Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea | Confirmed

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JPRouve

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you arent moving on someone who has that high goal and assist ratio just because you are upset that he is a moany bastard and is part of a dysfunctional team right now
You can move on if his high goal and assist ratio don't overcome the lack of balance that he creates, it's a bit like Lukaku or Coutinho. Unless Bruno finds a way to become more consistent and influential when it comes to controlling possession, he will be a player with a question over his head despite his personal stats.
 

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You can move on if his high goal and assist ratio don't overcome the lack of balance that he creates, it's a bit like Lukaku or Coutinho. Unless Bruno finds a way to become more consistent and influential when it comes to controlling possession, he will be a player with a question over his head despite his personal stats.
He will have to fit into ETH system or move on im not arguing with that but you cant deny his goal production when he is in a settled team.
 

Adnan

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Exactly while there is no guarantee that Murtough will be a success, the only reason he hasn't been a DOF sooner is that he is english and has worked with english clubs.
Spot on JP.

I do feel if he was in Spain, Germany or France he'd have climbed the ladder a lot sooner. With Murtough he ended up at clubs with the manager model in full force. So his remit was to oversee the youth/scouting/data departments instead.

And like you say we can't predict the future, but we should at least give him a chance and try and learn from our rivals like Liverpool, who appointed Michael Edwards in a similar role when his reputation was on the floor.
 

JPRouve

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He will have to fit into ETH system or move on im not arguing with that but you cant deny his goal production when he is in a settled team.
It's not just ETH system, he hasn't fit in any system, he has been a soloist for us. And you can definitely deny his goal production when it's not conducive to consistent and collective offensive potency, it's also worth remembering that a large amount of them are penalties, he is a below 10 open field goals per season in the league which isn't particularly impressive unless if you are also playing as a game controller.

At the moment, he is a poor man's Van der Vaart.
 

cj_sparky

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Almost laughable it's that embarrassing. What are our scouting department even doing?!
Still working their way through the other "803" right backs options they had on the right back shortlist when Ole signed Wan Bissaka.
 

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It's not just ETH system, he hasn't fit in any system, he has been a soloist for us. And you can definitely deny his goal production when it's not conducive to consistent and collective offensive potency, it's also worth remembering that a large amount of them are penalties, he is a below 10 open field goals per season in the league which isn't particularly impressive unless if you are also playing as a game controller.

At the moment, he is a poor man's Van der Vaart.
I like Bruno but I agree with this and completely disagree with the G/A is the be all and end all argument. You want compete with the best sides than the collective / general play has to be given high priority. Bruno has been poor in this regard for a prolonged period now.
 

Crick

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Ogden isn't a good source but it could easily be true. When Rangnick came in, in our staff's mind we had Rashford, Martial, Fernandes, VDB, Sancho and Greenwood plus Elanga, Amad and Pellistri. They probably let it be known internally not to look at the 7, 10 and 11 positions and to concentrate elsewhere such as DM and a 9 to replace Cavani. Most likely Rice and Kane and went home. Since then:

Rashford poor season
Martial out the door and can't be bothered
VDB on loan
Sancho slowly getting better but looks a 30m player not a 90m
Greenwood.... Enough said
Amad awful loan
Pellistri awful loan

The decision looks amazingly stupid now but 6 months ago I bet people on our staff rated six of them higher than Nkunku. Our staffs standards are so odd I don't even know what they see when looking at player or even what they think is good football. Its all about clicks on social media for them and we have the best squad of players for that.

If we bring in EtH, keep RR to find players for him, release all the out of contract players and start selling players like Martial, Maguire and AWB, I will start to hope we are on the right track again this summer but its the hope that kills you.
 
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Vapor trail

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I don't think some of the club's choices for transfers have been totally outlandish. With the exception of Maguire / AWB the club with a more convincing hierarchy could have potentially poached Bellingham and Haaland before their breakout seasons for Dortmund. I believe Sancho was also approached before leaving City. Those three players alone under the right manager offer up the spine of a team.
 

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No, he is fine and no, we did not need a younger LB who would rot on the bench and then be garbage when called for a game or two, we needed a solid experienced back up, which is what he is.

He is not deadwood, the bigger problem is Shaw right now.
Don’t agree but this isn’t the thread. Young doesn't mean not good enough to play.

Shaw is twice the player Telles is even off form
 

AbusementPark

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Even our scouting department should be looking at all talents regardless of position, Im sure we have enough scouts to spread them around. If we didnt scout him or think he would be a viable option then changes need made in the scouting department.
 

Cassidy

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I don't think some of the club's choices for transfers have been totally outlandish. With the exception of Maguire / AWB the club with a more convincing hierarchy could have potentially poached Bellingham and Haaland before their breakout seasons for Dortmund. I believe Sancho was also approached before leaving City. Those three players alone under the right manager offer up the spine of a team.
Halaand we knew about as Ole tipped the club off when he had him. The other two are English. I have serious doubts about our scouting at a Euopean level (or at least the evaluation of the scouting reports that come in)

If we look at our transfers it doesn’t really hold our ability to judge transfers in good light. Whether thats the scouting or the recruitment department who knows.
 

CallyRed

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Can't wait for an over hit pass from Maguire so I can say one flew over Nkunku's chest
 
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Flexdegea

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It's not just ETH system, he hasn't fit in any system, he has been a soloist for us. And you can definitely deny his goal production when it's not conducive to consistent and collective offensive potency, it's also worth remembering that a large amount of them are penalties, he is a below 10 open field goals per season in the league which isn't particularly impressive unless if you are also playing as a game controller.

At the moment, he is a poor man's Van der Vaart.

Seen it all now.


Darren bent claimed this rubbish and now people are carrying it :lol:
 

JPRouve

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Seen it all now.


Darren bent claimed this rubbish and now people are carrying it :lol:
I didn't know that Bent talked about it. Van der Vaart had very similar stats around the 2010s with Van Der Vaart having less penalties. They were both limited in terms of controlling games or consistency in open play. Van der Vaart is the player that reminds me the most Bruno.
 

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you arent moving on someone who has that high goal and assist ratio just because you are upset that he is a moany bastard and is part of a dysfunctional team right now
Has less to do with that and more to do with how he actually fits into a top level side. His production is no doubt invaluable for a large majority of clubs but it’s also undeniable that he doesn’t get into any of the top teams in the world because if his gunslinger nature and shit decision making.

I’m skeptical that changes under ETH and would be pleasantly surprised if the club stealthily sold him for a huge fee since we are going to be rebuilding anyways.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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28 goals in all comp this season. 17 from his right foot, 7 from his left foot, while 4 was header. Pretty impressive. And that’s just his goals, he scored good amount of assists too.
 

Martial

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A shrewd club would move Bruno on for a fat fee and get Nkuku in for him, but we'll stick with the former on a newly signed fat contract and watch Nkuku become a star at another club.
You'd also keep Pogba if you had the choice, so feel free if I ignore your opinion on Bruno.

Seriously though, how comes nearly every poster who constantly bashes Bruno, are always the same ones who continuously lavish praise Pogba even though he's been a complete flop since he got here?
 

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You'd also keep Pogba if you had the choice, so feel free if I ignore your opinion on Bruno.

Seriously though, how comes nearly every poster who constantly bashes Bruno, are always the same ones who continuously lavish praise Pogba even though he's been a complete flop since he got here?
It's that Rashford vs Martial thing, gotta tear one guy down to bring my guy up.
 

United in sin

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Almost laughable it's that embarrassing. What are our scouting department even doing?!
Probably salivating over Declan Rice. Seriously our recruitment department seems fixated on the Brexit cultural reboot when it comes to midfield especially. Same crew that wanted Sean Longstaff
 

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
 

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
I know nothing about him but he seems like a false 9 as he also does play as a striker.

So he could be classified as our centre forward for next season which we do need.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
It depends on the new manager's faith in Bruno in delivering as the create force of the team, and if this fellow could end up being an upgrade. If he's the next top top player, and suits the next manager's ideas/system, then we should definitely look at him. I don't anyone is guaranteed a starting spot in this team.
 

JPRouve

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
Nkunku is a strange player in the sense that he is one of the few "high" level utility player. He can play anywhere from CM, AM, CF or either wing. Where you can use him depends more on what you expect from each position. His initial position is CM.
 

andersj

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
I think he is quite different from any player in our squad. More similar to Salah/Mane/Foden than Bruno. He is more of a inside forward than a #10. And he can also play up top.

He is also a player with great intensity.
 

BenitoSTARR

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Can someone explain why we would be interested in this player? He is a #10 right? I understand Bruno has not performed amazing lately but I don't think an attacking midfielder is a priority this summer is it?
Very loosely think Firmino at Hoffenheim. He’d absolutely be able to play false 9 for a top side if that’s how we wanted to go.
 

BenitoSTARR

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I think he is quite different from any player in our squad. More similar to Salah/Mane/Foden than Bruno. He is more of a inside forward than a #10. And he can also play up top.

He is also a player with great intensity.
Yeah less so Foden though.

He’s a mobile modern forward or possible false 9. I wouldn’t call him a playmaker in the Bruno sense.
 

golden_blunder

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Tbh with you, Murtough could probably teach Rangnick about Nkunku via our French youth scout Jerome Klein who was part of PSG's academy in various roles for 13 years.

I think the problem here is that many fans don't understand the role of the DoF and the structure surrounding him. I've seen posters suggest that we may have too many football directors now and hence too many cooks/fingers in the pie. But it's absolutely normal at clubs to have football directors in various different roles from working solely at academy level to working at overseeing the whole process on the football side of the club. But it's one guy who calls the shots at the top of the chain who we refer to as the DoF, that we need to look at and not be confused by titles of people who are working under the DoF.

What experience does one need to be a DoF? And to answer that question, i'm gonna draw on the words of Dan Ashworth who stated that the role requires one to be experienced at running multiple football departments on the football side of the club. And does Murtough have that experience? And I think you'll find that he has that experience in abundance where he's overseen the development of players and coaches, made hiring and firing calls at youth level and the scouting department. He also led the strategy to form the club's data science department. Murtough is more experienced in a football director role than his Bayern, Liverpool counter parts before they were appointed in their current roles. If people want to look at experience, then Murtough has more experience than most at the top clubs before they were appointed football directors. Murtough has got this role due to excelling in his role way before he arrived at United. I don't know if he'll be a success but I do know he has the experience of being a football director, as outlined by the criteria set by Dan Ashworth.

We had a scout working for us called Mark Anderson who left in 2020 (London area). And before he joined us he worked at both Brighton and Liverpool (pre Klopp). And he said that the best setup out of the 3 was at Brighton because at United and Liverpool things got a bit murky outside of the youth side of the club, but at Brighton the recruitment team was influential at first team level.

It's clear to me what Anderson is saying, and that is that the scouting departments weren't as influential at Liverpool and United and the first team manager had control via his own recruitment staff that he worked with independently. At Brighton they have a DoF model.
Good post.can’t help but think it will fall on deaf ears. Narrative over logic and all that
 

JPRouve

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Yeah less so Foden though.

He’s a mobile modern forward or possible false 9. I wouldn’t call him a playmaker in the Bruno sense.
It's an interesting description when he has been playing deeper than Bruno and registered more assists. How would you describe being a playmaker with Bruno as a reference?
 

amolbhatia50k

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It's an interesting description when he has been playing deeper than Bruno and registered more assists. How would you describe being a playmaker with Bruno as a reference?
How would you compare him to Bruno as an overall footballer? I like Bruno but this "build a team around XYZ" is dangerous, as I don't believe we have one footballer without any question marks against him. Sancho on paper seems the most obvious one you should be able to rely on in any setting, but based on what we've seen, he needs to get better at dealing with the PL intensity before we can make that claim.
 
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