Patrick Dorgu | 2024/25 Performances

[Nobby style]

Shares with Garnacho that knack of dangerously giving the ball away with ill thought out passes, crap decision making, but showing potential for something much bigger. They're both only 20. So let's carry on. Up to Amorim and his back room

 

[VP89]

Shares with Garnacho that knack of dangerously giving the ball away with ill thought out passes, crap decision making, but showing potential for something much bigger. They're both only 20. So let's carry on. Up to Amorim and his back room

Can you explain how he's doing the bit in bold and how that differentiates him from most PL full backs?

 

[Mike Smalling]

I think you are understating his assurance on the ball. For one so small and young, he has shown that he can still handle the ball well at PL level against big strong men pressing him. While he will not become a speed demon, he will get stronger and better equipped with resisting pressure from grown men, which will then help the obvious football qualities that you can already identify at this stage when he is physically out of his depth, to become more prominent.

He’s more secure and precise on the ball which is a great foundation for many functions of the role. It enables him to keep it better under pressure, enables him to pass it better, it will help him to cross it better and over time, his superior technical ability will enable him to take more chances (and half chances) himself as they fall to him, as they will in this role.

And despite all of this, he is also not guaranteed to become a top player. He still needs to mould his game in a way that his lack of elite physicality can be masked somewhat. Or he may just not make it due to not having that. But a player like Trent, for example, has made it to the top due to being a very good footballer, even if not a natural athlete.

I’m not even saying Amass is better than Dorgu right now. But I do think he has greater potential because I can at least point to one or two attributes that I think he has a rare gift with, which can then form the foundation of his long road to being a top player. With Dorgu, he has nothing, in my opinion. I keep hearing about his athleticism, he is no Kyle Walker, Alphonso Davies or even Fosu-Mensah when he first broke through. He is clearly more physically gifted than Amass, but not so physically gifted that I can watch him and feel that his road to being a top player can be built upon having elite physical attributes. He’s athletic how Ashley Young was athletic, as opposed to how Antonio Valencia was. If he were a bit faster/stronger - then in spite of his technical inferiority, I may still feel he has greater potential than Amass. But he’s not a player who I look at and feel, particularly in the PL, that he will physically best his winger 9 times out of 10 in the way Kyle Walker could, so his athleticism isn’t even worth discussing as much as I see it being discussed IMO. He’s just athletic enough to not be a PL liability, but beyond that, he doesn’t have the combination of speed and strength that Valencia or Shaw did in their prime that separates them. And then he still needs to get all the other footballing basics up a very long way for them to reach a level where you think ‘he should be at one of the top clubs’.

I just think assurance on the ball should be a bare minimum, and shouldn't be overrated just because we have so many players lacking that trait (including Dorgu). When I think assurance on the ball it needs to be Shaw or Mainoo level to really be a standout trait. Amass is just fine.

But I wasn't even speculating who will eventually be the best player of Amass or Dorgu. Who knows. As of right now, I'm still more comfortable playing Dorgu, but I do think he has pretty obvious limitations, unfortunately.

 

[Nobby style]

Can you explain how he's doing the bit in bold and how that differentiates him from most PL full backs?

Mebbe cause he's only 20 and plays under total pressure for Man United, joining up in the January window, being Amorim's first and only signing thus far. Massively differentiates him from anyone else, don't ya think?. Plus, sometimes he's amazing, and other times looks very much like a raw, very unfinished 20 year old (just like Garnacho). If that's like any other 20 year old PL fullback, what do you want me to say?

 

[RedSky]

with better attackers he'll register a fair amount of assists:

This is what I've been saying for weeks now. You don't produce that video and have poor technical ability. Such lazy criticism.

What it actually highlights as we all should know is that we have some very poor forwards with very low anticipation skills. Generally crazy he hasnt had an assist looking at that video.

 

[VP89]

Mebbe cause he's only 20 and plays under total pressure for Man United, joining up in the January window, being Amorim's first and only signing thus far. Massively differentiates him from anyone else, don't ya think?. Plus, sometimes he's amazing, and other times looks very much like a raw, very unfinished 20 year old (just like Garnacho). If that's like any other 20 year old PL fullback, what do you want me to say?

I was looking for qualities that suggest he has potential for something much bigger and you just said he's playing for Manchester United.

 

[Rozay]

I just think assurance on the ball should be a bare minimum, and shouldn't be overrated just because we have so many players lacking that trait (including Dorgu). When I think assurance on the ball it needs to be Shaw or Mainoo level to really be a standout trait. Amass is just fine.

But I wasn't even speculating who will eventually be the best player of Amass or Dorgu. Who knows. As of right now, I'm still more comfortable playing Dorgu, but I do think he has pretty obvious limitations, unfortunately.

I think Amass has potential for that level of assurance on the ball. Personally, I see a lot of similarity with Shaw in possession. I expect this to become more pronounced as he strengthens. He’s one of those kids that in recent years we’d have said ‘he could be a City player’, IMO.

I agree though, I’m happy for Dorgu to play ahead of Amass for now, but as I see neither as good enough to be regulars, I would rather a better first choice and Amass to be developed as opposed to Dorgu, in an ideal world. I see Amass as having higher potential, and I see neither as being good enough now.

 

[Nobby style]

I was looking for qualities that suggest he has potential for something much bigger and you just said he's playing for Manchester United.

Ok, I'll make it really easy. Sometimes he looks like a world beater, amazing, and then he'll fook it up with poor decision making. Though he's only 20, he looks far better than most 20 year old fullbacks. What 20 year old fullback in the world would you rate above him?

 

[MadDogg]

Dorgu has pretty much only arrived to Heathrow for 3 months and it's okay to not see it in him but not see it in Amass?

Collyer had made 6 appearances and I know he isn't going to be here in the next 2 transfer windows.

Hopefully Amass proves me wrong and I'd be glad if he does, but I don't see what's so different about not having patience with someone who just turned 20 in October in a completely new country and a new club, training with new team mates arguably to a new role (wingback from fullback).

Amass has been first team training since February 2024. He has only had 3 appearances and has led to goals against us just as much as Dorgu. I have seen more matches of Dorgu but I have even been more impressed in Dorgu's tame ass crosses than Amass's which is supposed to be one of his best assets.

Both defensively and offensively ive seen more of Dorgu than Amass but Dorgu has had plenty more games to show it (which may or may not be also to Amorim seeing something we don't see either)

Hopefully Amass has the rest of the Premier league just for himself to now really get himself known as a good prospect to football rather than just to United fans. I really hope he does it but I'm not sure I'd gamble my money on it just yet.

Amass' crossing has been fairly poor in his last two games, but in his earlier games he put in some very good ones.

 

[Maagge]

This is what I've been saying for weeks now. You don't produce that video and have poor technical ability. Such lazy criticism.

What it actually highlights as we all should know is that we have some very poor forwards with very low anticipation skills. Generally crazy he hasnt had an assist looking at that video.

I think there's stuff missing from that video as well (Sociedad couldn't deal with him for instance). He generally seems to have a knack for creating one or two good chances per game. Or recycle a loose ball in the box.

Of course he also loses possession for no good reason a few times per game too, which he'll hopefully improve on.

 

[Rozay]

Why does he need to beat his winger or their back? Surely, you've seen him getting into dangerous positions and is heavily involved in a lot of our attacking play. Do you see Dumfries taking on players all the time? No, but he is very effective in the system because of Inter's system, and simple one-two's opens up plenty of space that sees him quite frequently on the edge of the opponents penalty box. Not everything has to be aesthetically pleasing to watch, and you're not gonna find a Hakimi or Nuno Mendes in Dorgu. That doesn't mean "he has nothing". He clearly does, or he wouldn't be so involved in our play, and someone Bruno himself uses to link up with often.

I think the level of involvement he has in our play is only serving to highlight that he doesn’t have much. In fact, all I see every game, due to the very high level of attacking involvement he has, is a huge opportunity cost. Imagine if he was like really good? If he was Hakimi, what would that do for our team, given the level of involvement he has here?

And Dumfries is flavour of the week at the moment I get it, but I’d prefer to stick to the two PSG guys you referenced as the standard. Barcelona are a weak team built like school girls and Dumfries had joy, but he isn’t even a guaranteed starter over Darmian.

And ultimately, it’s not about aesthetics. Being able to pick passes or go past a man when isolated 1v1 isn’t just something of aesthetic value. It is of huge benefit to the team if a player in the situations Dorgu consistently finds himself in could do that. We’re not talking rainbow flicks here.

 

[Shinjch]

He is good at getting in behind, but you wouldn't back him to do anything once he is there. He doesn't look like a good footballer so far, and has the annoying tendency dive at any chance too. Young lad, and hopefully room to improve significantly, but still feel his position needs filled.

 

[Rozay]

Mebbe cause he's only 20 and plays under total pressure for Man United, joining up in the January window, being Amorim's first and only signing thus far. Massively differentiates him from anyone else, don't ya think?. Plus, sometimes he's amazing, and other times looks very much like a raw, very unfinished 20 year old (just like Garnacho). If that's like any other 20 year old PL fullback, what do you want me to say?

Being 20 or new isn’t a talent. What is it that you think he’s good at? And when you say good, how good? Good to the point where it’s obvious that he should be at United and not Leicester, or just good as in this is one of HIS best attributes?

 

[VP89]

Ok, I'll make it really easy. Sometimes he looks like a world beater, amazing, and then he'll fook it up with poor decision making. Though he's only 20, he looks far better than most 20 year old fullbacks. What 20 year old fullback in the world would you rate above him?

I can't think of one time he's looked like a world beater.

Malo Gusto, Livramento, Mendes, Rico Lewis are all examples of fullbacks who are 20-22 and miles more polished than he is.

 

[Nobby style]

He's had plenty of excellent play. Mebbe ya just don't want to see it, which is typical. To say Livramento or Mendes or Lewis are "miles ahead" of Dorgu is lame. Anyways, a lot is up to Amorim to cultivate him. Like in the case of Casemiro, Amorim has seemed to make so many keyboard footie geniuses look like absolute idiots. Let's see what Amorim can do with Dorgu. I'l tell ya, he looks "miles ahead" of a young Fletcher, so it's not anything that hasn't happened.

 

[Cantona of Lagos]

I think the level of involvement he has in our play is only serving to highlight that he doesn’t have much. In fact, all I see every game, due to the very high level of attacking involvement he has, is a huge opportunity cost. Imagine if he was like really good? If he was Hakimi, what would that do for our team, given the level of involvement he has here?

And Dumfries is flavour of the week at the moment I get it, but I’d prefer to stick to the two PSG guys you referenced as the standard. Barcelona are a weak team built like school girls and Dumfries had joy, but he isn’t even a guaranteed starter over Darmian.

And ultimately, it’s not about aesthetics. Being able to pick passes or go past a man when isolated 1v1 isn’t just something of aesthetic value. It is of huge benefit to the team if a player in the situations Dorgu consistently finds himself in could do that. We’re not talking rainbow flicks here.

I'm not sure I understand your first paragraph. Being heavily involved is a positive thing as a 20 year old, not a negative. You have pointed it out yourself previously regarding strikers; you don't necessarily care for strikers missing big chances, but that they're getting into these shooting positions in the first place is what counts. If all you see is Dorgu wasting opportunities, you need to pay more attention. Last night, he made a pass that should have been an assist. The match before against Athletic, he made a cross that somehow didn't end up back in the net (that somehow is Hojlund), and we have seen several other big opportunities. Yeah, he has absolutely obliterated a lot of opportunities, but the fact that he is already so involved is not to be made out to be a bad thing. It is quite promising.
Of course everyone would rather have Hakimi, or Nuno Mendes. But those players aren't just around waiting to be picked up by us. They are two of the best backs in the world. For the sake of the debate, let's use Mazraoui as an example. He is much more technically gifted than Dorgu, but what does he really offer offensively? I know he has been playing CB a lot, but the times he has played RB or RWB, why isn't he as heavily involved as Dorgu? I mean, he is excellent with the ball at his feet, able to take on players and dribble, press resistant and a very good passer, so why isn't he contributing more or finding himself in the same positions as Dorgu? Surely, if it was as easy as you're saying, then he would be doing it.

You can call Dumfries flavour of the week, or whatever you want to call him, but the fact is that he is one of the most effective wingbacks in the world and has been for some time. Not as flashy, or aesthetically pleasing to watch, but he - like Dorgu - is heavily involved in their attacking play and is a huge reason along with Dimarco to why they can play the way they do. We don't need Dorgu to be an elite technician, we need him to be effective under Amorim. We have played with left backs that have been very good technically before in Alex Telles and Sergio Reguilon. Neither of them worked out here, so it is far from a guarantee that signing any LWB with great technical qualities would work out.

Malo Gusto, Livramento, Mendes, Rico Lewis are all examples of fullbacks who are 20-22 and miles more polished than he is.

Mendes: You would hope so given that he is the world's best LWB.
Malo Gusto: I think you should look up what Chelsea fans think of him.
Livramento: Player with some of the worst attacking contributions among all fullbacks.
Rico Lewis: City fans are literally calling him a joke and the worst fullback they have ever had.

It's really easy to say every other club has better wingbacks because you don't watch them as much, and you don't get irritated as often for mistakes. Replace them with Dorgu in our team, watch them every match for 90 minutes and you'd be just as mad.

All your examples other than Rico Lewis are one or two years older than Dorgu, making them further in their development, so you're not really answering his question. Can you list 20 year old LWBs that were equally as rated as him? I'm not saying he has world class potential, but the guy was being scouted and looked at by us, Spurs, Napoli, Barcelona, Juventus and Liverpool. I don't think they would be sending scouts to watch him on several occasions if he was a talentless player with no qualities. You also have Amorim who specifically wanted him after Mendes signing a new contract with PSG. Amorim rebuilt Sporting from a disaster to champions of Portugal and a powerhouse who dominated City in the CL. He knows exactly what he wants from his players, and he sees qualities in players that he can work with. You probably didn't know half of the players in Sporting when they toyed with City, but it is not necessarily about individual quality, but the power of a system where players perform their job down to a tee, and he believes Dorgu can do that role as our LWB. Tactically, so far, he seems to have a good grasp on what his role is. Now it's down to working hard to improve further, learn his team mates better, adapt to the pace of the league and have a winning mentality.

 

[VP89]

I'm not sure I understand your first paragraph. Being heavily involved is a positive thing as a 20 year old, not a negative. You have pointed it out yourself previously regarding strikers; you don't necessarily care for strikers missing big chances, but that they're getting into these shooting positions in the first place is what counts. If all you see is Dorgu wasting opportunities, you need to pay more attention. Last night, he made a pass that should have been an assist. The match before against Athletic, he made a cross that somehow didn't end up back in the net (that somehow is Højlund), and we have seen several other big opportunities. Yeah, he has absolutely obliterated a lot of opportunities, but the fact that he is already so involved is not to be made out to be a bad thing. It is quite promising.
Of course everyone would rather have Hakimi, or Nuno Mendes. But those players aren't just around waiting to be picked up by us. They are two of the best backs in the world. For the sake of the debate, let's use Mazraoui as an example. He is much more technically gifted than Dorgu, but what does he really offer offensively? I know he has been playing CB a lot, but the times he has played RB or RWB, why isn't he as heavily involved as Dorgu? I mean, he is excellent with the pass at his feet, able to take on players and dribble, press resistant and a very good passer, so why isn't he contributing more or finding himself in the same positions as Dorgu? Surely, if it was as easy as you're saying, then he would be doing it.

You can call Dumfries flavour of the week, or whatever you want to call him, but the fact is that he is one of the most effective wingbacks in the world and has been for some time. Not as flashy, or aesthetically pleasing to watch, but he - like Dorgu - is heavily involved in their attacking play and is a huge reason along with Dimarco to why they can play the way they do. We don't need Dorgu to be an elite technician, we need him to be effective under Amorim. We have played with left backs that have been very good technically before in Alex Telles and Sergio Reguilon. Neither of them worked out here, so it is far from a guarantee that signing any LWB with great technical qualities would work out.

Mendes: You would hope so given that he is the world's best LWB.
Malo Gusto: I think you should look up what Chelsea fans think of him.
Livramento: Player with one of the worst attacking contributions among fullbacks.
Rico Lewis: City fans are literally calling him a joke and the worst fullback they have ever had.

All your examples other than Rico Lewis are one or two years older than Dorgu, making them further in their development, so you're not really answering his question. Can you list 20 year old LWBs that were equally as rated as him? I'm not saying he has world class potential, but the guy was being scouted and looked at by us, Spurs, Napoli, Barcelona, Juventus and Liverpool. I don't think they would be sending scouts to watch him on several occasions if he was a talentless player with no qualities. You also have Amorim who specifically wanted him after Mendes signing a new contract with PSG. Amorim rebuilt Sporting from a disaster to champions of Portugal and a powerhouse who dominated City in the CL. He knows exactly what he wants from his players, and he sees qualities in players that he can work with. You probably didn't know half of the players in Sporting when they toyed with City, but it is not necessarily about individual quality, but the power of a system where players perform their job down to a tee, and he believes Dorgu can do that role as our LWB. Tactically, so far, he seems to have a good grasp on what his role is. Now it's down to working hard to improve further, learn his team mates better, adapt to the pace of the league and have a winning mentality.

You've made a terribly thin criteria of age 20 and blindly assumed potential becuase hes playing for us at 20.

In reality he isn't close to being as polished as the aforementioned players and its interesting you brush off frailties in the list and assume Dorgu doesn't have the same or worse issues in a United shirt.

Ultimately he's a kid who's played a handful of games as a LB before he joined us and is completely and utterly unproven. His league performances are far from convincing so there's virtually no actual case to justify potential outside of "well we bought him so he's got to have something".

You can also roll back to full backs who were 19/20 and made their debuts before levelling off or having a non linear progression. Be it Danny Rose or djed Spence or Mitchell. Being 20 means nothing if you're not showing the potential. And saying "well he plays for us" doesn't mean he's a player with potential, we have to actually see something.

 

[daveskimufc]

I think we should give him a few games on the right with Amad. Having good support would give us a right hand side for the first time in years.

2 left footers will mean crosses from that side are sparse but dorgus first thought is to support the attack, dalot tries to come inside and doesn't get up as quick

 

[Cantona of Lagos]

You've made a terribly thin criteria of age 20 and blindly assumed potential becuase hes playing for us at 20.

In reality he isn't close to being as polished as the aforementioned players and it'd interesting you brush off frailties in the list and assume Dorgu doesn't have the same or worse issues in a United shirt.

Ultimately he's a kid who's played a handful of games as a LB before he joined us and is completely and utterly unproven. His league performances are far from convincing so there's virtually no actual case to justify potential outside of "well we bought him so he's got to have something".

I am not going to say you're lying, but I find it hard to believe you're watching full games of Newcastle, PSG, Chelsea and City every weekend analysing their fullbacks. Would you be happy with having Livramento as our back, providing a single assist in 34 games and some of the worst attacking numbers for fullbacks? That is someone you'd be perfectly happy with playing for us every week as our wingback?

The simple fact that he was being scouted by top clubs in the world is literal proof of potential, don't you think? You don't scout non-potential. That doesn't mean he is going to be a great player or work out for us, but there is potential there. But there is no point in debating this further, so let's just agree to disagree.

 

[TwoSheds]

He actually is capable to play proper passes so it must be brain fecks when he misplaces 3 yarders.

Exactly what I thought watching him yesterday. Almost reminiscent of Rio at the same age in the way he switches off. I think he's got talent though, and losing concentration is the easiest thing to fix in a young player's game as they mature.

 

[VP89]

I am not going to say you're lying, but I find it hard to believe you're watching full games of Newcastle, PSG, Chelsea and City every weekend analysing their fullbacks. Would you be happy with having Livramento as our back, providing a single assist in 34 games and some of the worst attacking numbers for fullbacks? That is someone you'd be perfectly happy with playing for us every week as our wingback?

The simple fact that he was being scouted by top clubs in the world is literal proof of potential, don't you think? You don't scout non-potential. That doesn't mean he is going to be a great player or work out for us, but there is potential there. But there is no point in debating this further, so let's just agree to disagree.

I wouldn't go for either, point being Livramento is better than Dorgu.

But this isn't about one vs the other in isolation, he was just an example of a players showing more polished play. And no, being scouted and coming is not proof of quality at Manchester United. We sign plenty of flops.

In fact we signed Malacia for half the price who showed more in his season, and that wasn't even too great but bang for buck it was certainly better.

We signed hojlund and he was shite too. You can talk about scouting all you want but ultimately Dorgu has barely played at LWB or LB so when you talk about his scouting it's not actually carrying much value.

I'm not against Dorgu, I want him to do well. But I'm not going to pretend there is potential just because we paid 30m for him. That's just silly. Plenty of players at a fraction of the price show a lot more. One example can be spence. Another can be Sessengon.

Will Dorgu come good? Maybe. But he has not shown what hes about yet and I'm not going to pretend that's not a concern. We should not rely on that rawness week on week out.

 

[Olecurls99]

This is what I've been saying for weeks now. You don't produce that video and have poor technical ability. Such lazy criticism.

What it actually highlights as we all should know is that we have some very poor forwards with very low anticipation skills. Generally crazy he hasnt had an assist looking at that video.

Great video. Really highlights what he can offer

 

[FrankWhite]

 

[Silverman]

Far far too early to judge. Put him in a team built by Amorim and a full pre-season under his belt and we'll see what he's like.

 

[TwoSheds]

I wouldn't go for either, point being Livramento is better than Dorgu.

But this isn't about one vs the other in isolation, he was just an example of a players showing more polished play. And no, being scouted and coming is not proof of quality at Manchester United. We sign plenty of flops.

In fact we signed Malacia for half the price who showed more in his season, and that wasn't even too great but bang for buck it was certainly better.

We signed hojlund and he was shite too. You can talk about scouting all you want but ultimately Dorgu has barely played at LWB or LB so when you talk about his scouting it's not actually carrying much value.

I'm not against Dorgu, I want him to do well. But I'm not going to pretend there is potential just because we paid 30m for him. That's just silly. Plenty of players at a fraction of the price show a lot more. One example can be spence. Another can be Sessengon.

Will Dorgu come good? Maybe. But he has not shown what hes about yet and I'm not going to pretend that's not a concern. We should not rely on that rawness week on week out.

I don't really get why you're comparing him to a bunch of full backs who don't offer all that much going forwards like Malacia and Livramento. He doesn't seem like a particularly good defender but has been a handful going forward for many teams with some decent movement and, for me, crossing. He needs to learn how to shoot somewhere near the goal but you never know, he might improve that as he's only young.

 

[VP89]

I don't really get why you're comparing him to a bunch of full backs who don't offer all that much going forwards like Malacia and Livramento. He doesn't seem like a particularly good defender but has been a handful going forward for many teams with some decent movement and, for me, crossing. He needs to learn how to shoot somewhere near the goal but you never know, he might improve that as he's only young.

He's not been that good going forward at all. He offers overlaps but often messes up the cross. He's also very often on his feet and he's bullied off in some key areas.

His general play is essentially not as good as the players I named.

 

[TwoSheds]

He's not been that good going forward at all. He offers overlaps but often messes up the cross. He's also very often on his feet and he's bullied off in some key areas.

His general play is essentially not as good as the players I named.

Not many great full back crossers around these days, I honestly think he's better than most and he gets in some great positions. I can see a player in there, he's not going to be world class but he's good.

 

[Attila]

He's only had half a season and joined the worst man united team of all time

 

[RobbieBerns]

He’s shown just about what you would expect from a 20 y/o wing back joining a tumultuous club in January. Inconsistent in his decision making and technique at times, but I’ve seen enough flashes of the player he’s going to grow into to satisfy me. His physical attributes and athleticism are 99% percentile and he’ll absolutely come good with more experience and further coaching.

 

[simonhch]

I can't take any criticism seriously when (a) he's joined mid-season from a foreign league and come into the worst United team since the advent of the PL era, (b) he's acclimatizing to a new style of football, football culture and national culture, and (c) he's only 20 years old.

This is a conversation to be had in 2 years time.

 

[AjaxCunian]

I do like the positions he takes up.

 

[VP89]

Not many great full back crossers around these days, I honestly think he's better than most and he gets in some great positions. I can see a player in there, he's not going to be world class but he's good.

He's not very good at defending, he often makes poor decisions on the ball, he's bullied off too easily and his crossing is erratic. There's many full backs that are probably a better level, whether you take Fulhams, Palace, Wolves, Bournemouth, Villa etc.

 

[TwoSheds]

He's not very good at defending, he often makes poor decisions on the ball, he's bullied off too easily and his crossing is erratic. There's many full backs that are probably a better level, whether you take Fulhams, Palace, Wolves, Bournemouth, Villa etc.

What's difficult about this, he's not playing at full back.

 

[EtH]

He’s shown just about what you would expect from a 20 y/o wing back joining a tumultuous club in January. Inconsistent in his decision making and technique at times, but I’ve seen enough flashes of the player he’s going to grow into to satisfy me. His physical attributes and athleticism are 99% percentile and he’ll absolutely come good with more experience and further coaching.

Yeah he’s a young player adjusting to a new team who does some good things and some really bad things.

Kind of par for the course.

 

[Ekeke]

His movement is good and he gets into positions to run behind defenders with decent pace and defensively he wins a decent amount of tackles

Needs to do a lot better with his passing in buildup play and his crossing. If he sorts those out to a decent level next season he might be quite good. He's been a lot better in then europa league than the premier league, which is not surprising since we've been better in general in that competition but him and Hojlund are probably the two players who have had the biggest difference between competitions. Too early to worry yet that hes not made for the premier league, see what happens next season

 

[VP89]

What's difficult about this, he's not playing at full back.

Yes he's wingback and not really doing well at any facet of it.

 

[TwoSheds]

Yes he's wingback and not really doing well at any facet of it.

I disagree very much with that unless you just mean "consistently". There've been a number of teams who've found him difficult to contain this season, particularly in the Europa league.

 

[VP89]

I disagree very much with that unless you just mean "consistently". There've been a number of teams who've found him difficult to contain this season, particularly in the Europa league.

He's been more bad than good. I'm not and have never said he has been devoid of good moments but he has too many poor ones.

It's all relative so when I go back to my initial question about what potential he's shown, it's ultimately no more potential than any other young full back that we've seen over the years having similar moments. The difference is we threw about 40m euros on this one, not 20m or 15m.

 

[TwoSheds]

He's been more bad than good. I'm not and have never said he has been devoid of good moments but he has too many poor ones.

It's all relative so when I go back to my initial question about what potential he's shown, it's ultimately no more potential than any other young full back that we've seen over the years having similar moments. The difference is we threw about 40m euros on this one, not 20m or 15m.

And you're back to him being a full back. Strange.

 

[OleGunnar20]

This is what I've been saying for weeks now. You don't produce that video and have poor technical ability. Such lazy criticism.

What it actually highlights as we all should know is that we have some very poor forwards with very low anticipation skills. Generally crazy he hasnt had an assist looking at that video.

Agreed. I like him, think he shows a lot of promise for a 20 year old months into his first PL season in a shambles of a side, with all the pressure inherent in playing for us.

He needs to work on cutting out some of the sloppy play and his 1v1 defending, while continuing to burst past full backs and whip those dangerous balls into the box. Get a decent striker in there and he'll rack up a fair number of assists.