He’s what Cantona would have called a water carrier.
Sadly he’s not carrying the water to players anywhere near as good as Eric Cantona.
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Player João Palhinha
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Sadly he’s not carrying the water to players anywhere near as good as Eric Cantona.
Neither him nor Bentancur could be anything more than a veteran presence for a team that already have their XI sorted. If Bergvall and Gray were at their peak selves at 25 and were running the show as first team regulars for example,having someone like Palhinha come off the bench once in a while to kill a game off would be tolerable. Think of Kane and Llorente.
As things currently stand, with Gray and Bergvall being teenagers that are not ready for first team football, these average veterans heading towards the wrong side of 30 are redundant. They inevitably will get more minutes than their abilities justify due to the state of their alternatives.
Have to get rid of them altogether, relegate Gray and Bergvall to roles more commensurate with their current level, and sign as soon as possible at least 2 deep midfielders that would walk straight into the team.
As things currently stand, with Gray and Bergvall being teenagers that are not ready for first team football, these average veterans heading towards the wrong side of 30 are redundant. They inevitably will get more minutes than their abilities justify due to the state of their alternatives.
Have to get rid of them altogether, relegate Gray and Bergvall to roles more commensurate with their current level, and sign as soon as possible at least 2 deep midfielders that would walk straight into the team.
If we were to ship out Biss & Bentancur and buy the upgrades that we needed, then I'd be fine with JP made permanent for depth..... Probably won't happen that way though.
Im
In fact; if we didn't make Europe next season, we wouldn't be able to service that many MFs for 2 CM spots anyway.
Im
In fact; if we didn't make Europe next season, we wouldn't be able to service that many MFs for 2 CM spots anyway.
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I agree. I'd keep JP as a tool. He is useful.
We need at least one genuinely elite no8. And Kulu back.
I think he has a better attitude than the other two if nothing else he seems a committed focused professional. No balloons and racial slurs...
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.........Always a bonus.
We can get better younger player in the next transfer. Maybe if he is free.
It’s all he does. There’s some terribly average players on that list which tells you how important a stat it is.
Yeah I mean what does this stat prove? I think its evidence that Frank has no midfeild and some poor bastard is constantly trying to win the ball back to belt into a channel.
All it shows me is you have an actually quality player like Anderson, who tackles a good amount but also does loads of other excellent midfield stuff, and instead we have Palhinha at the base who makes 1 or 2 more tackles a game but does nothing else.
We need an Anderson. Hardly asking for peak Busquets here. We know/knew Pal tackles a lot but it’s a small part of a midfielder’s skill-set and yeah, he’s having to do it a lot because we play like Fulham FFS.
There is a school of thought that thinks that tackling the opposition and getting the ball off of them before they score is actually a worthwhile skill. Doing it at a 20% higher clip than anyone else in football is very good —especially for someone who isn’t a true defender.
Yes, he’s one dimensional.
But then that would ignore the 7 goal involvements this season (goals plus assists) which, I believe, is more than Gray, Sarr and Bentancur combined.
Yes, he’s one dimensional.
But then that would ignore the 7 goal involvements this season (goals plus assists) which, I believe, is more than Gray, Sarr and Bentancur combined.
It would be fine Jack if he was winning the ball in a system that was efficient. And structured to play through the thirds, and open up the opposition in a Frank team its like such a limited asset that its totally undermines his overall utility. Its such a blunt tool that actually its helping to drag us toward mediocrity.
I’ve said before that’s more on the midfielder he’s paired with. The stats for Sarr, Bents and Gray are abysmal.
IMHO, JP passes the eye test. I wouldn’t say the others do.
Don't rate any of them three kids and a journey man.
Sarr is 23 now and Betancur 28. They’re definitely not kids and, IMHO, are unlikely to improve much.
Nonsense- there’s still a lot to possibly come from Sarr whereas Benta has definitely already peaked.
The difference between these players looking good and looking shit is very much at the hands of the manager. Thomas’ central midfield tactics “Frankly” suck, and everyone looks worse right now. The club need to find a better coach to help develop these players!
Sarr is exactly at the right age to start every game and show everyone what he really is.
There’s no real excuse for starting either RB or JP over him in the 8. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Frank has been doing since Gray won the spot as the starting deeper CM in that double pivot.
