Ndombele (signed for Spurs)

[Rammyblues]

Maybe these two as direct replacements for Fern and Gundogan!!!

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Not good enough on the ball for me. Looks clumsy.

Que??

I remember seeing Bernado boss us at home for Monaco and instantly thought he’d be a revelation in a Pep team, this lad is no different. The gut says get him as potentially he’s another yaya..... an absolute Ox who enables a transition of play we only see in glimpses from Fern, who could also be the mentor he needs in elevating him further...

 

[Stoned Rose]

Was outstanding last night and is clearly a very good player. Yaya esque with a sprinkling of Fernandinho.

Pep would make him unstoppable.

We should be balls deep because he’s going to be a star.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Amazing. Could go another couple of levels. Yaya with workrate, even.

He breaks the lines beautifully and showed good alertness to squeeze the ball through for their second.

Very surprised. We can't really lose can we? De Jong or Ndombele.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

For me, We still needed Fern when Toure was here.

A few people seem to be confusing Ndombele and De Jong, very different players?

For me, De Jong in the heir apparent to De Bruyne and we should be already looking to do that deal, as we have done with Bernardo and Dave.

Ndombele is more of a destroyer like Fern and sits in front of the back four.

 

[domalino]

For me, We still needed Fern when Toure was here.

A few people seem to be confusing Ndombele and De Jong, very different players?

For me, De Jong in the heir apparent to De Bruyne and we should be already looking to do that deal, as we have done with Bernardo and Dave.

Ndombele is more of a destroyer like Fern and sits in front of the back four.

De Jong isn't the heir to KDB though, he's Busquets' heir - hence why Barca are so keen to get him to replace Busquets.

N'dombele & De Jong are being compared naturally because they would both play in Fernandinho's position but would be very different answers to the same question of succeeding Fern.

I certainly don't believe De Jong would come here as another option at #8, to compete with Silva, Silva, KDB, Gundogan when the alternative is being given the keys to Barcelona's midfield.

I also don't believe the club would be buying him to just reinforce what is already the most deep part of the squad and end any chance of Foden coming through, but I guess you never know.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

De Jong isn't the heir to KDB though, he's Busquets' heir - hence why Barca are so keen to get him to replace Busquets.

I see why that comparison is made in terms of his ability to effortlessly play the quarter-back roll with his passing and breaking the press.

However, De Jong doesn't seem to be the spoiler or the putting out of fires that Busquets has done for so long?

I see De Jong higher up as he gets older.

Barca don't know what they want, it would seem. Even Pogba is seen as a possible option for their midfield.

Maybe De Jong is better compared to Pogba at a similar age?

 

[domalino]

I see why that comparison is made in terms of his ability to effortlessly play the quarter-back roll with his passing and breaking the press.

However, De Jong doesn't seem to be the spoiler or the putting out of fires that Busquets has done for so long?

I see De Jong higher up as he gets older.

Barca don't know what they want, it would seem. Even Pogba is seen as a priority for their midfield.

Maybe De Jong is better compared to Pogba at a similar age?

De Jong makes more tackles and interceptions than almost any other midfielder in Europe (x axis on the below graph), his defensive work is fantastic, but seemingly overlooked because he looks small and he makes it look effortless. He puts out plenty of fires.

De Jong and Ndombele would be a perfect complimentary pair of midfielders to have at that position in a squad, especially as De Jong has the ability to play CB or further up - unfortunately for us the timing is wrong as Fernandinho/Silva aren't going just yet, and FDJ & Ndombele will both be sold next summer.

Plus the price would be prohibitive, but if I had everything my way we'd buy Frenkie this summer and Ndombele the summer after.

I really like both, but I think De Jong is a unique player, the kind of guy that has the Dutch talking about Cruyff and Beckenbauer and seeing the game differently, while Ndombele is just a very good young player for that position.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

De Jong makes more tackles and interceptions than almost any other midfielder in Europe (x axis on the below graph), his defensive work is fantastic, but seemingly overlooked because he looks small and he makes it look very effortless. He puts out plenty of fires.

I believe that De Jong and Ndombele would be a perfect complimentary pair of midfielders to have at that position in a squad, especially as De Jong has the ability to play CB or further up - unfortunately the timing is wrong as Fernandinho/Silva aren't going just yet, and FDJ & Ndombele will both be sold next summer.

Plus the price would be prohibitive.

I really like both, but I think De Jong is a unique player, the kind of guy that has the Dutch talking about Cruyff and Beckenbauer and seeing the game differently, while Ndombele is just a very good young player for that position.

Thanks for this, interesting stuff.

De Jong has long been my dream signing. I love players who make it look so easy in possession.

 

[Andrew___K]

Apparently Frenkie didn’t have his best game tonight against a Greek team. He also had a horror show in Ajax’s biggest game of the season against PSV. I know he shined for his national team but let’s be real he was playing in glorified friendlies. Let’s see how he plays against Bayern but imo he hasn’t done enough to just the rumoured €70m+€20m in bonuses fee. Beat Bayern and Ajax could top the group so it’s another important game.

Right now Ndombele looks the better player and more ready. We saw recently Jorginho struggle with the physicality in the PL and he is built just like Frenkie. I really think Ndombele’s physicality is the tie breaker.

Pep has a history of benching prime Yaya to integrate more intelligent player in Busi, so don't see how Ndombele's physicality is going to be a tie breaker. His Barca team was the most lightweight in Europe after all.

I like both, but think player's IQ is more important than athleticism. And it's not like De Jong is a fragile ballerina, he's of roughly the same height and build as De Bruyne and has a fantastic burst of speed in him. He's literally made for pressing teams that hunt in packs.
My only real concern about FDJ is that he could become more suitable for 8 position as his career progresses ('Modric', 'Xavi'), affecting Foden's future.

Would be happy to have Ndombele AND FDJ, but don't think it's possible from a squad building POV, both would rightly demand a starting position.

 

[Delphinho]

 

[K10&S21]

Dam what an all action player. Nice dilemma to have to choose between him and Frankie.

 

[asaluttar]

One good thing is he plays for a not so glamorous team, and doesn't have as much talent around him as say the Monaco lot.

Might just help us to bid for him without other clubs sniffing around.

Also helps that's Manure, Liverpool have both sticked up on Central midfield with expensive "talent"

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

One good thing is he plays for a not so glamorous team, and doesn't have as much talent around him as say the Monaco lot.

Might just help us to bid for him without other clubs sniffing around.

Also helps that's Manure, Liverpool have both sticked up on Central midfield with expensive "talent"

I think it is pretty safe to say that Lyon will try and rinse us if we move for him. I imagine everybody knows the type of player we are looking to buy and will put a premium on their player.

Good job we are no saddled with debt !

 

[KCblue]

I think we need two. Relying on Dinho is madness, he has no back up.

Those legs are going to go and when they do the drop off will be sudden and drastic. He simply can't go like this at his age.

We need 2 players for his position.

While I agree, I would imagine we'll bring in one player next summer and wait to bring the other in once Fernandinho actually leaves. No sense in extending Ferna to be third choice in his final season with us.

For what it's worth I would prefer de Jong but Ndombele is one hell of an alternative.

 

[Easy]

Pep has a history of benching prime Yaya to integrate more intelligent player in Busi, so don't see how Ndombele's physicality is going to be a tie breaker. His Barca team was the most lightweight in Europe after all.

I like both, but think player's IQ is more important than athleticism. And it's not like De Jong is a fragile ballerina, he's of roughly the same height and build as De Bruyne and has a fantastic burst of speed in him. He's literally made for pressing teams that hunt in packs.
My only real concern about FDJ is that he could become more suitable for 8 position as his career progresses ('Modric', 'Xavi'), affecting Foden's future.

Would be happy to have Ndombele AND FDJ, but don't think it's possible from a squad building POV, both would rightly demand a starting position.

Barca play in Spain. City in England so don’t think we can compare. Busquets is also very tall. De bruyne is taller than Frenkie and also much stronger.

Ndombele is a very good passer of the ball probably not better than De Jong but not far away. He’s played countless defense splitting passes. And was just praised for his game intelligence. De Jong is very elegant with the ball I must admit. I just think the hype with him is a little extreme right now.

Ndombele has already played against PSG 4 times including one win, and now twice against us, and it looks like he was top class in all these games. Not to mention Lyon finished 3rd last season above Marseille who made the EL final in a very tough EL, much harder than when Ajax made the final. Frenkie just broke into the Ajax team last season starting 16 games and I believe the majority were at CB. De Jong is yet to play in such a big game. Benfica are 4th in Portugal and far off talent wise than a few years ago and AEK are 7th in Greece 12 points off 1st lol this was a surprise. Wouldn’t put too much weight on his performances for his country given they are glorified friendlies called the nations league.

Maybe I’m wrong but I think we need to see much more of De Jong before we can speak about €90m incl bonuses. From now until the CL knockout games the only matches you can really judge De Jong on are the Bayern at home and probably Feyenoord away. Everything else.

I just think Ndombele is a better fit for the DM position in the Premier League. I don’t see why we would look to De Jong in the 8 position as we already have enough players there.

 

[Dax777]

I have been saying for ages that this is the player we need to buy. I remain steadfast in that assertion. Oddly enough it seems all my posts r.e. him have been deleted so I wonder if some old threads in the transfer forum got shitcanned at some point.

Nah we simply don't believe you said such. Show us some proof :p

 

[sheepskin_tearaway]

What?

Nothing in that YouTube compilation changes my mind. It’s not that I think he’s shit. On the contrary, he is quality. Likewise I don’t think he’s bad on the ball. But I don’t think he’s a Pep player. Some of his good stuff last night looked a bit more like by accident than design.

 

[Dax777]

For me, We still needed Fern when Toure was here.

A few people seem to be confusing Ndombele and De Jong, very different players?

For me, De Jong in the heir apparent to De Bruyne and we should be already looking to do that deal, as we have done with Bernardo and Dave.

Ndombele is more of a destroyer like Fern and sits in front of the back four.

In the Lyon team, it was Aouar who seemed the more accomplished defensive player. And both were outstanding at turning away from pressure. But Aouar was better in my humble opinion.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

They don’t have to play DM to tackle and be tackled. It goes the same with everyone. With that goes I hope we can get both Ndombele and De Jong and just play either of them as DM according to the opposition. De Jong can play as an 8 too.

Both? Oh, OK.

If we can only get one, I’ll take Ndombele, from what I’ve seen so far. We have about 6 FDJ’s in the squad already, and two Ndombeles...and one of them usually plays LB.