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Player Xavi Simons

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Jimmy Greaves said:
it's not his fault others think he is brilliant
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how true is this tho? barca and PSG have both had a very good look and passed on him.

hes 22, he really needs to improve his strength and power to survive in this league. look at cunha earlier, different players, but unless you are an elite lockpicker, you need that power in your legs to make a difference. simons is falling over a lot when running with the ball and a slight bit of pressure on him.

to be fair, even the smaller players that have been world class in this league, they still had a bit of leg power. you need to have a level of physicality to succeed in the prem.
 
VonnegutBusy said:
Biggest disappointment is how bad his shooting has been. That's not a physical adaptation point.

I thought we were getting a really good finisher who could also score from distance but he has flopped massively in front of goal.
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It kind of is actually. Shooting isn't just power, it's technical finesse as well and we all know that when you are gassed or moving faster than you are used to, mistakes in tekkers can happen
 
mrunderwear said:
Whoever is a scout needs to go.
I struggle to see anything xavi offer.
Even Johnson as an AM is better.

Mcginn vs xavi Simon vs odegard

Most teams AM players better than this guy
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I think Xavi is extremely talented but is struggling to find himself under TF....nonetheless, I think he's given us flashes of what he can do...should be a real asset eventually...only been here 5 minutes...
 
kingdawson said:
1) 22 (soon to be 23) is not a kid so quit trying to justify your false statement with another false statement.

2) you don't know the extent of his 'injury' and how much pain hes in so quit pretending to know. You also don't know me or anything about me so quit talking about my pain threshold. I'm willing to bet I've gone through more shit and more 'injuries' then you and/or Xavi but again that would be an assumption.

3) He played slightly better then he has previously and played well first half against Dortmund but if you think he "always shows for the ball" then you are utterly deluded. It all sounds good as you probably want some sort of online superfan award and you can pat yourself on the back but he has gone missing and misplaced 5 yard passes in countless games this season, countless.

4) "Going after kids" fuck me you're a sensitive soul. We are about to get relegated (yes I think that will happen) because we have a midfielder that starts that is in the 1% centile in countless stats compared to other similar midfielders and another AM that goes missing 8/10 times.

You just say they are playing well without a single thing to back it up, then you act like captain 'save a hoe' defending poor performances calling them "kids'. Do you want me to show you Grays stats this season??? He is literally the worst performing midfielder at pretty much everything but a couple of pointless stats IN THE LEAGUE. Why in your opinion is he playing well because I can show you 10 plus reasons why he absolutely isnt?


My opinion is that people like you who continuously try and find reasons to defend ineptness is one of the biggest issues we have as a fanbase. Probably gives the board enough reason to carry on spending on average "kids" for big money (fyi I think Simons can eventually come good and has positive traits but Gray is totally hopeless).
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Bollocks...!
 
Yorkshire Yid said:
There was 3 or 4 times yesterday when it was 0-0 we played through the lines to him and all he had to do was a simpleish through ball and he fucked it up.

Can blame Frank all we want for the limited amount of times we do it but fuck me he should be making those passes 99/100.

He's just looked so so poor in the PL the level jump up from Bundesliga has obviously been to much for him
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I think pat of the problem is that he's not adapted to what is needed from him in the EPL. Van De Beek was another. I remember him making Alderweireld and Vertonghen look like a couple of donkeys, but different team, different league and different tactics and it's all a bit much. I think Simon's does too much tracking back and his starting position is deeper than it should be. I think if he is the furthest forward midfielder with a dominant defensive midfield duo behind him, he will ahine
 
Defqon said:
I think pat of the problem is that he's not adapted to what is needed from him in the EPL. Van De Beek was another. I remember him making Alderweireld and Vertonghen look like a couple of donkeys, but different team, different league and different tactics and it's all a bit much. I think Simon's does too much tracking back and his starting position is deeper than it should be. I think if he is the furthest forward midfielder with a dominant defensive midfield duo behind him, he will ahine
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Van de Beek prob would have been fine but they purchased him after already having two premier CAMs in Fernandez and another who I can't recall right now (was it Pogba?). Van de Beek got almost no game time, no chance to adjust to the Prem, and then of course looked like trash when he got spot minutes at an already dysfunctional team. I think it's safe to say his ill-sighted move to them ruined his Prem career, and was the end of his significance in euro football. If he had gone to another club I think he would have been fine. Funny how all that works out.
 
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Crockett said:
Based on what we have seen so far I think you have to show your workings here.
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Well "extremely talented" might be gilding the lily but he's clearly the best technical player in the current team apart from Romero and only behind Maddison in the entire squad.

That ball to Solanke on its own is better than anything we've seen since Madders went down
 
Phomesy said:
Oddly enough when you call people who don't like kids being bullied "fairies" it does tend to make one rather indisposed to you. 🤷‍♂️ Nothing you've written since has given me any inclination to change my mind that, for whatever reason, you've suddenly gone from being a mildly acerbic poster to just being downright nasty.
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Quit trying to justify being a hypocrite. You claimed me calling you a "fairy" was an attempt to look "hard" the proceeded to call me a piece of shit and prick in the very next post. Zero self control and also an attempt to look "hard".

Phomesy said:
I see you've stopped mentioning Xavi about whom you've been running around saying he "hides" which is so utterly preposterous an accusation (literally the only midfielder we have who DOESN'T "hide" - so far at least) it beggars belief. You aren't this stupid or unknowledgeable so there can only be another weird agenda at play.
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I stopped talking about Xavi because i realise its a subjective viewpoint. He imo was 100% hiding early into his career with us but i cannot prove this so we are just going to go back and forth with no real conclusion. Its a pointless exercise.

Phomesy said:
As for Gray all I've ever said is he's progressing well for a kid his age and that he's not responsible for the price-tag he was bought for. Two of the best games we've had this season in term of metrics have come with him and Bergvall in CM. He was brave last year filling in at CB.

There's nothing at all in his appearances, or his character, to justify the hate you pile onto him nearly every match day whether he plays or not. Its quite bizarre. Especially when the senior players who should be leading the way consistently don't. Of all the players to dig out - you've gone for the lowest hanging fruit. Really very strange.
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There you go being wrong again. Firstly you use buzz words like "hate" and "bully" because fundamentally we as humans are against this so naturally people will agree with the general consensus of what you say. I know this tactic mate, see people using it all the time but i know your game even if others are fooled.

The fact is i have never, not once, directed any sort of verbal abuse at one of our players. I strictly keep it about the footballer and the footballers ability. Ive had a look at the Johnson/Richarlison threads and there is a ridiculous amount of actual insults and abuse directed at the person and not the player. Calling them "cunts".."pricks"..."charlatans" amongst other stuff and guess what? i didn't see you once on there stating its uncalled for or over the top. I could be wrong i might have missed something but i find it highly hypocritical (AGAIN) that you have this amount of time to spend on a critique of a players ability and none on actual abuse.

"lowest hanging fruit"?? are you in cloud cuckoo land again? generally speaking younger players are the hardest to critique and get the most leeway. I think you would find foreign players/black players the "lowest hanging fruit" but that's another discussion for another day.

Lastly just to clarify, you brought up Gray in this discussion not me AND your bolded statement is completely and utterly wrong (again). I don't know if you are intentionally missing the FACTS but he is, statistically speaking, the worst performing midfielder in the league when compared to other similar cm's. I know lots will look past it because of age and that's their prerogative but when they try and twist it and claim he is playing well i will always make it a point to show (with evidence) that is not.
 
sad baby GIF
 
He's slowly getting more comfortable with the pace of the league I feel; but still needs to tidy up his game.

He has gotten better with these sorts of quick reads...









...and holds on to the ball better in situations like these:





But these unforced/avoidable errors are still there:







Completely misses Bissouma wide open to dribble into a blind alley instead.





Heavy touch+suboptimal pass disrupts the flow of the developing attack.

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I remember saying this about Odobert as well: Players this small absolutely cannot afford to be loose on the ball. That's where they are supposed to have the edge over bigger but usually less crafty players.

They shouldn't put themselves in situations where they have to win 50/50s against the said bigger players. Because those will, more often than not, end up like this:





He still has too many of the said errors in him to confidently say that he'll eventually make it.

He's getting better though, despite the manager and the teammates holding him back in certain important respects.
 
BJK said:
He's slowly getting more comfortable with the pace of the league I feel; but still needs to tidy up his game.

He has gotten better with these sorts of quick reads...









...and holds on to the ball better in situations like these:





But these unforced/avoidable errors are still there:







Completely misses Bissouma wide open to dribble into a blind alley instead.





Heavy touch+suboptimal pass disrupts the flow of the developing attack.

------------------​

I remember saying this about Odobert as well: Players this small absolutely cannot afford to be loose on the ball. That's where they are supposed to have the edge over bigger but usually less crafty players.

They shouldn't put themselves in situations where they have to win 50/50s against the said bigger players. Because those will, more often than not, end up like this:





He still has too many of the said errors in him to confidently say that he'll eventually make it.

He's getting better though, despite the manager and the teammates holding him back in certain important respects.
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Good post. He’s a frustrating little player but I do think there’s a lot of good things in his game. He just needs to tidy up, have better players around him and play in a system that gets him on the ball quicker. Hes clever and finds good areas but so many times the ball either takes an eternity to get to him or not at all
 
His attitude stinks. When teammates miss chances, he reacts with visible disbelief. You can't do that - it's disrespectful, especially when he himself has been poor for most of the season. That's not the kind of player you want around the group.

He's done it many times this season, and he did it again when Solanke missed that header.
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he reminds me of jaden smith lol
 
daveyboy88 said:
how true is this tho? barca and PSG have both had a very good look and passed on him.

hes 22, he really needs to improve his strength and power to survive in this league. look at cunha earlier, different players, but unless you are an elite lockpicker, you need that power in your legs to make a difference. simons is falling over a lot when running with the ball and a slight bit of pressure on him.

to be fair, even the smaller players that have been world class in this league, they still had a bit of leg power. you need to have a level of physicality to succeed in the prem.
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Barca didn’t pass on him. He left for money.
 
BJK said:
He's slowly getting more comfortable with the pace of the league I feel; but still needs to tidy up his game.

He has gotten better with these sorts of quick reads...

t-uxMY.gif


6HKV9i.gif


dhhjPw.gif


Rn2xVt.gif


...and holds on to the ball better in situations like these:

9CZET9.gif


f5CtPs.gif


But these unforced/avoidable errors are still there:

DzSy8R.gif


R4-ASm.gif


0M0hjw.gif


Completely misses Bissouma wide open to dribble into a blind alley instead.

ynLmkJ.gif


3llyAS.gif


Heavy touch+suboptimal pass disrupts the flow of the developing attack.

------------------​

I remember saying this about Odobert as well: Players this small absolutely cannot afford to be loose on the ball. That's where they are supposed to have the edge over bigger but usually less crafty players.

They shouldn't put themselves in situations where they have to win 50/50s against the said bigger players. Because those will, more often than not, end up like this:

BEYzvs.gif


sQfVpa.gif


He still has too many of the said errors in him to confidently say that he'll eventually make it.

He's getting better though, despite the manager and the teammates holding him back in certain important respects.
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The mistakes you show happen with every top player.

LOL at calling the first of two 50/50s a real 50/50. The pass was out of reach. No chance to get it.
 
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