

Fortunately for Spurs, one half of this feared centre - back pairing has featured in every league game, but they do appear to struggle when the other is out through injury.

Fosu - Mensah, as a centre - back - cum - full - back - cum - midfielder, has the versatility to cope with the demands that are surely only going to increase on adaptable ball - players in the future, and is already showing his ability to deal with threats to his defence, even if the rest of his team struggle to keep up with him.

Arsenal centre - back Per Mertesacker, who featured for the entire match, struggled against their long balls in the first 45 minutes.

Brazil's defence has been shaky and without star centre - back Silva, the hosts could struggle.

However, it appears that the Red Devils are much more desperate for a centre - back than Arsenal are, with Chris Smalling has struggled this term and Phil Jones has suffered various injuries in recent seasons.

A position that is currently up for grabs is the centre back position, and with certain players struggling at domestic level, this has in turn meant that Burley's Michael Keane has earned his place within Gareth Southgate's squad once again.

David Luiz and Gary Cahill have been the two regular centre - backs for Antonio Conte this season and it seems that Zouma will again struggle to find a place in the Italian's squad if he stays at the club.

Once seen as an equal to Chris Smalling in their performance levels, the former Blackburn player has struggled to keep up with good ol' Mike, who has become one of the best centre - backs in the Premier League.

Sports Mole report: «Valencia boss Nuno has admitted that his team have struggled this season without Argentine centre - back Nicolas Otamendi.

Closed down by one of the Brighton forwards, the return ball to the other centre - back closed off by the other forward and the easy balls into midfield and to their side's full - back cut out by the Brighton winger and midfielder, the centre - back had few options to pass out from the back — Laurent Koscielny in particular was struggling, giving the ball away several times on the edge of his area, with one instance leading to the second goal.

The former Villarreal centre - back impressed initially but in recent weeks his flaws have become all too apparent, with Gabriel often struggling to cope when placed under significant pressure.

Arsenal will be reluctant to sell him even if it is to a foreign competitor, especially given Shkodran Mustafi's struggles in the second half of the season and the fact that the Gunners do not have any other centre - backs with Koscielny's experience except for Per Mertesacker, who has failed to make a single appearance for Arsenal this season.

The exception is Reece Burke who, injuries apart, has been a regular starter at both centre back and emergency full - back at struggling Wigan.