William Carvalho

[PannickAtTheDisco]

If Yaya took him under his wing, and he paid attention, I think he could be his replacement.

 

[@BluePhil8]

He's not like the old Yaya, he doesn't have the pace or shooting ability to go on those barnstorming runs.

But he's got good positioning, he'll always be available to receive the ball if someone is under pressure, he can ping balls 40 or 50 yards for a winger to run onto or dink a ball over a defensive line. He's strong and has good feet so getting the ball off him is difficult, and he will put in tackles.

The downside is his pace. Beyond a little burst to beat a man over 10 yards he's slow. But as I and others have pointed out, so is Fabregas, Barry and so was Alonso. That position is probably the one place in the pitch where being smart will overcome a lack of pace.

Also Pirlo.

I know nothing about this guy.

 

[TRUE BLUE NO1]

All that shows is the extremist nature of these YouTube videos.

The first clip is short. I could compile at least 10 where yaya has done things in much the same way.

I could even make Spanish Dave look shit with a clip like that first one. But equally I could make him look like a fucking superstar (which we know he is anyway)

If people are passing judgment on a 10 second video then that is somewhat fickle.

If he's good enough for Pep then hes good enough for me

I agree mate...Youtube only gives us a little taste of a player and not always a true picture....for example we dont know if he was carrying an injury in that first clip but these clips do give us an idea of the worse and the best of what a player can offer...

 

[Dr.Faustus]

I'd imagine he's not interested in a charge around donkey like Danilo to play in his midfield and is looking for a replacement for Yaya to play that Busquets role. I think people completely misread what sort of player Carvalho is, or could become, in large part because of what he looks like. He's far more Carrick than Kante, but people don't expect that from someone like him

I don't think its because of how he looks at all, but the way effort is often lacking. I also think a "charge around donkey" downplays Danilo too- his range of passing isn't quite as good as Carvalho, but its not a weakness- and he can certainly shift the ball from one end of the pitch to another like a box-to-box midfielder.

 

[TRUE BLUE NO1]

His breakout was under the current Monaco manager, Leonardo Jardim. So very high work rate and pressing was required and probably more like Pep than the current regime under Jorge Jesus.

Under Jardim, he was incredible, became a guy everyone wanted, Sporting demanded £50m, everyone backed away.

Cheers mate....that might answer why his play dropped last season.

 

[cadds92]

Absolutely nothing. He's an absolutely brilliant player, but the Metro linked him to West Brom (which Sporting laughed at) and someone shared a video of him not tracking back immediately before being substituted with an injury, so everyone on here decided he was shite all of a sudden.

Truth is he hasn't been quite as eye catching since Leonardo Jardim (now the monaco manager who's made Mendy and Silva into players we want) left Sporting. He is still very good and was one of Portugal's best players in the Euros.

He's an incredible passer, is a massive unit who makes a lot of tackles and interceptions, good positionally, impossible to get the ball off - all-round a very technically gifted player who's also physical.

His weakness is pace, over a long distance he's slow, but he's got a little burst of acceleration over 15 yards to get past a player, and he makes up for it with good defensive positioning.

Cheers mate.

If there is one person in world football who should know all about midfield players it's Pep, especially midfield players who play in the same position as he did as a player.

He got it right with Yaya and Busquets at Barca and at Bayern too by bringing in Alonso, so I trust he will get it right at City.

 

[Proy]

He's got an excellent ping on him that's for sure.

Definitely a bit Alonso!

I'll take that 8 days a week

 

[BigOscar]

I don't think its because of how he looks at all, but the way effort is often lacking. I also think a "charge around donkey" downplays Danilo too- his range of passing isn't quite as good as Carvalho, but its not a weakness- and he can certainly shift the ball from one end of the pitch to another like a box-to-box midfielder.

Danilo is a destroyer, he can just about play football but he's not the sort of player I can recall any Pep team having. As for the lack of effort thing, that seems to be an insult mainly thrown at black players if they don't live up to peoples expectations that they should just be physical players constantly charging around like Kante. I don't think Carvalho shows any less effort than players like Busquets, Alonso or Carrick

 

[cadds92]

I am not buying all this pace argument.

As long as he has great positioning, is excellent in tight spaces and can ping a ball to switch play to the wings, isn't that the player we want?

Toni Kroos isn't quick but understands the game inside out.

 

[RICK SLICK]

I don't think William Carvalho is the kind of player you need, to be honest. Oh, and his pace, or lack thereof, is totally a thing to consider. He's a very slow backtracker, it costed Portugal in the Euros. His nickname here is sonecas or pantufas, which translate to snooze and slippers respectively.

He's a good player, but not for you, I think.