Am currently in Germany on work business and was reading one of the national papers over here with a colleague who read the report of last nights game to me (in German obviously!) Nothing beyond the ordinary in the report...except when mentioning us, the article stated that ‘Watford, who are signing Jorge Meré from FC K*ln in July for 12 million Euros....’ First I’ve heard of it! My colleague says he amazing on that football management game coincidentally... Have tried to find it anywhere online but no trace?
Surely this is mere speculation... Oh someone was going to say it eventually...it's done now. Centre back, only 6ft tall though so will he be able to defend crosses - I suppose it's more about positioning.
My initial reaction was Meh. Actually he's pretty good.....and Spanish Full name is Jorge Mere Perez. Played at every level for Spain, but yet to earn a senior cap. He's only 21 but played plenty of games in Spain and Germany. Over 100 first team appearances I think. Would be an excellent signing, IMO.
He would fit the profile for Watford. I know Barcelona were looking at him a couple of years ago. I think he was also linked with Chelsea around the same time. He's not the tallest though. Similar height as Mapps I think. Maybe a little taller, but not by much. He's a cultured ball-playing centre back, but not that great in the air. He reads the game well, good at timing tackles, he's very tenacious by getting close to his opposition and niggles them. A real pain to play against I'd say, also has some pace. Very composed and loves to play a long cross-field ball to switch the play. I'd say he's a similar type of player as Nathan Ake, without his ability in the air.
Just odd that it’s not reported anywhere and then stated that he’s signing. I suspect they have us mixed up with another club (Wolves) but it’s not unusual for German media to get the jump on European counterparts either. Would be surprising as it seems he went to Cologne for 9 million euros and they are challenging to get back into the Bundesliga. Seems cheap to me.
I found a Twitter rumour linking us to signing him for the 12m last summer, just after we played them in pre-season. Are you sure the tense was right in translation?
For a CB that's on the low side though - we've seen on numerous occasions over the last couple of seasons (and last night of course) that we really struggle defending crosses in the box, which isn't helped by the fact that none of Cathcart, Mapps or Kabasele are especially big for CBs. This guy seems pretty quick for a CB (and loves a sliding lunge), but I'm not convinced he's the style of CB we should be after. Kim Min Jae at initial viewing seemed to be more the right style.
Yes that's the point I was making. He might be ok if he was played alongside a newer version of a Prodl....
Centre backs that can pass the ball. What a concept. That's precisely what we have to have more of in today's game. If you don't have this, teams will press you high and massacre you.
Our massacres this season have not been due to teams pressing us high and forcing errors from our CBs, I'd say both Cathcart and Mariappa are relatively composed on the ball and decent passers for centre backs - both are certainly upgrades on the ball from the days of Britos and Pr*dl, who were very prone to aimless hoofing and taking an age to release the ball. Our massacres have been more due to a) lack of pace to cover quick movement and runs in behind, a la vs Muff, and b) being poor at clearing high balls, a la Pool and the many set piece goals we've conceded this season. This Meré guy looks quicker across the ground than our current options (except perhaps Kabs), but on first viewing is perhaps not even any better than Maps in the air.
He looks ugly. If we can't get a stallion like Angella with Florencian beauty then it's a no from me.
You can coach a player like him at how to attack the ball in the air. An interesting prospect. We need a more experienced centreback. Hinteregger would be a good cheap choice.
Bolton could thump it long for Blissett to run onto pretty well. Very direct and contributed more than any other player to the misconception that we were merely a long ball side. Sims and Terry for their part were tidy playing the ball out of defence. None of that John Stones embellishment. But the master was surely John McClelland, a player ahead of his time in being calm and composed out of defence. The man who rightly or wrongly turned down Ferguson. GT wanted his CBs to play it simple and pass to the midfielders if you had time, otherwise just thump it.