Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

[Mr Smith]

His passing is alarming at times. I still think we're better having him this season than not, but he's not turned out how I hoped, and I probably wouldn't make his loan permanent.

 

[SAFMUTD]

The effort is there but he's too damn slow. Opposition playera just sprinted past him and he couldn't do nothing about it.

Doesn't seem suited to the premier league we won't make it permanent most likely.

 

[RedIan]

I thought he was poor in the first half. He worked hard but in possession he gave it away every time. Lacks pace to be a top 6.
Im not sure he will be retained after his loan period. That said without casamiro we need him.

 

[NewGlory]

He is poor, but still better than playing non-defensive midfielder with a lone DMF

We need to play the rest of the season with Casemiro - Mainoo pair, and Amrabat as sub if we need him.

That is if our current and incoming owners do not sell Casemiro because they need money

 

[MadMike]

It's not bizarre and anyone who's watched him this season has been saying the same. He's slow of the mark, players get past him comfortably and he's not a great passer. Put him under pressure and he invariably loses it. He's positionally disciplined but that's about it. An average player, can't fault his attitude, but doesn't really have the skills to be a regular CM for any top side in the PL.

He’s obviously slow and aerially poor, but the bolded line is definitely not fair reflection of his time here.

Today was the first game where I saw him rattled and getting dispossessed or giving the ball away. Previous 3 games against Chelsea, Bournemouth and Bayern he got dispossessed 0 times and had upwards of 92% passing in each, while also being one of our most voluminous passers. And that’s despite us losing 2/3 games. In the Bayern game, in the second half, they completely stopped pressing him and used McTominay as a press trigger instead, because Amrabat would always find a way out of the press with a pass.

Today he had a poor day, individually. There’s no masking that. But it was uncharacteristic of him.

 

[El Jefe]

What's funny is if you go back to July or August, our fans all over social media and here of course were going on like this lad was the missing link in CM. I knew exactly what he was just looking at his profile. To be at Fiorentina still at the end of the window with the number of transfers made for midfielders last summer, it was the ultimate sign he was bang average.

The Rice vs Amrabat posts just look insane.

How we manage to continue finding players that are physically not cut out for the PL is beyond me.

 

[Plant0x84]

Up and down performance wise, but ultimately not good enough for United. I hope we don’t go making him permanent, I’d rather have stuck with Sabitzer.
We have a lot of work to do in the summer.

 

[Plant0x84]

How we manage to continue finding players that are physically not cut out for the PL is beyond me.

It’s what the owners/financial constraints gets you. We are shopping in KwikSave instead of Waitrose.

 

[sourdough satellite]

I think he can be a valuable player for us if he gets back on the PEDs he was on during the World Cup.

 

[Winrar]

Gotta admit I got this one horribly wrong. Doesn't look like he has the physical attributes to succeed in this league.

 

[caid]

Think people are being pretty harsh. He's been here 5 minutes, you need to give him some time to settle. Not an easy team to come into and succeed at the moment.
You'd normally expect Casemiro to play the vast majority of the time so its not even like hes someone you expect to start too often normally. Think his last few performances have been encouraging.

 

[statpadder]

Why are people so harsh on him? I find him as an invaluable squad player who always gives a 100%.

Has something changed? Didn’t we all used to love players who give their all on the pitch?

 

[NoPace]

He does at least play the 6 role with some discipline. Sticks to the actual job. That alone helps I think.

But yeah, he's physically not good enough unfortunately.

Can't disagree with any of this. I think it's him or Casemiro for the squad next year.

#10 - Bruno, Mount
CM - Mainoo, #8
DM - #6, Casemiro/Amrabat

is what a solid midfield group here would look like. Ton of money on a backup #10. The #8 can be older and cheaper, the #6 needs to be the best player under 27 or so that we can sign, regardless of price. In theory, McTominay out for 25-30M and a guy in for 70M is plausible enough with the rest of the summer outlay on a striker and a CB.

 

[TempusFugit]

Thought he took some time to get into the game but played well after finding his feet. I like him. He just needs to understand that he won't get as much time on the ball here, and to always step in with the intention to win the ball. Sometimes I get the intention that he tries to delay the attack instead.

 

[Seaside Aggro]

Kleberson mk.2

 

[Freak]

I'm glad we only got him on a loan. He's not good enough.

 

[Slevs]

Suited for the italian league. This one is too fast for him. Do not make this deal permanent.

 

[AneRu]

It’s what the owners/financial constraints gets you. We are shopping in KwikSave instead of Waitrose.

Not this again after watching us blow 150m on Antony and Hoijlund. The owners are at fault for half heartedly solving the structural issues that give managers too much power ahead of actual recruitment professionals like scouts who spend ages watching players.

If you look at the players we have been strongly linked with over past couple of years you'd actually see that our scouts do their work but they aren't supported by the decision makers.

 

[King7Eric]

He’s obviously slow and aerially poor, but the bolded line is definitely not fair reflection of his time here.

Today was the first game where I saw him rattled and getting dispossessed or giving the ball away. Previous 3 games against Chelsea, Bournemouth and Bayern he got dispossessed 0 times and had upwards of 92% passing in each, while also being one of our most voluminous passers. And that’s despite us losing 2/3 games. In the Bayern game, in the second half, they completely stopped pressing him and used McTominay as a press trigger instead, because Amrabat would always find a way out of the press with a pass.

Today he had a poor day, individually. There’s no masking that. But it was uncharacteristic of him.

I would actually argue the last 3 games were an outlier for different reasons. Against Chelsea he ( and the whole team) were quite good, though it could be a reflection of how poor Chelsea were. Against Bournemouth he had a lot of possession in deeper areas and since Bournemouth were quite content to hold their shape he wasn't put under that much pressure. Yet he didn't really influence the game in any positive manner. That's the difference between him and even someone like Mainoo who's obviously very young. But even yesterday Mainoo had that through ball to Garnacho, similarly against Everton he was able to drive forwards with the ball to start attacks. Amrabat seems to have no penetrative passing range at all. In games like against Bournemouth he'll have decent passing stats because he's not being put under pressure and he's not trying to do anything with the ball either.

It's games against City and Liverpool which are the litmus test, because they'll put you under pressure and then you see how good these players are in possession. In both games, and a couple others, when put under pressure, he seems all at sea.

Even if you disregard the in-possession aspect of his game, playing in his position you need to be able to stop the other team's attacks which he just can't. Players just seem to glide past him.

 

[Fortitude]

He has an awful habit of pushing people he is trying to catch in the back. He’s mostly too slow to get a full shove on them, but it looks like a dead certainty to be a card foul every time he does it and someone needs to have a word with him to cut that out because it is terrible optics that can lead to nothing positive. He does it in dangerous areas of the pitch too - right in that defensive midfield area.

His slowness is problematic because he tries to be an aggressive, front foot midfielder, rather than one relying on positioning and timing. You can’t chug along at such a slow pace with such poor agility and recovery as a proactive midfielder. He gets spun with ease and then has no recovery pace to make amends… so he shouldn’t allow himself to be spun in the first place. Ball or man is something he should know well from Serie A so why try and run on and harry when you have such a difficult time doing so?

He won’t face that aggression and pace of game again this side of the festive period so he shouldn’t look as flustered again. I’d rather he and Marino until Casemiro returns so I do hope we saw the worst of him on Sunday and that the only way is up from now on.

 

[Big Andy]

I'd rather have kept Sabitzer than this guy. Just don't see it. Too slow, lingers on the ball, and hasn't got the pace to catch up. Also fouls too much in dangerous areas.

Also, I can't trust a man with a shiny head, when he can grow a full head of hair.

 

[MadMike]

I would actually argue the last 3 games were an outlier for different reasons. Against Chelsea he ( and the whole team) were quite good, though it could be a reflection of how poor Chelsea were. Against Bournemouth he had a lot of possession in deeper areas and since Bournemouth were quite content to hold their shape he wasn't put under that much pressure. Yet he didn't really influence the game in any positive manner. That's the difference between him and even someone like Mainoo who's obviously very young. But even yesterday Mainoo had that through ball to Garnacho, similarly against Everton he was able to drive forwards with the ball to start attacks. Amrabat seems to have no penetrative passing range at all. In games like against Bournemouth he'll have decent passing stats because he's not being put under pressure and he's not trying to do anything with the ball either.

It's games against City and Liverpool which are the litmus test, because they'll put you under pressure and then you see how good these players are in possession. In both games, and a couple others, when put under pressure, he seems all at sea.

You try to explain why the 3 games I mentioned were outliers, and you provide some reasoning for the games against Chelsea and Bournemouth, but conveniently ignore the 3rd game I mentioned against Bayern because it doesn’t fit the narrative. It was a game against a better team where we didn’t play well and yet Amrabat did well individually without getting dispossessed or giving the ball away. To the point where Bayern stopped pressing him in the 2nd half.

Then you claim that the “real” tests are against City and Liverpool (enter "first real test" meme) where he allegedly floundered. Yet against City in the 45’ he played, he got dispossessed 0 times and his pass rate was 10/12 (83%). The team visibly did better in the first half while he was playing, only going behind to a dodgy pen. Whereas in the second half, with Mount coming and McTominay dropping to DM next to Eriksen, things visibly deteriorated. So again, he didn’t show any signs of someone who loses the ball under pressure against City. It seems your memory of that game is different from what happened.

I don't see any point in doing mental gymnastics to justify the one bad game he had (strictly speaking about ball retention and passing) as baseline and all other games as outliers, but you do you.

Even if you disregard the in-possession aspect of his game, playing in his position you need to be able to stop the other team's attacks which he just can't. Players just seem to glide past him.

He is very slow indeed and that is the one major concern I have. I think he works pretty well to get himself in good positions to defend and shut down passing lines. He sticks to the task of protecting his back 4, he does not go wandering and he does try hard. But often a more agile player, one with quicker acceleration, will just breeze past him like he's not there. I don't think it happens incredibly often, it's the times that it does happen that stick to memory, but it's often enough to be a concern. It shouldn't really happen at this level, unless it's some incredibly fast player like Mbappe.

 

[Cela shomana]

kamara of Aston villa looked very slow and under whelming last season. look how he is playing now. People, it takes time to adapt to a new league. this place though! Fred was bashed every game and now it was a mistake to sell him.

 

[Mwooyo]

I actually think Amrabat played well and plays well on the ball but is average off it...people point out that he is slow but miss the important stuff. A CDM can be slow if they know how to position themselves and can intercept (Carrick, Busquets)...Amrabat rarely positions himself well for interception and never channels attackers. Instead, he tries to become a Kante or Fred by chasing people around...he needs to do less of that. On the ball, he is class...he actually makes playing out from the back possible...something Casemiro fails to do because he is too direct for that phase of the game..something even Pogba failed at helping us do.

For our midfield to be successful, I would take Amrabat over mctominay or Fred (Amrabat is much much better than Fred on the ball). Actually, we should look to ditch mctominay before Amrabat. I can understand if the club makes it permanent but I think we can get much better for slightly more than he would cost. In the summer, we should skip signing him and get in a RW, LW (ditch Rashford), and 2 CBs (ditch Lindelof and Evans...I think Evans didn't play that well)...

 

[Robbie Boy]

I like the guy and he seems genuinely delighted to be here. But, I don't think he's anywhere near good enough and he should be nothing more than a Sabitzer type stop-gap signing.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I actually think Amrabat played well and plays well on the ball but is average off it...people point out that he is slow but miss the important stuff. A CDM can be slow if they know how to position themselves and can intercept (Carrick, Busquets)...Amrabat rarely positions himself well for interception and never channels attackers. Instead, he tries to become a Kante or Fred by chasing people around...he needs to do less of that. On the ball, he is class...he actually makes playing out from the back possible...something Casemiro fails to do because he is too direct for that phase of the game..something even Pogba failed at helping us do.

For our midfield to be successful, I would take Amrabat over mctominay or Fred (Amrabat is much much better than Fred on the ball). Actually, we should look to ditch mctominay before Amrabat. I can understand if the club makes it permanent but I think we can get much better for slightly more than he would cost. In the summer, we should skip signing him and get in a RW, LW (ditch Rashford), and 2 CBs (ditch Lindelof and Evans...I think Evans didn't play that well)...

A great point.

Off the ball he has the touch of headless chicken about him, it’s like watching a game at break time in a school playground, he just runs after it with no fecking plan.

I suppose that would be ok if the rest of the team were uber pressers but he often arrives just a second late & is bypassed.

 

[King7Eric]

You try to explain why the 3 games I mentioned were outliers, and you provide some reasoning for the games against Chelsea and Bournemouth, but conveniently ignore the 3rd game I mentioned against Bayern because it doesn’t fit the narrative. It was a game against a better team where we didn’t play well and yet Amrabat did well individually without getting dispossessed or giving the ball away. To the point where Bayern stopped pressing him in the 2nd half.

Then you claim that the “real” tests are against City and Liverpool (enter "first real test" meme) where he allegedly floundered. Yet against City in the 45’ he played, he got dispossessed 0 times and his pass rate was 10/12 (83%). The team visibly did better in the first half while he was playing, only going behind to a dodgy pen. Whereas in the second half, with Mount coming and McTominay dropping to DM next to Eriksen, things visibly deteriorated. So again, he didn’t show any signs of someone who loses the ball under pressure against City. It seems your memory of that game is different from what happened.

I don't see any point in doing mental gymnastics to justify the one bad game he had (strictly speaking about ball retention and passing) as baseline and all other games as outliers, but you do you.



He is very slow indeed and that is the one major concern I have. I think he works pretty well to get himself in good positions to defend and shut down passing lines. He sticks to the task of protecting his back 4, he does not go wandering and he does try hard. But often a more agile player, one with quicker acceleration, will just breeze past him like he's not there. I don't think it happens incredibly often, it's the times that it does happen that stick to memory, but it's often enough to be a concern. It shouldn't really happen at this level, unless it's some incredibly fast player like Mbappe.

I didn't watch the game against Bayern so I didn't comment on it.

Also, the stats you mention are just half the story. For example yesterday McTominay played a ball to Amrabat at pace around waist high which Amrabat couldn't control and lost it. Technically, it's McTominay making a successful pass and Amrabat losing it but that was all McTominay's fault there. Amrabat himself makes a lot of these trouble passes which often put his teammates under pressure. Just hitting your teammate doesn't make it a successful pass, what can they do with the ball they receive also plays into it. This is something Mainoo seems to excel it because even though it's a limited sample size, I see him only pass the ball to a teammate when they are in a decent position to receive it.

This is something stats won't tell you. Anyway if you feel Amrabat has been good for us then that's your perspective. I think he isn't good enough and has generally been poor to average.

 

[hobbers]

His play in our own half is very reminiscent of Bruno. Their deep-lying playmaker abilities, their touch, accuracy, press resistance, game reading etc. are all Europa conference level.

He looked a bit better in other games when he was playing further forward and winning the ball in the opponents half.

 

[lex talionis]

Amrabat might make a decent squad player if we decide to keep him, but there isn’t enough about his game — not that we’ve yet seen at least — to warrant signing him.

 

[Gordon Godot]

Amrabat might make a decent squad player if we decide to keep him, but there isn’t enough about his game — not that we’ve yet seen at least — to warrant signing him.

I disagree, he's not even a squad players. Stats yesteday were awful. He is way too slow get rid. We have to be better than this

 

[didz]

I thought he grew into the game after a really poor start yesterday. He even managed to finish the match, which I honestly can't remember him doing since he signed.

 

[MadMike]

I didn't watch the game against Bayern so I didn't comment on it.

Also, the stats you mention are just half the story. For example yesterday McTominay played a ball to Amrabat at pace around waist high which Amrabat couldn't control and lost it. Technically, it's McTominay making a successful pass and Amrabat losing it but that was all McTominay's fault there. Amrabat himself makes a lot of these trouble passes which often put his teammates under pressure. Just hitting your teammate doesn't make it a successful pass, what can they do with the ball they receive also plays into it. This is something Mainoo seems to excel it because even though it's a limited sample size, I see him only pass the ball to a teammate when they are in a decent position to receive it.

This is something stats won't tell you.

He gave such poor passes yesterday, but generally he doesn't. He can be accused of being unadventurous with his passing generally, but giving hospital isn't his thing. It's more of a McTominay thing. And again, stats aside, his passing was crisp and accurate in all previous eye tests.

Anyway if you feel Amrabat has been good for us then that's your perspective. I think he isn't good enough and has generally been poor to average.

I feel first of all that we should be fair on our criticism of players. I find that individual criticism is often unfair and goes overboard, due to bad results in a team game.

As for how good he has been for us, it's debatable. I think he has been at least OK for us, sometimes even good. He has some strengths and some glaring weaknesses too. I like the fact he is a proper #6 who sticks to the task, because we hardly have a player like that. Only Casemiro comes close and to be honest, even he likes to run up the field and then gets caught out in transition. We seem to be a tighter team when Amrabat plays. So I think he adds something valuable to the team and yes, I'm glad we took him on loan.

But I also certainly think he has limitations and that he can be improved upon for next season. In this league athleticism plays a big part you can't always carry someone so slow on the turn in midfield.

 

[statpadder]

kamara of Aston villa looked very slow and under whelming last season. look how he is playing now. People, it takes time to adapt to a new league. this place though! Fred was bashed every game and now it was a mistake to sell him.

It really is. You can see his major problem is time on the ball, he always thinks he has more and then he is put under pressure and has to release the ball quicker than he wanted to - its mainly because this league is just so fast.

This is something he can/will adjust with time.

Comparing him to Fred is funny because Fred’s basics were all over the place. He had no weak foot, long passing, positional awareness, aerial duels and was weak af as well. Even Troy fecking Deeny said they used to target Fred ffs.

 

[Gordon Godot]

It really is. You can see his major problem is time on the ball, he always thinks he has more and then he is put under pressure and has to release the ball quicker than he wanted to - its mainly because this league is just so fast.

This is something he can/will adjust with time.

Comparing him to Fred is funny because Fred’s basics were all over the place. He had no weak foot, long passing, positional awareness, aerial duels and was weak af as well. Even Troy fecking Deeny said they used to target Fred ffs.

Its not just time on the ball. He is slow and turns like Maguire carrying a 50 kilo back pack. He's not good enough. Stop making excuses.

 

[King7Eric]

He gave such poor passes yesterday, but generally he doesn't. He can be accused of being unadventurous with his passing generally, but giving hospital isn't his thing. It's more of a McTominay thing. And again, stats aside, his passing was crisp and accurate in all previous eye tests.


I feel first of all that we should be fair on our criticism of players. I find that individual criticism is often unfair and goes overboard, due to bad results in a team game.

As for how good he has been for us, it's debatable. I think he has been at least OK for us, sometimes even good. He has some strengths and some glaring weaknesses too. I like the fact he is a proper #6 who sticks to the task, because we hardly have a player like that. Only Casemiro comes close and to be honest, even he likes to run up the field and then gets caught out in transition. We seem to be a tighter team when Amrabat plays. So I think he adds something valuable to the team and yes, I'm glad we took him on loan.

But I also certainly think he has limitations and that he can be improved upon for next season. In this league athleticism plays a big part you can't always carry someone so slow on the turn in midfield.

Fair enough. I don't think I'm being unfair in criticising him because to me he's struggled to do what he was bought for. I agree a lot of our players receive over the top criticism, but although most of them aren't good enough to win titles, they do have some useful qualities and aren't as bad as made out to be. Unfortunately, where Amrabat is concerned, like I said apart from his positional discipline and attitude, I don't see many redeeming qualities.

 

[Betson]

I am surprised how slow he is , I knew he was no speedster but have been a bit shocked with just how slow he looks in this league, like he is running in quicksand at times.

Talk that he is still not fully fit after no preseason done , ok I can see that affecting his stamina but not his pace unless he has put on a lot of weight which does not look the case.

 

[statpadder]

Its not just time on the ball. He is slow and turns like Maguire carrying a 50 kilo back pack. He's not good enough. Stop making excuses.

He’s not good enough because he turns slow. Wtf. But okay

 

[Scottynaldinho]

I'd rate him as better than Sabitzer but still not up to the mark.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Not amazing but find an actual central midfielder refreshing.

 

[Gordon Godot]

Not amazing but find an actual central midfielder refreshing.

Did you see his stats against Liverpool, absolutely terrible. its like playing a training cone in midfield