Ilkay Gundogan - 2018/19 performances

[Rolee]

Another one of them lovely chipped balls into Aguero at one stage, shame the latter couldn't finish. Mopped up well at times and put himself about in the tackle. Nowhere near his best but who was last night?

 

[FantasyIreland]

I really hate to criticise (and I rarely post in here) but he just isn’t good enough, especially in that deeper role. Fernandinho was predominantly a CB but still far more active in midfield in terms of breaking and making play than Gundo was. With Gundo @ DM it’s a line of defence that effectively isn’t there, allowing us to be bypassed with ease. Not only that, his understanding of the role and thus movement when we are building from the back is poor. The triangles do not get created and the progression of play for us becomes slower and more obvious - making us easier to play against. A lot of this gets masked when teams sit back against us but it’s very noticeable to me still.

Going forward there’s no magic there. The occasional spark (Arsenal) which will get him a few I told you so posts in this thread, but on the whole, nothing. Even when KDB and Silva have poor nights such as yesterday you see them trying to conjour those pieces of magic. May not always come off like yesterday but you know they’re hard wired to provide the spark for us and more often than not, they do. With Gundo in the No.8 it’s tidy but ultimately futile. Doesn’t offer the movement to be found in pockets of space, to turn on a sixpence beating his man and then constantly seek out the wide threats in the half space.

Many clubs will be happy to have Gundogan in their side. But we play a very particular brand of football, and the requirements of our midfield positions is *immense* and very specific. He doesn’t have the tools to fulfil either role to any great degree and for that reason remains a weak point for us when selected.

Great post,spot on.

 

[Project]

In a European game where we win against all odds and when KDB and DS have relatively poor performances, still it goes on. He is probably the most adept player in the team at finding space and turning on receipt of the ball but you declare it a weakness in his game. I despair at times.

Didn’t realise I couldn’t judge a players performance, in a players performance forum, just because we won. But despair all you like.

And if you read the full sentence I'm clearly talking about the ability to find space then do something progressive with it. He lacks that aggressiveness in his game to progress play in the way that our other number 8s have. He can find space but then truthfully, takes the safe option too often, allowing the opposition to regroup.

Defensively, even worse. Not his fault we failed to find a backup to Fernandinho but ultimately he gets picked in this position so is there for me to comment on his performance in the context of where our weaknesses as a team lie - I've no issue with him, but it's clear as crystal to me that he's a huge drop off from any of KDB, Silva, Bernardo and Fernandinho (when fit... Silva's form just isn't there yet). There was one moment where they were countering and the Schalke player moved the ball inside with no real skill, just a slight change of direction and breezed past Gundo who made zero attempt to challenge, foul, keep up or otherwise. He was then directly running at our defence. Just wasn't good enough and while you assume I'm taking this game in isolation the reality is we have plenty of evidence that this is the entirety of his game, post injuries and it’s a cause for concern when Silva and KDB aren’t yet firing on all cylinders.

 

[oldius]

I despair because what you say is wrong IMO but of course, you have the right to say it.

 

[Goater=Legend]

Didn't even think he played that bad last night, was certainly better than KDB and D. Silva.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

Gundo isn't good at all in the role of DM. He's excellent at a deeper lying midfielder role without primary defensive responsibility. The formation we employed last night - and against Liverpool - allowed Gundo to play to his best.

 

[dannyboy29]

Lets put it this way, he's miles ahead of the two midfield targets we missed out on in terms of performances and ability.

 

[7evens]

Lets put it this way, he's miles ahead of the two midfield targets we missed out on in terms of performances and ability.

Hadn't thought about it this way before but you're probably right. He cost significantly less as well.

 

[CityInWashingtonState]

Lets put it this way, he's miles ahead of the two midfield targets we missed out on in terms of performances and ability.

Agreed. Jorginho is struggling at Chelsea - yet - we don't have a true metronome in our side - a deep lying midfielder whose responsibility is to run the game and link play. I think we'd be even better with such a player in our side - if Jorginho becomes available, I'd like to see us sign him if Pep still has faith in him.

 

[kaz7]

No better or worse than anyone else last night,haters gonna hate