Lamberts ideal centre back pairing

[Tetteys Jig 830]

The Ayala thread got me thinking, if all our centre backs are fit, who would Lambert ultimately settle on as they all appear to have a case?

Elliott Ward - Was first team before he got injured, yet to be seen this season

Leon Barnett - Our most consistent CB this season

Zac Whitbread - Was starting games before he got injured

Daniel Ayala - Appeared to be a starter until his injury

Ritchie De Laet - Arguably our most talented centre back, just needs to be more disciplined at times

Russell Martin - Called into the centre as emergency 6th choice centre back but has had two absolute stormers and others may have to wait until their next opportunity.

Hmm, great problem to have i guess! I''d keep it the same for Old Trafford though.

[LeJuge 0]

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"]The Ayala thread got me thinking, if all our centre backs are fit, who would Lambert ultimately settle on as they all appear to have a case?

Elliott Ward - Was first team before he got injured, yet to be seen this season

Leon Barnett - Our most consistent CB this season

Zac Whitbread - Was starting games before he got injured

Daniel Ayala - Appeared to be a starter until his injury

Ritchie De Laet - Arguably our most talented centre back, just needs to be more disciplined at times

Russell Martin - Called into the centre as emergency 6th choice centre back but has had two absolute stormers and others may have to wait until their next opportunity.

Hmm, great problem to have i guess! I''d keep it the same for Old Trafford though.[/quote]Not sure how you can say that Ayala looked like a starter before getting injured, he came on as a sub as a result of Barnett getting red carded, and then played against MK Dons with pretty much a second string team, a game in which he got injured?I think that his preferred back two would be Barnett and Ward. My preferred back two last year was Whitbread and Ward, but I''m not convinced that Whitbread can do it at this level, time will tell.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Ayala is the only player i recall us giving a 4 year contract to so he is clearly upermost in our long terms plans

All over our centre backs have struggled on occassions this season but for me the current pairing brought about almost by accident of Barnett and Martin looks the best in the short term and has coincided with 2 wins. It will take an injury or a horrible performance to oust either

[Beauseant 0]

Barnett has been outstanding. De Laet has shown great ability but is prone to silly errors, which have cost him his place for the moment. Whitbread is probably the classiest centre back on the ball, but his lack of pace may be an issue at this level. I think Ayala is more of a long term prospect, but is out of the equation for a while in any case.

Martin has done brilliantly, and I would be very surprised if Ward proves himself at this level. He''s good on the ball but has a glaring technique issue in that he tries to tackle side on rather than with his whole body, which resulted in him losing key one on ones which contributed directly to goals against Reading, Bristol City and Hull amongst others last season. I think he''d get crucified in the Prem.