Other teams are playing very differently to the treble year, much quicker and more direct. Even Pep has acknowledged this and the stats back it upThe glaring lack was Rodri who many treated as Plodri due his glaring (according to them) lack of pace.
We won the Treble with Rodri, Gundo and Bernardo. Pace is overrated.
Plus, the current team has more pace than the Treble one: Nunes is faster than Akanji (who played RB back then), Gvardiol is quicker than Dias, Khusanov is quicker than Stones, Reijnders is quicker than both Gundo and Bernardo, Savinho and Doku are quicker than Grealish, and so on. Get the facts right mate.
Other teams are playing very differently to the treble year, much quicker and more direct. Even Pep has acknowledged this and the stats back it up
Akanji played as much at CB and LB and RB that year
Josko has many great qualities but pace on the transition is definitely not one of them
Khusanov has started about three games.
Get the facts right mate
No he is just good and shows huge promise. The athleticism is a bonus bug I guess there’s a part here who never see any phinltn and think that football doesn’t move on. Even the Spanish NT plays faster and with more athletic players now than years ago. Make out of it what you wantHe looks very athletic and some managed to convince themselves that our main problem is lack of athleticism. For them football is 80% running, and as fast as possible. Weird.
I’m not sure this is such a truism anymore. We’ve signed a host of players post-treble that aren’t great technically, or blessed with any particular game intelligence, but who can run and/or carry the ball, and who are - notionally at least - better suited to playing in a quicker / more direct way (Kovacic, Nunes, Doku, Marmoush, Khusanov …). Baleba seems (to me) to align with that.If Pep thinks we need Baleba, it will be because he has the necessary qualities, starting with intelligence and passing ability (I don't know whether he is good enough to start for us).
I’m not sure this is such a truism anymore. We’ve signed a host of players post-treble that aren’t great technically, or blessed with any particular game intelligence, but who can run and/or carry the ball, and who are - notionally at least - better suited to playing in a quicker / more direct way (Kovacic, Nunes, Doku, Marmoush, Khusanov …). Baleba seems (to me) to align with that.
Probably only Gonzalez of the recent signings fits the more conventional profile for a Pep player. Reijnders might be on the cusp, but it looks like his real quality is how he runs with and without the ball, rather than his passing ability.
Couldn’t agree more that we should still be putting a premium on players with the technical ability to play a possession-based game. But I’m just not sure this squares with our recent recruitments and the way the team is shaping up (which I don’t especially like).Pep said recently he wouldn't give up on his principles. If we sign powerhouses who are not great in possession, then we'll be too open to counters and their ability to run up and down the pitch won't help us a lot.
Cherki fits the profile of a Pep midfielder. And Pep showed his intention to use him like David or Kevin in the game vs Spurs. Pep thought it was a good idea to start Reijnders at 6 vs Al Hilal, so he must be seeing him as good in possession, that's crucial for a 6 in Pep's system.
I'm not against having highly athletic midfielders. But they need to fit our possession-based game.
Audition for rags midfieldI hope all these Baleba “pay whatever it costs “ fanboys are watching tonight.
Maybe he never really had it.I was off the opinion previously, that he looked a good player and we should be in with him.
However, I’d go no where near him now, as it seems like the first bit of paper talk has turned his head and he has taken his attention off his game. Poor mentality
40 year old Milner actually showed him how to play in midfield.I hope all these Baleba “pay whatever it costs “ fanboys are watching tonight.
That's just a Transfer Forum disease, where the needy who need a new player signed every other day decide that any player who is even tentatively linked is world class and exactly what we need.I hope all these Baleba “pay whatever it costs “ fanboys are watching tonight.
Kovacic?I’m not sure this is such a truism anymore. We’ve signed a host of players post-treble that aren’t great technically, or blessed with any particular game intelligence, but who can run and/or carry the ball, and who are - notionally at least - better suited to playing in a quicker / more direct way (Kovacic, Nunes, Doku, Marmoush, Khusanov …). Baleba seems (to me) to align with that.
Probably only Gonzalez of the recent signings fits the more conventional profile for a Pep player. Reijnders might be on the cusp, but it looks like his real quality is how he runs with and without the ball, rather than his passing ability.