Sandro Tonali

[Mole]

45 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Did they only just realise that Tonali would cost money? Transfer rumours confuse me a fair bit. 

Same reason why all these clubs do it and why Liverpool threw a strop in the media last summer, pretty sure it's designed to try and apply pressure. Don't believe for a second they're just going to quietly into the night.

[bobbydazzla]

52 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Did they only just realise that Tonali would cost money? Transfer rumours confuse me a fair bit. 

 

Just imagine that whatever transfer rumour you happen to read is coming out of the mouth of Jay out of The Inbetweeners. It prevents confusion.

[Ketsbaia]

Only 7 or 8 clubs could afford the price tag and most either don't need him, want other midfielders, or won't think he's worth the fee.

 

So I can't see it being as simple as 'if he asks to leave, he'll go'. It feels a bit 50-50.

[BonesJones]

1 hour ago, Ketsbaia said:

Only 7 or 8 clubs could afford the price tag and most either don't need him, want other midfielders, or won't think he's worth the fee.

 

So I can't see it being as simple as 'if he asks to leave, he'll go'. It feels a bit 50-50.

 

You not met my mate Todd? 

[huss9]

can fuck off.

really needed to step up today in Bruno's absence.

no interest in putting in an effort today.

disgraceful few weeks.

come out and say it if you dont want to be here.

so glad the fucker got knocked  out of the world cup.

 

 

Edited April 12 by huss9

[TRon]

I just worry his poor performances will mean we don't get as much as we should. The lo and behold he activates beast mode at whichever cartel club he ends up at. 

[duo]

We have seen how good he can be - sadly we've not seen the best of him very often this season.

 

 

Edited April 12 by duo

[Moose]

I don't know if he's downed tools or what but he's been stinking out the joint all season. Losing him isn't going to be the colossal blow I thought it would be

[Pilko]

He's a big part of the reason why we can't control games or keep the ball for toffee. Another one who'd smash the Premier League School Sports Day competition if it was ever span up but is about as much of a technical footballer as I am an astronaut.

[Keggy_Keagal]

It'll be interesting to see whether the club has learned the lessons of the past . Tonali's value is artificially high . As is Livramento's (significant spells out with injury). We should be looking to sell if the prices rumoured are true . Same for Gordon if it's 80 million up. 

[joeyt]

His best was very much a purple patch last season.

 

Most of his time here he's been pretty average

[El Prontonise]

I really don't think he's that good on the ball, more legs than anything.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Sandro does have some cracking technique in his locker but it's moments rather than consistent tekkers.

 

Bruno, Miley, and Ramsey are our most technical midfielders by a distance imo.

[Lotus]

His only use to Eddie is his stamina. He’s been very good on the ball at his previous clubs and for Italy. We don’t really play with movement or creativity though so I think his ball playing abilities are wasted here. We could sell and buy a champo player who will chase the ball around like a dog in the park and use the spare for something else.

[Kilcline]

Tonali's best quality on the ball for me is the ability to act as a wall player, but we need a cohesive midfield unit and technical and clever players for that to happen effectively. I think a lot of what we might call or see as his sloppiness comes down to how static and predictable we are at times, albeit a lot of his on-the-ball work should be much better, irrespective of what the rest of the team is doing.

 

E.g. Player A has the ball -> Tonali comes from behind an opposing player at an angle to show for the ball -> Opposition player follows Tonali, clearing the space -> Player B moves into that space -> Tonali plays a one-two with Player A -> Player A pops it off into the space to Player B (if the opponent doesn't follow Tonali, he turns and is facing play in possession, and someone shows for him etc)

 

We'd be much more fluid doing stuff like that, but the problem then becomes we're almost back to a "Bruno or Tonali but not both" situation in our current set up as Bruno is the exact opposite in that he's more a tempo/keep the ball moving player. It's another one where the argument for trying 4-2-3-1 with Tonali and Bruno as the 2 becomes relevant, as if teams double press either one of them to go 3v2 against them when we have the ball, that opens up a space for the ball to go into one of the front four and Tonali then has the legs to go and support the attack while Bruno sits. I feel like we kind of half-tried this at times last season within the 4-3-3, that good run we had after losing at Brentford we genuinely looked like we were taking the piss with how good we were at keeping the ball in some phases of games in midfield, but didn't really fully commit for whatever reason and are now a bit stuck again.

[Geogaddi]

6 minutes ago, Lotus said:

His only use to Eddie is his stamina. He’s been very good on the ball at his previous clubs and for Italy. We don’t really play with movement or creativity though so I think his ball playing abilities are wasted here. We could sell and buy a champo player who will chase the ball around like a dog in the park and use the spare for something else.

Has been plenty of occasions when Tonali has lost the ball by misplacing a pass or not controlling it properly . He can't even beat the first man when he is taking corners at times . That's nothing to do with Eddie .

[KaKa]

You see someone like Alex Scott bossing the game away at the Emirates, playing in a Bournemouth midfield alongside Malcolm Christie for goodness sake, and with Hill and Senesi behind him at centre back, and he's still finding pockets to get the ball and make things happen for his team. Getting them a victory.

 

Then we have Tonali who has the luxury of Thiaw and Botman behind him, who are far more capable of finding him with a pass if he can be bothered to make himself available, not to mention Joelinton and Miley alongside him to combine with, against a Palace side sitting back and looking lethargic most of the game and the game just passes him by. It's a damn shame really.

 

When you take into account the fact he didn't even play a whole season with the gambling and then how this season has gone, spending £60 million on this guy was regrettable. Thankfully there seems to be a lot of hype around him for some reason and so hopefully there's a sizeable profit to be had this summer.

[Alberto2005]

1 minute ago, KaKa said:

You see someone like Alex Scott bossing the game away at the Emirates, playing in a Bournemouth midfield alongside Malcolm Christie for goodness sake, and with Hill and Senesi behind him at centre back, and he's still finding pockets to get the ball and make things happen for his team. Getting them a victory.

 

Then we have Tonali who has the luxury of Thiaw and Botman behind him, who are far more capable of finding him with a pass if he can be bothered to make himself available, not to mention Joelinton and Miley alongside him to combine with, against a Palace side sitting back and looking lethargic most of the game and the game just passes him by. It's a damn shame really.

 

When you take into account the fact he didn't even play a whole season with the gambling and then how this season has gone, spending £60 million on this guy was regrettable. Thankfully there seems to be a lot of hype around him for some reason and so hopefully there's a sizeable profit to be had this summer.

Bollocks  He's easily worth the 60m we paid he was awesome last season. He hasn't been great this season but who has?

[Gallowgate Toon]

20 minutes ago, Lotus said:

His only use to Eddie is his stamina. He’s been very good on the ball at his previous clubs and for Italy. We don’t really play with movement or creativity though so I think his ball playing abilities are wasted here. We could sell and buy a champo player who will chase the ball around like a dog in the park and use the spare for something else.

With Bruno as the 6, we often saw excellent line-breaking passes and real risk-taking to get moves going though. We really miss him there now.

[Theregulars]

3 minutes ago, KaKa said:

You see someone like Alex Scott bossing the game away at the Emirates, playing in a Bournemouth midfield alongside Malcolm Christie for goodness sake, and with Hill and Senesi behind him at centre back, and he's still finding pockets to get the ball and make things happen for his team. Getting them a victory.

 

Then we have Tonali who has the luxury of Thiaw and Botman behind him, who are far more capable of finding him with a pass if he can be bothered to make himself available, not to mention Joelinton and Miley alongside him to combine with, against a Palace side sitting back and looking lethargic most of the game and the game just passes him by. It's a damn shame really.

 

When you take into account the fact he didn't even play a whole season with the gambling and then how this season has gone, spending £60 million on this guy was regrettable. Thankfully there seems to be a lot of hype around him for some reason and so hopefully there's a sizeable profit to be had this summer.

Christie and Scott don’t have Europe. When tonali had no Europe, there were discussions about whether he was the best midfielder in the league. If you add 15 games to their seasons playing as they do, would they be as effective?

 

 

Edited April 13 by Theregulars

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, Alberto2005 said:

Bollocks  He's easily worth the 60m we paid he was awesome last season. He hasn't been great this season but who has?

 

Once he leaves I'm almost certain this opinion will change drastically.

 

He has benefitted massively from playing alongside Bruno, and has gotten way too much credit for his contributions in that midfield.

[KaKa]

2 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Christie and Scott don’t have Europe. When tonali had no Europe, there were discussions about whether he was the best midfielder in the league. If you add 15 games to their seasons playing as they do, would they be as effective?

 

 

 

 

I don't rate Christie at all.

 

I'm afraid my mind is made up on Tonali. I've seen enough. Just my opinion though I guess.

[Pablo]

Tonali is out of form, but a world class water carrier. There’s a serious risk he and other players will be hounded out for below their value, and then go on to win everything at a much bigger club than Newcastle. Tonali won’t play make, but he will win the ball and give it to someone better. He will have 4 better passing lanes than we currently offer, and look amazing in a coherent team.

Why is everything so binary. Everyone is either the best in the world or utter garbage. There’s a lot in between these 2 metrics which is constantly overlooked.

[Holloway]

20 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

I don't rate Christie at all.

 

I'm afraid my mind is made up on Tonali. I've seen enough. Just my opinion though I guess.

What were your thoughts during the 'best midfielder we've ever seen at the club' phase, I can't remember 

[KaKa]

Just now, Holloway said:

What were your thoughts during the 'best midfielder we've ever seen at the club' phase, I can't remember 

 

I think I moreso liked the balance of the midfield three at the time.

 

I wanted to believe he was top class, but as time has gone on and we've had more evidence, I'm just not seeing it.

 

To some extent I also blame the setup, as I'm not convinced he's a 6. And at this point I just don't know what he is, but it's just not working.