Our Best CB Pairing?

It’s going to be goldson and helander no matter what we think . The gaffer bought helander as a left footer to play with goldson .

Having said that Edmundsen will have given him a huge headache with his performances so far . He hasn’t put a foot wrong and although it’s early days he looks an absolute steal at £650k and also looks utterly determined to learn . I’ll feel sorry for him dropping down to the bench .

Big Katic is competing with Goldson for his place . Goldson has his critics , and for example last night is prone to being caught on the hop sometimes , however his general reading of the game, consistency and anticipation still make him our best CH that’s my opinion and obviously the managers at the moment . Katic will have his games though throughout the season .

My one concern is when Helander and Goldson are paired - do they have enough pace between them to cover another’s error , and could they cope with a really fast centre forward ?

We also need a left back to complete the back line but that’s another story .
 
Helander is going to play. Most likely with Goldson. We've not dealt with corners at all so far this year. One thing Worral was good at was winning the ball when defending corners. Hopefully Helander can do that because neither Goldson or Edmundson did last night.
 
The boy Edmundson looks like a very decent player.
I think he's good enough to seriously warrant a think about a back 3 rather than attempt a 2 from 4 scenario. I think a back 3 with 2 industrious attack minded wide men could be quite exciting in a lot of games...especially if we have a natural weakness/lack of real quality at full back.

I just don't want to see the Worrall / Goldson type shite again. Me to.you, to me, to you. I hated that fecking about at the back. Edmundson gets us out and moving. I'd love to see him.raking that pass out to a good player.on the left who then steams forward. (Having seen what I've seen, I really hope we bring Kent back. I think he will give us a great balance on the left and a bit of guile)
 
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A1bertz said:
The boy Edmundson looks like a very decent player.
I think he's good enough to seriously warrant a think about a back 3 rather than attempt a 2 from 4 scenario. I think a back 3 with 2 industrious attack minded wide men could be quite exciting in a lot of games...especially if we have a natural weakness/lack of real quality at full back.
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Agree mate.Stevie G mentioned a back 3 could be deployed in certain games.Tav and Barasic bombing with a real height threat at set pieces
 
Too soon to tell but I expect we'll see the rotation of the 4 regularly although I'd prefer a settled 2 or 3 if we change shape.
 
Pretty sure Helander wasn't signed to sit on the bench. Once he gets up to speed I have no doubt he will be first choice unless he morphs into Russell Martin!
 
cloodie said:
Goldson is our best defender by a fair distance so him and one of the other 3 to partner him. Must’ve won about 20 out of 20 headers tonight.
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It's amazing the differences in perception as I think Goldson is a poor defender- no positional sense, gets caught in possession and often on the wrong side. He may have won the headers when he was close to his man from long punts up the park from them but how many balls did he win from set pieces fired into our box? Conor thinks he's Franz Beckenbauer but he needs to realise he's a limited footballer and to do the simple thing in possession otherwise he's a liability. Katic is my preference and I think Edmondson has settled really well.
 
Goldson is prone to the odd brain fart but, he’s clearly SG’s favourite CB.

It’s just a matter of who partners him but Edmundson is doing very well so far.
 
sherbrook_loyal said:
Based on last season and what you’ve seen of the two new CBs, who would be your first-choice CB pairing at this moment in time?

For me, it’s Katić and Edmundson.

I’m not deliberately trying to stir things up, but Goldson might just be our fourth-best centre back.
He’s prone to mess up defensively and quite often gets caught in possession when he’s on the ball – yet he seems to be beyond criticism, whereas Katić does one thing wrong and is bombed out for weeks.

I’ve obviously not seen enough of Helander yet to make an informed judgement.

So, based on current form, I’d be playing Edmundson alongside my first pick, Katić.

Katić is a superb defender – and our biggest goal threat in the air.

I know a lot of people say he’s overrated on FF – I’d counter that by saying it’s actually Goldson who’s overrated.

That said, to have four players of a more than decent standard for CB is a very good problem to have.
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Not sure I have a favourite partnership just now. I wouldn't be fearful going into any game with any of the combinations to be honest.
 
Edmundson was really good last night, surprisingly good actually. Never realised he was that quick and can hit great long rage passes and strong in the tackle. Defo gonna give the boss a headache for his best cb pairing.
 
Why is it that Goldson is never asked to play the left cb of the pair and yet Katic and Edmundson (also right footers) are always put in there. Is it because Goldson’s left is so poor? The fact that Edmundson appears strong with both feet is what will put him ahead of Goldson eventually.
 
Edmundson looks promising but he does have some flaws - he was brushed off the ball a few times last night and caught the wrong side a couple of times too. But those are easy flaws to fix, so there's real promise there. His passing is really good.

Katic is going through a rough patch right now but he has plenty of upside and is still a very good defender.

Goldson is first choice for a reason. Out of the three we've seen he's the one that has no obvious flaw to his game. Generally he does everything well. Noticed him starting to step out of the defensive line last night to commit midfielders, which is obviously something Gerrard/Beale have told him to do.

Too early to tell on Helander.
 
Its too early to say.

Goldson has played the most but he doesn’t fill me with confidence. Regularly gives possession away when he goes long but seems nervous when he’s on the ball for any length of time.

Katic is somewhat Jekyll and Hyde on occasions.

Edmundson - superb so far but it’s onky been a handful of games and the opposition hasn’t been great.

Helander - who knows what we’ve got here. The only thing that is certain is there’s pressure on his shoulders.

Until we see more - I’d be tempted to say Goldson and Edmundson, but Goldson is far from being considered a certainty imo. He could just as easily be 3rd choice as much as he’s been 1st choice of late.
 
SmileyBear said:
Katic and anyone else I rate him better than Goldson who at times even last night is too casual.
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Might be wrong, but I've got a feeling Katic is 4th choice in Gerrard's eyes.

His blunder for the only goal we've conceded this season probably hasn't helped him.

We're very fortunate to have 4 excellent central defenders.
 
MearnsUnionist said:
Might be wrong, but I've got a feeling Katic is 4th choice in Gerrard's eyes.

His blunder for the only goal we've conceded this season probably hasn't helped him.

We're very fortunate to have 4 excellent central defenders.
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Yes, we have good options its personal choice for me I think last year we broke up the strongest part of our team to shoehorn in Worrall and it cost us.
 
I certainly don’t think Goldson has the right to be an automatic pick this season. We have 4 good options, assuming Helander is here to play, I’d have Edmunson next to him now based on current form.
 
Goldson - I just feel he looks nervous with the ball at his feet, but he's great in the air defensively
Katic - an absolute unit who i feel gives us an attacking presence too. Had that howler at Hamilton (?) last season and didn't get another chance really
Edmundson - first chance to see him last night, looked excellent, really quick feet and was confidently spraying balls out of defence
Helander - not seen yet obv.

However, last night we could have easily conceeded two and we got away with it. I can see a Helander/Goldson pairing being our starters
 
SmileyBear said:
Yes, we have good options its personal choice for me I think last year we broke up the strongest part of our team to shoehorn in Worrall and it cost us.
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JCDarcheville said:
I certainly don’t think Goldson has the right to be an automatic pick this season. We have 4 good options, assuming Helander is here to play, I’d have Edmunson next to him now based on current form.
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Very few of our players are automatic picks this season, which can only be a good thing.
 
Liviger1984 said:
Edmundson was really good last night, surprisingly good actually. Never realised he was that quick and can hit great long rage passes and strong in the tackle. Defo gonna give the boss a headache for his best cb pairing.
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Watching him spraying balls quickly and confidently out of defence was a breath of fresh air, compared to Goldson stuttering and looking for an easy 10 foot pass
 
Edmundson and Katic for me as Goldson has started this season as he done last season wanting to dribble with the ball and gets caught out all too often which leaves us exposed at the back ...
 
A reckon Goodson is his number 1 centre half. And he’s certainly not going to bring in a 3.5 million player to sit on the bench!

Then a reckon edmundson is 3rd choice katic is 4th
 
Goldson is the best we have
Edmundson has been good and was brilliant last night.
Katic is solid then flakey then solid again
Helander I’ve no idea
 
I don't want it chopping and changing.

Hopefully he picks a pair and stays with it. (Maybe a different pairing for Europe if Must).

Edit: Unless form changes obviously.
 
SmileyBear said:
It's a good thing if all the tinkering doesn't affect the players over the season.
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There's tinkering for tinkering's sake and squad rotation to prevent fatigue and injury.

Hopefully our coaching and medical teams get the balance right mate.
 
MearnsUnionist said:
He's that poor that every game he's played so far we haven't conceded a goal.

Dont remember him missing a single challenge last night.
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We have played no-one. We were lucky not to concede against a part time team from Gibraltar and got away with one last night vs another very poor side. Goldson is dreadful in 1v1's, always seems to be running behind the attacker and I don't rate his positional awareness at all. A 21 year old signed from Oxford looks far more comfortable and competent than him, that says it all for me.
 
CaptainObjective said:
We have played no-one. We were lucky not to concede against a part time team from Gibraltar and got away with one last night vs another very poor side. Goldson is dreadful in 1v1's, always seems to be running behind the attacker and I don't rate his positional awareness at all. A 21 year old signed from Oxford looks far more comfortable and competent than him, that says it all for me.
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Who's the 21 year old from Oxford?


We nearly conceded in Gibraltar twice because of Katic losing his man at a set piece and then heading a ball back into the danger area and allowing their player to get a shot off.

Katic was also to blame for the goal v Blackburn.

Gerrard has seen all these and decided to play Edmundson ahead of Katic.

Goldson never missed a challenge last night.

However, we've got 4 excellent central defenders and just like Katic just now, if Goldson's form drops then he'll be replaced.

Exactly how it should be.
 
MearnsUnionist said:
Who's the 21 year old from Oxford?


We nearly conceded in Gibraltar twice because of Katic losing his man at a set piece and then heading a ball back into the danger area and allowing their player to get a shot off.

Katic was also to blame for the goal v Blackburn.

Gerrard has seen all these and decided to play Edmundson ahead of Katic.

Goldson never missed a challenge last night.

However, we've got 4 excellent central defenders and just like Katic just now, if Goldson's form drops then he'll be replaced.

Exactly how it should be.
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I never mentioned Katic once, I'm talking about Goldson and he's not a good defender. We all know who is getting dropped for Helander and I can tell you right now it will cost us.
 
CaptainObjective said:
I never mentioned Katic once, I'm talking about Goldson and he's not a good defender. We all know who is getting dropped for Helander and I can tell you right now it will cost us.
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Gerrard doesn't seem overly fussed with reputations mate and if Goldson isn't doing it, I'd like to think Gerrard would have no hesitation in dropping him.

He's got Edmundson and Katic as good options.

We're never going to agree on Goldson,so we're as well leaving it there.
 
Goldson is our best central defender but his distribution let's him down at times.
 
Not sure, but Goldson needs dropped.
That would spice things up a bit and get a bit of competition going
IMO I love Katic, young, hungry, giving his all :) Like that
 
It's impossible to say until we see more of Helander and Edmundson. What I will say is I am confident that whoever is picked will do a job, certainly couldn't say the same of McCauley/Worrall last season
 
Definitely Goldson and Katic, or Goldson and Edmunson, or maybe Goldson and Helander.....
Of course it could be Katic and Edmunson, or Katic and Helander, maybe even Edmunson and Helander
100% sure its one of these though
 
HenningBerg said:
It’s going to be goldson and helander no matter what we think . The gaffer bought helander as a left footer to play with goldson .

Having said that Edmundsen will have given him a huge headache with his performances so far . He hasn’t put a foot wrong and although it’s early days he looks an absolute steal at £650k and also looks utterly determined to learn . I’ll feel sorry for him dropping down to the bench .

Big Katic is competing with Goldson for his place . Goldson has his critics , and for example last night is prone to being caught on the hop sometimes , however his general reading of the game, consistency and anticipation still make him our best CH that’s my opinion and obviously the managers at the moment . Katic will have his games though throughout the season .

My one concern is when Helander and Goldson are paired - do they have enough pace between them to cover another’s error , and could they cope with a really fast centre forward ?

We also need a left back to complete the back line but that’s another story .
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Ffs any two but Goldson he is absolute bombscare.
 
Connor Goldson appears to becoming the new whipping boy for some.
People need to remember he was diagnosed with a heart defect and played very little football for two seasons prior to joining us , he then played 40+ games for us last season , that takes some doing.
 
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