Repairing and creating a new centre-back pairing.
The pursuit of establishing a flawless barrier.

Ruben Dias vs Milan Skriniar

A thread:

Through this thread, I aim to compare, analyse, and highlight the strengths, weaknesses, and potential pairings should we sign one of Dias and Skriniar.

Before going further, I must state that signing any one of them would massively improve the backline.

Agenda:

1: Player Profiles
2: Tactical roles
3: Strength and Weakness comparisons
4: Potential Centre-Back pairings
5: Final Comparison
6: Verdict

Ruben Dias' Profile:

Age: 23
Height: 175cm
Team: Benfica
Nationality:
Preferred foot: Right
Release Clause: €100M
Club Valuation/Asking Price: TBD

Milan Skriniar's Profile:

Age: 25
Height: 187cm
Team: Inter Milan
Nationality:
Preferred foot: Right
Release Clause: -
Club Valuation/Asking Price: €55M-60M

Before going further, I'd like to hint that I won't be using way too many stats to back the analysis I've done.

I enjoy plotting and drawing conclusions from graphs and stats, but I'm a firm believer that stats can be misleading.

Benfica is the best team in Liga NOS.
Inter, on the other hand, face competition from teams of similar strength like Juventus, Atalanta, AC Milan, Lazio, Napoli, and Roma.

Skriniar will probably have to make more interceptions and tackles than Dias. Doesn't mean he's MUCH better

The simple example will be that of Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk

Take a look at his stats, he makes less number of tackles and interceptions because Liverpool have more of the ball.

Harry Maguire has more tackles, blocks, and interceptions.

So is Maguire better than VVD?

The number of tackles, interceptions, and blocks a defender makes per game will SEVERELY vary with the team he's playing for and the tactics that are employed

Put Van Dijk in Fulham, he'll be forced to make more defensive actions.

THIS is why I won't be using too many stats.

Dias' Tactical Role:

Dias plays in a Back-Four. He is deployed as an RCB. He prefers to drag attackers wide, take time, and then make a defensive action

He's aggressive, but patient, prefers to slide tackle.
With the ball, he has all the time in the world to distribute.

Benfica is positionally the best in Liga NOS. Once possession is retrieved, teams don't usually press them to win the ball back

This allows Dias to slowly move upwards with the ball before spraying a long-ball to the wingers.

This comfort will be taken away from him in the PL

Dias' Strengths:
1: Positional awareness
2: Aggression (It's a Portuguese thing)
3: Ball-Playing
4: Aerial Defence

Weaknesses:
At times, he tends to make an error in judgement by prematurely sliding. Takes too long to release the ball.
Yet to see how he handles the high press.

Skriniar's Tactical Role:

We have to split this into Pre-Conte & Post-Conte
Under Luciano Spalletti, he was a part of a back-four.
Under Conte, he's a part of a back-three

Both managers prefer him on the right, but he can play on either side.

The formation change didn't help.

Skriniar in a back-four was one of the most sought after defenders in the world. Every single big-club monitored his development as he was potentially growing into one of the best.

Unlike Dias who draws attackers towards him, Skriniar defends FROM THE FRONT.

By defending from the front, after winning the ball, he aggressively pushes forward.

Skriniar likes to move towards the half and win the ball back before it can be taken to the box.

His ability to anticipate danger makes him challenging to attack against. (A CDM's quality)

Skriniar's Strengths:
1: Positional awareness
2: Ground Defence
3: Defending from the front
4: Decision making
5: Ball-Playing

Weaknesses:
He isn't happy to play in a back-three. He is slower than Dias. He struggles to recover when someone makes a mistake due to the lack of pace

Potential CB pairings:

1: Skriniar & Toby
Lacks pace, but excellent positionally. Reguilon and Doherty will have to track back quite a lot.

2: Skriniar & Sanchez
Perfect balance, Sanchez's pace + Skriniar's technique. Sanchez makes too many mistakes. Also NO vocal presence.

3: Dias & Toby
Works well, both are defensively skilled, excellent with the ball. But while handling a high-press, they may falter.

4: Dias & Sanchez
Same as Skriniar & Sanchez.

Best Pair: Either + Toby.
Toby is too reliable to drop, even if he's slow, he is our best defender.

Final Comparision:

Positional Awareness:
Grounded Defence:
Defending From Front:
Aerial Defence:
Ball-Playing:
Cross-Field Distribution:
Speed:
More Probable to make a mistake:
Decision Making:

Verdict:

I REALLY don't want to be a spoilt kid. At the start of the window, if I knew that I'd have to choose between Skriniar and Dias, I'd be scratching your eyes.

Still, I would go with Skriniar. His height, decision-making, and awareness make him a more "Mourinho-Player."

That said, I put Ruben Dias as my recommended signing in the previous thread.

This is because:
A: Jorge Mendes
B: I thought Skriniar would be costlier
C: He's ACTUALLY VERY GOOD.

Skriniar or Dias, whoever we get, they WALK into that backline and play alongside Toby.

Reguilon and Doherty will push forward, PEH will drop deep and form a defensive line with both our CBs.

This is the most likely way in which our backline will be functioning.

So, whether it's Skriniar or Dias, it's surely going to be an upgrade over Dier who still has to learn

End of thread.

As always, likes and retweets are very much appreciated.

I desperately want you guys to understand that between Skriniar and Dias, there's not really much to choose.

You'd take whoever you get.

But, if I was FORCED to Choose, it would be the Slovak.

Finally, thank you for being so kind and reading my views.

I'm always open to discussion. So if you've any new insights that you want to share, please DO.

I hope you guys find these threads insightful.

Cheers :)

A Small Correction.

Ruben Dias is 187cm.
Made a mistake.
My bad