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

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

His biggest errors yesterday weren’t down to being outnumbered by Liverpool defenders, there were a few occasions where we had a half-chance to counter and his first touch was woeful, killing our attack before we could threaten.

[Pata]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

People compare ASM to Zaha but the level of output is on another level. 

 

If you exclude Zaha's penalties, he has six goals and one assist. ASM has 5 goals and 4 assists. Their expected goals+assists per 90 without penalties is exactly the same at 0.33.

[WillingtonMag]

2 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

People compare ASM to Zaha but the level of output is on another level. 

Be over the moon if we get Zaha tbh.

[Jaqen]

We are going to play differently and carry much more of a threat next season. That will give us a much better idea of what his level is really like. 

 

The whole attack is poor and disjointed. Doesn't really matter an awful lot which 3 you pick ATM they're all various shades of shite.

 

The others you can argue fairly have worked harder, pressed better and fit the current system more overall but ultimately none of them are good enough. The difference is Maxi has proved he's got more than enough talent and ability to be a really good player in this league. 

 

I'm fairly confident we'll see him performing well again next season.

 

 

 

 

[David Edgar]

Nobody is paying 50-70 million for this guy.

 

He's inconsistent and struggles to play a role in a system.  

[TRon]

1 hour ago, Fantail Breeze said:

Thought he’s getting there, seemed better yesterday (and has done in recent weeks) at releasing the ball and passing.

 

You must have been watching a different game yesterday then.

[Guest HTT II]

I don’t question his talent, it’s the whinging and failing to get back or get stuck back in that pisses me off. You see Shelvey now bursting a gut to get back or track his man and he’s slower than someone with an IQ of 50, but this tw@t thinks everything should go his way, fall his way or just come off exactly how he thinks it should in his mind. It pisses you off and forget the fact he’s being doubled up on, or we lack quality in attack, there is no excuse for his histrionics, if he was my team-mate I’d slap him. And if I’m playing against him I’m rubbing my hands because he’s easy to defend against and even easier to put him off his game by getting up close and personal. I’d sell even for 30m, we could do much better!

[Sean]

I think both sides of the argument have validity when it comes to ASM. 

 

Thankfully, we can trust our manager to make the right call.

 

Ultimately, he gets to see what his attitude is like on a daily basis, and how receptive he is when it comes to instructions etc. 

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, WillingtonMag said:

Be over the moon if we get Zaha tbh.

If it wasn’t for the fact he’s almost 30 I’d go all out for him. ASM should watch what he does though because he’s got the attributes.

[HaydnNUFC]

12 hours ago, Disco said:

A healthy percentage of people used to despise Robert with all the same tropes tbf.

 

Yep, which is why I used him as a comparison. People will say that ASM can't touch Robert in regards to quality, yet their goal contribution per 90 is similar and Robert took set pieces in addition to playing in a far better side. It's a bit of revisionism given how the same people probably fucking hated him for not working hard enough and will be the same about ASM in about 10 years.

[macphisto]

I wonder if there's truth in the stories that the club want to sell him in the summer and he knows he's off?

[TRon]

12 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yep, which is why I used him as a comparison. People will say that ASM can't touch Robert in regards to quality, yet their goal contribution per 90 is similar and Robert took set pieces in addition to playing in a far better side. It's a bit of revisionism given how the same people probably fucking hated him for not working hard enough and will be the same about ASM in about 10 years.

 

The comparison is not accurate IMO, Robert got criticised for not tracking back, but he never ran down blind alleys and allowed the opposition to dispossess him repeatedly over 90 mins. That's my major gripe with Maxi, not his failure to track back.

[JumpersForGoalposts]

12 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yep, which is why I used him as a comparison. People will say that ASM can't touch Robert in regards to quality, yet their goal contribution per 90 is similar and Robert took set pieces in addition to playing in a far better side. It's a bit of revisionism given how the same people probably fucking hated him for not working hard enough and will be the same about ASM in about 10 years.

Robert played in a much better team though. He was providing service to top drawer strikers, flanked by Dyer, Jenas and Speed and had Olivier Bernard behind him who had the legs to cover him. Ginola was in a similar position.

 

ASM can't be carried as a luxury player in this team, and assuming we get more players of the standard of Bruno, he won't be our talisman either.

 

For me, he needs to learn to be a tricky winger who can play as part of a quality team. At the minute, he's far too one dimensional, and teams know how to negate him.

 

Change the attitude and style, or move on. Clearly has the talent, but there is a massive question mark over his character and desire.

 

At this point in time, I'd take 35mil for him and reinvest. I hope he proves me wrong and becomes a key player for us next season.

[WilliamPS]

7 minutes ago, macphisto said:

I wonder if there's truth in the stories that the club want to sell him in the summer and he knows he's off?

Be mad to be looking to shift one of the best players given the amount of work the squad needs.

 

[JonBez comesock]

I’ve noticed every time he gets the ball now (most teams) double up on him and smother him , he then has to keep cutting inside and runs into trouble 

 

Still think we need a player like him to things off the cuff that others can’t do 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by JonBez comesock

[HaydnNUFC]

30 minutes ago, JumpersForGoalposts said:

Robert played in a much better team though. He was providing service to top drawer strikers, flanked by Dyer, Jenas and Speed and had Olivier Bernard behind him who had the legs to cover him. Ginola was in a similar position.

 

ASM can't be carried as a luxury player in this team, and assuming we get more players of the standard of Bruno, he won't be our talisman either.

 

For me, he needs to learn to be a tricky winger who can play as part of a quality team. At the minute, he's far too one dimensional, and teams know how to negate him.

 

Change the attitude and style, or move on. Clearly has the talent, but there is a massive question mark over his character and desire.

 

At this point in time, I'd take 35mil for him and reinvest. I hope he proves me wrong and becomes a key player for us next season.

 

That's counterintuitive though: we'll get better players in the summer and beyond, so surely we should keep him as a result of that? 

[JumpersForGoalposts]

7 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

That's counterintuitive though: we'll get better players in the summer and beyond, so surely we should keep him as a result of that? 

If we get better players to cover his defensive duties and ASM ups his end product, decision making and effort, then yes.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by JumpersForGoalposts

[TRon]

43 minutes ago, JonBez comesock said:

I’ve noticed every time he gets the ball now (most teams) double up on him and smother him , he then has to keep cutting inside and runs into trouble 

 

Still think we need a player like him to things off the cuff that others can’t do 

 

 

 

 

If teams are doubling up on him, he's won the first battle by pulling players out of position. That means there should be more space for other players....provided he releases the ball and gets it to one of them.

[macphisto]

15 minutes ago, JumpersForGoalposts said:

If we get better players to cover his defensive duties and ASM ups his end product, decision making and effort, then yes.

 

 

 

Football has moved on a lot since Robert and Ginola, ASM will have to cover his own defensive duties if he wants to be part of the club in the future. As an interim measure, it would be the only reason for keeping Targett who could cover him defensively. 

 

We have had such poor teams under Ashley that as a fanbase we are behind the times. Most people are advocating keeping Targett who doesn't do enough in attack and ASM who doesn't work hard enough; the complete antithesis to how the top teams are setup and the way football is moving.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by macphisto

[Pata]

5 minutes ago, macphisto said:

Targett who doesn't do enough in attack and ASM who doesn't work hard enough;

 

You don't see how these two things could possibly be linked? I can understand people being frustrated with ASM right now but find your campaign against Targett fucking weird tbh. We are so far from being good enough to say that Targett isn't good enough for us.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by Pata

[JonBez comesock]

13 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

If teams are doubling up on him, he's won the first battle by pulling players out of position. That means there should be more space for other players....provided he releases the ball and gets it to one of them.

Yeah but he doesn’t , he naturally wants to take players on 

 

 

[macphisto]

1 minute ago, Pata said:

 

You don't see how these two things could possibly be linked? I can understand people being frustrated with ASM right now but find your campaign against Targett fucking weird tbh.

No, I don't think they are linked because their historical stats back up what I said. I find it bizarre why so many people are so keen to keep Targett when we are hoping to be challenging in the future. Campaign??? Targett is a solid player who I'd be happy to keep if Howe wants to but I don't understand the way people are going overboard about him. He is a solid player, no more; there's a reason a 26 year old player with 139 Premier League appearances is available for £15 million. We have shown we can sign a really top class full back in Trippier and I'd much rather explore the possibility of having the same level of player on the other side.

[KaKa]

8 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

People compare ASM to Zaha but the level of output is on another level. 

 

This is only the third season he's managed double figure goals in the league, and he doesn't usually get many assists either. Has only managed one assist in the league so far this season.

[Ronaldo]

7 hours ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Yep, which is why I used him as a comparison. People will say that ASM can't touch Robert in regards to quality, yet their goal contribution per 90 is similar and Robert took set pieces in addition to playing in a far better side. It's a bit of revisionism given how the same people probably fucking hated him for not working hard enough and will be the same about ASM in about 10 years.

Comparing ASM to Robert is madness. Totally different players. Totally different levels too, as much as I rate ASM as a talent. 

[HaydnNUFC]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo said:

Comparing ASM to Robert is madness. Totally different players. Totally different levels too, as much as I rate ASM as a talent. 

 

Aware of that, was comparing them because of the yer da section of our fanbase that hated Robert (or any flair player really) that is now possessing ever growing hatred for ASM and want him sold.