Sandro Tonali

[Geordie Ahmed]

51 minutes ago, janpawel said:

Anyone think he may come back rusty and take time to settle back into real football games? 

 

I think he might, though a lot of people think he willl come back and smash it, hope I'm wrong and he does, but just hope people give him a chance if not, there's so much pressure on him after he fucked the last year up 

 

I think he's going to have a mint season but I agree that I think he'll take some time 

 

Howe will be very cautious with him and build him slowly (though probably starts 3rd round of the League Cup if we get there)

[Erikse]

20 minutes ago, Conjo said:

Can hardly remember what he was like for his few games other than that he was class against Villa and by the time his ban started, Longstaff seemed to fit into our game plan better.

 

I remember getting a bit annoyed at him allways looking for the killer pass, and instead give the ball away in nearly all of those efforts. I remember ~55% pass success rate in a CL game. He also had a couple of failed block attempts where we conceded that looked very half assed. He was probably affected by the situation he was in.

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Erikse

[Yorkie]

My recollection is that he was incredible against Villa then shite but for the odd semi-useful half here and there. Hopefully the betting shit goes some way to explaining why he was so unimpressive and he'll hit the ground running and make up for lost time. Definitely one of the most exciting aspects of the new season. Got everything to prove. 

[duo]

One positive is Eddie has had a year to work his magic - certainly looks leaner, fitter and raring to go.

[TheBrownBottle]

39 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

My recollection is that he was incredible against Villa then shite but for the odd semi-useful half here and there. Hopefully the betting shit goes some way to explaining why he was so unimpressive and he'll hit the ground running and make up for lost time. Definitely one of the most exciting aspects of the new season. Got everything to prove. 

That is my recollection too - and the midfield three that many are excited about (Bruno, Joelinton, Tonali) looked really poor together - those three defeats in a row at the start of the season were in no small part down to how terrible the midfield looked (vs Brighton in particular).  Happily, Villa played a ridiculously high line against us in the first game and were caught out.  Tonali looked a long way off the pace - and disinterested vs Brighton.  Fingers crossed he hits the ground running.

 

We won six and drew two of the following eight PL games once Longstaff was restored to the line-up.

 

Though I understand that Longstaff is the worst midfielder in the universe from quite a few on here ...  

[Conjo]

4 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

That is my recollection too - and the midfield three that many are excited about (Bruno, Joelinton, Tonali) looked really poor together - those three defeats in a row at the start of the season were in no small part down to how terrible the midfield looked (vs Brighton in particular).  Happily, Villa played a ridiculously high line against us in the first game and were caught out.  Tonali looked a long way off the pace - and disinterested vs Brighton.  Fingers crossed he hits the ground running.

 

We won six and drew two of the following eight PL games once Longstaff was restored to the line-up.

 

Though I understand that Longstaff is the worst midfielder in the universe from quite a few on here ...  

 

Agree, but also important to keep in mind that Joelinton was struggling with fitness, Tonali was new and we played top teams, including an in form Brighton. I think that midfield trio could become one of the best in the league.

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Conjo said:

 

Agree, but also important to keep in mind that Joelinton was struggling with fitness, Tonali was new and we played top teams, including an in form Brighton. I think that midfield trio could become one of the best in the league.

100% - and it was a tough start to the season.  But I didn't think Tonali looked much to write home about before his ban.

 

Hopefully, that was down to both settling into a new country / league, and the external issues re gambling.  Happy for the lad to have a fresh start, but I suspect he won't be given much time to impress.