SM
Friday, November 8
Upcoming predictions and previews

Joleon Lescott hails Ruben Dias's immediate impact at Man City

:Headline: Joleon Lescott hails Ruben Dias's immediate impact at Man City: ID:433993: from db_amp
The Portugal centre-back's impact has been immediate with a much more defensively resilient City emerging as strong Premier League title favourites.

Joleon Lescott believes Ruben Dias has quickly proved himself to be "the guy" in the Manchester City defence.

The Portugal centre-back was brought in for a club-record £64.3million last summer to address one of the main areas of weakness in Pep Guardiola's side.

His impact has been immediate with a much more defensively resilient City emerging as strong Premier League title favourites.

Former City defender Lescott has been impressed by Dias (Mike Egerton/PA)

With Dias in the side, City have kept clean sheets in 12 of their last 14 Premier League games and won nine in a row to move to the top of the table.

Former City defender Lescott, a member of the title-winning sides of 2012 and 2014, said: "He's had a massive impact.

"The biggest thing for me is his reliability and consistency. He's solid at all aspects – heading, tackling – but his availability is the biggest thing. He's played 50 games in the past two seasons with Benfica and already played 27 for City.

"That's a huge thing, having someone who is always fit and available. He has come in and been the guy."

Dias and John Stones, right, have formed a strong partnership (Shaun Botterill/PA)

Dias has quickly built a strong partnership with John Stones, who has rejuvenated his career playing alongside the newcomer while Aymeric Laporte has been out injured.

Lescott can see similarities with his own successful partnership with Vincent Kompany.

"Vinny needed a partner," Lescott said. "He needed someone who allowed him to do what he was good at. I recognised that and I think John Stones has recognised that (with Dias).

Lescott, left, sees similar signs between his relationship with Vincent Kompany, second right, and the Dias-Stones partnership (Nick Potts/PA)

"When I saw him play with (Nicolas) Otamendi, they were almost playing against each other – playing alongside each other but competing to be in the team.

"Now John Stones is looking to complement someone. That will help Laporte as well because I think he's realised Dias is that guy."

Lescott claims Dias has been so good that he has hardly needed to use his pace.

"The pace surprised me," said Lescott, 38, who is now retired and has a role with City managing players out on loan as well as working as a media pundit.

"The best compliment I can pay him is he's played 27 games and I've only just realised he's super quick. I love that.

"A lot of defenders you can watch, and you know after 10 minutes he's quick because he's in the wrong position and he's had to use his pace to get out of trouble.

"I've only noticed it once with Ruben Dias and that's it. That's because he is in the right position all the time."

amp_article__433993 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2021-02-05 22:49:49:
html db last update - 2021-02-05 22:49:49 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Ruben Dias

Click here for more stories about Manchester City

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .