Holgate and Stones i think would be the leagues best 'attacking' centre back pairing in terms of bringing the ball out and playing it around. Against non-giant forwards i think they would be very effective especially for a team wanting to play on the front foot...set pieces would be a worry though...
Holgate is class, he may not have the size of Keane but his athleticism and ball playing along with his snide make him a top class player. In my opinion hes the closest to an 'Italian mentality' defence-wise as we have.
Mina is a brute. In this league you need a massive monster to stop the heathen giant forwards like Andy Carroll.
The rumoured signing of Gabriel would suit a partnership with either of those players and with Gibson coming through we'd have 2 right and 2 left footers all competing in defence.
If we can sign Gabriel then the defence is almost ticked off.
I think if this happens then the biggest challenge for Ancelotti (and brands) will be the midfield quartet.
A centre backs first job is to defend. John Stones makes too many basic defensive errors, that is why he isn't first choice at City.
I think Holgate is a more practical defender and has no worries about blazing the ball out of play when it needs to be done.
I think we need to factor in Lewis Gibson as well. He has signed a contract extension, but not a long one and in twelve months time his contract situation will have to be dealt with again.
The way he has immediately slotted into the Fleetwood team and appears to be performing very well from the first moment would tend to show that he is ready for first team football sooner rather than later.
Next season he either needs to get games in the first team or goes on loan to a good championship team to continue his apprenticeship. I think he is gone beyond under 23 football now.
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