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Ivan Mesik Signs on a Four Year Deal
Comments
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Like the fact he selected himself for Slovakia. Doesn't look the sort to argue with so I assume the national team manager just shrugged and accepted it.6
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Far too soon to be signing players imo, England haven’t been knocked out of the World Cup yet.6
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Welcome to the club, Ivan.1
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Agreed - good signing if the intention is for him to phase in as Bell phases out - bad news if we have any intention of him as a full time wing back. I'm assuming LCB and filling in generally the centre back slots will be his main role other than the odd occasion when we want to erect the full bouncer wall.Chunes said:The last thing we need at LWB is a CB... Desperately require some width and pace down either flank. I would guess Koumetio was a red herring put out there to get this deal over the line. Ivan/Bell will LCB and Gillesphey will be off.1 -
Bell should hopefully never ever ever be asked to play LWB again and we can give him adequate rest/ rotation at LCB as well now.thenewbie said:
He seems to be as comfortable in either, I've seen him described as an LB by some and CB by others. Ramsay and Bell are both players who can do WB and CB roles, I imagine Mesik is envisioned similarly. I don't know if Koumetio was just a red herring or not but I wouldn't be surprised if we’re not still after another left sided defender, especially if Gillesphey really is headed for the exit.Chunes said:The last thing we need at LWB is a CB... Desperately require some width and pace down either flank. I would guess Koumetio was a red herring put out there to get this deal over the line. Ivan/Bell will LCB and Gillesphey will be off.12 -
Koumetio apparently has also played at FB before so that gives us four left footed players who can operate at either LCB or LB/LWB with varying success - Bell, Mesik, Edwards and Gillesphey or Koumetio (presumably not both.) Of those i would presume Gillesphey/Koumetio and Bell would be primarily CBs and Edwards and Mesik primarily the FB/WB options but hopefully able to cover all eventualities.0
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i'd be amazed if gillesphey is still here at the start of the seasonthenewbie said:Koumetio apparently has also played at FB before so that gives us four left footed players who can operate at either LCB or LB/LWB with varying success - Bell, Mesik, Edwards and Gillesphey or Koumetio (presumably not both.) Of those i would presume Gillesphey/Koumetio and Bell would be primarily CBs and Edwards and Mesik primarily the FB/WB options but hopefully able to cover all eventualities.8 -
I know nothing about this lad, will be fascinating tracking his progress.0
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Bell can do WB for about 20 mins until he pulls something!thenewbie said:
He seems to be as comfortable in either, I've seen him described as an LB by some and CB by others. Ramsay and Bell are both players who can do WB and CB roles, I imagine Mesik is envisioned similarly. I don't know if Koumetio was just a red herring or not but I wouldn't be surprised if we’re not still after another left sided defender, especially if Gillesphey really is headed for the exit.Chunes said:The last thing we need at LWB is a CB... Desperately require some width and pace down either flank. I would guess Koumetio was a red herring put out there to get this deal over the line. Ivan/Bell will LCB and Gillesphey will be off.1 -
Centre backs jobbing at full back is usually fine. If they’re truly comfortable there, often there’s minimal impact.Centre backs filling in at WING back, however, is a different story.
In modern football, wing back has become a highly specialised position requiring a specific profile of player that is equally (or close to) as comfortable defending in the fullback area and attacking the byline to get crosses into the opposition box. Then perhaps also dropping into centre midfield to cover/bolster those areas or exploit spaces to play passes and start attacks. On top of those technical attributes they need pace and very high stamina to be able to cover 10 to 15 km a game, a lot of it at a sprint.
Players like that are hard enough to find as it is. The odds of us finding a genuine and high quality wing back who is also a good centre back, within our budget, and who isn’t being chased but a dozen other teams is very unlikely.
I think those challenges are one of the reasons we ended up with the lopsided 532/433 hybrid where one side had a more traditional full back and the other a more attacking player - it meant we could sign more traditional full backs/wingers who are easier to find (and cheaper) than players who can do both sides of the game very well.The problem was, last season, Edwards’ injury and Bell’s patchy availability screwed up the left side at times and Apter didn’t work out as hoped so, as decent as Clarke and Bree were, the flanks became a bit of a mess/unhappy compromise at times.
If this fella is going to play LB/LWB then I suspect it’s a sign we’re going to be more attacking down the right again.
I wouldn’t be against it - it suits TC to be able to drift left and I think it suits Kelman to be more of a lone striker that can run the channels.
However, I suspect he’s here to play left centre back in rotation with Bell and provide some cover for left back and in game flexibility to change shape without making subs, also similar to Bell.
I do understand why, but I think it’s a bit of shame that so many people seem happy that this will mean Gilly is off. He was such a strong part of getting us out of League One, was basically always available, and showed great drive and professionalism to grow out of a shaky start here. The Championship exposed his weaknesses at times, especially when he had a makeshift left back next to him, but the lad always gave everything and he deserves a bit more respect for that.14 -
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Welcome "Ivan the Terrible" Looks a mean bugger.
I just hope he is not a potential replacement for LJ if he gets sold!
We need them both together.1 -
Anyway, on Ivan, it’s always fun signing a player from abroad and it’s still relatively novel for us, even in this day and age.I’ll echo what many others have said - I’ve never heard of him or any of his former clubs and he looks a double-hard bastard who should fit in well, but I’ll add that there’s something in those eyes that tells me he’s also a gentle and generous lover.Welcome Ivan, looking forward to seeing what you can do.Oh Ivan, wo-oh-ah,
Oh Ivan, wo-oh-ah,He’ll beat you in a fight
And keep her up all night!4 -
Linda Mesik kept her gob shut!Paddy Powell said:Charlton 1-0 ITK's0 -
Welcome Ivan.
One thing I have noticed already is he looks very strong. That's a lot of muscle mass for a footballer, huge triceps and forearms for a centre back.
Apparently sounds quite quick as well and a tall lad, expecting him to bully wingers and be a threat in the box.
No offence to a lot of our defenders over the last ten years or so, but they've been complete piss ants in tough games. This bloke looks like he won't be bothered in those types of games, could finish a game against Millwall then work the doors down Brixton.
Well done Charlton, interesting bit of business.10 -
Could be beat Piergianni in a fight though?Braziliance said:Welcome Ivan.
One thing I have noticed already is he looks very strong. That's a lot of muscle mass for a footballer, huge triceps and forearms for a centre back.
Apparently sounds quite quick as well and a tall lad, expecting him to bully wingers and be a threat in the box.
No offence to a lot of our defenders over the last ten years or so, but they've been complete piss ants in tough games. This bloke looks like he won't be bothered in those types of games, could finish a game against Millwall then work the doors down Brixton.
Well done Charlton, interesting bit of business.18 -
Don't be ridiculous, no one can. Not even me.FishCostaFortune said:
Could be beat Piergianni in a fight though?Braziliance said:Welcome Ivan.
One thing I have noticed already is he looks very strong. That's a lot of muscle mass for a footballer, huge triceps and forearms for a centre back.
Apparently sounds quite quick as well and a tall lad, expecting him to bully wingers and be a threat in the box.
No offence to a lot of our defenders over the last ten years or so, but they've been complete piss ants in tough games. This bloke looks like he won't be bothered in those types of games, could finish a game against Millwall then work the doors down Brixton.
Well done Charlton, interesting bit of business.14 -
All you can say is welcome and good luck for the future. As I have no idea about his abilities, will take a number of games including preseason ones to get that understanding.0
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Fantastic.Braziliance said:
Don't be ridiculous, no one can. Not even me.FishCostaFortune said:
Could be beat Piergianni in a fight though?Braziliance said:Welcome Ivan.
One thing I have noticed already is he looks very strong. That's a lot of muscle mass for a footballer, huge triceps and forearms for a centre back.
Apparently sounds quite quick as well and a tall lad, expecting him to bully wingers and be a threat in the box.
No offence to a lot of our defenders over the last ten years or so, but they've been complete piss ants in tough games. This bloke looks like he won't be bothered in those types of games, could finish a game against Millwall then work the doors down Brixton.
Well done Charlton, interesting bit of business.0 -
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Welcome.0
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Love it... a season where we roll the dice with signings out of nowhere from Europe and we are either brilliant or get relegated makes it more exciting than journeymen and a good season is staying up 😂3
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Fee was £100k.9
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If you say soCafc451 said:Fee was £100k.2 -
Didn’t Heracles pay £300k in 2024 since when he’s gone on to do well so they decided to sell him at a loss. Bloody Europeans.Cafc451 said:Fee was £100k.0 -
I'm sure Cawley will tell us soon whether it is closer to £100k or £700k.0
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Serious question - are you a child?Cafc451 said:Fee was £100k.8 -
Not a child.11
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Welcome to the club Ivan. Looks huge and seems certain to be up for a fight. Promising.3
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A wum or simple ?Cafc451 said:Not a child.4
