ExiledGeordie Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
janpawel Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
janpawel Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Supposedly doubt for the Arsenal game, shame as its a game we really need him for Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 He's been pretty average lately anyway and was particularly awful today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucasol Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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…) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Prontonise Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holloway Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nine Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I get the feeling he’s carrying an injury Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 The main thing that strikes me at the moment is how poor on the ball he is. Hes clumsily barging into people too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 He was dogshit today, by miles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 And yet we were arguably worse when he went off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewel Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Could we get £60m for him from Saudi? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitley mag Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheikBoom Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibierski Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoot Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 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. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 He was wearing a knee brace today. Surely a doubt for Wednesday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
80 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Feels like he's been carrying injuries for 18+ months now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Just now, 80 said: Feels like he's been carrying injuries for 18+ months now. Feels like it’s a pretty good excuse for some people on here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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