#8 | Ilkay Gündoğan - 2020/21 Performances

[Tricky_Trev]

Lol

The follow up:

 

[David Silva]

Player of the season for us so far

 

[MarsLlama]

With Cancelo and Stones, this season, it feels like we've seen Pep getting the best out of them. Gundogan feels a bit different. It's more like he's been let off a leash.

Oh, and if he's not given the Premier League PoTM award then it'll be daylight fucking robbery.

 

[Dax777]

The follow up:

Class!!!! Love this guy :)

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

With Cancelo and Stones, this season, it feels like we've seen Pep getting the best out of them. Gundogan feels a bit different. It's more like he's been let off a leash.

Oh, and if he's not given the Premier League PoTM award then it'll be daylight fucking robbery.

sussing out Cancelo has released Gundy to just go and be Dortmund Gundy, and it seems he's taking a leadership role and responsibility to drive the team forward now. I don't know whether Dias coming in has created a culture of new leaders, but it seems the supposed quieter, squad players are stepping up and taking the lead now. Maybe last season there was too much deference to the established pecking order of Kun, Dave and Dinho without Vinnie as the true leader of that cohort, and now we're just building a new one as those players have faded into the background at the end of their run (rejuvenated Dinho aside).

A bit like Bernie in 18/19 without Kev, it's a "oh, we don't have you so let's do it ourselves" but with them on the pitch there's a bit too much looking to the star player to dictate things.

 

[Clercqs]

Had great belief that Cancelo (and Rodri) would come good and never gave up on Stones. Got to admit though I didn't see Gundogan performing this well. After his excellent form prior to his new contract in the 18/19 run-in I thought he had a poor last season and didn't see where he would fit in. Pep seemed reluctant to play him as a #8/10 and when he did he very rarely troubled the opponents with running behind or through balls. Right now he looks super fit and full on confidence. Not just his goals but his all round performances are a delight to watch.

 

[WallyA]

I'm gonna basically repeat myself a little because I keep reading the same posters say the same thing.

Gundogan hasn't "all of a sudden" transformed into this new player, this has always been Gundogan, but with a bit of fire right now. Your just seeing his qualities come out in different positions.

Pep's played him around in positions constantly, this is why we never saw him settle down enough, we have seen Pep give him steady time at 2 times as far as I remember:

1) When Dinho was injured and Gundogan had to play as the #6, no changing positions, just #6, and was instrumental in that role and us winning the league. His positional play and ball control are vital deeper here.

2) And now where Pep has just said fuck it to the double pivot, Gundogan fully take up higher positions like David. His natural qualities are now used higher up the pitch, his goal scoring was always there imo, but now he gets more chances, and he isn't as wasteful as some of our other players. His agility and goal scoring are vital when closer to goal.

 

[FantasyIreland]

I'm gonna basically repeat myself a little because I keep reading the same posters say the same thing.

Gundogan hasn't "all of a sudden" transformed into this new player, this has always been Gundogan, but with a bit of fire right now. Your just seeing his qualities come out in different positions.

Pep's played him around in positions constantly, this is why we never saw him settle down enough, we have seen Pep give him steady time at 2 times as far as I remember:

1) When Dinho was injured and Gundogan had to play as the #6, no changing positions, just #6, and was instrumental in that role and us winning the league. His positional play and ball control are vital deeper here.

2) And now where Pep has just said fuck it to the double pivot, Gundogan fully take up higher positions like David. His natural qualities are now used higher up the pitch, his goal scoring was always there imo, but now he gets more chances, and he isn't as wasteful as some of our other players. His agility and goal scoring are vital when closer to goal.

Not true.

He's now fitter and faster,both in body and mind,and he is no longer fearful of the challenge.He is a completely different player to the passenger we saw for many months.

 

[WallyA]

Not true.

He's now fitter and faster,both in body and mind,and he is no longer fearful of the challenge.He is a completely different player to the passenger we saw for many months.

You are wrong.

He is a bit fitter, but his qualities haven't changed, he's the same Gundogan.

Calling him a passenger is an insult to the versatility he was bringing us before (that I mentioned in my post, he's now got settled time into a role, that's the improvement).

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

Not true.

He's now fitter and faster,both in body and mind,and he is no longer fearful of the challenge.He is a completely different player to the passenger we saw for many months.

Totally agree, there has been a transformation to Gundogan's play recently and those saying he's always performed to this level are taking the piss.