Joelinton

[ExiledGeordie]

2 minutes ago, Smal said:

think I want him to play higher up and closer to Isak tbh. It’s too risky passing the ball to him in our own half against a decent out of possession side.

I think both him and Bruno give the ball away too much 

[janpawel]

Probably a controversial one as I know he's loved, but is he someone we could sell to Saudi for pretty decent money without complaints? 

 

All our other sales / potential sales like Maxi, Miggy, Trippier, Targett etc are pretty small

 

He turns 29 this summer and is in his prime, appears to have a 'reputation' which seems to partially matter to the Saudis, is capped for Brazil etc. And we bought him for £40m and he is now clearly a better player than we first signed him

 

In a non PSR world I'd rather keep him, he's a great physical presence, can play a few positions, and can can be used tactically by Howe such as when he's played as a wing back / CB out of possession 

 

I'm just thinking with his age, probably high salary after his last contract extension, could he be a valuable sale to help us. Obviously a downside would be that he'd need replacing and Willock/Longstaff are poor..

[janpawel]

Supposedly doubt for the Arsenal game, shame as its a game we really need him for 

[Rich]

He's been pretty average lately anyway and was particularly awful today.

[Nucasol]

One of his worst games for a while. The one he put square across the back line to get intercepted was gash. He’ll be getting an enforced breather soon once he hits 10 yellows (9 now…)

[El Prontonise]

2 minutes ago, Rich said:

He's been pretty average lately anyway and was particularly awful today.

 

I think that's being kind on him recently tbh.

[Rich]

I was trying to be kind, as I love the bloke.

 

He looked shite in the ground, but his stats are something else. Only won 4/13 duels, didn't make a single tackle, block, clearance, or interception, and was dribbled past three times.

 

Also deservedly booked yet again, obviously, which leaves him one yellow off a two-game ban.

 

He's largely lost the plot this season, sadly.

[Holloway]

I wouldn't be offloading him at this point,to me he looks to have been about 80% of his capabilities for a good chunk of the season for whatever reasons, and I want to see him full beast with our other two maestros in there 

[Nine]

I get the feeling he’s carrying an injury

[ExiledGeordie]

The main thing that strikes me at the moment is how poor on the ball he is. Hes clumsily barging into people too.

[Andy]

At the moment he looks like what he is, a forward who has been converted into a midfielder. Not sure what's changed that is suddenly emphasising his weaknesses more, but his touch is letting him down and he wants far too much time on the ball.

 

Teams have definitely cottened on to how non-press-resistant he is. 

[TheBrownBottle]

The lad isn’t technically strong enough to play midfield, it’s not just that Tonali and Bruno are excellent midfielders so he stands out.  He’s never looked great at LCM.  He looks good at LW with an attacking LCM behind him.

 

He’s useful for some games in the LCM position, but he cannot be in there next season for me.  

[Lush Vlad]

His physicality has boiled over into stupidity the last few games or so. Some of his challenges are ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Like he is never even getting there to stop an attack or commit a snide foul. But he just barrels into people anyway. 
 

I love the bloke and you don’t want to curb his aggression too much. But it would be good if he was rotated more in certain games. Seems to start every game he is available. Even when half fit, out of form or against a team where his skillset doesn’t suit. 

[Magpie]

He was dogshit today, by miles 

[Disco]

And yet we were arguably worse when he went off

[Jewel]

Could we get £60m for him from Saudi?

[Whitley mag]

Think Ashworth was right in dragging his feet on new contract, he’ll certainly not get any better with age as his physical attributes wane.

[ExiledGeordie]

9 hours ago, Lush Vlad said:

His physicality has boiled over into stupidity the last few games or so. Some of his challenges are ridiculous and totally unnecessary. Like he is never even getting there to stop an attack or commit a snide foul. But he just barrels into people anyway. 
 

I love the bloke and you don’t want to curb his aggression too much. But it would be good if he was rotated more in certain games. Seems to start every game he is available. Even when half fit, out of form or against a team where his skillset doesn’t suit. 

I don’t think we can control games properly with him because he isn’t good enough on the ball. I agree he offers us something different in terms of physicality and power but he’s just a bull in a China shop at the moment. I would be looking to upgrade at some point with a much more technical player. 

[CheikBoom]

He’s a conundrum. Against the better teams he’s typically brilliant. However against mid-lower half teams we miss a bit of craft in CM (especially at home)

[Dokko]

6 hours ago, Jewel said:

Could we get £60m for him from Saudi?

 

Might be the player that unlocks psr in the summer for us. Just hope we don't spunk it on average players like Barnes. 

[Sibierski]

12 hours ago, Andy said:

At the moment he looks like what he is, a forward who has been converted into a midfielder. Not sure what's changed that is suddenly emphasising his weaknesses more, but his touch is letting him down and he wants far too much time on the ball.

 

Teams have definitely cottened on to how non-press-resistant he is. 

Think it’s because he’s getting the ball more / being asked to receive ball more, in areas that he’s not good at and not used too.

 

Pressing from the front, charging with the ball, superb, but the traditional midfield stuff of pass and move from inside your half is not his game. And as sides give us more of the ball to use as a trigger press, he will be one to target. 

 

Wouldn’t be getting rid, but he should be on rotation with someone else for that LCM spot next season. 

[Scoot]

24 minutes ago, ExiledGeordie said:

I don’t think we can control games properly with him because he isn’t good enough on the ball. I agree he offers us something different in terms of physicality and power but he’s just a bull in a China shop at the moment. I would be looking to upgrade at some point with a much more technical player. 

 

100% agree with this. His ball retention isn't the best and he's not very good when pressed. Plus he's not really going to unlock a defence in a tight game.

 

I love the bloke to bits, but if we are to progress as a club, we need someone better in the middle in certain games.