Jules Kounde

we have witnessed the advent of a truly talented young CB this season, this kid is amazing. Already linked to Madrid, haven't seen the barca links too but he is quite good.

He absolutely chewed up Lautaro Martinez and made him look like a fraud, plus some amazing goal line save. he is good on the ball, and very athletic despite being a bit undersized for a CB.

With Upamecano, he is easily top 4 french CB right now.

France and CBs man. They just keep pumping them out.

Last I saw on Kounde's potential transfer is that Sevilla were asking for 60m knowing full well very few teams could pay that during a pandemic. He'll have one more year with them at least.

Definitely the one that stood out in Sevilla's defense even though Diego Carlos and Reguilon normally get the plaudits.

Very composed and reads the game so well.

Honestly, super impressed with him.

Diego Carlos may have won them the game, but he also made so many more mistakes than Kounde. He'll be at a top top club soon.

Chelsea are interested in him according to Romano

He's ass the few times i've seen him this season for France and Sevilla, but he'll do well in Tuchel's back 3.

He's good at CB. France played him at RB for some very strange reason, so don't judge him there.

Nick is spot on in his transfers but his eye for talent has been historically hit and miss.

Mostly miss.

Arquitecto wrote:Nick is spot on in his transfers but his eye for talent has been historically hit and miss.

Mostly miss.

Never forget Marvin Martin.

M99 wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:Nick is spot on in his transfers but his eye for talent has been historically hit and miss.

Mostly miss.

Never forget Marvin Martin.

Or Siqueira

Elite CB in the making. Chelsea have struck gold.

Do you guys prefer Kounde or Upamecano?

Their profiles differ a bit to me. Kounde plays more of a covering role while Upamecano is more of an aggressor. Hypothetically, they'd complement each other quite well I think.

Both are good physically and technically. Kounde's problem is that he's a 5'10 CB. That being said he has an amazing leap on him and he defends his box well. However he's still a 5'10 CB and at that size he's bound to get exposed every now and then.

Upamecano is prone to rash brainfart defending sometimes. He's also mainly played as a middle CB in a back three which protects him a lot more. Kounde won the EL playing in a back 4 and has played as a RCB in a back three a fair bit last season.

So deciding who to pick is kind of tricky. They both have their pros and cons. Both have big potential and I expect them to be rated as some of the best CB's in the world in a few years.

I'd pick based on who their defensive partner is. If the other CB is rash and steps out of his line, I'd partner him with Kounde. In contrast, if the other CB plays deeper and more reserved then I'd select Upamecano.

I support Casc sitting on the fence, I have basically the same opinion. Picking one is hard.

If you force me to pick one, it is Kounde. Upamecano has a slight tendency to jump into things, I find Kounde being the more patient defender and inside the box or in 1v1's that can be the difference.

Thanks and I agree.  I like more composed defenders, hence Kounde; but Umpamecano has a better frame.

That said, both Puyol and Cannavaro were 5'10 & 5'9" respectively.  So you can be a great CB while not being the tallest.  However, you better one tough and dirty SOB to make up for it.  Kounde has to develop that edge.

Not sure either will be great.  But both are good. Kounde has a better chance because of his game IQ.

I will also put Ivan Cordoba on that list and I think Kounde could reach that level.

Cordoba is an even better leaper but I think he was even shorter than Kounde is.

As ever, the reporting on him is wild.

First reports said Spurs agreed a €30m + Davinson Sanchez deal but Kounde turned them down. Then reports said Chelsea were about to agree a €30m + Zouma deal. NOW reports say Sevilla want either €50m + Zouma or just €70m straight up.

It's a matter of time before he leaves (and Sevilla have been linked with Jerome Boateng of all players), but I'm not a fan of these cash + player deals. It was bad enough for Sevilla to sell Bryan Gil to Spurs for cash + Lamela  and afaik, the logic behind that sale was so they could demand full whack for Kounde.

I think he'd be exceptional in a back three, playing as the RCB, because of how good he is bringing the ball up and joining the midfield. He can improve upon Azpilicueta for Chelsea in that role. I wouldn't be worried about his size vs the more cross heavy approaches in the PL either given defenders like Koscielny have had good careers there.

For Sevilla at least, he was the one mopping up the much more aggressive and frankly reckless Diego Carlos, so he'd probably pair well with Rudiger or Zouma.

Cannavaro is very hard to replicate given he had ridiculous jump that made up for his lack of height. See the Germany

Then there was his basically perfect football IQ that only seemed to slack when he began to lose interest in the game by 2008 onwards.


Then not to mention his very good technique on the ball and distribution that was highly underutilized.




Aside from the absurdly classy finish by ADP, Cannavaro here was the real star of the goal.

Kick wrote:Honestly, super impressed with him.

Diego Carlos may have won them the game, but he also made so many more mistakes than Kounde. He'll be at a top top club soon.

Looks like we'll be the club, too.

I think he'll do fantastically in Tuchel's system. It does worry me that we won't have a back up option to Rudiger at LCB though.

Kick wrote:

Kick wrote:Honestly, super impressed with him.

Diego Carlos may have won them the game, but he also made so many more mistakes than Kounde. He'll be at a top top club soon.

Looks like we'll be the club, too.

I think he'll do fantastically in Tuchel's system. It does worry me that we won't have a back up option to Rudiger at LCB though.

Don't say that. Emerson is still there.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Kick wrote:

Kick wrote:Honestly, super impressed with him.

Diego Carlos may have won them the game, but he also made so many more mistakes than Kounde. He'll be at a top top club soon.

Looks like we'll be the club, too.

I think he'll do fantastically in Tuchel's system. It does worry me that we won't have a back up option to Rudiger at LCB though.

Don't say that. Emerson is still there.

Emerson

Watch us sell Alonso and keep Emerson because no one else wants him

I realised that Malang Sarr might end up as Rudiger's back up

Kounde when Alba starts crying at halftime in the UCL semis pic.twitter.com/nG2xrC3Nyk

— wimppy_kid (@WimppyK) July 27, 2022

Love it

Myesyats wrote:

Kounde when Alba starts crying at halftime in the UCL semis pic.twitter.com/nG2xrC3Nyk

— wimppy_kid (@WimppyK) July 27, 2022

Europa League semis*

US Audi Cup semis*

nice announcement video

Benvingut @jkeey4

pic.twitter.com/y0NmzahHjw

— Fer (@ryghtan) July 28, 2022