Not at all. He had a shocker in the first half, he was decent in the 2nd. If decent is enough to justify a 10 million loan then we should have got a 20 million loan fee for Sancho
Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
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I got the feeling we switched to a back three in the second half, and Poundland Veron was pushed into midfield, even then I'm not sure where he was playing, he was all over the place.
Horrible first and a pretty bad start to the second too - but he found his feet the last 30 minutes, when Forest wasn't threatening much and his passing clicked. It looked to me like he switched sides with Dalot at a certain point, and he looked much more comfortable on the right.
Pretty sure ETH and he dont know where hes playing either. Its fullback on paper, its "inverted fullback" in theory and in practice its... He comes towards the guy on the ball and offers a passing option
Getting a midfielder to pick up the ball in between the defence is a consistency in Ten Hag's system. Just so happens he had a midfielder at full back so it made sense for him to cut in and do the job, allowing casemiro and McTominay to just stay further up.
He's actually not that slow! Origi at first got away from him, but Origi is pretty fast, and then Amrabat managed to stay with him, forcing Origi out wide.
He's also fairly fast running with the ball - he's a good ball carrier. His long range passing is also very good - he more or less shoots the ball, so the attacker is able to keep his momentum. I thought it was a good display after a few nervous moments in the first half.
He's also fairly fast running with the ball - he's a good ball carrier. His long range passing is also very good - he more or less shoots the ball, so the attacker is able to keep his momentum. I thought it was a good display after a few nervous moments in the first half.
I think that was very clever from ETH - have Dalot battle it out with Elanga - and Dalot pocketed him pretty well.
Obvious statement, never a left back, but when he was getting involved in midfield I thought he was pretty solid, some good tackles and more importantly he carried the ball well and was constantly finding Garnacho second half. I'd like to see him get more time in the actual midfield role.
He was good in the second half in the extra midfielder role; it gave Onana an easy out through the lines and he actually progressed the ball a few times, which Casemiro isn’t capable of.
Thank god we couldn't find the money to buy this guy. Nowhere near good enough.
Decent cover for a year on loan but he's midtable at best.
Decent cover for a year on loan but he's midtable at best.
Started dreadfully for the first 15 minutes or so, was quite solid after that (other than one moment where his lack of speed allowed Forest to get into a dangerous position in the second half). He hasn't played much lately so they may explain the poor start.
No chance he is being signed. 0%
I thought he was very good in the second half.
Aldi Andrew Tate
Don't care if we sign him or not, right now it's just the moment. I thought he was awful in first half and on the second, did really well. Has not played many minutes for a while, we need a left back badly and I just hope he can abreast show he can fill in there until Malacia comes back.
I liked the way he moved into midfield, defender alright and brought the ball up the pitch. Against City, it could be another story but right now, we desperately need someone to be able to play that role.
It's obvious that Hag won't choose the youth, he's no Klopp, so right now he's our best choice there.
I liked the way he moved into midfield, defender alright and brought the ball up the pitch. Against City, it could be another story but right now, we desperately need someone to be able to play that role.
It's obvious that Hag won't choose the youth, he's no Klopp, so right now he's our best choice there.
At the very least those mid to long range passes played with some zip remind us what a proper midfielder should be doing.
I don't think it's crazy just because we need to add so much in midfield. It wouldn't shock me if we keep him and look like this the next 2 seasons. He has his faults but he knows how to play DM and we could always play Mainoo there a bit if we have a proper #8 come in the summer :
24-25
Bruno-Mount
CM-Mainoo
Casemiro-Amrabat-Mainoo
(cheap 7th midfielder of some kind, like a Brighton-y buy)
25-26
Bruno-Mount
CM-Mainoo
DM-Amrabat
(cheap 7th midfielder of some kind, like a Brighton-y buy)
which is only adding one midfielder per summer, but considering we need 2 defenders (a left-sided one and a right-sided one), a ST and a winger this summer, that might be what ends up happening.
We all love Mainoo but he can't play 60 games a year.
Your idol innit
He seems to have lost a couple of miles of pace since the world cup.
obviously not a left back. but i'd like to see him in a double pivot with mainoo, and mount instead of bruno in midfield. we might actually control possession and not be overrun
Yeah, I enjoyed the zip and pace he played those passes with. None of this soft bobbly shit, whip it into feet.
Something I always appreciated Matic for.
He had a decent second half but he was playing in tonnes of space running into midfield however its absolutely mental we paid £8m for a loan after selling Fred for £5m who would have done exactly the same job.
My opinion on him hasn't really changed this season. He's a good player, he's a deep playmaker, and he plays the same role/style of play as Kobbie Mainoo but isn't as talented as Mainoo. He's fine as a squad player, but isn't really worth buying given we don't own him and he's not exactly young, and physically he already is definitely too slow/stiff for the league.
Obviously not a full back, but he shouldn't get criticism for that. That's just the dumb situation that our club is in that he plays there sometimes.
Obviously not a full back, but he shouldn't get criticism for that. That's just the dumb situation that our club is in that he plays there sometimes.
Do not keep.
But in the meantime, start him ahead of Casemiro as DM, with Mainoo alongside to do anything more complicated than running, tackling and pinging the odd diagonal out to the wings.
But in the meantime, start him ahead of Casemiro as DM, with Mainoo alongside to do anything more complicated than running, tackling and pinging the odd diagonal out to the wings.
He always looks uncomfortable on the ball. Unsure of the next pass to play. Really not of the calibre we need. His first half was woeful, and he really looked out of place in the team.
I want to believe you. He isnt worth the money and we have young players who can mostly do the job he could do. The one clear difference is that he's pretty sturdy and obviously our young players arent strong and built at that age. Its certainly not a difference worth the money though.
But he's an ETH favourite which is why we signed him in the first place and our intention seems pretty clear that if we had the money we would have signed him outright in the summer. I didnt believe it at the time because he's not very good but then we signed him. IF ETH stays I think theres a chance we might buy him and thats one of the bigger concerns I have with keeping ETH.
first half he legitimately looked worse than me at LB. Second half was much better with him in midfield, actually looked like a professional player. I dont care what injuries we have, if he plays there at LB against City EtH should be fired on the spot.
decent second half from Amrabat and hope he plays against City alongside Casemiro
still would have been better off hanging onto Fred
still would have been better off hanging onto Fred
nah, the big mistake was the mount signing. That price couldve got us 2 shrewd midfield signings. Mainoo needs to be back in that midfield in the city game.
He does some nice things then does some awful things, there doesn’t seem to be a balance there and he looks like a bit of an oil tanker trying to turn or run.
Be disappointed if we opt to keep him.
Be disappointed if we opt to keep him.
He is absolutely miles below the standard we should be aiming for. Thinking of bit part midfielders in Fergies time, he’s not fit to lace the boots of a Quinton Fortune let alone Kleberson or even he who’s name we say twice.
We only signed him on loan because we failed to sign Amadou Onana and then Youssouff Fofana from Monaco on loan. McTominay not willing to leave put paid to the Amadou Onana deal with a attempt made for Fofana late in the window before settling on Amrabat. To say we signed Amrabat because he was a ten Hag favourite isn't correct, because had one of the aforementioned deals materialised then I don't believe Amrabat would've been signed on the final day of the season.
And the reason we were in that situation was due to the previous regime not dealing with the numerous positions in the team that needed upgrading from the GK, midfield and central focal point, where previously we had De Gea, McFred and Ronaldo occupying roles where initiating attacks in the build up (GK), creating plays in midfield (McFred) and applying the press in coordination with your team mates (Ronaldo) was below the requisite level in comparison to the benchmark set at clubs like City, Liverpool and now Arsenal.
Signing Amrabat on loan after prioritising the signings of Onana, Mount, Hojlund and blooding young Mainoo was fine because it then made further acquisions more difficult.
From what I saw yesterday from Amrabat, I don't understand why he doesn't start ahead of Casemiro. And it's no surprise that we had the bulk of the possession with Amrabat starting and him wanting to keep the ball and build play rather than go for vertical passes constantly like Casemiro is accustomed to going for. 97% pass accuracy with 7/7 long passes completed and also being a superior ball carrier to both Bruno and Casemiro should warrant him starting far more games than he has done thus far.
I don't believe we should keep Amrabat, but I think if the aim is to play football through the thirds and build play from the back with a varied passing game, then Amrabat should be starting next to Mainoo due to the upgrade in possession and ball carrying ability.
And the reason we were in that situation was due to the previous regime not dealing with the numerous positions in the team that needed upgrading from the GK, midfield and central focal point, where previously we had De Gea, McFred and Ronaldo occupying roles where initiating attacks in the build up (GK), creating plays in midfield (McFred) and applying the press in coordination with your team mates (Ronaldo) was below the requisite level in comparison to the benchmark set at clubs like City, Liverpool and now Arsenal.
Signing Amrabat on loan after prioritising the signings of Onana, Mount, Hojlund and blooding young Mainoo was fine because it then made further acquisions more difficult.
From what I saw yesterday from Amrabat, I don't understand why he doesn't start ahead of Casemiro. And it's no surprise that we had the bulk of the possession with Amrabat starting and him wanting to keep the ball and build play rather than go for vertical passes constantly like Casemiro is accustomed to going for. 97% pass accuracy with 7/7 long passes completed and also being a superior ball carrier to both Bruno and Casemiro should warrant him starting far more games than he has done thus far.
I don't believe we should keep Amrabat, but I think if the aim is to play football through the thirds and build play from the back with a varied passing game, then Amrabat should be starting next to Mainoo due to the upgrade in possession and ball carrying ability.
Amrabat moving into central midfield from his LB starting position was the main reason for United keeping 61% imo.
With the CB pairings being slow and having to stay back all the time, having a defender move into the midfield to fill a few holes was very helpful.
With the CB pairings being slow and having to stay back all the time, having a defender move into the midfield to fill a few holes was very helpful.
If that's our midfield next year we are getting obliterated.
Yeah with how much worse Casemiro is in duels this year he doesn't justify the auto start ahead of Amrabat especially with Mainoo alongside him. Those two actually can keep the ball decently.
That’s what ETH wants from his FB, we’ve seen Dalot do it tons this season. It’s how pep plays, with the FB coming inside to create like a back 3 or an extra midfielder when in possession.
Yeah, would be slightly better than this year if we sign a quality #6/8 AND Mainoo and Casemiro stay healthy and Casemiro doesn't decline and Mount can be as useful as McTominay (less goals, better overall play).
We obviously need to move on Casemiro and sign 2 midfielders and then it's 3 for 2 spots (those 3 and Mainoo) but we probably need another striker even more than that 2nd midfielder, a winger to replace Antony, and you could argue we need a left-sided defender at least as much, barring a shock 45 games apiece from Shaw (this has happened every other year or so it's not as improbable as it sounds) AND Lisandro (no idea if he's been unlucky or there's a more recurring/structural reason).
But yeah, we need 2 midfielders, but I wouldn't at all be shocked if we sign 2 and one is ready right away and one is a youth, Brighton-y signing that gets a few games but basically is brought in to take over from Casemiro after a year of getting used to playing in England.
Ideally we could sign 2 first-team midfielders, a backup striker, a winger AND a left-sided defender and keep Varane to push back addressing RB, but can we afford that? Or are we then looking at 3-4 signings in the 20M range that likely fail, like if we'd bought Amrabat or that same level of decent backup like Malacia was? That's still 5 signings and we're really only getting good money from a McTominay sale. Not a lot of obvious free options or release clause guys.
Shame we don't seem to have an obvious academy product to throw into a major role. A top young RB and selling Wan-Bissaka would put us 20M or so in the black there, for instance.
I'd probably rank the needs like this:
Will vomit if we don't sign one:
1) 6/8
2) ST
We need one:
3) Winger
Right now we're dying without one but maybe you get lucky with Shaw and Lisandro playing a ton and Malacia having a healthy season:
4) Left-sided defender
Need but maybe could push back a season by keeping Varane, Maguire and Casemiro, but definitely means we're still playing a deep line and trying to press and Ten Hag probably gets fired as a result:
5) another 6/8
6) RCB (can fill in at RB)
Another under par player brought in from our manager, there is a trend here.
Casemiro has been pretty crap all season. I didn't have a issue when he was signed because it was stated that the dressing room at the time was at a all time low and needed leadership with players like Mainoo yet to emerge who could then be guided by players like Casemiro.
But eventhough his goals and assists are important, our play isn't functional because we have one too many players in central areas who constantly look for the vertical pass, rather than the pass that leads to control and cohesion. And that's without focusing on the mistakes he's made this season.
If you have a midfielder who is better at receiving, carrying and passing the ball, then he should play imo.
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