[Alemar]

He's going through a rough patch but im sure he will turn it around. He's making the right runs, and you can't fault him for effort, his touch has been off and also a bit unlucky.

Still he’s 3rd in the team on a G/A per minute ratio with 187 min per G/A, it’s not terrible

 

[RedIan]

Doesnt seem to have the ability to retain possession when taking a long pass. Normasly falls over and dispossessed.
A shadow of the player he was a few monthsago.

 

[pascell]

He looks knackered to me, which is concerning given we'll have only played 40 games this season in total, and we'll have more games next season.

 

[L1nk]

Has had a worrying downturn of form since Carrick came in, not sure if its just on him or is the way Carrick asking him to play just not suiting him. Either way, him and Amad looking completely shot right now.

 

[Fortitude]

I meant to quote you two a while ago. I'm actually surprised you thought his first touch had "disintegrated", Welbz, as you're usually good at judging technical quality.

I got stick for it but as I've said after watching his first few games for us, he was never good from a technical POV. His first touch was always inconsistent, but because he'd occasionally pull out a nice one people treated him like Berbatov.

I posted this a while back:



So, even last season he was losing the ball cheaply on a regular basis so it's not just about him settling in here. This is the player he's always been.

Right now, he's 6th in the league for "unsuccessful touches". That's out of everyone, not just attackers.

In terms of us, he's obviously top with 86 unsuccessful touches. 2nd is Cunha with 74. 3rd is a massive drop off in Amad with 41!

If we want to get back to the top, we cannot afford to start such a technically poor player. This isn't like Chicharito who I don't think was even this bad + guaranteed you around 20 goals a season.

He’s not someone I paid attention to prior to us signing him, nor did I really bother with his transfer thread, tbh.

I hope he can turn it around; what he is producing on a technical level is alarming, if I’m being frank.

 

[Smores]

He's had a good season it's just petering out. I do think there's some level of mental/physical fatigue so we'll need to see how he is after the summer.

 

[Ole'sattheWheel]

He looks knackered to me, which is concerning given we'll have only played 40 games this season in total, and we'll have more games next season.

He did have AFCON but I agree he looks a bit knackered. Hopefully its more a factor of being rusty due to playing once a week now with lots of breaks rather than being burnt out.
Whats great is now if he doesn’t step up, Cunha, Sesko or the inevitable Bruno step up instead.
Only player I’m concerned about really is Amad atm. He’s still young though

 

[Mike Smalling]

I feel like Mbeumo is the type of player that needs to be put through on goal, or in situations where he just takes 1-2 quick touches before finishing or passing. The team hasn't created a lot of that for him recently. He is not without blame, obviously, and has fluffed many opportunities as well. But similar to Amad, I think we can expect better from them, when the team is playing better.

 

[Chicharito_]

If we want to be competing for the top accolades then I don't think this guy should be a starter or even at the club. Wingers need to be able to create something from nothing, be able to go past players with quick feet or close control/agility. Sadly Mbeumo doesn't have any of this, he is quick but not scary quick so he isn't that worrying to defend against and he cannot take a player on 1v1 for the life of him. He doesn't have a good shot from distance, his best attribute is probably his finishing from close range but that seems to have deserted him now. We really need to find an electric winger this summer.

 

[Posh Red]

I’m not worried. Most players drift in and out of form. What’s important is that other players pick up the slack. Just need to keep building the quality in the squad.

 

[Frank White]

He's had a good season it's just petering out. I do think there's some level of mental/physical fatigue so we'll need to see how he is after the summer.

He really hasn't. Outside of the average G/A his actual performances have been very underwhelming for the most part for literally months now. Even when he was scoring his general performances was ignored because he was getting the goals and if that's his bottom level you can ignore the rest but he's shown that worryingly that might be his game.

When the goals dry up his all around game looks rough.

 

[JohnyBuckets]

Crazy how his form diped after the African cup, same as Amad. So glad that wont happend again as its moved to summer but it goes to show how fatigue plays such a big part in players form and the importance to build a squad that can handle the demand of champions league next year and hopefully longer runs in both cups.

 

[Yagami]

He’s not someone I paid attention to prior to us signing him, nor did I really bother with his transfer thread, tbh.

I hope he can turn it around; what he is producing on a technical level is alarming, if I’m being frank.

Same. Didn't know anything about him but said in the transfer thread that he didn't seem technically good enough when people were showing clips of him.

I tried to look for positives at the start of the season but it became increasingly obvious that his technique was poor, so I checked last seasons stats as people were telling me that I was wrong and, yeah, his general play was sloppy last year as well.

People are saying he's looked bad since coming back from AFCON. Look at this thread - he was putting in stinkers long before AFCON, and by all accounts had a poor tournament as well. This form hasn't come out of the blue.

I think a lot of people are going to be watching Bayern-PSG tonight. That's the standard we need to get to, and I doubt we'll see anyone as poor on the ball as Mbeumo in this tie.

 

[Apokalips]

Crazy how his form diped after the African cup, same as Amad. So glad that wont happend again as its moved to summer but it goes to show how fatigue plays such a big part in players form and the importance to build a squad that can handle the demand of champions league next year and hopefully longer runs in both cups.

Mbeumo was looking poor before AFCON too and many hoped that he would find form there and bring it back. I think he actually looked a bit better post AFCON for a few games, so it is not to do with the tournament.

Most of our front line has looked quite poor and I keep seeing people criticising Amad the most, but Mbeumo has been far worse. He is supposed to be "PL proven" and at his absolute peak but was unable to even muster a shot or offer much danger at all. Amad and Sesko are still players that you expect to continue improving and maybe have some bumps in the road in development, but Cunha and Mbeumo were bought as ready made top of the league players.

Hopefully they all step it up for the last few games and in the new season. We need to look at bringing at least one forward/wide attacker in regardless.

 

[Smores]

He really hasn't. Outside of the average G/A his actual performances have been very underwhelming for the most part for literally months now. Even when he was scoring his general performances was ignored because he was getting the goals and if that's his bottom level you can ignore the rest but he's shown that worryingly that might be his game.

When the goals dry up his all around game looks rough.

Which is what I said, his form has petered out. You don't need to be on form for an entire season for it to be deemed good.

Most new players take time to settle, flip his season so he had a rough start and then started to bang them in and people here would be delighted. It's just recency bias to claim he's not had a good season.

When you factor in AFCON and the change in formation mid season then it's no surprise. I actually suspect some of them have grown fatigued due to Amorim's attempt to build their fitness up. Amad looks equally leggy at times.

 

[Ali Dia]

Has had a worrying downturn of form since Carrick came in, not sure if its just on him or is the way Carrick asking him to play just not suiting him. Either way, him and Amad looking completely shot right now.

I think he's a lot more exposed when we play 4 at the back. It's not the system he was signed to play. I don't think it's a coincidence. Amad was thriving in the same setup and they both look very unsure and isolated in this new formation.

 

[lex talionis]

Being shuttled between CF and RW may have unsettled Mbeumo. He was brilliant when he came back from AFCON but since then he’s been off the boil. The man may just need time away and a reset this summer.

 

[Frank White]

Which is what I said, his form has petered out. You don't need to be on form for an entire season for it to be deemed good.

Most new players take time to settle, flip his season so he had a rough start and then started to bang them in and people here would be delighted. It's just recency bias to claim he's not had a good season.

When you factor in AFCON and the change in formation mid season then it's no surprise. I actually suspect some of them have grown fatigued due to Amorim's attempt to build their fitness up. Amad looks equally leggy at times.

You don't no but if the majority of the season he's been below par then at what point does it become a bad season? Statically his G/A is ok i suppose not what you'd hope for, for the fee we paid or going off of his numbers last year but beyond that actually watching him for huge portions of the season he's not been good and that's being kind.

Genuinely hope it's the last part of your post that's the problem but doesn't bode well for next season if we're hoping to go deep into as many cup competitions possible and this season has ruined 2 of are supposed better players whilst playing the least amount of football in decades and they're tired from it.

 

[L1nk]

I think he's a lot more exposed when we play 4 at the back. It's not the system he was signed to play. I don't think it's a coincidence. Amad was thriving in the same setup and they both look very unsure and isolated in this new formation.

If Carrick stays on as manager you think this issue persists? It's gonna suck if we can't get the best out of Mbeumo and Amad because of this.

 

[Ekeke]

Which is what I said, his form has petered out. You don't need to be on form for an entire season for it to be deemed good.

Most new players take time to settle, flip his season so he had a rough start and then started to bang them in and people here would be delighted. It's just recency bias to claim he's not had a good season.

When you factor in AFCON and the change in formation mid season then it's no surprise. I actually suspect some of them have grown fatigued due to Amorim's attempt to build their fitness up. Amad looks equally leggy at times.

I dont think this is true at all

The reason why the flip works (for reasonable posters) for Sesko is hes 22 and its his first season in the premier league

Mbeumo and Cunha were supposed to come in and repeat what they did at previous clubs. Its why you pay the "premier league tax" for them being "proven". Mbeumo is 26. And if you check the Sesko thread there are still a bunch of people acting like hes still playing like he did in his first 10 games where he wasnt scoring every 160 mins or whatever. Thats because they looked at him for a couple of games and made their mind up, even on a young player who had just come to England and refuse to ever change their opinion. If Mbeumo had that slow start thats what he'd have too so it wouldnt matter if he was scoring now.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

I think he's better at CF for certain games. We've won a lot more matches when he's started than when he hasn't. Think people are being harsh, there's a very good player in there.

 

[Ali Dia]

I think he might just be the wrong player to play RW in this setup. He had amad or Dorgu or Dalot right there beside him with the back 5. We will see next season. What I do know is this formation is a hell of a lot better for the majority of the players we have. I'm not against 5 at the back away from home in big pressure games where a draw will do but even look at Andrews. They quickly switched up to a 4-3-3 when we went to a back 5 after going two up.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

Watching him play yesterday and then watching PSG vs Bayern and their wingers/AM (Olise, Barcola, Doue, Diaz, Khavcha, Musiala, Dembele etc), the difference in touches, passing, technical quality (dribbling, close control) is miles apart. I think if we want to reach to that level, we will need to move him on, he will never reach that level for us.
Funnily enough most of them were below the price we paid for him. Maybe in hindsight, not a bad idea to buy players from other leagues as well and not get too hung over PL proven.

 

[Dominos]

I think he's a lot more exposed when we play 4 at the back. It's not the system he was signed to play. I don't think it's a coincidence. Amad was thriving in the same setup and they both look very unsure and isolated in this new formation.

Mbeumo spent his entire career as a right sided attacker in a back 4 though?

If anything, it was Amorim's system that was completely foreign to him.

I also think people are not remembering his form fell off a cliff before AFCON while Amorim was still here, and he returned to form in the first 4 games under Carrick where he scored in 3 of the games (granted, he played up front rather than on the right). Since the Spurs game though he can't do anything right, either as a striker and as a winger, we've tried both.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Has been poor for a few months but I also suspect he’s never going to be someone to tear it up over 90 minutes. Problem is his box quality has been crap for a bit now, need that to improve.

 

[Himannv]

Mbeumo spent his entire career as a right sided attacker in a back 4 though?

If anything, it was Amorim's system that was completely foreign to him.

I also think people are not remembering his form fell off a cliff before AFCON while Amorim was still here, and he returned to form in the first 4 games under Carrick where he scored in 3 of the games (granted, he played up front rather than on the right). Since the Spurs game though he can't do anything right, either as a striker and as a winger, we've tried both.

All fair points. My feeling though is that having Amad at wingback and overlapping or underlapping constantly with him gave us a quite a bit of a threat down the right. There's a bit less of that right now as a result of the system change.

 

[Fortitude]

Watching him play yesterday and then watching PSG vs Bayern and their wingers/AM (Olise, Barcola, Doue, Diaz, Khavcha, Musiala, Dembele etc), the difference in touches, passing, technical quality (dribbling, close control) is miles apart. I think if we want to reach to that level, we will need to move him on, he will never reach that level for us.
Funnily enough most of them were below the price we paid for him. Maybe in hindsight, not a bad idea to buy players from other leagues as well and not get too hung over PL proven.

The first question to ask is whether he’ll prove to be KO-level CL player. Don’t really need to worry about the levels above that (next season, anyway).

 

[Drainy]

I feel like Mbeumo is the type of player that needs to be put through on goal, or in situations where he just takes 1-2 quick touches before finishing or passing. The team hasn't created a lot of that for him recently. He is not without blame, obviously, and has fluffed many opportunities as well. But similar to Amad, I think we can expect better from them, when the team is playing better.

Yes, he wants to be high up against his marker. That said his touch has not been as good as he showed at Brentford so needs to find form.

 

[Posh Red]

Watching him play yesterday and then watching PSG vs Bayern and their wingers/AM (Olise, Barcola, Doue, Diaz, Khavcha, Musiala, Dembele etc), the difference in touches, passing, technical quality (dribbling, close control) is miles apart. I think if we want to reach to that level, we will need to move him on, he will never reach that level for us.
Funnily enough most of them were below the price we paid for him. Maybe in hindsight, not a bad idea to buy players from other leagues as well and not get too hung over PL proven.

We were fifteenth last season and needed to bridge the gap. If we can sign even better wingers moving forward, great. These players are not on astronomical wages and can be classed as ‘competition’ squad players in the future. I don’t think that would be a bad situation at all.

 

[Trigestis]

Watching him play yesterday and then watching PSG vs Bayern and their wingers/AM (Olise, Barcola, Doue, Diaz, Khavcha, Musiala, Dembele etc), the difference in touches, passing, technical quality (dribbling, close control) is miles apart. I think if we want to reach to that level, we will need to move him on, he will never reach that level for us.
Funnily enough most of them were below the price we paid for him. Maybe in hindsight, not a bad idea to buy players from other leagues as well and not get too hung over PL proven.

But it's also a coaching thing. You didn't see this Luis Diaz at Liverpool as much, for instance. A lot of Liverpool fans were happy to let him go, and Khvicha is as inconsistent as it gets. At his best, he is absurdly good, but it's not his consistent level. Mbeumo probably wouldn't look as poor as he does for us, because the attacking play is just another level because of coaching, and of course the general quality. Last night, both teams were more than happy to just continously launch attacks without worrying too much about defensive shapes or risks. This isn't me saying Mbeumo is as good as them, but they look so much better because of the teams they play for. If they played for United, you can be sure they wouldn't be as impressive.

 

[DatIrishFella]

Quality player who's going through a bad patch. You can see the confidence is gone for now. Head down whenever he loses it the ball, just a sad look on his face.

He'll be grand.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

The first question to ask is whether he’ll prove to be KO-level CL player. Don’t really need to worry about the levels above that (next season, anyway).

I think we would would have to pretty awful to not qualify for knockout stages with the new format and will not be surprised if we finish within the top 8. So we should be playing quarters next season hopefully.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

We were fifteenth last season and needed to bridge the gap. If we can sign even better wingers moving forward, great. These players are not on astronomical wages and can be classed as ‘competition’ squad players in the future. I don’t think that would be a bad situation at all.

But paying 65M to 70M for squad players really? Ideally that should be within 20 to 30M bracket these days and proper first team players for 60M plus prices.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

We were fifteenth last season and needed to bridge the gap. If we can sign even better wingers moving forward, great. These players are not on astronomical wages and can be classed as ‘competition’ squad players in the future. I don’t think that would be a bad situation at all.

He’s better than you are making out. Scored 20 PL goals last season. He’s not playing well, but has also often been asked to play out of position.

 

[Posh Red]

He’s better than you are making out. Scored 20 PL goals last season. He’s not playing well, but has also often been asked to play out of position.

I never said he wasn’t a good player. I really like him. I was responding to others that are essentially saying he’s not ‘the best of the best’.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

But it's also a coaching thing. You didn't see this Luis Diaz at Liverpool as much, for instance. A lot of Liverpool fans were happy to let him go, and Khvicha is as inconsistent as it gets. At his best, he is absurdly good, but it's not his consistent level. Mbeumo probably wouldn't look as poor as he does for us, because the attacking play is just another level because of coaching, and of course the general quality. Last night, both teams were more than happy to just continously launch attacks without worrying too much about defensive shapes or risks. This isn't me saying Mbeumo is as good as them, but they look so much better because of the teams they play for. If they played for United, you can be sure they wouldn't be as impressive.

I think Liverpool have missed Diaz this season, Khvicha is always incredible in champions league matches this season. I doubt Mbuemo will look better there, he just does not have that technical level to succeed that you see in top players. I still have hope for Cunha, I feel he has that x-factor and unpredictability that decides matches.

 

[bosnian_red]

He’s better than you are making out. Scored 20 PL goals last season. He’s not playing well, but has also often been asked to play out of position.

Has he? What is his position? I'd say he's closer to being a CF than he is a right winger in Carricks system, doesn't really perfectly suit either role. He's a wide forward and we don't really use one, but it's not so much that he's out of position. That's more an issue with the level of player that he is at the roles that we use.

 

[bosnian_red]

But paying 65M to 70M for squad players really? Ideally that should be within 20 to 30M bracket these days and proper first team players for 60M plus prices.

They aren't squad players right now. They're squad player level for where we want to be. The starting quality players for where we want to be are world class attackers. How much would it cost to buy someone like Kvara, Dembele, olise, Yamal, Vini, Mbappe, Rodrygo, and so on? Obviously the point is buy them before they become that, but the point is we needed ready made attackers to be a CL club again. The jump to be a title challenger is much harder and can't happen without the incremental jumps, there gradual improvement

 

[lex talionis]

Has been poor for a few months but I also suspect he’s never going to be someone to tear it up over 90 minutes. Problem is his box quality has been crap for a bit now, need that to improve.

Spot on. In buildup and final third play overall Mbuemo has been more than decent, but it's all fallen apart from him in the box.

 

[MattofManchester]

Think we can see why Carrick prefers him centrally.
Don't think he does enough as a wide player. This is aside from his poor form, where he's constantly scuffed his first touch. He's a good crosser, with pace to burn, but can't really beat his man 1v1 like Amad has shown in the past.

Up top, he's good against the big teams, where he's got space to run behind, but really struggles against defenses that sit deep.

Think over the longer term, he may end up a rotation option in the middle.