Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

[SirSean]

Am I honestly one of the only ones seeing Amrabat is totally and utterly off the pace? He's slow, awful at positioning to be open for passes, and looks as slow and sloppy in possession as Casemiro. I honestly cannot see what others see in his performances?!
I hope we dont aim for that level in midfield next year.

 

[Shinjch]

I see nothing in him. Far too slow in every sense to ever cut it in midfield. Eriksen came on and did all the basics better than him.

 

[bosnian_red]

Don't understand why we subbed him off as he was actually playing well I thought.

 

[Brightonian]

Thought he was decent. Eriksen coming on improved us but not because Amrabat was bad - I think if he'd come on for McTominay you'd have seen the same effect.

 

[ClassOf'99]

Thought he was decent. Eriksen coming on improved us but not because Amrabat was bad - I think if he'd come on for McTominay you'd have seen the same effect.

Would've made too much sense to play Eriksen and Amrabaat by subbing McT though, where would we have got the drama from at the end

 

[Bobski]

He is a good player, but there is a reason he has spent his entire career at the level he has, just a bit pedestrian. However the set up does him no favours, isolated miles away from his supposed midfield partners, and Amrabat has that tendency to want to drop to the CB level, sometimes even behind to pick up the ball, which makes the spaces even larger. His passing is tidy but despite being able to do it he is reluctant to play vertically between the lines, much more comfortable going diagonally to the full backs, which helps his progressive passing stats but isn't actually as effective as they would suggest.

So yeah, he has some limitations but Ten Hag is giving him a difficult role.

 

[Borys]

His stats from the game are really good. Pity he was partnered with such a complete non-entity in central midfield. Finding the best partner for him is going to be a recurring problem unless Casemiro gets his shit together

Mind you, against the weaker teams we should be ok to play him and Eriksen together.

I'd argue he wasn't partnered with anyone, Mct was our most advanced midfielder (?) in first half. Playing Mount role. Bruno was dropping deeper but it's not his game.

Agree about the rest of this post. But I still think we need to convert Mount to b2b. Amrabat, Casemiro and especially Eriksen need legs around them, and someone who can pick up the ball and run with it.

 

[RuudTom83]

Just pulling names out the hat for the midfield these days...Amrabat was ok, not great, was McTom any better, not really but wth.

 

[Telsim]

Much like Eriksen, he is an excellent squad player. But not really the level you need starting week in, week out.

 

[Borys]

He seems exactly like a player who can excel in slower football played on international stage, or in Italy. He is pretty much what the Café expected him to be. Decent all around but quite slow and his impact on the game is minimal.

 

[Adamsk7]

I liked him in that cup game but since then he’s looked massively off the pace. He’s also pretty slow (despite the whole “he caught up with Mbappe!!” thing).

I just don’t see what he offers - he’s certainly not a top midfielder and we shouldn’t be settling for these types of players

 

[Superunknown]

He seems exactly like a player who can excel in slower football played on international stage, or in Italy. He is pretty much what the Café expected him to be. Decent all around but quite slow and his impact on the game is minimal.

I came here to post this. A little bit surprised to see how easily some of their players got past him, especially in the early stages of the first half.

He's alright, I guess. Can't help but feel a little bit meh about this signing.

 

[redcucumber]

He's not the answer long term but he's very much needed right now.

 

[kirk buttercup]

Squad player. That's about it

 

[Holocene]

Had the same problems as Casemiro. The midfield setup is so poor and absolutely no balance. Basically a one man midfield.

He doesn't have any mobility. Moves like an oil tanker.

 

[KjaAnd]

Such a strange signing. He’s about as (im)mobile as Casemiro and considerably worse overall. He’s just not fit the PL at all. Once again, EtH has underestimated the importance of physicality and athleticism.

 

[sammyhol]

I’m still holding judgement on him.

clearly not fast… but for me he has quite a lot of energy, and more positional discipline than casemiro

thought the obvious sun was McT for Eriksen.. would be intrigued to see that double pivot.

 

[Gaidal]

There is never any reason to play Mctominay over Amrabat. Unless maybe you want to give away pens.

 

[MrBest]

4141 screwed him over. The defence didn't know how to pass it to midfield as Copenhagen put two in the hole to stop it. It took Hag 45 mins to change this. He could have dropped Mctominay deeper to give Amrabat support in the first 45 but instead Amrabat was left isolated as our only midfielder ahead of defence who did nothing put pass the ball sideways.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Another rubbish loan like Weghorst and Sabitzer, where we're told they'll bring something new to the team and improve us. In reality they are just making up the numbers. Ten Hag hasn't got a clue when it comes to recruitment

 

[sammyhol]

4141 screwed him over. The defence didn't know how to pass it to midfield as Copenhagen put two in the hole to stop it. It took Hag 45 mins to change this. He could have dropped Mctominay deeper to give Amrabat support in the first 45 but instead Amrabat was left isolated as our only midfielder ahead of defence who did nothing put pass the ball sideways.

completely agree

 

[Bastian]

He seems exactly like a player who can excel in slower football played on international stage, or in Italy. He is pretty much what the Café expected him to be. Decent all around but quite slow and his impact on the game is minimal.

Attitude first class but I expected him to be a lot less cumbersome. I don't imagine we'll be taking up that option to make it permanent. We are crying out for mobility in that midfield.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

4141 screwed him over. The defence didn't know how to pass it to midfield as Copenhagen put two in the hole to stop it. It took Hag 45 mins to change this. He could have dropped Mctominay deeper to give Amrabat support in the first 45 but instead Amrabat was left isolated as our only midfielder ahead of defence who did nothing put pass the ball sideways.

Exactly - I think he has great attributes for the team and I really like him but he can’t be played so isolated like the first half. McTominay is not the player to be played with SA.

Hanibal would be a much better fit.

 

[Red00012]

Felt at times he was covering the whole of midfield because Bruno was just running around aimlessly chasing whatever player had the ball

 

[Trophy Room]

I thought he was more mediocrity and I was right.

 

[Red00012]

Exactly - I think he has great attributes for the team and I really like him but he can’t be played so isolated like the first half. McTominay is not the player to be played with SA.

Hanibal would be a much better fit.

He was isolated because of Bruno not McTominay . He was further forward

 

[Lay]

People argued with me that he isn't slow

I hope we don't sign him

 

[Mwooyo]

I think he played okay...the problem was mctominay. Actually even over the weekend, mctominay was pretty awful...people just get caught up by the goals but he has no business starting for us. Mctominays passing is so bad and it especially shows when he is playing with someone whose passing is also risk averse.

I actually think amrabat and someone like casemiro or eriksen might work pretty well. Amrabat is pretty tidy with his passing and keeps it clean...that is needed for the first phases of play. Casemiro is too direct for the first phase and often gives the ball away when the team shape isnt settled...this is when he looks really poor. To simplify it, casemiros vision and pass selection is good but his execution isnt. He doesn't have the skill necessary to make certain pssses work. Amrabat doesnt even see those passes to begin with. His mindset is to keep the ball ticking. Their combination can work.

Funnily enough eriksen is the best on the ball player we have. He has the vision and the technique to execute any pass but he is absolutely useless out of possesion and he is especially useless against a team that will dominate possession like mancity. I think he should go with casemiro and amrabat over the weekend....I would ditch bruno and play eriksen but I doubt ten hag has the guts to do that.

Anthony/Rashford are also playing soo bad, I would seriously consider just switching to a midfield 4 or 5. Amrabat, casemiro, bruno, eriksen and mount...hojlund upfront alone or him and rashford in exchange for a midfielder

 

[Mainoldo]

I mean sometimes YouTube doesn’t lie. 1 paced, slow and poor pass selection.

Thank god the club didn’t believe in this signing and got a loan. Maybe next time fully believe in yourselves and buy players actually suited to our club.

G.Neville told no lies about us not changed upstairs.

 

[VP89]

4141 screwed him over. The defence didn't know how to pass it to midfield as Copenhagen put two in the hole to stop it. It took Hag 45 mins to change this. He could have dropped Mctominay deeper to give Amrabat support in the first 45 but instead Amrabat was left isolated as our only midfielder ahead of defence who did nothing put pass the ball sideways.

Pretty much what I thought too

 

[Dempsey19]

Glad it's a loan as hes not really good at anything.

He's the Moroccan Fred.

 

[Gopher Brown]

I mean sometimes YouTube doesn’t lie. 1 paced, slow and poor pass selection.

Thank god the club didn’t believe in this signing and got a loan. Maybe next time fully believe in yourselves and buy players actually suited to our club.

G.Neville told no lies about us not changed upstairs.

It is only a loan for accounting purposes. He will be signed permanently in the summer no matter how his season goes.

 

[AR87]

I think ETH doesn't trust Amrabat in the air because he's not very good at it, so he erred on keeping McTominay on over him to pair with Eriksen.

Don't think he's a world beater, but that first half performance was a collective failure from the setup to individual performances. In the second half, once Eriksen came on he linked everything up and it seemed we played more of a 4-2-3-1 with him and McTominay playing tight to each other. That would've benefited Amrabat as well.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

It is only a loan for accounting purposes. He will be signed permanently in the summer no matter how his season goes.

This is my understanding too.

Fine with him as a squad player tbh.

 

[lsd]

Glad it's a loan as hes not really good at anything.

He's the Moroccan Fred.

Pretty sure we have agreed to sign him

 

[NZT-One]

4141 screwed him over. The defence didn't know how to pass it to midfield as Copenhagen put two in the hole to stop it. It took Hag 45 mins to change this. He could have dropped Mctominay deeper to give Amrabat support in the first 45 but instead Amrabat was left isolated as our only midfielder ahead of defence who did nothing put pass the ball sideways.

It isn't just us fans who know that McTom is quite useless and passive in terms of getting on the ball. Just because he goes a little deeper, doesn't necessarily mean, a well prepared side will forget that it is Amrabat who shouldn't get time on the ball. 4-1-4-1 might not ideal but for Amrabat, it isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as the 2 in front of him are energetic b2b players who contribute against and on the ball. In an ideal world, they could/should do the running that gives a player like Amrabat more time on the ball. In the 2nd half the game became a bit more end to end, Eriksen had a good game but I wouldn't say it changed just because we suddenly played 2 players in the middle. Not like we upped the control significantly, it was a rather entertaining back and forth (even though my perspective is a bit skewed as I watched the game a little delayed and on 1.25 speed) with us being a tad more vulnerable but also more dangerous. Opposition played a big part I'd say.

Pretty sure we have agreed to sign him

Hopefully we didn't. Looks more and more like a sidestep which will only increase the deadwood in 2 years. But that is of course a subjective interpretation. On the actual deal though - wasn't there talk, that the fee went up because we insisted on keeping a break option in the agreement? There was talk about him being a 25 million deal, I thought the deal we finally agreed on was 9 Million loan fee and around 20 million next year to make it permanent. So a little higher total fee for a potential "get your money back" guarantee.

 

[micmac]

I really hope his performances are due to match fitness. I think he’s been rubbish so far after all the fuss people were making over him this summer.

 

[Borys]

Just another player set up to fail in this bizarre 415 setup. He is slow, no doubts about it, but the way we play it would require a combination of prime Kante with De Jong in that midfield position.

We started playing football when Eriksen came on but also McTominay was pushed back to midfield. Why eth insists on this setup with one man midfield is beyond me.

 

[gajender]

It is only a loan for accounting purposes. He will be signed permanently in the summer no matter how his season goes.

Actually it's not We have actually paid the premium in Loan fee specifically not to have it as an obligation because we weren't sure whether he would cut it here or not so a compromise of sort was worked .

We could have easily bought him and his FFP impact on the books would actually have been lower for this year Or if we didn't want it as a straight purchase on the books right away We could have the option to make the deal permanent on Both sides next season by specific date like PSG did for Ramos .

 

[Real Name]

Don't understand why we subbed him off as he was actually playing well I thought.

Well the rest of the cafe doesnt agree. He is crap according to them.