Heitinger @ right back

[Dutch Toffee]

One thing about slow defender is that if they read the game well and anticipate, pace is no longer much of an issue unless our defensive line is very high(which is not the way we play).
Jag was never pacy but he rarely get caught out. Same goes to Richard Gough not long ago.

Agreed, but that has been the problem with Heitinga thus far. His anticipation, tackling and positioning let him down on quite a few occasions in the past. He's still relatively young for a CD though and maybe that will come with experience.

 

[ToxtethBlue]

Phil Jagielka is quick, especially over the first few yards.

Players like Alan Stubbs, Richard Gough and David Weir have all proven that you can succeed without pace though, reliability is key for any defender, it doesn't matter how good an athlete you are, if you can't do the basics you won't succeed.

 

[Goat]

90% of defending is done in the head, granted if uve got some speed demon against you and your ultra slow, you may struggle, but its all about postioning and reading the game.

When we had Stubbs and Weir in defense our line was so deep it was scary, now with the likes of Distin and Yobo and yes Jagielka, we can afford to push up versus most teams.