Ilkay Gundogan - 2019/20 Performances

[domalino]

I like him and thought he was shit.

Same. I think Sam Lee summed it up well when he said Gundogan has no "spark". No one ever thinks "something might happen here" when the ball gets to him 25 yards from goal.

At #8, he doesnt do things which win a game, he doesnt make an assist or score goals, he just kind of makes things tick along, grease the wheels. And when he is playing well that can be really important because he can speed the game up to a level where the opposition cant live with us and put the danger men into positions where they win the game, but when hes bad, he is nonexistant.

He is a supporting actor. I wouldn't blame him for the loss but he was a luxury we couldn't afford.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

I have defended him in the past when others have criticised his performances but I have now become disillusioned with him. He is too slow and ponderous and offers little against a press .

Saturday was a bad day all round and he alone could not be blamed but I thought he offered very little.

When the team is announced I am now disappointed if he is included which was never the case previously. Obviously a good player but maybe his past injuries have affected him mentally.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Same. I think Sam Lee summed it up well when he said Gundogan has no "spark". No one ever thinks "something might happen here" when the ball gets to him 25 yards from goal.

At #8, he doesnt do things which win a game, he doesnt make an assist or score goals, he just kind of makes things tick along, grease the wheels. And when he is playing well that can be really important because he can speed the game up to a level where the opposition cant live with us and put the danger men into positions where they win the game, but when hes bad, he is nonexistant.

He is a supporting actor. I wouldn't blame him for the loss but he was a luxury we couldn't afford.

Couldn't agree more.

Again, I feel like I have to prefix this by saying I think he's a wonderfully talented player and I don't agree with a lot of the stick he's taken while being here but I'm still struggling to wrap my head around his contract extension. From a financial point of view it might make sense but from a footballing point of view I feel like he's not entirely suited to us.

As a 6, he's shown himself to be serviceable, if not defensively lacklustre, and his through balls from deep brought something Fernandinho can't do to the same level. But now we have Rodri who looks like he will be top class once settled.

As an 8, he's too static to play against any team who doesn't sit back and defend deep for ninety minutes. He had a spell where he looked like he had an almost Lampard-esque ability to arrive late in the box but that's not something he's shown in his career before or since.

There should be a clear path for Foden to become the David replacement and then all we need is depth for whenever one of these three (the other obviously being Kev) are unable to play. That's not something Ilkay would be happy with, given how long the contract negotiations took.

I get the feeling he'd be far better off in a team that uses him alongside another deep lying midfielder and the vast majority of the time that isn't us. He doesn't force enough things to happen in the final third to warrant a place ahead of the others and he's now third choice at the base of the midfield.

 

[mosssideblue]

Nothing wrong with his performance. It was average. But not poor. But as is often the case, folks pick those they don't like and focus on them.

Spot on Dax.

 

[Dax777]

Please. I've defended this guy to the hilt but he was absolutely fucking dross on Saturday. He hid from the ball and when he did receive it he played it back to Stones and Otamendi.

So you mean he kept possession unlike David who lost it? Yes. I know.

His game was nondescript. That's the point. The team was poor. Created little and we're befuddled by the canaries confidence in the ball. Gundogan was a part of that lukewarm campaign.

There was nothing uniquely poor about Gundogan.

 

[Dax777]

Mate he was non existent on Saturday.

The team was nonexistent. I agree. Just saying there was nothing unique about is performance vis-a-vis the others.

 

[Dax777]

you have extremely low standards if you think he was average. He was absolutely terrible, lets not pretend otherwise.

It was a poor team performance. He wasn't terrible. He was average like the others. Better than some worse than others. A nondescript performance.

I reserve terrible for people making dumb decisions all game, like Stones and Walker passing into danger or Ota sleeping and getting his pocket picked. Those are terrible actions. Had multiple of those belong to same guy, it will be a terrible game.

A guy who just didn't have any magical moments but kept possession and made the right pass every time, isn't terrible. Not by any fair standard.

 

[Roachy]

S

The team was nonexistent. I agree. Just saying there was nothing unique about is performance vis-a-vis the others.

Sounds about right pal. Let's hope that was the one and only pants performance of the season by all concerned.

 

[Dax777]

I like him and thought he was shit.

I thought our team was shit. But like I always like doing I rank all our players in terms of performance.

From worst to best.
David, John, Ota (Poor)
Ederson, Walker, Gundogan, Raz, Zee (below average)
Bernado, Aguero (Average)
Rodri (Okay)

It was a bad overall. But If I was forced to give a 'shit' rating, it would have acrues to our 2 CBs and David Silva. Those 3 were more prominent in their crappy play. Gundogan was simply not as involved.

 

[WallyA]

When Fernandinho was injured, I thought Gundogan did an amazing job as an 6.

His greatest asset is dictating our tempo and doing his little chip passes over to create in that sense. When he has to play as an 8 he needs to play more "between the lines" which requires more agility than he has nowadays.

I'm hoping Pep realizes this, the problem isn't playing Gundogan with D Silva, the problem is playing him with Rodri, it's one or the other.

He doesn't bring to the table what Kevin can, Kevin can go wide and cross, he can take guys on, all in addition to his standard midfield game. Gundogan is doesn't have that in him.

Honestly think we have 4 players perfectly suited to our 6 role: Gundogan, Dinho, Rodri, Zinchenko

And 4 players suited to the 8 role: David, Bernardo, Kevin, Foden

So the problem is if Pep wants to play more "6 like" players like Gundogan and Rodri then he HAS to use attacking fullbacks in a sort of 4-2-3-1 over 4-3-3, because right now we don't need Zinchenko, Rodri and Gundogan in the midfield.