Nucasol Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Newcastle United and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, 25, is Serie A side Juventus' top transfer target for the summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timeEd32 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Deuce said: He’s just not an out-and-out defensive midfielder. He naturally wants to push forward, which is partially why we’ve been caught out on the break with huge amounts of space between midfield and defense. In a perfect world I think he works best in the Big Joe role, as a workhorse, ball-winning central midfielder. But one who can also hit a nice thru ball and will have a decent whack from 30 yards out. Feeling like the dude in the Rockwell painting at this point, but dropping a true holding midfielder into the XI would let Tonali and Bruno cook. Those two are creative enough to mitigate the need for an advanced attacking midfielder. I still hold out hope that we see a Tonali, Miley, Bruno midfield this season and that it changes everything. But it requires Tino, Hall, and Miley to all be fit at the same time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timeEd32 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 7 minutes ago, Nucasol said: Newcastle United and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, 25, is Serie A side Juventus' top transfer target for the summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian) I'm not sure they could afford Willock and stay out of UEFA's crosshairs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Deuce said: He’s just not an out-and-out defensive midfielder. He naturally wants to push forward, which is partially why we’ve been caught out on the break with huge amounts of space between midfield and defense. In a perfect world I think he works best in the Big Joe role, as a workhorse, ball-winning central midfielder. But one who can also hit a nice thru ball and will have a decent whack from 30 yards out. Feeling like the dude in the Rockwell painting at this point, but dropping a true holding midfielder into the XI would let Tonali and Bruno cook. Those two are creative enough to mitigate the need for an advanced attacking midfielder. Not convinced on the idea of Tonali hitting nice thru balls, or being creative tbh. But he's a box to box action man who can work with other creative players if his job is just to win the ball and pass it quickly to someone who IS creative. Funnily enough, I think he'll look very effective with the right players around him, and us playing in a less ping pong style. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 (edited) 13 minutes ago, TRon said: Not convinced on the idea of Tonali hitting nice thru balls, or being creative tbh. But he's a box to box action man who can work with other creative players if his job is just to win the ball and pass it quickly to someone who IS creative. Funnily enough, I think he'll look very effective with the right players around him, and us playing in a less ping pong style. I know he’s struggled with long passes this year, but I swear we’ve seen him consistently deliver pinpoint accurate passes in the past. Edited February 5 by Deuce Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 45 minutes ago, timeEd32 said: I'm not sure they could afford Willock and stay out of UEFA's crosshairs. Zero chance UEFA punish Juve in any meaningful sense Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
timeEd32 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 21 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said: Zero chance UEFA punish Juve in any meaningful sense They are in a probationary period, which you could rightly call lenient, but their finances are a disaster. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 39 minutes ago, timeEd32 said: They are in a probationary period, which you could rightly call lenient, but their finances are a disaster. 100%, they’re an absolute mess. It’s funny how PSR was there to protect the old ‘big’ clubs, but it means that the Agnelli family can no longer prop the club up with Fiat money. Juve never had big gates to sustain them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorJ_01 Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I think we want him to be some creative player simply due to his name. If he was called Chud McGinn it'd be more suitable for his box to box destroyer style, and probably put his value at £40m Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexf Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 People describing him as "honking" are going overboard in my opinion. He's been below the standards he set last season but then the whole team hasn't been functioning well this season. I feel he's still consistently one of our better players and a really important cog especially out of possession. I think the dip when his passing was all over the shop which felt like it was only for a few games pre his kid being born has painted a narrative that he's been awful all season. Still think he's probably off in the summer, thought it even before all the recent stuff in the press. But I think people making out he's been awful is just a form of cope for another disappointing loss of a good player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 37 minutes ago, TaylorJ_01 said: Chud McGinn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 49 minutes ago, TaylorJ_01 said: I think we want him to be some creative player simply due to his name. If he was called Chud McGinn it'd be more suitable for his box to box destroyer style, and probably put his value at £40m He’s nee Bruno Fernanch creatively but we were at one point talking about him as one of the most complete midfielders in the world. He’s got that Schweinsteiger-esque dog in him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
soyt Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Quote Sandro Tonali is growing increasingly frustrated at Newcastle and was heard venting his frustration at the situation to a member of club staff following the Carabao Cup defeat by Manchester City - The Sun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Bye Sandro Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 1 minute ago, Menace said: Bye Sandro It's the sun so it's probably bollocks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menace Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I get it, the media are hawking on to the story - its still ropey for me personally. His agent wouldn't be offering his services if he didn't get approval from his client no matter what we'd like to think Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 1 minute ago, Menace said: I get it, the media are hawking on to the story - its still ropey for me personally. His agent wouldn't be offering his services if he didn't get approval from his client no matter what we'd like to think Oh yeah I think we all know he will be off this summer. Given we stood by him I think it will be done amicably. Once bitten twice shy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
soyt Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) I would not be that surprised if the players were starting to question things. They do not seem to have that 100% belief of what they are doing anymore. Many of them are asked to do things that they are not suited to. If i was Burn or Trippier and i would be asked to defend forward to opposition half and then made look like donkey running back - surely i would ask the manager that what is going on. And how about Woltemade and his role? Midfielders seem to be completely lost of what they should be doing. Tonali has been below par for a long time, but our tactics are not helping anyone at the moment. I would argue that there are now 2 players that are reaching their potential - Hall and Miley. Edited February 6 by soyt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWN Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 isak has completely fucked this squads minds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbydazzla Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 We've got McGinn Super Chud McGinn I just don't think you understand He's Suds the Nerds man He's better than Zidane We've got super Chud McGinn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
duo Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 It feels like he's edging out the door - drop in performance, none committal, agent offering him around, likely no CL football next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 The writing has been on the wall for this team for awhile now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Does have a 'no smoke without fire' vibe to it. If it's true that he fancies a move then hopefully he'll Cabaye it and deliver his best form before he moves, and we'll get another jumbo fee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
r0cafella Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 5 minutes ago, Yorkie said: Does have a 'no smoke without fire' vibe to it. If it's true that he fancies a move then hopefully he'll Cabaye it and deliver his best form before he moves, and we'll get another jumbo fee. Will probably rock up at a cartel club mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Overall he's had a very odd time here. Clearly a very good player. Great intelligence, ridiculous engine and solid enough technically. That said, through no fault of his own, the midfield can look incredibly unbalanced with him in it, particularly when played alongside Bruno. He took up a position as more of a six last season and we looked formidable, but we've since seen a return to more of a flat midfield three and I'm not convinced it's by design. It's noticeable how much better the shape is when only one of Tonali or Bruno play. He's also been quite steaky form wise, but that's probably more to do with personal stuff. The gambling ban, having a bairn, etc. I really hope he stays and kicks on, but it's also not the end of the world if he doesn't. I don't think we've seen the best of him, for long enough, even if that's due to misfortune. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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