Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

[Abraxas]

It was okay. Think he'll be useful this season but whether we go out of our way beyond that - we'll see. Probably not. Needs must.

 

[ClassOf'99]

Meh.

First half was a classic Cleverley performance. Looked better in the second half but I’m not convinced. Not a bad player but he looks like a player you can find 50 clones of across Europe.

So why haven't we or why couldn't we?

The judgement of the only proper midfielder we currently have in here is insane, especially when you have McT going ghost, Bruno going erratic and Case being the newest scapegoat.

He's been fine, consistent and done what has been asked of him, some of you need to lower your expectations of what we've got Vs what was available to us.

He's an upgrade on McT, Sabitzer and hasn't had that much of a run in the team a) in his preferred position, b) in a consistent 11 and c) with a competent backline behind him, he's not a big problem and can be a very useful player.

 

[Adnan]

I can see your point, but don't you think, if that would be the case, we'd be a little more compact? This is the thing, I don't get at all - I think being pragmatic with our injury list makes sense, play to our strength as long as thats the best bet. But why are we so out of sync all the time? There were many occasions, when McTom bombed forwards, Dalot went into midfield and pushed up. But the long, direct ball then is powerless and dumb which then comes back when we are completely out of balance.

There's a problem in this team that has existed for a while. And that problem is that we're not a team that is strong at defending large spaces. I've said many times in the past about signing players who can control or contain large spaces in defensive transition. But unfortunately our problem wasn't just containing large spaces, but also progressing the play. And after Pogba had left, we'd got even worse when it came to progressing from a deeper role. And Fred and McTominay did their bit out of possession but were never good enough on the ball to elevate our game in possession.

So the reason we can't stay compact is manly due to a lack of physical and athletic capabilities in the back line. Which has been made worse with injuries to Varane, Martinez and Shaw. So when we press high and the opponent manages to escape the first line of pressure, our CBs take a step back because the space has opened up for pacy players to run the channel. And the reason they take a step back is due to not having the physical and athletic capabilities to dominate in isolation imo. It's why I believe they wanted to sign Todibo and Amadou Onana to improve our rest defense capabilities in defensive transition .

McTominay was pushing forward with Maguire pushing up into midfield, Amrabat taking up Maguire's position and Bruno dropping deeper. It seemed like they were rotating positions depending on the game situation.

I think there's a strong case to made for a midfielder like Amadou Onana or Lucas Gourna-Douath to be brought in to raise the physical and athletic level in the team. And also a CB like Todibo or Diomande to progress the ball and dominate the channel in isolation.

 

[RuudTom83]

He was fine. Good to have a player that can cover for Casemiro.

 

[el3mel]

He's not a great player but you can't fault his effort or dedication. He really wants to do something here.

 

[Still ill]

Well hey, I'm delighted to have someone who can do what he did today, accept possession, pass it on, get it back, you know. Low bar, I guess but feck knows we need it.

 

[NZT-One]

There's a problem in this team that has existed for a while. And that problem is that we're not a team that is strong at defending large spaces. I've said many times in the past about signing players who can control or contain large spaces in defensive transition. But unfortunately our problem wasn't just containing large spaces, but also progressing the play. And after Pogba had left, we'd got even worse when it came to progressing from a deeper role. And Fred and McTominay did their bit out of possession but were never good enough on the ball to elevate our game in possession.

So the reason we can't stay compact is manly due to a lack of physical and athletic capabilities in the back line. Which has been made worse with injuries to Varane, Martinez and Shaw. So when we press high and the opponent manages to escape the first line of pressure, our CBs take a step back because the space has opened up for pacy players to run the channel. And the reason they take a step back is due to not having the physical and athletic capabilities to dominate in isolation imo. It's why I believe they wanted to sign Todibo and Amadou Onana to improve our rest defense capabilities in defensive transition .

McTominay was pushing forward with Maguire pushing up into midfield, Amrabat taking up Maguire's position and Bruno dropping deeper. It seemed like they were rotating positions depending on the game situation.

I think there's a strong case to made for a midfielder like Amadou Onana or Lucas Gourna-Douath to be brought in to raise the physical and athletic level in the team. And also a CB like Todibo or Diomande to progress the ball and dominate the channel in isolation.

Makes sense. I'd chip in the odd "they aren't in sync yet because they lack the chemistry just yet" but I guess thats just one of many factors. Out of interest: for fun's sake lets say we bring in Todibo and A. Onana next summer, whats the CB partnership you have in mind in terms of starting? And whats the starting midfield look like (lets ignore Mainoo and Mejbri for this exercise)

 

[Adnan]

Makes sense. I'd chip in the odd "they aren't in sync yet because they lack the chemistry just yet" but I guess thats just one of many factors. Out of interest: for fun's sake lets say we bring in Todibo and A. Onana next summer, whats the CB partnership you have in mind in terms of starting? And whats the starting midfield look like (lets ignore Mainoo and Mejbri for this exercise)

Myself personally I'd sign four players if I was in charge of recruitment. Todibo and Amadou Onana along with Ousmane Diomande and Arthur Vermeeren would be the players I target. Todibo I first mentioned on the Caf when he was a teenager playing for Toulouse.

All four players are realistic targets and they have the potential to collectively raise the technical level in possession, as well as having the ability to dominate defensive transitions. Todibo I'd sign as a RB/RCB who starts wide but tucks inside to form a 3 man defense in a higher defensive line.

So my midfield 3 would be Onana and Vermeeren occupying holding roles in a double pivot in the build up phase . With Mount as the advanced central midfielder. I think next season will be Bruno's last season as a regular starter.

 

[Woziak]

Looked far better when Erikson came on. I personally think he is a good signing and will prove to be a top CDM.

I noticed this, I think our best midfield 3 might end up being Amrabat, K Mainoo and C Eriksen or M Mount, only time will tell ?

I’m not sure he’s truly elite but he gets round the pitch well and has a thunderous strike on him!

 

[Woziak]

Myself personally I'd sign four players if I was in charge of recruitment. Todibo and Amadou Onana along with Ousmane Diomande and Arthur Vermeeren would be the players I target. Todibo I first mentioned on the Caf when he was a teenager playing for Toulouse.

All four players are realistic targets and they have the potential to collectively raise the technical level in possession, as well as having the ability to dominate defensive transitions. Todibo I'd sign as a RB/RCB who starts wide but tucks inside to form a 3 man defense in a higher defensive line.

So my midfield 3 would be Onana and Vermeeren occupying holding roles in a double pivot in the build up phase . With Mount as the advanced central midfielder. I think next season will be Bruno's last season as a regular starter.

That doesn’t answer our inability to be a free flowing scoring team but in principle I like the thought of Onana in midfield.

 

[Borys]

Was okay but needs other midfielders to be closer to him, he's a bit slow, only twice as fast as Casemiro.

It's a shame ETH has such a hard on playing #6 and two #10s, because seems to me like we should have two (Amrabat - Eriksen/Mainoo) or even three (+Mount) players in midfield area. I would identify our main problem is we don't move the ball well from defense to attack. Obviously it would've been easier with Martinez, but he's out now and we have to adjust.

 

[LDUred]

Nice to see some genuine screening of the defence and mopping up after what we've been put through with Case, but there were a few lapses today.

I don't think we'll see the best of him until we get the right partner. I would like to see Mainoo get a go when he's ready.

His passing and positioning is pretty good but you need someone alongside him who is more mobile.

 

[NoPace]

Thought he struggled today, but a few decent passes out right and mostly defended okay.

 

[Freak]

He played a lot better when Eriksen came on to help support him. Not sure why ETH can't see the unbalance in midfield when he keeps playing Bruno or Scott.

 

[Scottynaldinho]

He's just a bald Sabitzer.

 

[Jeffthered]

So why haven't we or why couldn't we?

The judgement of the only proper midfielder we currently have in here is insane, especially when you have McT going ghost, Bruno going erratic and Case being the newest scapegoat.

He's been fine, consistent and done what has been asked of him, some of you need to lower your expectations of what we've got Vs what was available to us.

He's an upgrade on McT, Sabitzer and hasn't had that much of a run in the team a) in his preferred position, b) in a consistent 11 and c) with a competent backline behind him, he's not a big problem and can be a very useful player.

I absolutely agree with this. I think he looked decent. And look at us, we are clearly poorly coached, the players need some definition and strategy and ETH isn't providing that. Amrabat joined the club and was played at full back! It took ETH a few games to understand that was crazy, and to play Lindehof there. Amrabat actually has shown some very promising aspects to his game, he wants to get on the ball, wants to help focus our play. How can some people judge him so early? What do some people expect?

Our team is so disjointed. Don't look at Amrabat.

We have to keep playing him, get him to the very heart of our team.

 

[Adnan]

That doesn’t answer our inability to be a free flowing scoring team but in principle I like the thought of Onana in midfield.

Free flowing teams who score a lot of goals have the ability to play through the thirds against the press in confined spaces, can then press high effectively in a compact high block and also have the ability to control large spaces in defensive transitions. The players I've mentioned above take the team towards that goal.

 

[Ace of Spades]

He struggled in the first half, mostly as he had no help in midfield.

Instantly improved once he had help from Ericksen in midfield. He is doing fine overall.

 

[Bobski]

He played a lot better when Eriksen came on to help support him. Not sure why ETH can't see the unbalance in midfield when he keeps playing Bruno or Scott.

ETH is the one who wanted to play Cas, Bruno and Mount as his midfield 3, a DM and 2 10s. This leaving the deep midfielder isolated comes from ETH, yet Utd always look better when he goes to a more orthodox deeper 2 with 1 ten.

Makes the Mount signing even more questionable unless we are planning to move on from Bruno.

 

[Matt Varnish]

He struggled in the first half, mostly as he had no help in midfield.

Instantly improved once he had help from Ericksen in midfield. He is doing fine overall.

Really?
His first couple of games he runs around like a headless chicken trying to cover every blade of grass.
Than against Sheffield he disappears into the shadows, does so little you wonder if he's playing.
I probably demand much better performance than you?

 

[frostbite]

Is he really better than Fred?

 

[Matt Varnish]

Is he really better than Fred?

IMO.......................No, but it's still early days, he struggled against what is basically a championship side and got bossed against Sheffield.

 

[Litch]

Thought was a really good second half....

 

[Ace of Spades]

Really?
His first couple of games he runs around like a headless chicken trying to cover every blade of grass.
Than against Sheffield he disappears into the shadows, does so little you wonder if he's playing.
I probably demand much better performance than you?

Really.

His first couple if games he was playing LB, and he was still one of our better players in a crap team.

And against Sheffield he was the only player in midfield, both McTominay and Bruno were awol. His performance was much better once he got some help inidfield.

No you are just clueless.

 

[afatzp]

Somehow I think he is quite quality and underrated. He makes things look simple and organized, especially considering that he plays with two No.10 who always stand too high up and barely provide enough covering when in defense position. Think about how struggling when Casemiro played in this system; Amrabat already played quite well and almost everywhere covering SW. DMC and MC positions.

My ideal mid 3 now is Mount + Amrabat + Casemiro ; that would be way balanced than the current system and have better foundation of controlling games to let the front 3 shine.

 

[The Original]

Is he really better than Fred?

Yes, he is at some things, but I actually entered this thread to say I think he could have worked quite well with Fred. Amrabat is more press-resistant in deep areas and has a much better passing technique. But Fred could have added something to this side and he and Amrabat would have been a pretty tight shield to accommodate the lack of physicality elsewhere.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Was okay but needs other midfielders to be closer to him, he's a bit slow, only twice as fast as Casemiro.

It's a shame ETH has such a hard on playing #6 and two #10s, because seems to me like we should have two (Amrabat - Eriksen/Mainoo) or even three (+Mount) players in midfield area. I would identify our main problem is we don't move the ball well from defense to attack. Obviously it would've been easier with Martinez, but he's out now and we have to adjust.

Was not the rumor last year he would like to play without a traditional 6 but with two 6/8 hybrids like de Jong and one more advanced midfielder? However, it feels asif we just recruit the midfielders who are getable and now struggle to find a balance.

 

[Ekeke]

Really.

His first couple if games he was playing LB, and he was still one of our better players in a crap team.

And against Sheffield he was the only player in midfield, both McTominay and Bruno were awol. His performance was much better once he got some help inidfield.

No you are just clueless.

Wat

His second game at left back he was destroyed and gave away the winning goal.

He has been average in CM but he had a good shot off the bar last time out. We'll be lucky if he does better than that at United though as hes only ever scored 6 goals and he might be here only till the end of this season. So he might finish here with 0 and that being the closest effort.

He was just as invisible as McTom in the first half, but he did do better in the 2nd and he got stuck in and won 5 tackles. On the ball there was no creativity from him with 0 key passes. Bruno had 5 key passes which is what youd expect from your AM but also the 2nd most touches in the team behind Maguire, more than Amrabat by 9. So if Bruno was awol then Amrabat was more awol just like McTom was

 

[DJ_21]

Is he really better than Fred?

I was looking at our game against city next week and the previous one we beat them at OT and Fred started. He’ll be a big miss against city, they’re one team that he usually turned up against and tried to unsettle their midfield with his pressing.

 

[Borys]

Was not the rumor last year he would like to play without a traditional 6 but with two 6/8 hybrids like de Jong and one more advanced midfielder? However, it feels asif we just recruit the midfielders who are getable and now struggle to find a balance.

Seems like we're doing that exactly. Casemiro doesn't sit, Bruno and Mount/McTominay play very advanced. No wonder this is not effective.
We might as well start playing tiki taka with this squad and wonder why isn't it working.

 

[buckooo1978]

Thought he did well. Covered the ground well. Helped out the defence. Decent progression in his passes. Plenty of energy.

one big issue Casimero suffered and he suffered a little was the tactical approach. McTominay was playing as a second striker for long parts I felt.

The balance of the team isn't right. If we play with our midfield pushed up so far we will get hurt by teams. Ericksen should start and it should provide a bit of control

 

[11101]

It's only Sheffield United but that was the first time in a while we have controlled a midfield and not had endless runners coming through the middle. And that was with Mr Anonymous next to him in midfield.

I think with Casemiro next to him we might finally have some balance in midfield.

 

[Ekeke]

Is he really better than Fred?

No. And hes not better than McTom either. They're all the same level but do some things better than each other and other things just as much worse than each other.

McTom and even Fred in his final seasons were able to support the attack and get on the scoresheet. Amrabat isnt going to do much of that

Fred and McTom are faster than Amrabat, from what we've seen so far Fred was more creative but less dependable (which tends to be what happens when you try harder stuff) with his passing. By the numbers Fred and McTom are better ball winners - but Amrabat did win 5 tackles last game, so lets see if he can keep up those better ball winning numbers than his career till now. Its just 1 game.

Amrabat is stronger than Fred, maybe stronger than McTom? Probably close. He's willing to run about like the other 2, though given Fred's speed advantage hes certainly the best of the 3 at it.

McTom's weakness is not getting on the ball and influencing play enough. Occasionally he will show he can play a long pass switch just like Amrabat likes to do. But whereas other midfielders will give you 3 or 4 of those a game, McTom will do it 1 time (on a good day) then forget he can spread play like that and not even try it again. And his strength has always been what weve seen recently - getting his shot away, on target and getting in the goals. So when we had deployed him as a holding midfielder its kept him in his weaker areas of his game, although his ball winning did improve, but we didnt see the best of him which is efforts on goal from in and around the box.

Fred's weakness was consistency and reliability. He had that one game against Barcelona iirc where he controlled the ball and kept it under pressure well and played very well against them. But then in the premier league I lost count of the amount of games where he couldnt have a good first touch receiving the ball and lost it to pressing in our own half, or played a fairly simple pass poorly straight to an opponent. He could do those things well. But he could also suddenly be very poor at them. He was also weak on the ball most of the time with most opponents in midfield being physically stronger and taking the ball off him.

So while Amrabat has his own weaknesses, he has no goal threat usually and wins the ball less than McTom and Fred usually, he should be a bit better in their weak areas of getting on the ball and passing it about without losing it much. But one of the reasons for that is that he's trying less dangerous passes to the opponent than Fred would try and sometimes succeed at. So better ball retention sure, but at the cost of some attacking creativity and chance creation which Fred would help with at times.

Now again this past match he had a good shot and won 5 tackles. So lets hope this is the start of an improvement in those areas and he keeps it up game after game. Meanwhile on the ball he was not that good and he can do better than that. And then he needs to put the 2 together.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

It’s early days but signs are positive in terms of taking the ball from the defenders and moving it along quickly - guy wasn’t fit when he arrived and has been carrying injuries so thought he showed well as a defensive screen.
Agreed that the overall shape and balance was better once Erikson came on, complimented each other and we looked more in control in that area.

 

[Matt Varnish]

Really.

His first couple if games he was playing LB, and he was still one of our better players in a crap team.

And against Sheffield he was the only player in midfield, both McTominay and Bruno were awol. His performance was much better once he got some help inidfield.

No you are just clueless.

You are supposed to critique the post, not personally attack the poster, but hey, it seems that rule only applies to newbies.

I am like you entitled entitled to an opinion, mine is no more wrong or right than yours.

You could argue that in his first couple of games he was playing left back, however he spent very little time there, and was as I said running around like headless chicken trying to cover every blade of grass.
Against Sheffield, he was in his "natural" position, he looked lost, at times without a clue.
He is no better (or worse) than any current midfielder we have.
That is my opinion, if you don't like it, keep scrolling, don't resort to personal attacks to justify your opinion.

 

[Lash]

I think having him and Casemiro will be a much improved midfield. I like what he brings, we've obviously still got to improve as a team, I hope his qualities will raise our overall performance.

I do see Mount as a bit of conundrum in all of this though. Sure he improves our squad is HG, but Amrabaat does the former and is on a loan with an option to buy.

 

[Still ill]

You are supposed to critique the post, not personally attack the poster, but hey, it seems that rule only applies to newbies.

I am like you entitled entitled to an opinion, mine is no more wrong or right than yours.

You could argue that in his first couple of games he was playing left back, however he spent very little time there, and was as I said running around like headless chicken trying to cover every blade of grass.
Against Sheffield, he was in his "natural" position, he looked lost, at times without a clue.
He is no better (or worse) than any current midfielder we have.
That is my opinion, if you don't like it, keep scrolling, don't resort to personal attacks to justify your opinion.

I think you're doing him a major disservice here.
His stats from yesterday

 

[Berbasbullet]

I think you're doing him a major disservice here.
His stats from yesterday

Fair play that's a good set of stats! I thought he was just kind of there linking play a little. But I think that's what we need to improve.

 

[Kostov]

He got caught up couple of times by Sheffield midfielders, City will eat him alive at that pace of playing. I like him for his dedication and I think he is useful, long term I don’t think he will cut it.

 

[neon_badger]

Is he really better than Fred?

Better than bad Fred, not as good as good Fred...maybe a middle of the road Fred. Sunday will be interesting, we could see Amrabat in his preferred position against the strongest opposition, he's going to have a real test, Fred had some good games vs City/De Bruyne.