Thing is, he is not the killer-passer I thought we were getting; he is not the MF destroyer that SB seems to sometimes want of him; he not the ball-retainer that he should be (and he does get caught out a lot on the ball); and, he's not the Duracell bunny player who runs on and on for ever (in fact, he seems to run out of steam quite quickly).So, I'm not sure what he brings to the team, other than the occasional goal.And I'm trying hard not to be negative!
The player presents a most difficult conundrum. This is my theory.If you put him in a lower level championship stup, he will dominate the midfield and make surging forward runs, sometimes resulting in spectacular goals.If you stick him in a team where he realizes 3 or 4 of the midfielders are far better him, even if they rarely show it, he is less likely to express himself. It's only a theory. Please don't hate me. I hatez the haterz, hun.
Quote from: adrenachrome on March 17, 2018, 10:46:10 PMThe player presents a most difficult conundrum. This is my theory.If you put him in a lower level championship stup, he will dominate the midfield and make surging forward runs, sometimes resulting in spectacular goals.If you stick him in a team where he realizes 3 or 4 of the midfielders are far better him, even if they rarely show it, he is less likely to express himself. It's only a theory. Please don't hate me. I hatez the haterz, hun.He plays as a 2 man midfield behind 4 attacking players so mostly he has to sit deeper to allow them to go forward.Really he should be more attacking as thats his strengh but it would leave us light in defence ..For me the goals mask the fact he contributes little .In general I don't think we have a CM who can dictate play they are all tidy enough and can pass sideways but beyond that they are limited.We do better when we can sit and counter and bypass midfield and get it to the 3 players behind the striker to do something.In games like tonight where the play is slower we are always poor
Quote from: David_Nab on March 17, 2018, 11:15:12 PMQuote from: adrenachrome on March 17, 2018, 10:46:10 PMThe player presents a most difficult conundrum. This is my theory.If you put him in a lower level championship stup, he will dominate the midfield and make surging forward runs, sometimes resulting in spectacular goals.If you stick him in a team where he realizes 3 or 4 of the midfielders are far better him, even if they rarely show it, he is less likely to express himself. It's only a theory. Please don't hate me. I hatez the haterz, hun.He plays as a 2 man midfield behind 4 attacking players so mostly he has to sit deeper to allow them to go forward.Really he should be more attacking as thats his strengh but it would leave us light in defence ..For me the goals mask the fact he contributes little .In general I don't think we have a CM who can dictate play they are all tidy enough and can pass sideways but beyond that they are limited.We do better when we can sit and counter and bypass midfield and get it to the 3 players behind the striker to do something.In games like tonight where the play is slower we are always poorWouldn't disagree with that analysis.The question is: why did we sign him?