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15
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 18
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 1
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When he dropped deep to pick up the ball and help with cutting passes, it seemed that we were able to unlock their defense. When passing around the back to Shaw and McGwire, we never found space. Too slow. Sabitzer looked good today.
Fred somehow man of the match. Sabitzer was so much better and should start when Casemiro is back
He won't be playing a side with the intensity of Leeds every week. They have a pretty unique way of playing and its really unsettling for sides.
I will look forward to watching him against Leicester where I anticipate he will get more time on the ball.
I will look forward to watching him against Leicester where I anticipate he will get more time on the ball.
He looked shell-shocked at times today, completely overwhelmed by the speed and chaos of the game. But to his credit he kept in the fight, kept tackling where he could and moved the ball around a bit in the second half. Showed a bit of character there.
I thought he did well considering he’s been thrown straight in due to our current position with absentees. Made some decent tackles and moved the ball quickly in tight spaces on a couple of occasions.
Limited pace and stamina but a good passer and an intelligent player. Decent aquisition.
Thought he was pretty good today. It's no easy task being thrown straight into the team with both our starting midfielder out.
Once Casemiro is back I think we will be able to play Sabitzer in a role more suited to his strenghts where he doesn't have to take so much defensive resposibility.
Once Casemiro is back I think we will be able to play Sabitzer in a role more suited to his strenghts where he doesn't have to take so much defensive resposibility.
Was hoping more people would understand this in the comments
. New player comes into the league and is playing against a very aggressive side, it is a tough ask. Casemiro, who is a strong contender for our POTY now, looked rusty as hell the first month he was here and wasn't getting picked regularly because of it.Personally I thought Sabitzer and Fred were constantly battling away even when Leeds were on top for long periods.
Has slotted in perfectly. I like him!
He battled for the team today which was great to see. Thankfully we won't play too many desperate teams like Leeds intent on creating a dirty and scrappy game.
Really good, hard pass through a small gap forward to collapse their defence and then hit the switch to Shaw. He was Leipzig's best overall midfielder, he's definitely good enough to be one of our main 4 guys for 3 spots (Bruno, Eriksen, Casemiro) with Fred as #5 and then we upgrade from Fred in 2024 would be my guess, though if we don't spend more than the 25M or whatever Sabitzer would cost this summer we need to improve upfront and probably with a better passing keeper.
Looking forward to the midfield of Fred, Case and Sab. Proper nasty midfield that !
I think he's a tad better than Herrera even, who I quite liked. #1 central midfielder on a team finishing 2nd or 3rd in the Bundesliga and making 2/3 CL knockout appearances (one semi-final) feels like best-case scenario or even just a touch beyond what one would expect from Herrera in his peak.
He'll be a great addition.
To be fair to Herrera he was a starter in the final of that year.
You could just see that pass he made to Shaw opening up, and I was thinking please someone pass it to him a second before Sabitzer nailed it.
He's not bad for a last second loan player thrown in at the deep end.
He's not bad for a last second loan player thrown in at the deep end.
Let wait to see what he can do with 90 mins next to Casemiro with Licha and Varane behind them.
Could be flipping marvellous.
Could be flipping marvellous.
It's a shame Eriksen isn't fit, as we could at times play a 4-3-3 with Casemiro/Eriksen/Sabitzer. Would be a pretty nice balance I think.
Was just thinking the same thing. Against top sides, that midfield 3 with Bruno potentially playing off the right and Rashford plus one other forward could be quite a dangerous lineup, and rock solid defensively.
This is how I see it too. We'll start to see the real Sabitzer after the Leicester game. He's gone from playing once a month for the past 2 years to 3 games in a week, and 2 of those games were against Leeds in their cup final.Was hoping more people would understand this in the comments
Personally I thought Sabitzer and Fred were constantly battling away even when Leeds were on top for long periods.
Hasnt really done anything wrong so far, but bar that crossfield pass for the goal he hasnt really done anythign to stand out. Neat and tidy and battled well but he did seem to struggle with the physicality, though coming to a new league and playing Leeds twice, not a big surprise....I did think he was stronger than he has shown though and he seems to be playing abit safe on the ball as though he doesnt have the vision of Eriksen, he usually links play pretty well offensively.
Personally think he will excel more when alonside Casemeiro with more freedom.....but for me, good player, but I dont see a permanent deal when he will be 29 and isnt exactly th etype of player we need either
Personally think he will excel more when alonside Casemeiro with more freedom.....but for me, good player, but I dont see a permanent deal when he will be 29 and isnt exactly th etype of player we need either
Sabitzer was very good defensively. I’m eager to see what he’s like next to Casemiro. When Casemiros on the pitch then he’s the defensive machine which would free up sabitzer so we can see his attacking qualities.
Thrown into the lions den and came out alive.
He'll be grand, have no concerns going forward with him.
He'll be grand, have no concerns going forward with him.
Drifted in and out of the game. Needs to make more movement and get himself into positions to retrieve the ball from the back.
Maguire wasn't great on the ball today but Fred and Sabitzer were far too stationary and that's another reason why Casemiro has been such a big loss in the last two games. Constantly on the move.
Maguire wasn't great on the ball today but Fred and Sabitzer were far too stationary and that's another reason why Casemiro has been such a big loss in the last two games. Constantly on the move.
Its the first pass that impressed me most. Those are the kind of passes top midfielders make and until this season we've missed that.
He dropped deep 2nd half and pushed the rb up the pitch providing width and Bruno played right centre rather than rw. It was a good tactical shift
Leeds front 3 dropped deep and screened our midfield. You simply don't play balls straight into midfield and fall for their trap.
The issue was Dalot was too deep for most of the first half, and Maguire/Shaw were rolling the ball back and forth at a snails pace.
It's no coincidence we started opening them up more when Martinez came on.
I want to see Casemiro and Sabitzer together in midfield. That looks like a pair that would majorly compliment each other.
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It's still a Uefa competition so yeah, it carries over unfortunately. At least we will have Casemiro back so not the end of the world.
I just don't understand why we played inverted full backs and tucked Malacia into the midfield (where we avoided playing the ball into). In this situation you always want your full backs staying wide, stretching the opponents, and building up from the flanks.
We started doing well when Martinez came on mainly because Shaw could now play at LB and get further forward. He's a much better outlet than Malacia and the opening goal says it all.
Think the plan was to overload, go 3-3-1-3 and help get the ball through midfield.
Unfortunately the speed of passing in defence was just far too slow. We rarely ever got free through the middle.
When we did though most our attacks came through Sabitzer/Dalot into Sancho.
As you say though we looked a lot more comfortable once we stretched the pitch. Shaw is vital to our build up play from LB.
This summer I think we need another left footed CB, get rid of Maguire and get in Pau Torres perhaps. As much as Shaw can do the job there, it's not worth losing his drive from the flank.
The issue is not about narrow full backs in build up phase. Shaw, AWB, Dalot before his sub would still do this, in different phase of play toward the end. It's tactical to create a pseudo side midfielder to give the CB an option for easy pass.
In the first goal build up, it's Sabitzer turn to drop into the narrow RB role.
Everyone play a part in improving the team play toward the end, but the biggest impact came fro, is the CF role. Rashford would run in behind. This disorganized Leeds back line, stretched the play, before the build up even going into midfield. Leeds was forced into chasing after the ball, and isolated into one vs one situation. Then Shaw and Rashford had time and space to do what they did in the goal for example.
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I'm just glad we're able to secure good player like him on loan at insanely short notice. He doesn't need much time to adapt and perform, which is very pleasing.
And it turned out to be a terrible tactic as our CBs barely got options for passes, leading to plenty of possession losses at the back and more importantly, the undeniable fact that we struggled heavily in buildup throughout the game.
Midfielders usually drop to full back positions to allow the full backs to get forward and provide width, like Herrera back in the days. I couldn't quite see the reason tucking them into a congested midfield, especially when they are not so good on the ball.
Thought the criticisms were a bit harsh as he just joined us 2 weeks ago so does not have the chemistry with his new teammates as well as not too used to the tactics yet, but he did admirably well standing in playing defensive midfielder which is not his natural position. He did not standout a lot but I can imagine that if it was McTominay instead of him we would be completely overrun by Leeds in the midfield, as shown many many times in the past. You can even see how he is growing more and more into the team as the game goes and knows where he needed to be, especially in the second half where he started dropping down to collect the ball from Maguire because of how hopeless the latter is in passing the ball.
He had to play in a new league, with new teammates, new tactics while in a starting team that is short of a few other first team regulars. Give him time, from what I can see so far, he will only get better.
He had to play in a new league, with new teammates, new tactics while in a starting team that is short of a few other first team regulars. Give him time, from what I can see so far, he will only get better.
He wants to stay so we can push Bayern into a bargain sale. We have to insist on £14m . He’ll be very decent cover .
The issue is the CF option. Same thing happened midweek, until Rashford moved up top. Game just opened up especially for those players who were under immerse pressure earlier in the build up.
A midfielder, even the best one at that having to drop in into the defensive line, it would mean there is less body in midfield, unless you're ready to sacrifice your CF to ask him to play the midfielder role (Pep's obsession with false 9). Else you see space in midfield, and getting outnumbered.
Only few midfielders who are super comfortable to drop deep in between the CBs and help with distribution. Even so it's not ideal because it force the CBs to the sides, making the team prone to counter with everyone out of comfortable zone (CB in FB zone, DM in CB position, CM having to do the DM job). It's still more ideal for the wide attacker job to provide the width in first build up phase. You see that with everywhere regarding total football philosophy in back 4. Alternative is switching to back 5 wing back system.
Else we relive our (non) passing pattern from last season and prior, where we predictably pass to one of the full backs. He then passed wide attacker, who then being isolated on the wing.
I don't understand why Fred was MOTM either but imo Fred was better than Sabitzer especially in the first 60' - 70'. At least when we were defending I could see Fred doing something while Sabitzer struggled so much with the physical and pace of the PL. Both Fred and Sabitzer were really poor at keeping and progressing the ball in the first 60' - 70'. I don't know it's because of Maguire or them just bad but our midfield was literally non existent in the first 60-70' which forced us to go long balls without any real target. It was painful to watch.
But he was better in the last 20' along with the rest of the team after ETH made the subs. I like him he works really hard and always fighting not shy away from the challenges but imo he's not suited to play as a 6 in the PL. Maybe as a 8 when Case is available. He's more of an attacking midfielder and was signed to replace Eriksen anyway. And he must do things quicker and make more use of the first time passes I think.
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