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Cos he has big ballz
He is balls, all right!
Did he look that good?
definitely. I’ve no idea why anyone who had seen him play in the last two years would think he’d be an answer to our midfield problems. They saw his stats and that’s it. He was poor when I’d seen him play for southampton. We need a proper midfeild.
It's been said by a few, he's NOT or has he ever been a DM.
It's his first game, so not going to lay into him but will call his performance for what it was, shit.
The bigger worry is why did Jose buy him, why is Jose playing him as a DM? It's easy to lay into a player for playing poorly but you have to look beyond a scapegoat and look at the decisions behind it.
I'm sure he can and will play better than this but now's the time to look at the decisions that Jose has made to bring him in and how he wants us (and him) playing.
The one player specific I will call out though is he looks completely gassed, no energy, not on his toes, completly flat-footed and so easily by-passed.
It's his first game, so not going to lay into him but will call his performance for what it was, shit.
The bigger worry is why did Jose buy him, why is Jose playing him as a DM? It's easy to lay into a player for playing poorly but you have to look beyond a scapegoat and look at the decisions behind it.
I'm sure he can and will play better than this but now's the time to look at the decisions that Jose has made to bring him in and how he wants us (and him) playing.
The one player specific I will call out though is he looks completely gassed, no energy, not on his toes, completly flat-footed and so easily by-passed.
I'm not even entirely sure Jose is playing him as one.
For most of the time Ndombele was on the pitch for example, he had Ndombele as the deeper midfielder. Which was just as odd as when he'd play Lo Celso as our deepest midfielder.
Which is worrying because he's been previously known for his athleticism. It does feel like other teams are better prepared than us physically which points to the club needing an overhaul in that area.
Yeah, I noticed this too!!! I couldn't fucking believe what I was seeing.
Don't know where you got that impression.
One game.
No judgement for me at the present time.
No judgement for me at the present time.
If he had four years on his contract we wouldn't have got him because he would have cost more, it's a sorry state of affairs that even a bang average Danish David Batty is out of our reach without favourable circumstances.
Well if he’s not a DM then he’s just a poor midfielder then ? He’s not better than Sissoko because at least Sissoko mis-controls it all over the park
this fucker wishes he could move all over the park
just wtf is he ?
I don't think he is poor. He has shown, both today and in pre-season, that he is decent at intercepting passes, is not shy in tackles, will get around the pitch. I think he also showed an ability to press (mainly in pre-season).
If played with quality MFer's he will look much better because his lack of passing will not stand out. If we could pair him with an effective Ndombele and GLC I think he will look much better.
But he will never wow anyone because he is not a great passer and not a great DM/destroyer that will make big tackles or save goals with his defensive play.
At times he looked like a rabid rottweiler out there, snarling and growling but after a while you realised it was all bluff. As my old mum used to say "Nice curtains but no furniture". Not impressed with him today at all.
Would he make the bench at Everton?
If he had the energy to walk up the steps.
No way I'm going to hammer him on his debut but he did not make a great first impression.
So in your first paragraph you describe qualities attributed to a DM
then add he’s crap at passing .... yay to that
then finish your piece by saying he’s not a great DM
thanks for clearing that up
He has some skills of a DM but does not play that style. I think an issue is he is willing to go into a tackle, I don't think he is great at it. I think of a Kante for example where when you see him go into a tackle he so often makes the tackle without fouling and comes up with the ball. I don't see PEH being that kind of guy. I also think he pushes up more than a traditional DM would.
So no not really describing the qualities of a DM.
I'm laughing on the outside and on the inside because it was painfully obvious that he wasn't going to cure our issues in the midfield. Just like a gent said 10 or so posts ago, if anyone watched Saints they would know this.
I like PEH by the way. But he is a Jordan Henderson type of player. A player that will run, annoy, and generally do well for the team, but he isn't going to be THE man that makes a midfield go from good to great.
If he takes the place of Winks and has two combative, ball hawking, comfortable on the ball midfielders with him, then he can be our Jordan Henderson.
But we have a manager that insists on a CM2, which PEH played at SH btw. The catch? We don't play the system SH plays to protect a wide open middle half of the pitch. Without an aggressive press, you are just asking to be overrun, it doesn't matter if you had Sandro and Wanyama in there. There is just too much space for the CM3 of Everton to exploit.
So until Jose gets his fucking head out of his ass or we get another manager in, we are going to continue to question why we bought a slightly more aggressive Winks.
We need to get Sangare in here and then trot out PEH, Sangare and Ndombele.
I like PEH by the way. But he is a Jordan Henderson type of player. A player that will run, annoy, and generally do well for the team, but he isn't going to be THE man that makes a midfield go from good to great.
If he takes the place of Winks and has two combative, ball hawking, comfortable on the ball midfielders with him, then he can be our Jordan Henderson.
But we have a manager that insists on a CM2, which PEH played at SH btw. The catch? We don't play the system SH plays to protect a wide open middle half of the pitch. Without an aggressive press, you are just asking to be overrun, it doesn't matter if you had Sandro and Wanyama in there. There is just too much space for the CM3 of Everton to exploit.
So until Jose gets his fucking head out of his ass or we get another manager in, we are going to continue to question why we bought a slightly more aggressive Winks.
We need to get Sangare in here and then trot out PEH, Sangare and Ndombele.