Allan Saint-Maximin (now playing for Fenerbahce, on loan from Al-Ahli)

[Ikon]

Give him time. 

[Wolfcastle]

Its more of a team effort now which doesn't appear to suit him, he's more the 10 playing off the forward in a free-role of days of yore.

If that's what were going to be going forward, gonna be tricky.

[jack j]

1 hour ago, Colos Short and Curlies said:

He's overthinking things at the moment. Almost like the pressure has got to him in being a cog and not the whole machine

He needs to be loved like

The corner started singing his name and you seen it instantly boosted him

Football needs players like him even if he is infuriating as fuck sometimes

[St. Maximin]

I’ll happily admit he was frustrating me tonight, but I find some of the criticism he gets very harsh. He’s been excellent for most of his time here - some poor recent performances having potentially not been fully fit firstly shouldn’t detract from that, but also I think we’re used to him being so good that we judge him much more harshly. Granted he is frustrating given his ability, but his ability is actually ridiculous - I don’t know how many of the best attacking players in the world have the combined pace and dribbling ability that compares with his, yet he plays for us and not a CL club, so he’s obviously going to be inconsistent and make bad decisions etc. Pretty sure I’d almost always take that kind of player (who is also clearly out of form) than one of those wingers you can “trust” but ultimately just isn’t very good (thinking Ritchie, Gouffran, Jonas etc.). 

[Gallowgate Toon]

I've looked at him differently since Trippier (and now Bruno) came in. It sort of reminded me what a truly quality player looks like and ASM isn't that, imo.

 

I actually think he lacks some real fundamentals to his game. He's not brilliant at anything other than dribbling. Touch can go from sublime to ridiculous, his striking technique is very inconsistent, not exactly a stellar passer of the ball, very patchy decision-making. We're by no means a fantastic attacking unit but he's part of that problem, imo. Maybe he's holding some injuries and needs a proper break.

 

He was a really useful talisman for us for a while when things were bad but I think he's been a bit shown up since we started to look like a functioning team. Give him another year but if it's more of the same then I'd look to get rid.

[Jaqen]

We've not really seen him play with competent attackers yet other than Wilson who he provided some good assists for. 

 

The calls for him to be dropped or sold before he's had a chance to play in a proper side after carrying us since he got here is a bit daft. 

[Geordie Ahmed]

He had a poor game in that his dribbles weren't as a successful as they usually are, his passing was poor (that one that was meant for Burn but went out of play was bad) and his shooting was crap but he was trying, don't think his decision making was an issue but the execution of the dribbles, passing and shooting wasn't great

 

I'll never be overly critical of a player that tries things and that's what he certainly did tonight

 

Give me that ASM performance over your bang average wingers that run to the full back and then just pass it back

 

And that touch in the build up to the penalty was lush 

[Gallowgate Toon]

You can get wingers who track back while also contributing well going forward. They're not the rarity they once were.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by Gallowgate Toon

[TRC]

When trippier is back I'd like to see ASM on the right. I think Trippiers leadership and attacking ability would really help him.

[Khalidao]

Overall, he played a bad game today. But that's the point, he produces something at his worst.

 

I'm convinced he'll reach his peak when Newcastle sign a creative midfielder and a solid striker next season.

[Happinesstan]

I'm not sure I'd call today one of his worse performances. A lot of things didn't work, possibly due to a lack of sharpness, but his desire never faded. If anything his desire overwhelmed him at times. But that's not a bad thing. Looking forward to see him next season, after everything has calmed down a bit.

[Ed210]

I’m genuinely starting to think he’s a bit of a one trick pony with zero footballing brain. So frustrating every time I watch him. 

[r0cafella]

4 minutes ago, Ed210 said:

I’m genuinely starting to think he’s a bit of a one trick pony with zero footballing brain. So frustrating every time I watch him. 

He’s clearly not. Of course dribbling his biggest weapon but his clever pass for big Joe created the overload which got us the penalty. 
 

he’s far from perfect but he’s clearly our most productive attacking player, he’s makes a lot of mistakes of course but which of our lot doesn’t. 

[Dr.Spaceman]

He was frustrating last night, but as others have said let's see how he does in Newcastle 2.0.

 

Part of the issue is our team sometimes fail to anticipate his movement and he ends up alone after skinning 3/4 players. He's a valuable asset, we just need to tone him down a bit.

[SUPERTOON]

I really feel we will see the best of him when he isn’t out only real attacking threat. 

[Ikon]

Also, he’s not 100% match fit yet. His head wants one thing, and knows that he can (usually) beat his man but when he doesn’t have that proper spring in his step then things don’t quite work out because it’s all about that millisecond of difference. He wants it and tries to force it but it will only come with time when he’s proper super fit again and then the confidence will come too and he will be unplayable again at times. You could argue that he should play it more simple and all that, I agree. Having said that it’s not quite that easy for a player of his style. He’s desperate but he will become good with time and patience.

 

He can be frustrating as fuck I agree. He has a few things that he needs to work on no doubt. Get fit and co Disney again with better players around him and he’ll be good again. Totally different player but Tiote was a player who took time to get proper fit too, and needed to be. Rip. 

 

[McCormick]

Think he puts a lot of pressure on himself to be some sort of human highlight reel. Really needs to just play it simple more often.

[Klaus]

On a side note, this guy must get kicked/shirt pulled etc at least 10 times a match without getting a free kick awarded. It's so fucking frustrating.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Klaus

[GWN]

Clearly trying very hard last night , too hard at times .

 

i fucking love the bloke , he gets me off my seat every time , it’s what I pay my money for 

[The College Dropout]

He’s one I want in the squad next season. While it’s a luxury move I wouldn’t be against signing a first team player in his position. He’s easily upgradeable and could do with the competition. 

[Yorkie]

51 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

I really feel we will see the best of him when he isn’t out only real attacking threat. 

 

He wound me up a lot last night but yeah, I think this is the most critical point. Fraser has improved a lot on the whole but he's not someone who the opposition need to double-up on. Teams can afford to put three men on ASM, so he might become even more effective if there's another flair player in the side to take the pressure off. 

 

That won't change his horrendous decision making, mind. 

[Tiresias]

Yep the lack of threat from Wood and Almiron (albeit i thought latter had a decent game) mean its easy for opposition to gang up on him so does make him look worse. Frustrating but i dont know where else in this team currently real threat is coming from apart from set pieces, and ASM is still likely to give us a few dangerous free kicks a game anyway.

[Thumbheed]

I think he's going to struggle in a team that is going transitioning to a posession based game. 

 

Perhaps a move to a right where he won't be cutting into traffic and being able to whip more balls in?

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

Captain Hindsight who sits next to me and absolutely despises him wasn’t there last night. While we all find him frustrating at times, it was joyous not to have someone chirping in my ear about every single thing he did.

[Jagten]

I think we're in a post-Hatem world where the argument for the romantic spectacle of flawed but talented entertainers in an otherwise mediocre side doesn't hold up. We can probably buy the version of this guy who isn't a bad decision maker.