He is very good all right. Great engine on him. Definitely reminds me of Kante.
Not really a surprised though, Koeman is very good in the transfer window.
Not really a surprised though, Koeman is very good in the transfer window.
Idrissa Gueye is one of the signings of the season
- Thread starter Brwned
- Start date
Last edited:
Fantastic footballer. Far more useful with the ball than Kante while also being great defensively.
My kind of midfielder
Kante is better defensively for me, his positioning and ball winning are the best in the league for a midfielder. This kid seems to be better going forward, while still being good defensively.
"A steal" gets banded about a lot but 7 bloody million.
He's the sort of player who looks great for teams always in open games, but if he came to us he would look pretty ordinary tbh. Great stamina and reads the game well, but schneiderlin looked much better overall.
Did he look half as good as this at Aston Villa? Didnt remember him at all from last season. Looks classso far.
We never really make these type of signings, but i was wondering in the summer if he was worth taking a punt on instead of splashing 30m on Kante.
Didn't really watch too many games of Villa, but in the ones i did he looked good, plus his defensive stats was only below Kante in the league.
I could see him next to Pogba in front of a pivot. Would give us the right balance in midfield.
Something like:
Pogba - Gueye
-----Weigl-----
Didn't really watch too many games of Villa, but in the ones i did he looked good, plus his defensive stats was only below Kante in the league.
I could see him next to Pogba in front of a pivot. Would give us the right balance in midfield.
Something like:
Pogba - Gueye
-----Weigl-----
Yeah. Not sure he fits us here, but very good again today.
Schneiderlin seems to be lacking technically (I was decided here for saying if Pep was the new manager he'd move him to CB but cmon, I was right) but for the right team he'd fit well. I think he do well at Leicester next to Drinkwater (as would Gueye), Liverpool as their 6, Spurs (better version of Dier) than he has here.
So where exactly are all these Kante level players in that role in the PL right now?
I am confused by his name. His shirt says Gana and I keep thinking 'hoozat' when I remember it's 'im. I suppose I can kinda see why he might have done that tho... looks like the one gem that Villa managed to get last year in Sherwood's Shuffle.
He looks excellent thus far.
Looks an excellent signing, at a good value aswell. Definetly one to keep an eye on, and if he keeps this form up we can swap him for Schneiderlin or something 
.
.Schneiderlin is a "better version of Dier"? Dream on.
He can't even get into your first XI ahead of donkey Fellaini.
Your manager has tried to sign Schneiderlin on two occasions now. He probably prefers him to Dier, too.
There's not a lot between them, just one works well in an organised system at Spurs, while the other hasn't really had that opportunity since his move from Southampton.
Spot on, this. Gueye is good, but fit him into a disjointed United side that encounters a different variation of playing styles and he'll sharp struggle to look like the same player.
Hook, line, and sinker
They don't have to be in the PL right now, and there probably are players who could do a similar role in a great team if I could be bothered to think.
Many, many great/good teams have had a guy who is praised for 'providing balance', who generally goes around kicking people and doing the work of two of his more talented teammates. They usually don't cost those teams much either, often picked up for a bargain, or discovered after having been knocking around in their set-up for a while, sometimes even in a different position.
For example, the praise an ordinary Coquelin, who was pulled back from loan at fecking Charlton, received when he returned and became a player Arsenal couldn't leave out, simply because he is aggressive and closes down, tells enough. This is often the route these players take into top teams, as opposed to signing for £32m, which your lot spent on Kante a year after he was picked up for £5m in his mid twenties. Staying with Arsenal, Flamini had a similar season - highly praised for doing the dirty work and being one of the best players for a year. Again, he is still only Mathieu Flamini. No footballing great, but when you acknowledge your limitations amongst better players and are willing to work tirelessly, you can rack up many MOTM awards.
I will continue. Last season's Champions League winners had 'no balance' until they brought Casemeiro back from loan in Portugal, as after all, someone needs to kick opponents. His contribution has been praised to the heavens, and he did a good job, but the point is, no transfer records need to be smashed for these players, valuable as they are. They are usually picked up from obscurity but have the right attitude. Top teams will continue to find players who can do this for them, and I'd wager that they will continue to find them for south of £15m too.
United have had Phil fecking Neville winning MOTM awards against Arsenal's for doing similar jobs in midfield. It's one of the easier jobs to fill, should you wish to deploy such a player. It will cost you far less, and is less rare a skill set than the midfielder who invariably lines up alongside him.
Marouane Fellaini has 'excelled' so far this season when all footballing responsibilities have been taken from him, and he's been made to understand his role is to tackle and kick people. None of this ' he should be played off the striker' or 'he's a box to box player'. He suddenly looks very good when just asked to work hard.
Erm, have you ever actually watched Kante play?
Certainly Schneiderlin was better under Poch than Dier has been. Dier is solid enough but it wouldn't be a big surprise if Dembele coming back sees Wanyama win the other CM role and Dier backing up both, right?
Supports a team that bought Peter Crouch twice and he calls Fellaini a donkey
Not true. Dier has been tremendous under Poch, which is why he's one of the first names on the England team sheet these days.
And it would be a big surprise if Wanyama displaces Dier - unlikely to happen.
Yay, another thread about to be ruined by the usual suspect. Awesome.
Yes. He's 'tireless', and 'wins the ball a lot'. Like Idrissa Gueye. Like Flamini once upon a time. Like Coquelin was. Like Caseimero does. Like Phil fecking Neville did for a period.
He's no Pirlo. For me, he's not even Darren Fletcher in terms of ability on the ball and attacking contribution in his prime.
I thought this was the Gueye thread
Would you also consider Makelele comparable to Flamini, Coquelin or Phil Neville?
In a manner of speaking. He was in the right place at the right time to rise to prominence - the balance to the galacticos at Real. He also sustained his level for longer than the aforementioned too, and for better clubs, so his profile is naturally higher.
The overall point is, his job was to win the ball, stay back while he others went forward and plugged the gaps. When on the ball, he's done well so long as he can move it on to a teammate. I'm not saying this is an insignificant job. I'm saying that over my time watching football, many teams have had this kind of player, and will continue to have them, and most will develop the same way as the aforementioned.
That a player who could be 22 and still playing for an obscure team, or be an unheralded member or a top squad, or potentially still be loaned out to other sides can still go on to be a key member of trophy winning elevens is not the usual route. It is not the least common route for a team's defensive midfielder though.
Makalele was obviously a top player, but that is largely in context. He was no Sergio Busquets of a defensive midfielder, pegged to be a great player from early on. He was no Redondo. He was no Vieira, nor is Kante. With the right luck, timing etc, such players can be of great value. Makalele performed a similar role at Chelsea. He was also somewhat of a pioneer in my opinion, in that - we did not use this kind of player much in the PL before he came, at least not top clubs. Teams played 442, but the introduction of foreign coaches and new formations saw him excel in 'the Makalele role'.
That Phil Neville can get to a stage where he picks himself for big games is not down to his undeniable talent. He could quite feasibly have started, and won a CL final in that role had we got there during this period. He'd still be 'only Phil Neville', and his job won't have been far different to whatever Makalele was heralded for.
Kanté left France at 25, under the radar, not touted as a £30m player. It is the context to his performance that propelled him to the status he is, as one of the 'best midfielders in the PL'. However, his contribution will be replicated time and again over the years by players wh o, like him, had little to no profile, before being dropped into the defensive midfield of the right team at the right time. 'Nicky Butt was England's best player at the tournament'. 'Owen Hargreaves was England's best player at the tournament'. It will continue to happen.
He's one of the first names on the England team sheet because he's got a unique profile in the England set-up, and is the only player who can play the DM position competently. He wouldn't get a sniff in other national teams where they have options in the position (like France, Spain, Italy...). I mean, he's a good player but come on, he's quite limited at the moment (he may develop though, still young). The claim about Schneiderlin wasn't outlandish at all, people have totally forgotten his Southampton days it seems.
The thing is, Perez thought much the same as you do, that it was a job that was fairly easily replaceable. Zidane put it best when he described Maka as the engine of the team. Doing that job to the highest level is incredibly hard and takes a sublime level of talent and focus. It's harder for them to get appreciation or even to be noticed because there is little glamour in it, but it's a bad mistake to think that means it isn't as difficult as other jobs. Kante is no Makelele yet, but replacing him would be exceedingly difficult. That caliber of player does not come along very often.
Perez did get it wrong, largely because he tried to replace him with David Beckham I think.
I don't even mean to belittle the importance of the role. I just think it is easier to find a solution for it. Many top teams have done it and it rarely costs them much money to do it either. I just think that a fit and disciplined runner/tackler with the most minimal level of technical ability to allow them to move the ball on to a teammate can excel in a top side. I think Nicky Butt at his prime would have been a better fit for the Galacticos than Beckham, despite being less talented of course. The less talented is also the point, he doesn't need to be as talented as Beckham either to be an asset in that role.
The donkey that kept Dembele out of the Euros?
You're one of the worst posters on the site.
This. He's a great manager. I'd like him here when Mourinho goes to manage Portugal at World Cup 2018.
Ok, so we've decided he is this season's "not-so hidden gem"
Until we sort a style of play, an identity, we could have the best 11 players in the world and we still wouldnt win bugger all.
Schneiderlin
Kante
Gueye
All much of a muchness - not gonna change a team from a good one to a great one (Like Cantona did, or Yorke etc. Both of whom were the missing "something" from a team).
Fergie was a master at getting the sum to be greater than the parts - since he left we have become masters of the opposite sadly.
Until we sort a style of play, an identity, we could have the best 11 players in the world and we still wouldnt win bugger all.
Schneiderlin
Kante
Gueye
All much of a muchness - not gonna change a team from a good one to a great one (Like Cantona did, or Yorke etc. Both of whom were the missing "something" from a team).
Fergie was a master at getting the sum to be greater than the parts - since he left we have become masters of the opposite sadly.
Disagree about Kante. Look at how much weaker Leicester are without him.
Yes, the donkey that played due a bad managerial decision by the (now sacked) Belgium national manager.
Thinking that Dembele is far better than Fellaini doesn't make me one of the worst posters ... it makes me a poster who knows their onions.
OnionSpur
