Too many punts. Very unsettling. We shouldn’t be punting; if he was on some magic list, OK, but no more blind scrambles that lumber us with players who are not even better than what’s here.
Lucien Agoume
- Thread starter Berbaclass
- Start date
So what should we do about the midfield situation?
Why is everyone convinced he’s slow? From the videos he’s mainly just passing, which is his role?
My concern is we get caught in transistion a lot and his lack of speed means he can't recover the ground in time. If we are to play Bruno and himself in midfield, we are very exposed on the break or when team play through us down the middle. Maybe Bruno is the problem with some of his wayward passing that can leave us a bit exposed but I can't see Bruno leaving that possition anytime soon.
Maybe I haven’t seen enough of his videos but I couldn’t really tell if he would be a liability making up space because the videos are basically him just passing over and over again, is there a video which highlights that slowness?
Everytime I see his surname, it reminds me of Didier Agathe (I’m aware it isn’t that similar of a name 
), a player who loved playing wingback in a 343/352. Absolutely rapid. I guess that’s not very similar to Agoume either
), a player who loved playing wingback in a 343/352. Absolutely rapid. I guess that’s not very similar to Agoume eitherThere seems to be a lack of credible links here to take this one too seriously anyway, not worth analyzing him this much if we're not actually interested.
I think if we look at his signing as an 'early' squad option/potential now as we'll have Casemiro leaving next year and perhaps moving on Ugarte, then it's a fairly shrewd buy as long as the intention is still to sign Baleba/Wharton level talent next summer. If we look at him as wanting to significantly move the needle today, then it's better for everyone to temper their expectation especially considering the price.
I could be massively wrong of course. I'm just a self declared caf expert after 20 mins of research
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I say punt because there are very few sure things in our position. The ‘proven’ options would all cost us insane amounts of money that we don’t have, and some of them aren’t even that proven at all!
Provided it doesn’t seriously eat into our ability to revamp the midfield next summer, I would pull the trigger if the cost was around 25m. Think he could do a good job for a season and then be a valuable squad member for years.
Regardless, if we go for Agoume he would have been someone identified as an option coming into the summer, it’s not like he’s just blowing up or something.
I know nothing of this specific player, but if we’ve decided our first choice is unaffordable now but we need a body through the door for this season, this is the age, wage and fee profile we should be looking at. If he’s good, great, if he’s not, you move him on at a small loss a couple of seasons down the line. Anything in between and he’ll be a useful squad player.
We’ve lost Eriksen this summer, Casemiro goes next summer and if Ugarte doesn’t improve a lot, he’ll be shuffled towards the exit too. We will need bodies there on top of a Baleba, especially if we’re back in Europe.
We’ve lost Eriksen this summer, Casemiro goes next summer and if Ugarte doesn’t improve a lot, he’ll be shuffled towards the exit too. We will need bodies there on top of a Baleba, especially if we’re back in Europe.
He was genuinely one of the quickest players I've ever seen, was great in that O'Neill Celtic team.Everytime I see his surname, it reminds me of Didier Agathe (I’m aware it isn’t that similar of a name
I’ve never seen a player like him since, in terms of his ability to just knock it past a player and burn them for pace. Him and Alan Thompson as wing backs, Petrov, Lennon and Lambert in CM and the legend Henrik up top with Hartson/Sutton. Loved that team. And big Bobo Balde at the back, what a man mountain!!
I gave him a race down to the local Carrefour earlier and he's still running...
I'm just going by @Martial'sEmergingSmile post about his Peak Speed Velocity - maximum sprinting speed and its recorded as 25.2km/h. A quick google search suggests a professional footballer typically falls bewteen 31 and 33km/h. Mbappe has been clocked at 38km/h.
That's Top Speed.
Peak Sprint Velocity's a lot lower on average. For reference here's a list of Bundesliga forwards PSV (yes, I'm only using this because Sesko features well
)As you mentioned the standard Top Speed is 31-33 km/h. Agoume hit 29.4 which still puts him slower than average.
I think I've learned my lesson with players a lot fans question as being slow coming in from other leagues. Kid isn't the energized midfielder we need. Might as well keep Casemiro starting this season
That's Top Speed.
Peak Sprint Velocity's a lot lower on average. For reference here's a list of Bundesliga forwards PSV (yes, I'm only using this because Sesko features well
As you mentioned the standard Top Speed is 31-33 km/h. Agoume hit 29.4 which still puts him slower than average.
Thanks for clarifying! Still does not bode well for us if he signs.
Surely these stats don't put into context how they play. Sesko and Marmoush are players that play in behind and Agoume is between the lines. It's why you always see CBs close to the top of those stats, because they're defending space in behind.That's Top Speed.
Peak Sprint Velocity's a lot lower on average. For reference here's a list of Bundesliga forwards PSV (yes, I'm only using this because Sesko features well
As you mentioned the standard Top Speed is 31-33 km/h. Agoume hit 29.4 which still puts him slower than average.
Players top sprint speed they hit over a season is monitored. Agoume's was slow I believe. It's discussed earlier in the thread with statistics.
In fairness lack of pace seems problematic for a DM role in PL. We've seen it with Casemiro.
Yeah the lack of pace is putting me off him
Thought he looked good against Barca today. Very calm on the ball. If we aren't willing to spend big money on a midfielder in January, I think a punt on him would be worth it given Sevilla's financial issues. I wanted to sign him in the summer, and it's clear that our current chances rely entirely on a 33 year old DM to continue putting in decent performances and not getting himself sent off.
I don't think he's explosive enough to work in the two man midfield Amorim is envisioning.
Good thing he won’t be next summer so we don’t have to worry about playing his system.
Every chance he will be.
No one knows, but the over/under on number of weeks Amorim remains as manager is probably in the single digits at this point?Nostradamus you are not.
I think it's certainly a greater than 50% chance that someone besides Amorim is United manager on June 1, 2026.
I think the next month or so will have a big impact. I could see him gone soon or win over people. He needs to show improvement or he's done.
If he does show improvement I think he will get backed.
I wouldn't take any betting odds given that we have no idea what is going through Ratcliffe's head. The general consensus based on reporting is that Amorim wouldn't have even been sacked if we lost against Sunderland (which was backed up by reporting from Mitten/Whitwell et al).
If he can play DM in PL so can Maguire
I like the name, sign him.
I mean, the fact there even needs to be reporting about whether he'll be sacked over the result of a single game indicates pretty clearly he is, in fact, close to getting the boot. Howe, Frank, Glasner, and Iraola aren't having any reporting about potential sackings if they lose their next game.
I would put a lot of money on 1/1 odds of an Amorim sacking by June 1st, personally, and I don't really ever bet on sports. That's 8 days after the final Prem game of the season, so even allows for the scenario where he makes it the rest of the season and only gets fired afterwards. You're right that no one knows the true odds, but I'd bet something like 80% or even more. We've been really bad for an entire year under him.
All of which is to say, I think it's very realistic to think about the potential summer moves with an eye that we'll have a different coach. To me, the surprise would be if we didn't.
I don't think the club will behave as if Amorim isn't the manager until Amorim isn't the manager - as in, all transfers and club actions will continue to support the current manager. Whether he leaves or not, it feels more like wishful thinking among those wanting to change managers than anything else. We are 10th and are only a couple of highly improbable Bruno pen misses away from being near top 4, which won't be lost on the club.
Watched him in a few games. I just don’t see it.
Camavinga was more impressive, even before joining Madrid.
Camavinga was more impressive, even before joining Madrid.