Great elaborated post as awlays
I don't rate Romagnoli that highly, but I think he's better than people say. I think if he's going to become a great defender, it will be as a late-bloomer.
That being said, to defend him a little bit: lots of the time, Romagnoli is covering the positional mistakes of Kjaer, Tomori, Theo, etc. Everyone makes mistakes, so, it's not so much that (I don't think Romagnoli is particularly error prone) it's really more that I think most of Romagnoli's problem is that he's just slow. He is so slow. I think a lot of issues with Romagnoli that are seen as him lacking strength are really more him not having the physical quickness to adjust his body.
i don't think he has to cover for others mistakes more than others have to.
and you've said it yourself, in addition to lacking speed and aggressiveness, he does not have enough of the other characteristics to make up for what he lacks
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The same Kjaer who people are lauding is the same player, who at Romagnoli's age, was floundering. If you mentioned Kjaer after he left Palermo and before coming here, I would imagine the word "fodder" would appear quite often. Acerbi, Barzagli, and others have been able to develop their game away from the glaring light of a big club and flourished as they got older.
do you think it's worth waiting for him to reach his later career years to develop? rather than trying to get money from him and get someone better suited? who provides better integrity to the defensive structure while also progressing now rather than in his 30s (since we're buying young)...someone who (obviously is a quality young cb, that why he'd get signed) but can use characteristics, like speed, aggressiveness, anticipation to be very effective in the now...all while improving other aspects as he gains experience.
business wise (big salary drop, transfer fee to improve the team earned) and even sporting wise (improved team) ...it seems to me is the right thing to do.
ofc the situation is more complex than that because of the contract.
i mean, yourself paint a really grim picture of how he could improve by saying this:
The only way for him to really overcome this is to have the sort of skill, purely as a defender, which require anticipation, positional awareness, defensive vision, and other aspects--he has these things, but he doesn't have enough skill to overcome his lack of pace, particularly when he makes the wrong read.
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Tomori and Kjaer make positional mistakes, a lot. Our RCB also does not have to handle the much lesser defensive cover that Theo provides. I think Theo is getting better, but there are games where Theo's absence really puts Romagnoli in uniquely tough positions. Romagnoli being put in this spot should be accounted for, in fairness to him.
i think that's what building a team is about...if we want to progress... get pieces that fit together. we have a very attacking LB so we get a CB on his side that can provide adequate cover when he goes up to what he does that is very important to the team's play.
i don't see as him being "put on a spot" ... the way we play, that's the job description of the position...can you do this job?
everyone makes mistakes.
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Perhaps I don't attach as much emphasis on Romagnoli's status as our captain, particularly with Ibra on this team. As far as I see it, Ibra really is the captain of this team, and so Romagnoli's captain status isn't as massive in my mind, so perhaps that sort of "lowered expectation" might play into how I look at Romagnoli.
that's why Kjaer and Ibra were brought in.
but a team should have a few leaders not just one with the armband...so i don't mind his armband in this case...
the problem with his armband is that it skews meritocracy at CB position.
he has much more leeway even when not performing well to remain in the team.
while others after 2-3 not so good performances too close to each other have to go to the bench and earn the position again ... we see it with our wingers.
will it be the case, as everybody gets healthy?
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Romagnoli does a lot of good, it's just not fancy, that's the thing. It isn't flashy defending. It's being in the right place, at the right time, and upholding positional placement to ensure the defensive structure works. We (including myself) like and value Tomori because he is able to intercept, and he (and Kjaer and Kalulu) tend to do this with physicality and speed. Romagnoli does it with anticipation and watching the play develop. The issue is that Kjaer and Tomori are using their physical gifts to compensate for a mistake they've made, and many of the goals that people have given to Romagnoli as the one at fault, you can see that he's trying to cover for the mistake of someone else, but because he's the player who is last near the player who scores or whatever, people just assign him blame.
and, you have just summed up the problem. it's his style of defending. you have just described a reactionary defender ("passive" might be too much). which unfortunately is a problem if you want to play forward...might be great for Mourinho though.
while the other defenders use their aggressiveness to knock the ball away from the opponent.sticking their foot in. his mindset is about blocking the shot or pass...so instead of going in he is backing up, pretty much escorting the opponent to our box.
and when he does block the shot or pass it comes as a last ditch save...but it shouldn't have been if he had gotten the ball away 5-10 yards before the box where they first met.
(respect for the legitimate last ditch save he makes)
every once in a while he decides to be proactive but it's not his nature, so it doesn't last.
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Anyway, these are my long-winded thoughts. I actually really like Tomori, think we should get him (so far) and I like Kjaer, and I want every player to become world-class at Milan. That goes for Samu, Hauge, Leao, anyone, including Romagnoli. I just think Romagnoli gets a little too much crap than he deserves, especially as we are in an era of really bad defenders.
you're a good guy and don't want to see player especially our player get criticized in what you feel is an excessive way...