Allan Saint-Maximin (now playing for Al-Ahli)

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

He was poor on the ball last night, but there were many occasions where he was the only outlet trying to break past Palace’s lines either by running in behind or moving into central areas. 

 

Wood’s lack of mobility really hurts Maxi’s ability to find pockets of space I think. 
 

Anderson also looked quite uncomfortable on the other flank which didn’t help with forming a cohesive attack with the ball.

[80]

Yes, Wood really doesn't compliment Maxi, so I don't think things were especially set up for a great performance last night, in fairness.

[Optimistic Nut]

I think he'll leave in the summer to 'balance the books' a bit. Probably £30-40m from someone like West Ham or Crystal Palace.

[Mike]

What's going on in here right now.

[Pata]

14 minutes ago, Mike said:

What's going on in here right now.

 

Weirdos.

[Big River]

he was absolutely shite last night, previous performances don't change that

 

he wasn't the only one, but I'm not sure anybody is saying he was

[kenlau88210]

With the way we are progressing, I am not convinced he is good enough to start. Hope he will prove me wrong and shows that he can put in good performances on a consistent basis

[frankpingel]

There's at least 8 outfield players we need shifting from our club before he's even in the conversation.

[Barnes23]

Very premature to be writing him off considering the form and fluency he was showing before injury. Rest of the season after the World Cup break will be really important for him though, as we may look to strengthen out wide in the summer regardless. See no reason to think he should be sold in the immediate future though. 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Barnes23

[The Prophet]

Joelinton and Willock have struck up a nice little understanding down the left, where one provides width while the other drops in to midfield.

 

Maxi is great on his day and a proven match winner, but like everyone else he'll have to wait for his opportunity.

[Astroblack]

The front three of Maxi, Wilson and Almiron IMO is our strongest attack. They've created plenty of chances for each other in previous games. 

[The College Dropout]

Disappointed he didn’t get on.  

[Mikky]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Disappointed he didn’t get on.  

When it went 1-0 - it was right to bring on Murphy instead 

[David Edgar]

Gonna go back and dig up all my posts that got fucking slated for saying we could be a superbly functional team without him.  Today was kinda the litmus test for that (assuming he was fit).

[Newcastle Fan]

Right decision not to bring him on but its crazy that we have him and yet we can't find a place for him because of how in-form everyone else is.

[gbandit]

Yeah, he’s a difficult proposition for games like this. He offers so much going forwards but Chelsea wouldn’t have given him much space and would have had one or two on him at all times but he doesn’t offer as much with the rest of his game. I look forward to him bullying teams in the bottom half later on in the season 

[The College Dropout]

I think if he’s going to be in the first team eventually he’s going to have to be trusted to put in a defensive shift for 10 minutes off the bench. 
 

bad sign for him long term. 

[Tiresias]

I'm sure he would have come on if we were chasing. I am sure he will get a chance again though. Just before he got injured he was really putting the effort in again. Remember he absolutely beasted Man City FFS. 

[Cattletrucked]

Maxi doesn’t fit into the team ethics imo …could be his temperament, could be how often he loses possession, aye a match winner on his day but I just think he doesn’t fit in with Eddies idea at the minute anyway …just my opinion 

[Tiresias]

It's on him to prove he does but think that's a wild overreaction for a player not coming on who is on his way back from injury, played midweek further limiting how much he could play and lastly not suited to the job needed of the substitutes at the time

 

I agree he is an odd fit, but at his best he would be a brilliant asset, and Howe is clearly fucking brilliant at getting the best out of players

[TRon]

Would still like to see him on the left and the revitalised Miggy on the right at some point.

[Cattletrucked]

4 minutes ago, Tiresias said:

It's on him to prove he does but think that's a wild overreaction for a player not coming on who is on his way back from injury, played midweek further limiting how much he could play and lastly not suited to the job needed of the substitutes at the time

 

I agree he is an odd fit, but at his best he would be a brilliant asset, and Howe is clearly fucking brilliant at getting the best out of players

His strengths are against teams who come at us, when teams sit back (which is a sign of how far we’ve came, most of them now) he struggles, like I say though, unplayable on his day, I’m sure it’s a problem Eddie likes to have. 

[andyc35i]

I’d tempted to start him at Leicester. Who knows what the team will look like after the World Cup, but he will offer something on the break and definitely get more space in that type of game 

[Tiresias]

2 minutes ago, Cattletrucked said:

His strengths are against teams who come at us, when teams sit back (which is a sign of how far we’ve came, most of them now) he struggles, like I say though, unplayable on his day, I’m sure it’s a problem Eddie likes to have. 

 

Yeah I do agree but we lack penetrative left wingers to compete with him on that mind (Joelinton is many things now but not penetrative). I would absolutely be happy for a player to come in to compete and do better when we are pinning teams back and have him as option when chasing. But we do need more sparks of creativity in the team and he can provide that. I think it's healthy though, when we are reliant on him his inconsistency is infuriating but if we are playing well without him he can a brilliant option. No doubt he will want to leave if he isn't an automatic starter but again all players should be desperate to start. 

[Tiresias]

I also want to see what happens now everyone is doubling up on Miggy, if they double up on ASM too, I mean who is going to be marking Isak/Wilson