Corluka in champions league v Barcelona

[Dharmabum]

Some of you aren't giving him enough credit. He could more than hold his own, even at Tottenham. In came along a very good, young, English player in Walker, who is a more modern full back and one who fits in very well in the current setup. That's why he's not there anymore. Not because he "isn't good enough."

He's not as slow as he looks. If he was, he wouldn't be playing at the level he has all these years or participated in the tournaments he has. People forget that after Hutton was getting abused by Ashley Young in a game vs. Villa, it was Corluka who was brought on and who subsequently defended him very well. It's not like he gets beat for pace that often. He has good positional sense.

He looks lumbering (he runs on his heals) and he definitely isn't as fast as Walker. But he's not a clown either. He's a very good and capable player.

Some of you are making it out as if this is the first time he's played against top competition and/or top players. It certainly isn't.

Totally agree.
Thing is right now Walker would keep any other RB in the EPL on the bench, not just Corluka. And I dare say Corluka's still a better defender than Walker - though Walker has improved a lot in defense just this season (as opposed to Micah and Johnson, who's both made very little improvements defensively over the years).
Yes he's slow but not his brain and no other RB at Spurs - Walker included - has made Lennon look so good.
Yesterday he more than hold his own against the best team in the world. Some say he was "just" up against Adriano - but, as some may not have seen, when you play Barca you not up against one player. His value certainly didn't go down after last night's performance.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I'm not aware of Corluka getting that much stick. I think most people appreciated he was an intelligent, technically good footballer who was just way to slow to play as a full back, especially in the 100mph EPL, and gradually he became less and less able to compensate for his immobility with his intelligence and technique.

 

[jamesc0le]

don't really agree with that. too slow to be an overlapping fullback, perhaps. when people had been filling-in on the right, like kranjcar or rafa, to slow and/or unwilling to get up and down the right. but when lennon was playing long spells and confidently, corluka's pace was not a problem, infact he is an asset to any team, and highly versatile, though i concede that those teams do need to be tailored to him quite a bit..

 

[Teemu]

Corluka is class, I think he's the most underrated player in the squad...

 

[Bus-Conductor]

don't really agree with that. too slow to be an overlapping fullback, perhaps. when people had been filling-in on the right, like kranjcar or rafa, to slow and/or unwilling to get up and down the right. but when lennon was playing long spells and confidently, corluka's pace was not a problem, infact he is an asset to any team, and highly versatile, though i concede that those teams do need to be tailored to him quite a bit..

His pace was a major problem. He was too slow to keep up with opposing players.

If it wasn't a problem he would still be playing because in most other ways he is a better player than Walker.

 

[disciple]

should certainly make a proift on him