Lush Vlad Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 16 hours ago, Mazzy said: He's been average recently and we're just used to him being very good I think thats perhaps the best way I can describe it. Not up to his usual high standards. I've often thought his level was basically a 7/10 every week without even playing well. So any slight drop off and he looked crap. When actually he was still fine and often one of our better players. I'd sometimes say it in games myself, massively taking for granted all the good he did. As you'd then watch highlights back and wonder what you were watching live and he looked like the MOTM But recently I think it is more than that. He has looked jaded and as @TheBrownBottle said. Seems to take an age to shift the ball, more so than before. A few times last night he was fortunate to win the foul or genuinely be fouled. As he had just lost it or was about to lose it. He still has that brilliant ability to find a yard of space when he has no right to and that was on show a number of times again last night. Not comparing their ability as players. But it reminds me of Fabregas, who was also a pretty slow player. Just a couple of neat touches and a body feint and he's goal side or away from the man trying to tackle him. There is of course the fact that Big Joe is missing and teams now have plenty of tape on Bruno further forward and Tonali in the old Bruno role. So they will have found out ways to play round/through us. Whilst also nullifying what we're trying to do going forward. Tonali hasn't been anywhere near his previous levels the last few weeks, either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Thought he was brilliant in the Arsenal home leg but his performances have definitely dipped a bit. I thought it would happen sooner tbh; was worried he might burn out a bit after playing football constantly since he signed. He has these dips though, then picks up again. It wasn't that long ago that we were all crowing about how he'd been unleashed thanks to Sandro, whose drop-off recently has definitely been more stark. Hope that spell of his wasn't a flash in the pan; still has an awful lot to prove here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 (edited) Saying he’s 7/10 every week is incredibly weird for someone who’s been considered one of the best CMs in the league. I think we need to take a breath and remember that Liverpool are absolutely mint. Edited February 27 by AyeDubbleYoo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 (edited) 20 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said: Saying he’s 7/10 every week is incredibly weird for someone who’s been considered one of the best CMs in the league. I think we need to take a breath and remember that Liverpool are absolutely mint. Eh? Read the whole paragraph next time. Also, I've said he'd be a 7/10 without even playing well. As in, he's one of our better players and he set the bar really high. So got flak when his performance dropped slightly. Not really clear reading it back, TBF. TL;DR - he is a victim of his own success and has set the bar too high. So any drop off and an average game from him suddenly looks crap. When in reality, most the time, it isn't/ Edited February 27 by Lush Vlad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Got you, sorry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
et tu brute Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 I think the current form is down to the fact that he is again dropping to deep to get the ball. He hasn't got the legs to sit deep and then be involved in our attacking play. Maybe it's the fact that the midfield is not getting presented with the ball enough, with most of our play (certainly recently) going down the wings. I also feel that other teams have sussed when he's sitting deep, he is the player responsible for orchestrating our play, and are now onto him straight away as soon as he gets the ball. He is then having to try and defend the ball before attempting to play the pass. This is happening constantly and most times he has the skill to do this, but he is very susceptible to having the ball taken off home, as we have seen a few times (costing goals also). I believe this is due to the lack of quality from the current central defenders to find our midfield (I covered this in the Botman thread). His best form (he looked a class above) was when he was predominantly in the number 8 position during our great run. He was dictating play, creating chances, and also getting forward to be another body in the box. IMO Howe needs to ensure he is in a more forward position, where he can have a more direct effect on our attacking play. He looks shelved of confidence currently (as do quite a few to be fair) . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingArthur Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 When he moved more forward, he is automatically less on the ball. Against teams like City and Liverpool we are not really going to have a long time of settled possession for him to play his throughballs. Agree with many that he is so slow that he will not play for the true elite teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 He’s looked very sluggish to me recently. Definitely agree that when he’s further up the pitch he has a far greater impact on the game. I also think he gets caught in possession far too much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
et tu brute Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Just now, KingArthur said: When he moved more forward, he is automatically less on the ball. Against teams like City and Liverpool we are not really going to have a long time of settled possession for him to play his throughballs. Agree with many that he is so slow that he will not play for the true elite teams. You're right he won't, but imo he is far more effective though when in a forward position. You mention about City and Liverpool, you're correct at their grounds, but at home we have more than taken the game to them and have been unfortunate not to beat either the last two seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Just now, et tu brute said: You're right he won't, but imo he is far more effective though when in a forward position. You mention about City and Liverpool, you're correct at their grounds, but at home we have more than taken the game to them and have been unfortunate not to beat either the last two seasons. We could probably do with him chipping in with a few more goals too. I think overall he’s been great for us but I wouldn’t be averse to him moving on in the summer and having a more attacking midfielder in that position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
et tu brute Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 (edited) 13 minutes ago, ExiledGeordie said: We could probably do with him chipping in with a few more goals too. I think overall he’s been great for us but I wouldn’t be averse to him moving on in the summer and having a more attacking midfielder in that position. We need a creative midfielder with pace I definitely agree. All depends on what we have to spend as we need a goalkeeper, right winger, striker and right sided centre half. Depends on what the club feel are the priority positions. Probably be two or three years before all positions are upgraded. Edit: Depends on how quickly we want to get to be really challenging, we await the owners regarding how we are going to increase revenue (I still maintain they are awaiting the APT ruling) and also if they decide to sell a purple to speed this up. Edited February 28 by et tu brute Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 30 minutes ago, et tu brute said: We need a creative midfielder with pace I definitely agree. All depends on what we have to spend as we need a goalkeeper, right winger, striker and right sided centre half. Depends on what the club feel are the priority positions. Probably be two or three years before all positions are upgraded. Edit: Depends on how quickly we want to get to be really challenging, we await the owners regarding how we are going to increase revenue (I still maintain they are awaiting the APT ruling) and also if they decide to sell a purple to speed this up. Yes I think things will be a lot clearer at the end of this season. We will definitely be spending fairly heavily in the summer and league placing will help define player targets. I think if we get CL we could have a really strong team next season - I.e first rate additions at R CB, RW, attacking midfielder, back up striker and probably Trafford. There’ll be quite a few outgoings too to raise some money and as you say it’ll be interesting to see if a purple gets sold. I think if we won a cup that probably increases the chance of Bruno going (job done next challenge type thing) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Lad is tired. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Think his game is better suited to a team who look to hold onto the ball a little more. Always seems to me we’re looking to bang it forward at every opportunity whether the ball is on or not. Think Bruno’s natural game is to play passes that have better percentages. Thus he can get caught ‘dawdling’. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 God gave him all the technical ability in the world and countered it by putting an invisible lorry on his back whenever he tries to run Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 The being slow thing is being overplayed. I got pelters for saying he looked slow before he joined. He joined, looked slow but it didn't matter much. Now he's tired and out of form. And the slowness is used as a stick to beat him with. He needs a break. Don't know where/when he's going to get it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 7 minutes ago, The College Dropout said: The being slow thing is being overplayed. Agreed. I don't even think he's that slow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 2 hours ago, KingArthur said: When he moved more forward, he is automatically less on the ball. Against teams like City and Liverpool we are not really going to have a long time of settled possession for him to play his throughballs. Agree with many that he is so slow that he will not play for the true elite teams. He doesn't need to be quick to play for a team that has the majority of the ball though. He'd absolutely flourish in the Man City or Real Madrid teams. The problem is we barely have the ball, and he has to spend the majority of the match trying to make space for a short pass from Dan Burn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 55 minutes ago, Chris_R said: Agreed. I don't even think he's that slow. He's really slow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joelinton7 Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 He’s captain tugboat levels of slow. But he’s class at everything else so it’s fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smal Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 definitely up there with the slowest PL players I've seen. Konate just jogged past him with the ball at twice the speed the other night to the extent I got a bit of second hand embarrassment. There was one time that sticks in my head from last season where he and Longstaff were making a recovery run to challenge for the ball. Longstaff had almost twice the distance to cover and he just breezed past Bruno Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiston Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 He is very very slow. Usually his quality limits how much that is a problem for him/ us though. A bit out of form so it's looking much worse lately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Butcher Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Can't think of a slower footballer than him tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smal Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Jonjo, Geremi and Nicky Butt immediately come to mind Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiston Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 4 minutes ago, Smal said: Jonjo, Geremi and Nicky Butt immediately come to mind 5 minute 100m sprint between the four of them would be a great watch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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