Rodrigo Bentancur

[Deuterz]

343 will remain a big ask of whoever the CMs are......

Unless we score a mega-MF-er in the summer (Dembele, Kante level) then whatever lads we have in there will continue to struggle to assert themselves against a hard-pressing team.

( bus-conductor - Keita certainly would!)

Someone like Bissouma would handle themselves in a 3-4-3 far better than Hojbjerg or Bentancur, who simply don't have the technical or physical attributes necessary to make themselves press resistant. We really don't need someone unattainable to do a better job.

Wijnaldum for Liverpool for example. Hardly an elite player but brilliant when it came to resisting being pressed. Kovacic superb at it as well. There's lots of examples of players who aren't Kante/Dembele level but offer that bit more oomph in midfield. Hojbjerg and Bentancur are so MEH.

 

[Airfixx]

Someone like Bissouma would handle themselves in a 3-4-3 far better than Hojbjerg or Bentancur, who simply don't have the technical or physical attributes necessary to make themselves press resistant. We really don't need someone unattainable to do a better job.

Bissouma seems the most obvious/attainable choice from the PL landscape, sure.... Very much the kind of skills-set I'd have in mind... Wouldn't be the first player to fold when getting their big move though and yet to pass the test in a 2 man MF.

Wijnaldum for Liverpool for example. Hardly an elite player but brilliant when it came to resisting being pressed. Kovacic superb at it as well. There's lots of examples of players who aren't Kante/Dembele level but offer that bit more oomph in midfield. Hojbjerg and Bentancur are so MEH.

Hmmmmm..... Can either hold it down in a 2?

Not convinced.

 

[Deuterz]

Bissouma seems the most obvious/attainable choice from the PL landscape, sure.... Very much the kind of skills-set I'd have in mind... Wouldn't be the first player to fold when getting their big move though and yet to pass the test in a 2 man MF.



Hmmmmm..... Can either hold it down in a 2?

Not convinced.

Yes. They're players who are very strong on the ball & have a burst of pace, even if they're outnumbered they will find themselves beating 2-3 players regularly in midfield and thus avoiding the press.

Obviously their job becomes easier in a 3, but they have the attributes to function to a high level in a 2. Hojbjerg and Bentancur do not.

(I'm still not fully convinced we won't shift to a 3-5-2 after the summer though, depending on the wing backs we sign.)

 

[Airfixx]

Yes. They're players who are very strong on the ball, great under pressure and therefore even if they're outnumbered they will find themselves beating 2-3 players regularly in midfield and thus avoiding the press.

Obviously their job becomes easier in a 3

How much easier is the million dollar question though.

, but they have the attributes to function to a high level in a 2.

Sure that's a theory, but I've not seen any actual game evidence of them in a 2 vs 3 scenario.

Hojbjerg and Bentancur do not.

That's immaterial when considering who we ought to bring in.

A mere extra 10-20% isn't gonna make much of a difference.

(I'm still not fully convinced we won't shift to a 3-5-2 after the summer though, depending on the wing backs we sign.)

I think we may need to if we're gonna challenge the very top end of the table....

 

[Lickher]

He needs competition for his spot

 

[Borks]

He needs competition for his spot

How dare you disrespect Harry Winks like that.

 

[Shadydan]

Liverpool's pressed swallowed him up but to stand out against their midfield you need to be Kevin De Bruyne or a similar world class player, he definitely struggled out there but I'm not taking too much from it.

 

[dychin0910]

2 CM midfield setup certainly didn't help. We have seen even if someone as good as Dembele on the ball was also struggling against their press.

 

[rhenkt]

Our midfield doesn’t scare anyone. Bentancur and Hobby are good players and much better than we’ve had the last couple years, but they can’t control games against big teams.

 

[Notabadsquad]

Our midfield doesn’t scare anyone. Bentancur and Hobby are good players and much better than we’ve had the last couple years, but they can’t control games against big teams.

Nobody controls games against big teams.

Your point is fair but big teams don't get dominated.

 

[Tomo]

Our midfield doesn’t scare anyone. Bentancur and Hobby are good players and much better than we’ve had the last couple years, but they can’t control games against big teams.

To fully control games in midfield you need to outnumber and place 3 in. We don’t have the numbers, it’s not just quality so we have to play around that.

 

[rhenkt]

Nobody controls games against big teams.

Your point is fair but big teams don't get dominated.

Some control...we’ve bossed Liverpool and City several times with Wanyama/Dembele. We’re not capable of it anymore, and to your point, nobody is.

 

[Notabadsquad]

Some control...we’ve bossed Liverpool and City several times with Wanyama/Dembele. We’re not capable of it anymore, and to your point, nobody is.

We have never bossed do either, as opposed to been more competitive..

We need a better pool of midfielders for sure

 

[ShutUpPatrik]

The posts in player threads when a player has a less than stellar game are outright embarrassing.

 

[jack sparrow]

The posts in player threads when a player has a less than stellar game are outright embarrassing.

some of our fans would deserve some new matches with winks-PEH
just to remember the difference

 

[blackburn]

I think Bentancur has been very good since joining us, great acquisition for the money

 

[Top_Spur]

He was good on Saturday. The only slight flaw in his game is he probably thinks he has more time than he thinks especially in big games but considering he only joined in January and has been proper thrown in at the deep end with no rotation etc I think he's done great.

 

[Matt1882]

He was good on Saturday. The only slight flaw in his game is he probably thinks he has more time than he thinks especially in big games but considering he only joined in January and has been proper thrown in at the deep end with no rotation etc I think he's done great.

This is it for me. He just needs to get his head up quicker and let go of the ball.
He's nowhere near as bad as Lamela was for the same thing though.
He's 23 and been here a few months. He seems to be adapting very well so far so no reason to think he won't clock on that he holds the ball a bit too long.

 

[Brian Fantana]

He was good on Saturday. The only slight flaw in his game is he probably thinks he has more time than he thinks especially in big games but considering he only joined in January and has been proper thrown in at the deep end with no rotation etc I think he's done great.

It was a criticism that the Juve fans had of him but I think it is a pretty easy thing to get out of his game to ask him to move the ball on quicker.

 

[TheSpurEst]

The posts in player threads when a player has a less than stellar game are outright embarrassing.

Well, I mean... it would be weird if people would race to praise someone after poor game?
I have seen no-one claiming that he is utter shit or bad footballer overall. People just pointing out that he did not have a good game.

Took too much time on the ball and was robbed of it. His forward passing was not on his usual level and generally speaking his performance did not help us too much. To me it was surprising that from PEH-Benta duo it was Benta who got caught with being too slow on the ball and on the turn.

I would say that two poorest players on the field were Bentancur and Kulusevski - they struggled with the tempo of the game more than other players. It is not to say that they would be shit or should be dropped - absolutely not. They have been very valuable additions and have helped us back into top 4 fight. And we will get lot out of them in the future as well. Just this one game they both played poorly. I do not see why it is bad thing to admit it?