What's new

Player Watch: Serge Aurier

dondo

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2006
8,603
14,091
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 did have lapses in concentration 4/5 years ago but it rarely ever cost us goals because his speed and strength usually rectifyed the error.
Aurier on the other hand has given away at least 3 penalties alone been sent off and 2/3 horrendous games.
Walker was twice the player aurier is in his first season on loan at Villa let alone the player he has been for the last 4 years
 

buckley

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2012
2,595
6,073
Aurier biggest problem is his positioning in games he is in..when marking a left side player he should be goal side but his problem is that the player he is marking is often closer to our goal than he is .This leads to him tackling from behind the player he is meant to be in front of leading to last gasp tackles and giving away three penalties and to be honest I have seen all our games and there have been at the very least four more times penalties could have perhaps should have been given .The man is a red card walking .If not for referees favouring top six sides he could have been sent off numerous times
 

agrdavidsfan

Ledley's Knee!
Aug 25, 2005
10,918
13,352
Only weird thing I have noticed about Aurier with us is he seems to have got a lot slower?

Not sure if its he's just not used to the posh training regime or?
 

longtimespur

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
5,830
9,949
Ask Man City about Walker's help in them going for the FA cup as well as their other trophies.
Just saying.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
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.

It’s not about convincing me he’s any good, it’s about convincing me he’s the best in this league. And if nothing else, those stats that you don’t like, prove he’s certainly not the best at interacting with other players to produce creative end product.

This is the problem, you keep saying things that you can’t substantiate. He’s not an intelligent footballer, that’s laughable. As is saying he doesn’t have a mistake in him any more. His technique is good until he’s under pressure. Just read what City fans are saying about him.

City have been brilliant and played all season with Delph and Danilo as LB’s. Are they major reasons too?
 

Disconosebleed

Well-Known Member
Dec 22, 2005
2,553
2,569
They don't prove that he has no end product because there are are other reasons why a player might not create. As I've already explained, his job isn't to create chances. That isn't City's set up.

There is no way of proving a player is intelligent or not because it's a nebulous concept that can't be turned into statistics (which, as I've already explained, don't necessarily prove anything anyway) but he is an intelligent player IMO, he knows when to go and when not to go, and he doesn't get caught out of position much (and as much as you want to dismiss it, his pace is a massive plus as it allows him to recover when he is out of position). As for him having mistakes in him...not really. He used to be a bomb scare for years at Tottenham but the last couple of years with us and his year at City he has been consistently excellent.

Yes, Delph has been an important part of City's excellence this season, although I expect they will be better once Mandy is back and at full fitness. Danilo less so because he hasn't played as much. There is no one in City's side that wasn't important to their success.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
They don't prove that he has no end product because there are are other reasons why a player might not create. As I've already explained, his job isn't to create chances. That isn't City's set up.

There is no way of proving a player is intelligent or not because it's a nebulous concept that can't be turned into statistics (which, as I've already explained, don't necessarily prove anything anyway) but he is an intelligent player IMO, he knows when to go and when not to go, and he doesn't get caught out of position much (and as much as you want to dismiss it, his pace is a massive plus as it allows him to recover when he is out of position). As for him having mistakes in him...not really. He used to be a bomb scare for years at Tottenham but the last couple of years with us and his year at City he has been consistently excellent.

Yes, Delph has been an important part of City's excellence this season, although I expect they will be better once Mandy is back and at full fitness. Danilo less so because he hasn't played as much. There is no one in City's side that wasn't important to their success.

Again, I didn’t dismiss his pace, I said it alone doesn’t make him the best rb in this league. You aren’t giving me any good explanation as to why you think he is. He’s quick, great, he makes less mistakes now than when he used to make loads, great, he doesn’t produce much because apparently he’s not supposed to, great. Why is he the best at in this league ? What makes him better all round than a player who does actually produce nearly three times what Walker does in terms of actual stuff like key passes, chances, assists etc

You say creativity is not part of Walker’s remit at City, but that’s rubbish, or if it isn’t then he’s not following instructions because he’s constantly getting into good forward positions, but as ever, just wasting the majority of them.

For the record, Trippier out produced Walker when was at Spurs, when they did have the same remit.

How can you say Walker doesn’t have mistakes in him or get caught out anymore, when he clearly does. He got sent off for something stupid in his first home game, cost City their only dropped points in their first few games. He’s made mistakes in nearly every game I’ve watched, including recently in the CL game v Liverpool.
 

fortworthspur

Well-Known Member
Nov 12, 2007
11,244
17,536
the mental gymnastics by the anti-Walker crowd to explain how we got worse at that position after he left are something to behold.
 

walworthyid

David Ginola
Oct 25, 2004
7,059
10,242
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.


View attachment 38318



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.
The difference is that Walker is able to stretch the play and our inability to do that this season has impacted us.

It was similar to Lennon in his first few seasons. Just having him sat on the touchline pushed the opposition back 10 yards. Defenders were terrified of his pace.

All of our current full backs just cut inside or pass square when confronted. It is the weakest area in our squad imo.
 

CoopsieDeadpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2012
18,257
70,419
All of our current full backs just cut inside or pass square when confronted. It is the weakest area in our squad imo.


Sorry but I can't agree with that at all.

Top 10 full backs in the PL this season according to PL Stats, see's Trippier at 7th & Davies at 4th

https://talksport.com/football/premier-league-best-fullbacks-defenders-201718-season?p=8

I believe both of those are right at the top end of assists in the full-back assist fight thingy? They were also both very regular starters in a defence that ended the season with the 3rd fewest goals conceded.

Rose has lost a bit of his mojo, but is still a heck of a player & there's a reason the likes of United have been linked with him.

Aurier, Umm.

Aurier aside, Our full-backs have provided so much more than so many on here give them credit for.

Meanwhile, we've seen Sissoko impersonating someone attempting to impersonate a footballer, playing alongside Wanyama in a midfield duo that had all the creation and spark of an underwater firework. And when that wasn't working, one was replaced by a barely fit & never assisting or scoring Dembele.

Yet our full-backs are the weakest area in our squad?

I'd suggest there's perhaps a reason that, no matter what thread you go on on this site, you're almost guaranteed to see someone saying "We need to make the big investment on a quality CM" , or "We need to get better back up / alternatives to Kane". I honestly can't say I've seen the same said for the urgency to sort the full-back options.

Posted in peace (y)
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
The difference is that Walker is able to stretch the play and our inability to do that this season has impacted us.

It was similar to Lennon in his first few seasons. Just having him sat on the touchline pushed the opposition back 10 yards. Defenders were terrified of his pace.

All of our current full backs just cut inside or pass square when confronted. It is the weakest area in our squad imo.


Fuck me. This has got to be the daftest thing Ive read on here for a while.

Yeah, because that's what we really need, the opposition pushed back another ten yards.

If all of our full backs do this, how come they create 2 to 3 times as many chances as Walker does? Like Walker spent all his time cleverly dribbling round defenders and putting great balls into the box.

What has impacted us much more than having full backs who actually produce more than Walker, is injuries to major players, a central midfielders with the alacrity and dynamism of a potato, a goalkeeper who can't save low shots and one v ones and gets his shits and giggles from passing to defenders with a man embedded up their arses, a Korean forward who didn't trap a ball for the last two months of the season, Delli Alli visiting an opium den before every game for the first 3 months of the season, injuries to big players down our spine like Alderweireld, Wanyama and Kane and fucking Sissoko.

Scared of Lennon....fucking hell..
 

TheAmerican

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2012
6,909
18,760


Media article on him from Dan Kilpatrick.
a.png
 

amity498

Active Member
Jul 5, 2018
75
101
Thought he had a decent game against Roma... a few times I thought he might do something silly, but then actually he did the sensible thing. Gaffer might have sat down with him and shown him the mistakes he has done on the past that have cost the team.
 

kaz Hirai

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2008
17,692
25,340
knows the league now, made a bunch of mistakes he should have learned from, and is having a full pre season working poch.
Think he'll have a really solid campaign
 

Spurslove

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2012
6,627
9,281
knows the league now, made a bunch of mistakes he should have learned from, and is having a full pre season working poch.
Think he'll have a really solid campaign

Hmm. I'd still like to see some evidence of his great pace which was supposed to be one of the best things about him. Personally, I'm not convinced, and now he has the immense talents of Keiron Trippier to compete with (which is always healthy) so it'll be interesting to see how that pans out. I wish them both well of course.

.
 

chinaman

Well-Known Member
Jul 19, 2003
17,974
12,423
Thought he had a decent game against Roma... a few times I thought he might do something silly, but then actually he did the sensible thing. Gaffer might have sat down with him and shown him the mistakes he has done on the past that have cost the team.

Poch should have him make 50 throw-ins every training session.:)
 

kaz Hirai

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2008
17,692
25,340
Hmm. I'd still like to see some evidence of his great pace which was supposed to be one of the best things about him. Personally, I'm not convinced, and now he has the immense talents of Keiron Trippier to compete with (which is always healthy) so it'll be interesting to see how that pans out. I wish them both well of course.

.

sorry that made me chuckle

granted he has had a very good world cup playing as wing back and mostly against awful teams, and I enjoy his passing ability.
But you might want to hold off on that immense talk when he's back playing in the strongest league in the world as right back and not a wing back
 
Last edited:

thinktank

Hmmm...
Sep 28, 2004
45,893
68,893
I had his back all last season as he needed time to bed in; but this season he has to be more consistent and must improve composure.

That's his main challenge.

If he can be more level-headed his overall game will improve.
 
Top