There aint a top manager who wants Gallagher either in fairness, hence his links with West Ham & Everton. Hardly surprising as he’s finished 12th with Palace & then inexplicably helped Chelsea to the same 12th placed finish last season.
Prime Pat Vieira.
You're vastly overselling the technical deficiencies of Liverpool if you seriously think Gallagher would play there. They haven't even been that style of midfield grafters in 4/5 years now anyways (ask any Liverpool fan here), but even so players like Wijnaldum and Henderson were vastly better than anything Gallagher has ever shown, and their signings so far this summer put him to shame as well (and are also quite technical)
Fair point both. I compared Gallagher’s last season with each of McTominay’s last two seasons. Gallagher does show a bit better defensively but honestly show as pretty average midfielders with some good attributes.
For what it's worth, Gallagher has shown much more to date than Wijnaldum did before moving there.
Wijnaldum scored 30 goals in his last two seasons before his move to Liverpool. He also won the Eredivisie and around Gallagher's age was a starter in the Netherlands team that got 3rd in the World Cup.
There's a difference between expectations being higher and it being more difficult. And McTominay does stick out like a sore thumb, for the most part.
"Gallagher isn't exactly like Rice"? Well, no. In fact, he's pretty much the exact opposite of Rice, in almost every conceivable way. Where he adds value is when you have control of the ball in the final third - he's a quintessential attacking midfielder. More an attacker than a midfielder really.
I suspect you're not meaning to endorse their ability to say nice things about each other, and that "complement" is the word you're looking for there? If your point is that they would make for a good midfield pairing. Except the diagram doesn't really support that, given that neither of them do progressive/forward passes, which you need your midfield to do. If your point isn't actually that they're a good fit together but that they're pretty similar, it doesn't really support that either - it indicates that Gallagher is good at carrying the ball and making key passes, while McT isn't, and that McT is a good duel player while Gallagher isn't. That translates to two really different midfielders.Fair point both. I compared Gallagher’s last season with each of McTominay’s last two seasons. Gallagher does show a bit better defensively but honestly show as pretty average midfielders with some good attributes.
I actually think they compliment each other pretty well.
True though the point is that you could combine the two to reasonably good effect. Like at West Ham Rice would often push forward with the ball whilst Soucek would sit back. And vice versa. Gallagher defensively is not bad at all so it's a setup that could work for West Ham.
Possibly, but it would seem to me a misuse of Gallagher to play him as an #8 - where he has real quality is in and around the penalty area.
Well, that's pretty stupid by me. Meant it more narrowly, e.g. Gallagher's season at Palace was better than what Wijnaldum did at Newcastle, but that's a pretty narrow argument that holds water like a sieve.
William Wallace is putting himself and the band back together to correct that poster with broadswords
Maybe just “speaking” English adds value?
He is legitimately rubbish.
His already better than the version we saw at Palace. He’s worked on his technical competence and it’s clear he’s improved that side of his game this season without sacrificing the usual bread and butter you get from him.
He is bang average though isn't he?
Does he lose possession as much with Chelsea as he did tonight for England? Seemed incapable of actually keeping the ball
I don’t think he is mate. This is the same cycle of arguments I used to have with people about Mount after England games. He plays average for England. People call him shit. Comes back to Chelsea and plays well. No one notices except Chelsea fans. Goes back to England, plays average and people call him shit again.
Not really. I only watched the second half today. He wasn’t good, but then again no one was, but Gallagher in particular was bad. I don’t know what Southgate was asking him to do. He fulfils a very particular role at Chelsea and he’s good at it.
Fair enough. I can’t see the balance in a midfield of Rice-Bellingham-Gallagher. Mind you, I’m probably not the only one
Mount did it in better teams at Chelsea tbf. I don't mean to be unkind cause my team is too but does he not just seem like a player who could do it at a mid table team
Under a different coach, I could that midfield 3 working. On paper at least it’s a okay-ish balanced midfield, though I think Mainoo is a better talent and a better fit in that midfielder
Yeah that’s true. He is playing in worse team than Mount. I didn’t think you were being harsh or anything. I wasn’t trying to come across defensive. I just disagree with you that he’s rubbish.
Okay I'll take a step back on "rubbish". I mean rubbish in the context of how I've seen he has been talked about as a key part of a Chelsea team and a potential England starter.
I would still disagree, in so much that it is unfair to compare him to past great Chelsea midfielders, because many midfielders better than would come off looking bad if compared to Lampard, Essien, Kante etc.
