Sandro Tonali

[janpawel]

41 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

We've not been able to replace Isak, Wilson, Joelinton, Murphy or Schar at this point. I'm not confident we can replace Tonali. Who by my measure is still the second best CM i've seen from us.

 

He's the only Newcastle midfielder where the opposition can't live with his physicality, work rate and nous consistently. Just grinding midfielders down.

 

He's a major reason we've managed to get those big results against top teams and for the CL campaign and League Cup win. First win at Emirates he was amazing League Cup. Final amazing.

 

This

 

For the last 2/3 years our top 3 players have been Isak, Bruno, Tonali

 

To lose 2 of them + our poor recruitment last summer is a bit of a worry 

[kingxlnc]

I'd like to get more of a Caicedo/Tiote type - a destructive mobile DM, just sitting, with Bruno and Miley as 8's ahead. 

Like a Joelinton but defensive. Fernandinho or one of those water carrier type of players who I don't quite like watching but they do a vital job for the team

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Do any teams play with a sitting midfielder now?
 

Guess it’s difficult if you value pressing high up the field. Probably easier if you dominate possession like with Rodri. 

 

 

Edited March 27 by AyeDubbleYoo

[kingxlnc]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Do any teams play with a sitting midfielder now?
 

Guess it’s difficult if you value pressing high up the field. Probably easier if you dominate possession like with Rodri. 

 

 

 

True but the heavy metal Klopp Liverpool team that Howe was emulating early doors had Fabinho and Naby Keita 

Not sure if Tonali was supposed to be that for us - feel like he was the Gini Wijnaldum or Jordan Henderson great engine equivalent

[Chicken Dancer]

I've always fancied Miley in the deeper, more central role long term.

 

Like a Michael Carrick sort of thing.

 

I'd be gutted if we lost Tonali, we'd really notice a difference if he left. If I was given a choice I'd obviously rather keep Bruno but I'd much rather we were able to keep both.

 

We need to wheel and deal in a world of PSR but losing Isak and Tonali in successive summers wouldn't say much for any project that's meant to be happening.

[Holloway]

His passing has deteriorated since he started wearing those poncey geps

 

 

Edited March 27 by Holloway

[The College Dropout]

48 minutes ago, AJ9 said:

I can’t argue with your points, what I meant by replace him is not necessarily find a Tonali like for like, but someone who can 

 

1. Offer more control in our build

2. Retain possession though more accurate passing

3. Dictate a game through becoming more press resistant

 

Maybe this is Miley, and maybe we need to change our whole approach / press / off the ball work to accommodate this, but I think moving on from Tonali is a change to evolve the midfield not build around physicality again

They need to be able to do all of that at a really high level to replace Tonali though.  Prime Jorginho can do all of the above but (1) Tonali overruns him more time anyway (2) does that even suit a Howe midfield?

 

currently Mainoo does all of those things.  But at their best Sandro just bullies Mainoo out a game. 
 

That level of player would be wanted by elite clubs.  Thats essentially Bruno G. I don’t think 2 Bruno’s work for Howe. And finding the next Bruno is a gold rush. 
 

On paper Tonali is a lot harder to replace and improve upon than the reality. 

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, janpawel said:

 

This

 

For the last 2/3 years our top 3 players have been Isak, Bruno, Tonali

 

To lose 2 of them + our poor recruitment last summer is a bit of a worry 

Massive. Even Gordon, Schar.  Tough tough players to replace. Even a prime Pope.  
 

For a club that has never had it so good. We think replacements come easy as if we are Liverpool or Chelsea.  

[The College Dropout]

11 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

I've always fancied Miley in the deeper, more central role long term.

 

Like a Michael Carrick sort of thing.

 

I'd be gutted if we lost Tonali, we'd really notice a difference if he left. If I was given a choice I'd obviously rather keep Bruno but I'd much rather we were able to keep both.

 

We need to wheel and deal in a world of PSR but losing Isak and Tonali in successive summers wouldn't say much for any project that's meant to be happening.

This phase of the project ended with Isak leaving imo. Most of the rest will leave too imo. This season is enjoying the fumes of that era and trying to build a new one. 
 

Question is can we go again? Build a second team? Last summer wasn’t promising.   

[The Prophet]

If feels like both things are true here. Tonali is one of our best players, who has put in some excellent performances. 

 

We've also seen him at his best for less than a full season. We haven't seen the player who was arguably MotM in the cup final for months now.

[Ilovetoon8788]

i still feel tonali is the best player we have that we can sell for PSR AND improve the team.

we need a different player profile than tonali in the central midfield.

[TRon]

4 hours ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

This is the horrible season he's had... I had to stop in mid-September because I can only quote 50 messages, but it's like this until the end of October.

Then he had two or three bad months, and then since the end of January I think he's playing better.

Trippier is having a horrible season, certainly not Sandro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of interest, how do Italian fans rate him? I was keen to watch him play for Italy yesterday but had other commitments, but I would love to know if he is better on the ball for a side that plays more patiently. In England he's great at the closing down, but this season his own passing has gone astray when opposition teams have closed HIM down. 

[Paully]

Very good authority that he wanted to play some part but for some reason, Eddie wouldn’t risk him which is absolutely baffling 

[GEFAFWISP]

4 minutes ago, Paully said:

Very good authority that he wanted to play some part but for some reason, Eddie wouldn’t risk him which is absolutely baffling 

Can't be true, doesn't paint Sandro in a bad light.

[Keefaz]

Been very patchy. His agent must be incredible if he really is getting interest from top clubs.

[Slim]

12 minutes ago, Keefaz said:

Been very patchy. His agent must be incredible if he really is getting interest from top clubs.

[Swissmag]

14 minutes ago, Keefaz said:

Been very patchy. His agent must be incredible if he really is getting interest from top clubs.

what? 🙃

[Jesse Pinkman]

Tonali is a top player but I think we can get a player that does 80% of what he does at half the price. We need to reinvest the money in a top keeper, creative player or lethal striker 

 

 

Edited March 27 by Jesse Pinkman

[TK-421]

15 hours ago, Ginola14 said:

not unheard of for players to miss one game then be fit for the next 

True dat.

[FLUMPO235]

I think deep down we all knew when he gave those post match comments about his future a while ago, that he wasn’t staying long term.

 

at the time I optimistically put it down to him being shattered after 90 mins of football.

 

but all this smoke and in hindsight does sugguest he’s probably waiting for the right offer to come in and that has been the game plan from day 1.

 

thats not his fault, he’s a footballer with a short shelf life and for all we know he’s spunked his life earnings pre gambling ban up the wall.

 

its football, if he goes I wish him well, as long as he handles it respectfully, unlike isak.

 

i hope he stays, but he needs to up his game next season. Like the whole team, not been consistently good enough this year 

 

As a fanbase we probably need to toughen up. The last 10 years have seen us have such average players no one else ever took them off us. Now we have some that are half decent it hurts to lose them. But going forward we/howe/board need to be ruthless if we want to progress.

 

we just can’t fuck up the replacement or the next window again.

 

no one’s bigger than the club.

[The College Dropout]

That offer might not come btw

[Kanj]

I'd hoy a larger pay packet, a release clause and call it a day. Hopkinson and co need to signal we're not just a recycling selling club - we are keeping our best players. 

 

[PauloGeordio]

16 minutes ago, FLUMPO235 said:

I think deep down we all knew when he gave those post match comments about his future a while ago, that he wasn’t staying long term.

 

at the time I optimistically put it down to him being shattered after 90 mins of football.

 

but all this smoke and in hindsight does sugguest he’s probably waiting for the right offer to come in and that has been the game plan from day 1.

 

thats not his fault, he’s a footballer with a short shelf life and for all we know he’s spunked his life earnings pre gambling ban up the wall.

 

its football, if he goes I wish him well, as long as he handles it respectfully, unlike isak.

 

i hope he stays, but he needs to up his game next season. Like the whole team, not been consistently good enough this year 

 

As a fanbase we probably need to toughen up. The last 10 years have seen us have such average players no one else ever took them off us. Now we have some that are half decent it hurts to lose them. But going forward we/howe/board need to be ruthless if we want to progress.

 

we just can’t fuck up the replacement or the next window again.

 

no one’s bigger than the club.

There is One that IS the club 

[The College Dropout]

12 minutes ago, Kanj said:

I'd hoy a larger pay packet, a release clause and call it a day. Hopkinson and co need to signal we're not just a recycling selling club - we are keeping our best players. 

 

Last summer proved players don't need to go through that rigmarole.

[Curva Sud Milano]

1 hour ago, TRon said:

 

 

Out of interest, how do Italian fans rate him? I was keen to watch him play for Italy yesterday but had other commitments, but I would love to know if he is better on the ball for a side that plays more patiently. In England he's great at the closing down, but this season his own passing has gone astray when opposition teams have closed HIM down. 

 

At Brescia, AC Milan and Italy he doesn't play as DM... that said, Tonali, Dimarco, and Donnarumma (and partly Calafiori) are the only talents we have. The rest of the team is horrible and is also led by a coach who isn't exactly the best.

Barella was God two years ago, today he's a ghost... and even Bastoni is in decline.

Yesterday I watched the game at home with three friends and at halftime, for fun, we looked at the Italian national team rosters from 1982 to today... it was disheartening to see what a team we had in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002. It's unreal that we won in 2006 with a team whose good players had already given their best years before.

From 2010 to today ALL the Italian national teams have been awful.