KaKa

6 minutes ago, STM said:

As is Bournemouths hope of staying in this league.

Too soon. They've played Man City, Arsenal and now Liverpool, all without their best player so far this season.

First day they brushed Villa aside quite easily.

Bruce losing 

Let's go Palace!

1 minute ago, Rod said:

Any English course will teach you one space after a comma and two spaces after a full stop.

Hey, do your thing man!  

1 minute ago, madras said:

Missed a chance on the secondary wind up by not going "I here you man".

Nah, not that petty 

Corrected the original error so hopefully Rod is happy now.

3 minutes ago, Rod said:

They're for goodness sake not their.  As in they are.

I hear you man, but that space at the beginning of your second sentence is crazy!

6 minutes ago, Tomato Deuce said:

He’s quite good. Very good going forward, can be caught out defensively though. Only 21 still.

Worth a cheeky bid as a long term option at right back?

4 minutes ago, Tomato Deuce said:

Sergiño Dest apparently being iced out at Barca.

Haven't seen much of him. Supposed to be talented right?

3 minutes ago, Nine said:

Madness imo

Yeah, so people keep saying, but if they stay up comfortably, then what? 

32 minutes ago, gdm said:

Because buying 19 players in 1 window is virtually unheard of 

So? It's their money isn't it and they're not doing anything dodgy. 

They're hardly signing massive names on crazy wages either. These are just mostly solid players.

Really not a big deal at all.

19 minutes ago, joeyt said:

Bruno plays miles better without Ronaldo in the team

Been clear from day one. As soon as Ronaldo went into the first team his levels dropped significantly. You even see him during their matches together always looking for Ronaldo, instead of just playing his game.

8 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

They have made 16 signings so far I think ? plus 2 more are close 

The majority are such basic signings under £10 million.

Don't understand what all the fuss is about really.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nottingham-forest/transfers/verein/703

56 minutes ago, Willow said:

Has any team added as many players as Forest have in a window before?

 

Lost track at how many now

Half the players people think they've signed never actually signed for them.

People have just been getting carried away with all the rumours.

6 minutes ago, LRD said:

He does drift to the right a lot in the video.

5 minutes ago, Klaus said:

 

Perfect. My Dennis Wise scouting tells me Isak isn't an out and out striker to start with. All his highlights show him breaking from a deeper position.

He's really a complete forward that can operate in those wide channels, as well as through the middle as the single number 9.

In 2020-21 he played as the single number 9 and that's when he scored 17 goals for Sociedad.

Last season they changed to that diamond formation that had him in a different role, where he operated more in that right channel as a right sided striker in the front two. The same formation Sociedad are playing again this season, which they used in that Barcelona game.

1 hour ago, Rafalove said:

 

 

Found this in Reddit 

When Callum is fit he'll be very comfortable as a wide forward on that right side in the sort of role Almiron has been playing. You can see how much he ended up operating in that right side channel, while playing as right sided forward in Sociedad's front two of their diamond formation last year.

It wasn't as effective as it could have been because as you can see from the clip they are far too slow getting the ball forward when there is space in behind and he's running into it, they don't play him in. Bruno will be threading him in there all the time, especially if Bruno ends up playing that RCM position.

Another thing I noticed in that Sociedad clip is that the full backs didn't get up quick enough and so in their diamond setup Isak didn't have any overlapping support from out wide to open up more space for him, and for him to inter change passes with. Trippier is excellent at that and again will be able to play him in behind also.

Eddie Howe:

'He has the mix of qualities I like in a forward. He scores goals, he has pace, technical ability, dribbling ability and he's got a bit of an X-factor about him.

'The English game will suit his profile, he's a really good athlete and technically really good so he's got a whole host of things going for him and his best years are still ahead of him.   

'I can understand the fans' excitement because I'm excited about it too.'

'We don't believe Callum's injury to be serious, he'll only be out for a couple of weeks.

'I don't doubt Callum for a second. I see him and Alexander playing together. They're very different players with unique strengths.'

6 minutes ago, Rich said:

Wonder if Douglas Luiz is still on our radar as a more budget option? We were apparently sniffing around him in January and there were quite a few links in June/July.

 

His contract is up at the end of the season, and he’s started Villa’s first three league games on the bench. Scored direct from a corner against Bolton the other night.

 

I know @brummiedoesn’t rate him, but he could be a good fit in our midfield three.

When we were linked with him previously I looked into him a bit and interestingly enough he played as the DM alongside Bruno in a midfield pairing for the Olympic team in 2021.

Villa are a bit sensitive about us at the minute though, so I just don't see them selling to us.

Think I much prefer Alvarez anyway. I like the intimidating team of giants we're building.

22 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

He looks outrageous defensively. I still think we'll go for a more technically gifted CM like, although he doesn't look bad on the ball by any means.

 

 

Really like the idea of this signing.

He seems a warrior type. Tough, hard nosed competitor. But also comfortable on the ball and playing it into the feet of those around him to then initiate attacking play. I really think this sort of midfielder takes us to another level the quickest.

Really hope they accept our bid for him.

For what it's worth, when Bruno was asked where he most enjoyed playing last season, he did say he prefers the number 8 position, and so this sort of signing allows Bruno to do just that.

“I’ve done everything here,” he laughed.

“In the first three games I played in different positions. In the first, we played with two in the middle.

“In the second, we played with two holding midfielders. Then I played as the solo anchorman. I can play all of the positions and I’m happy in them.

“But if I have to choose I prefer to be a ‘segundo volonte’ (a box-to-box). It was the role I played at Athletico Paranaense and Lyon. But I can also play as the most defensive midfielder.

“Versatility is a big plus. Especially if there are only 23 players in the squad. Playing more than one position is very important.

“I prefer to play as a ‘segundo volonte’, but I can play as a number ten and a holding midfielder. But the player who performs more than one function in modern football is always a little step ahead; more complete.”

https://ge.globo.com/futebol/futebol-internacional/futebol-ingles/noticia/2022/03/22/bruno-guimaraes-ve-newcastle-brigando-por-titulos-em-breve-acredito-muito-no-projeto.ghtml

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

He seems a very calm, balanced and intelligent lad. Only 22.

Yeah, super impressed by the way he came across in that interview.

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I might be a grown man approaching 40, but him being number 14 is setting off a sense of nostalgia that's likely to result in me getting his name on my top. 

 

 

 

That top is going to be a massive hit man.

He looks great in it for one and his style of play at his size is just so unique.

Pray for good health for him. As long as he has that I think he's very much a star.

28 minutes ago, Nine said:

Speaks well

Comes across really really well.

Even the clips with Howe, Tindall and Krafth seemed very cool and at ease.

Love his vibe man. Think he's going to be a big character for the team. 

10 minutes ago, Flip said:

 

Most probably, still a shame to buy Isak for £60m and then play him out wide. Hope we get another signing in. Still an inury to Bruno away from being quite an average side. 

Like @Happinesstan just stated there is a difference between hugging the touchline as a winger, and having a more narrow free role as a wide forward.

If Isak starts in that wide right position it would be as a wide forward with the freedom to move into more central areas and tuck in behind the striker to receive the ball in pockets of space, as well as also to look to make runs in behind when the striker drops into space. He'd be operating a lot in the right side half spaces in that role too, which is something he excels at, as I think the Tifo video highlighted.

Defensively, in order to keep Isak high up the pitch I could see us getting another Joelinton type, so someone like Conor Gallagher for example, to play in that RCM role, who could then come across and help to cover marauding full backs so Isak doesn't have to track all the way back. We did this against Man City on the other side in order to keep ASM high up the pitch to exploit space left by Walker on that left hand side, and get ASM into advantageous positions on the counter and cause them loads of problems.

19 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

On TIFO video they went through his two seasons, the one with lots of goals and last season with less. Quality of chances he had was a big factor, in the goal season he had a lot of great chances around the 6-yard box. Maybe reflects him playing off another striker in the second year.

 

So even though he has great mobility and carries the ball well, a lot of his goals are from great chances in the box. 

Something about that diamond formation setup last season was not getting him the same quality of chances he had the previous season.

It's a big thing a lot have overlooked IMO, and I'm happy about it to be honest, because we have no chance of signing him if he had followed up with another season similar to his 2020-21 one.

4 minutes ago, Flip said:

 

Paqueta aint a Buendia/Benhrama or Lanzini type of player though...

He's going to be used in that number 10 slot no?

23 minutes ago, AlanSkÃrare said:

 

Lots of goals in Spain we're him following up on rebounds, so his awareness is quite good. In my mind, attacking deep sitting teams is about making them move anyway and attacking them with pace. Bruno is central to that. And Isak's timing and movement is good. Problem with Sweden's new possession-based approach is that it's slow, he gets stuck and standing still between five defenders most of the time. Same with Real Sociedad last season, they moved the ball to slowly. I've seen lots of teams being able to move it around and switch sides quick to open up space to attack, despite the opposition sitting deep. He'll work well if we do that. And Howe seems to understand this.

But, our main approach is still high press, quick regain of possession and then be quite direct. That's his game. That's why I think he'll be excellent.

Great post. 

This is what I see as well. The league in Spain is just generally a slower style in the first place, before you even then look at Sociedad specifically, and then their formation last season was also a bit funky.

I think he is very much a Premier League player because it's generally a more high tempo open game. His movement, pace and dribbling ability is just going to translate, especially because we get the ball forward quite quickly ourselves as a team, and don't just pass it around for the sake of it.