The Centre Back Thread

Dont be fooled, lack of new striker in January was not the main reason for us not getting top 4 - we scored in virtually every game, and were scoring at a reasonably consistent rate across the whole season.

The main reason that we missed out, was that for whatever reason our defence abandoned us in the final third of the season (especially from set pieces), and we became horribly leaky.

I understand that the loss of Sandro may have contributed to this, alongside the loss of form of Walker and Benny, but I want to discuss our centre backs.

I think its a position we need to look at closely this summer. I would prioritise a creative mid, a striker, and a versatile wing forward (probably in that order), but next has to be a defender.

Lets look at our options currently at the club


Kaboul - a crock. I believe he has one year left on his contract, this is a difficult position for the club. He keeps breaking down, and I could imagine that if he misses large chunks of this season then we would not renew his contract, meaning he leaves for free. I would actually not be against cashing in now as I have little faith that he will be able to string a number of games together.. especially if what looks like says is true, and he is another ledley king in the making.

Vertonghen - have aired my thoughts on him before. as a pure defender this guy is vastly overated. his eye catching moments that got him into the team of the season were almost exclusively as an attacking threat. he is certainly a good defender, but he is miles behind a ledley king sort of standard. hopefully he will become this. needs to stop losing his markers so easily, and improvements to be made in his aerial game. no qualms about his tackling or his on the ball skills.

Caulker - disappointed overall with him last season as I was expecting a slightly higher level of performance. Still has lots of potential, but not ready to be a starter yet.

Dawson - I was one of the ones that would have been OK with selling him last summer had the fee been reasonable, but in the end he proved himself to be one of our best two fit centre backs, and got the minutes to prove it. No problem with him as a squad defender, but if we are looking to push to the next level then unfortunately Dawson is not quite a good enough player to lead us there.

So basically, i think we need to sign another centre back. What is everyones opinions on any of the above?