Ilkay Gundogan - 2018/19 performances

Status
Not open for further replies.
Im going to repeat so it doesn't get lost in the wash. Ilkay Gundogan was the best Midfielder on the field on Saturday.

He was better than David, Bernado, Fernandihno, or Sterling. He was also better than defenders Kompany, Mendy and Kyle.

It is arguable that Laporte and Aguero were better. It is Frankly not arguable ON SATURDAY that any of the other 8 were close.

Personally, I thought he was way better than Laporte. Who had lots of shaky moments. But he scored so that raised his performance. But I'll concede that because it was close others could reach a different conclusion... But outside of Aguero and Laporte, none of the others were close.

Well there. That's 3 straight games he has been better than someone in miidfield. But hey, who's counting when we have a narrative to push :)
 
Last edited:
Im going to repat so it doesn't get lost in the wash. Ilkay Gundogan was the best midfieMidf on the field on Saturday.

He was better than David, Bernado, Fernandihno, or Sterling. He was lso better than Kompany, Mendy and Kyle.

It is arguable that Laporte and Aguero were better. It is Frankly not arguable ON SATURDAY that any of the other 8 we're close.

Personally, I thought he was way better than Laporte. Who had lots of shaky moments. But he scored so that raised his performance. But illI concede that because it was close others could reach a different conclusion... But outside of Aguero and Laporte, of the others were close.

Well there. That's 3 straight games he has been better than someone in miidfield. But hey, who's counting when we have a narrative to push :)
Spot on.

He's become the scapegoat in the team that some fans need, yet we don't need one given our unparalleled recent siccess.

If we just accept that he is an excellent player who doesn't play in the same way as KDB, Fern or David, then it's a doddle to realise that he is a really important member of the squad.
 
Im going to repeat so it doesn't get lost in the wash. Ilkay Gundogan was the best Midfielder on the field on Saturday.

He was better than David, Bernado, Fernandihno, or Sterling. He was also better than defenders Kompany, Mendy and Kyle.

It is arguable that Laporte and Aguero were better. It is Frankly not arguable ON SATURDAY that any of the other 8 were close.

Personally, I thought he was way better than Laporte. Who had lots of shaky moments. But he scored so that raised his performance. But I'll concede that because it was close others could reach a different conclusion... But outside of Aguero and Laporte, none of the others were close.

Well there. That's 3 straight games he has been better than someone in miidfield. But hey, who's counting when we have a narrative to push :)
I'm interested in your opinion as to why Gundo was our 2nd/3rd best player. So I can see he is a neat enough player in possession although many of his passes are simple, to players in space and relatively short. His cross to Laporte was very good. On the minus side he indulged his tendency to go down easily and stay down - like he thinks the referee is going to change his mind and give him a foul. He did it a couple of times on Saturday and left us exposed. What did you see, that I didn't?

BTW, i wouldn't argue that he was better or worse than Fern and Dave, neither of them played particularly well. I am desperately trying to warm to this guy as it doesn't sit well with me that I feel so ambivalent towards one of our squad.
 
Only watched the first half on Saturday, but I thought he was the best player on the pitch during that period. Controlled the game and recycled possession quickly and accurately. Not sure if he dropped off in the 2nd half though.
 
We all know we are what we are. Gündogan is just what he is:
respectful, very polite, intelligent.
That alone is a combination many don't like in a person, as it seems to me. They call it soft.

He isn't a hero, nor a killer, no beast, he rather prefers not standing in the limelight holding the speech.

He is an extremely skilled footballer, constantly working on a let's say 90% level , a loyal lad. Whith a nice smile.

Pep prefers to have "11 skilled midfielders to dominate the pitch".
Pep is looking for positive characters, respectful, loyal, intellligent.
That's why Pep even took the risk to sign Ilkay when he was recovering from severe injuries. Could have gone the wrong way too.

Ilkay had his ACL injury, couldn't be worse. I think he is still on course to become more confident about the physical part of the game and in the last matches we have seen tackles that he didn't do last season. He has to find his own balance on that topic, it's his body.

Re Dortmund:
I remember very well BvB fans were completely desperate about Ilkay back then as they thought he has it all but doesn't put it in, not powerful enough.
It's still the same man!
That's what we can have from Ilkay. Pep knows what he gets, he also knows the market and available alternatives,
who would be ready for rotation in a high quality squad.

Txiki didn't sell him, Pep didn't. Contract ends 2020, let's see.

Only watched the first half on Saturday, but I thought he was the best player on the pitch during that period. Controlled the game and recycled possession quickly and accurately. Not sure if he dropped off in the 2nd half though.

This.
Pep replaced him by Leroy after 77' and our build up play was more or less gone.

Nobody was able to deliver the ball to David, who had to feed Sergio, Jesus, Mahrez or Leroy.

Dinho, Komps, Mendy, Walker, also Laporte were not able to step up and initiate a sharp build up play
that you need when you want to win a match late vs a tough side. (Well, we nearly did though, just didn't happen.)

I think Bernardo would be the man to come from the bench and be there 100% when it counts,
but he was already subbed off.

I think had Pep known before what Jesus, Mahrez and Leroy have offered - Gündogan wouldn't have benn subbed.
 
Im going to repeat so it doesn't get lost in the wash. Ilkay Gundogan was the best Midfielder on the field on Saturday.

He was better than David, Bernado, Fernandihno, or Sterling. He was also better than defenders Kompany, Mendy and Kyle.

It is arguable that Laporte and Aguero were better. It is Frankly not arguable ON SATURDAY that any of the other 8 were close.

Personally, I thought he was way better than Laporte. Who had lots of shaky moments. But he scored so that raised his performance. But I'll concede that because it was close others could reach a different conclusion... But outside of Aguero and Laporte, none of the others were close.

Well there. That's 3 straight games he has been better than someone in miidfield. But hey, who's counting when we have a narrative to push :)
I agree. I thought Gundogan had a poor game at Arsenal but he was better than most at Wolves.
 
I agree. I thought Gundogan had a poor game at Arsenal but he was better than most at Wolves.

Although that's more down to a general dip in level than Gundogan elevating himself into the stratosphere. He is a good squad player, but I don't really want him starting on a regular basis. And based on pre-season, I would start Bernardo in the centre over him any time.
 
I'm interested in your opinion as to why Gundo was our 2nd/3rd best player. So I can see he is a neat enough player in possession although many of his passes are simple, to players in space and relatively short. His cross to Laporte was very good. On the minus side he indulged his tendency to go down easily and stay down - like he thinks the referee is going to change his mind and give him a foul. He did it a couple of times on Saturday and left us exposed. What did you see, that I didn't?

BTW, i wouldn't argue that he was better or worse than Fern and Dave, neither of them played particularly well. I am desperately trying to warm to this guy as it doesn't sit well with me that I feel so ambivalent towards one of our squad.
He's positioning was excellent all game. His arrival time attacking positions. He intercepted 2 balls based off of share fantastic positioning. He also killed 2 other possible attacks but simply getting btw the ball and the outlet pass.

I personally would not frame him being fouled (pushed from behind on one) as him falling and leaving us exposed.

Anyway, his simple passes are not so simple. They keep us I . possession and keep us ticking. In terms of creativity. He sprung Sterling with a lovely pass over the top that should have been better controlled.

Ghosted into the box for a return pass for our official 1st short goal. Put in the assist for our equalizer. Help recover possession on one of Kompany's errors. Amongst other things. Just generally he was involved than the others.
 
He's positioning was excellent all game. His arrival time attacking positions. He intercepted 2 balls based off of share fantastic positioning. He also killed 2 other possible attacks but simply getting btw the ball and the outlet pass.

I personally would not frame him being fouled (pushed from behind on one) as him falling and leaving us exposed.

Anyway, his simple passes are not so simple. They keep us I . possession and keep us ticking. In terms of creativity. He sprung Sterling with a lovely pass over the top that should have been better controlled.

Ghosted into the box for a return pass for our official 1st short goal. Put in the assist for our equalizer. Help recover possession on one of Kompany's errors. Amongst other things. Just generally he was involved than the others.

You are seeing more positives than I am. There are a number of posters on here whose opinion are normally sound that rate him a lot higher than I do so you may all be right. Certainly Pep would not be playing him if he wasn’t happy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.