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Player Watch: Serge Aurier

Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
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I want to say this before he gets mentioned in some article and this thread gets taken over to the Transfer section.

KWP and Tripps offer us all we need in a set of RB's. Defensively on the right is not where we fell short with our FB's it was the attacking front. I thought Serge would have offered more, but with his erratic behavior and his less than effective cross, I don't see the point to keep a guy that is most likely on more wages and offers little.

KWP is a classier dribbler, has the pace we need, and will only get better.

Tripps is a beast with the right foot and as much as we like to talk ish about his play, he is one of our top creators and is a great player to have on your team. Hard working, humble and a very gifted passer of the ball.
 
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Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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I don't really understand how Walker is being hailed as the best RB in the PL and Aurier as a terrible player in the same thread, maybe even by the same people. They are almost identical players with almost identical strengths and flaws. Walker is just three years older and three years of Poch help too. And I feel about Aurier exactly how I felt about Walker back then.

Aurier isn't a bad option if your other options aren't better, but in Trippier we have a player who's strengths definitely outweigh Aurier's and his weaknesses aren't weak enough to outweigh that. In KWP we have a player who even the die hard youth integration doubters can now see what we've all bee saying for a couple of years. That he's been ready to get more playing time for a couple of years now, and his potential exceeds that of Walker, Trippier and Aurier.

I don't want KWP out on loan next year. Apart from the fact that I think he represents our best RB option going forwards, I think he also would give the side some much needed hunger and desire. He absolutely loves this club, is bursting at the seams to succeed and it shows. And if he wasn't a great little player too, this would be irrelevant, but he is, and not all the most talented kids have this overt attitude, and that's OK, sometimes the talent is enough, but when you add in that character to the talent, it brings something else to the team, and into the dressing room, which has served us well and Poch's teams need. Young, exuberant, hungry to fight for every inch.
 

parj

NDombelly ate all the pies
Jul 27, 2003
3,586
5,861
I don't really understand how Walker is being hailed as the best RB in the PL and Aurier as a terrible player in the same thread, maybe even by the same people. They are almost identical players with almost identical strengths and flaws. Walker is just three years older and three years of Poch help too. And I feel about Aurier exactly how I felt about Walker back then.

Aurier isn't a bad option if your other options aren't better, but in Trippier we have a player who's strengths definitely outweigh Aurier's and his weaknesses aren't weak enough to outweigh that. In KWP we have a player who even the die hard youth integration doubters can now see what we've all bee saying for a couple of years. That he's been ready to get more playing time for a couple of years now, and his potential exceeds that of Walker, Trippier and Aurier.

I don't want KWP out on loan next year. Apart from the fact that I think he represents our best RB option going forwards, I think he also would give the side some much needed hunger and desire. He absolutely loves this club, is bursting at the seams to succeed and it shows. And if he wasn't a great little player too, this would be irrelevant, but he is, and not all the most talented kids have this overt attitude, and that's OK, sometimes the talent is enough, but when you add in that character to the talent, it brings something else to the team, and into the dressing room, which has served us well and Poch's teams need. Young, exuberant, hungry to fight for every inch.

The problem with Aurier is he is more of an accident waiting to happen than Walker. I never feared walker in defence as I do Aurier, but I think Aurier links up better with the team than Walker did
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
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The problem with Aurier is he is more of an accident waiting to happen than Walker. I never feared walker in defence as I do Aurier, but I think Aurier links up better with the team than Walker did

Really?, think back to Walker when Poch got here. Defensively he was atrocious. And I don't just mean the outlandish fuck bombs he'd drop. He would get distracted from the man with the ball if someone ran past him quicker, he had virtually no game reading, just "race me" and people like Zaha and Bolasie had him eating his own arse.

Much of the rest of their games are pretty similar. Up and down well, end product again lacking intelligence, but Aurier probably is a bit more of a natural footballer than Walker.
 

parj

NDombelly ate all the pies
Jul 27, 2003
3,586
5,861
Really?, think back to Walker when Poch got here. Defensively he was atrocious. And I don't just mean the outlandish fuck bombs he'd drop. He would get distracted from the man with the ball if someone ran past him quicker, he had virtually no game reading, just "race me" and people like Zaha and Bolasie had him eating his own arse.

Much of the rest of their games are pretty similar. Up and down well, end product again lacking intelligence, but Aurier probably is a bit more of a natural footballer than Walker.

Walker was more about not being able to defend and using his pace to recover but that would still result in goals. Aurier just lunges in. 2 or 3 penalties this season and he wasn't even guaranteed number one. One was unlucky, but the other two were terrible defending
 

willcpt17

Active Member
Apr 7, 2018
88
127
I don't really understand how Walker is being hailed as the best RB in the PL and Aurier as a terrible player in the same thread, maybe even by the same people. They are almost identical players with almost identical strengths and flaws. Walker is just three years older and three years of Poch help too. And I feel about Aurier exactly how I felt about Walker back then.

Aurier isn't a bad option if your other options aren't better, but in Trippier we have a player who's strengths definitely outweigh Aurier's and his weaknesses aren't weak enough to outweigh that. In KWP we have a player who even the die hard youth integration doubters can now see what we've all bee saying for a couple of years. That he's been ready to get more playing time for a couple of years now, and his potential exceeds that of Walker, Trippier and Aurier.

I don't want KWP out on loan next year. Apart from the fact that I think he represents our best RB option going forwards, I think he also would give the side some much needed hunger and desire. He absolutely loves this club, is bursting at the seams to succeed and it shows. And if he wasn't a great little player too, this would be irrelevant, but he is, and not all the most talented kids have this overt attitude, and that's OK, sometimes the talent is enough, but when you add in that character to the talent, it brings something else to the team, and into the dressing room, which has served us well and Poch's teams need. Young, exuberant, hungry to fight for every inch.

Most honest assessment I have seen regarding our right backs. I think we have to give Aurier another season before we completely write him off. Yes the foul throws are atrocious and sometimes he struggles. However, lets see what Poch can do for him. Aurier has the tools needed to be a good PL fullback.

KWP is the future at RB. It is a shame he did not get more matches this season, because he is exactly the kind of player we need at the RB/RWB position. I will be disappointed if he goes out on loan too, because he has so much to offer us and will only get better with experience. And you have to love KWPs mentality, it was awesome to see him greet the rest of the team as they came off the pitch after clinching a CL spot against Newcastle.
 

allatsea

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
8,865
16,052
Love to know what the Man City coaches think of Walker now they have had him for a season. Many on here and elsewhere seem to think he is the best right back in the PL. If that is true that tells me the right backs in the PL are not of a very high standard.
 

Spurs 1961

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
6,665
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Aurier I would love to see reach hi potential but wonder at his decision making under pressure. So far he has made too many costly mistakes which you could expect of an under 21 player but he is not that young or inexperienced
 

Real_madyidd

The best username, unless you are a fucking idiot.
Oct 25, 2004
18,792
12,448
Love to know what the Man City coaches think of Walker now they have had him for a season. Many on here and elsewhere seem to think he is the best right back in the PL. If that is true that tells me the right backs in the PL are not of a very high standard.


I can only assume that you have some old fashioned image of a right back in your head. Someone that doesn't contribute to attacks at all and is very steady. (Maybe Gary Neville?). Walker does make mistakes but has the pace to clean up after himself. He also offers a real attacking threat- often attack is the best form of defence.
 

Monkey boy

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2011
6,379
17,039
Nothing about the essence of your views, mate. It's more about turning "I like steak" into "I like a steak that's marinated in blood of a virgin, then soaked in 50 years old cognac, then lightly flambéd, then rolled in a puff pastry that's made by a michelin starred chef whilst singing opera, then grilled over lava that's handpicked from Icelandic volcanoes".

Where abouts can one get a dinner like that in London?
 

allatsea

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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I can only assume that you have some old fashioned image of a right back in your head. Someone that doesn't contribute to attacks at all and is very steady. (Maybe Gary Neville?). Walker does make mistakes but has the pace to clean up after himself. He also offers a real attacking threat- often attack is the best form of defence.

He offers an attacking threat provided he is given a pass he can run onto and thus use his pace to go past any defenders. If he gets a pass where he already is then he is stuck as he can’t go past a defender rather like Trippier.
 

Real_madyidd

The best username, unless you are a fucking idiot.
Oct 25, 2004
18,792
12,448
He offers an attacking threat provided he is given a pass he can run onto and thus use his pace to go past any defenders. If he gets a pass where he already is then he is stuck as he can’t go past a defender rather like Trippier.

Good point, he isn't great withthe ball played to feet, but then again he has players around him that can pass him the ball.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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Good point, he isn't great withthe ball played to feet, but then again he has players around him that can pass him the ball.

But even then, what he does with the ball is really mediocre. Both our full backs (Davies and Trippier) contribute far more creatively and in terms of forward game play than Walker does.


Screen Shot 2018-05-25 at 16.19.58.png




It's remarkable how similar Walker and Aurier's creative stats are.

Davies makes double the key passes and chances and Trippier nearly three times that of Walker (and Aurier).

Defensively neither Davies or Trippier are calamitous, both read the game at least as well if not better than Walker, the only superiority Walker has on them is pace, but it's not like Davies and Trippier are Corluka here, they both get up and down for 90 minutes constantly.

This is why I really just don't get this hype over Walker, and never have. If he was a great footballer and a great athlete I'd understand people calling him one of the best. But he's only ever been a great athlete and a pretty unintelligent footballer.

The way teams like us, and to a degree, ManC, Trippier's overall game is far more viable. We want our FB's spending a lot of time as auxiliary CM and wingers. Trippier is far closer to Lahm (in type of player - not in quality) than Walker is.
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
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Those stats are virtually meaningless with regard to Walker. They're useful for comparing Davies and Trippier as they're doing the same job in the same team (although even then only to a point, as they play on different sides - I'd argue that even comparing Trippier and Aurier would only be useful to a point, because their different strengths and weaknesses will mean a different strategy), but Walker is doing a completely different job in a completely different team, where creating chances is not a part of his remit.

Our wing backs are expected to play the percentages to an extent, getting plenty of balls into the box for Kane and Alli, whereas the City wing backs are there to widen the pitch to allow the creative midfielders more room, and when the wing backs do get the ball they are generally instructed to pass it back inside to the creative midfielders, unless there is a very clear opportunity for a goal by crossing it.

Using those stats as 'proof' of Walker being overrated is at best misguided and at worst disingenuous.
 

kcmei

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2008
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We won’t let either aurier or trippier go unless there is someone better available in the market. Don’t think their are many good ones out there really
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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Those stats are virtually meaningless with regard to Walker. They're useful for comparing Davies and Trippier as they're doing the same job in the same team (although even then only to a point, as they play on different sides - I'd argue that even comparing Trippier and Aurier would only be useful to a point, because their different strengths and weaknesses will mean a different strategy), but Walker is doing a completely different job in a completely different team, where creating chances is not a part of his remit.

Our wing backs are expected to play the percentages to an extent, getting plenty of balls into the box for Kane and Alli, whereas the City wing backs are there to widen the pitch to allow the creative midfielders more room, and when the wing backs do get the ball they are generally instructed to pass it back inside to the creative midfielders, unless there is a very clear opportunity for a goal by crossing it.

Using those stats as 'proof' of Walker being overrated is at best misguided and at worst disingenuous.


In that case, It definitely doesn’t take the best RB in the league just to stretch a pitch and allow others to play (and city prove this by having Delph on the other side) and I’m even more puzzled as to what it is that is making people suggest Walker is the best RB in the league?

I was using them to back up the theory that Walker really isn't an exceptional footballer.

Claiming Walker is the best RB in the league, backed up by relatively nothing of substance, except "he's quick" and "he stretches the pitch" is what’s spurious.
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
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I wasn't arguing whether or not he is the best in the league (although I would say he is probably the best, just ahead of Valencia , and I imagine this time next year Alexander-Arnold will be in that discussion too), only that the evidence you used doesn't stand up to scrutiny whatsoever.

Dismissing him as nothing more than power and pace is completely unfair - he is good technically, intelligent and, after a long time where this was the last thing you could say about him, he is consistent and reliable. He doesn't really have a mistake in him the way he used to.

There's clearly nothing that can be said to convince you that he's any good, so I'll boil it down to this - City were a country mile better this year than they were last year, and Walker was a big part of that improvement. Not the only part by any means, and not even the biggest part, but he played a major role in turning City from also-rans to dominant force. He is an exceptionally good, modern wing-back who controls the entire flank and he is streets ahead of Trippier and Aurier - although I think that Aurier has the same problems with concentration and consistencyWalker used to have, and with a couple of years under Pochettino he could be as good or better, if he shows the same dedication and effort Walker did. It is not a coincidence that we were slightly worse this year having lost him, and City were much better having signed him.
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
11,234
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I'm really interested if Walker isn't the best RB in the league then who is? Man some people on here are butt hurt he left still.
 
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