Nobody is saying he is as good as Kroos or Xavi. Comparing anyone to Xavi in that regard is also a bit pointless. Also, his passing is excellent. Saying that his dribbling is better than his passing is just a superficial statement at this point. Mousa Dembele's passing was also appreciated a lot later than it should have been and all people saw at first was his strength and dribbling.
Tanguy Ndombele | Signed For Spurs
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I see where your coming from but Barcelona isn't that tiki taka team of 2008-2011 anymore .no team is actually. They are more direct and some of the signings they made like Dembele for example prove that. Look at other direct players like Walker and Mendy fitting easily into possesion based team probably would've been unheard of 5 or 6 years ago. Both of them have big futures imo
I really hope this is true also. I wanted him since I first heard about him over a year ago. He would be my number 1 signing for midfield.
Lyon chairman reportedly said "We could imagine that, if we were sellers, we could reach the level of transfer of Paul Pogba".
Which I think he is worth but hope the club think he is value for money.
Lyon chairman reportedly said "We could imagine that, if we were sellers, we could reach the level of transfer of Paul Pogba".
Which I think he is worth but hope the club think he is value for money.
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This bit in bold is just terrible.Moussa Dembele bosses most games using strength and dribbling. You'd struggle to find many talents of his age group better than Ndombele. Sure his dribbling, strength on the ball and all action style are his strong suits but he's also good at one touch passing. Not to mention, he's getting better all the time.
This is too big a tease to handle, would be an unreal addition. Then we wouldn't have to give a feck if Pogba eventually leaves or not.
I think when they buy they'll continue to buy technical short passers who can press a bit to go more towards that style. I agree they currently arent as good with their tiki taka as they have been in the past but thats why I see them looking for those kinds of players
Means Pogba is OFF. I am all for it if we can get Fekir as well.
We have Andy Pereira and Gomes in and around the squad in the next 18 months who are very much ball-players. We need to integrate them. Pereira in particular is ready now, and is a perfect blend between grit and technique for me. Similar to Harry Winks in that respect, who I’m a big fan of.
Seems like we're in the market for a CM after it being said we were/are in for De Jong. Hopefully we get Ndombele, he looks the real deal.
Really hope this is true. The boy looks a real talent and is the sort of midfielder we are crying out for. When we I’ve seen him play for Lyon, he is an absolute standout.
Ndombele isn't a 6, he doesn't want to play DM, he doesn't like defending. Don't expect him to track back or to have great workrate.
His greatest strength is his ball carrying ability when there is space, he can start counters very easily and I think he'd fit Mourinho better than any other midfielder available right now.
Furthermore he said he has no dream club, so to sign him It's up to the best financial offer I would guess, or just pure performances/results in the past few years.
Some would call him a better player overall as of right now but his technical skill is not on Aouar's level
His greatest strength is his ball carrying ability when there is space, he can start counters very easily and I think he'd fit Mourinho better than any other midfielder available right now.
Furthermore he said he has no dream club, so to sign him It's up to the best financial offer I would guess, or just pure performances/results in the past few years.
Yea no I don't know a SINGLE Lyon fan who thinks Ndombele is as good as Aouar technically let alone better.
Some would call him a better player overall as of right now but his technical skill is not on Aouar's level
The first time i watched him(and Aouar) play was against cska in the Europa League knockouts earlier this year. It was absolutely the worst performance in Russia i've seen from a midfield from one of the bigger leagues in years, neither showed anything of note. Ndombele played better in the home game, but looked technically and tactically levels below the cska prospects of same age Golovin and Kuchaev. fast forward to the end of the year and now the two are improving enough to compete with Man City, while Golovin goes down with the ship at Monaco and Kuchaev totally stalled with injuries. Amazing how quickly things can change for young players to see this guy linked with a club the stature of Manchester United.
He's Dembele without the defensive prowess.
We need Neves more. I’ll fess up and admit I’ve only seen a handful of Lyon games this season and he’s impressive but I just think we got Pogba, Fred and Perriera who can do what he can do. We need to upgrade on our weak spots and that’s Matic, which I think Neves should be the priority.
We already got Fred and Sanchez....We need to scout City scouts....whoever they are scouting we should make an immediate bid for the player
As for Ndombele, looks an incredible talent from the games I've seen him perform in. If the club are now looking at the caliber of player, then we'll be heading in the right direction.
We've spent 180m in midfielders and we're still searching for a midfielder......this club is all over the place.
So Ndombele is a new Essien/Viera type of midfielder.
Ndombele has failed to score as a box to box midfielder in 16 Ligue 1 games this season but has 4 assists so he'd need to improve on his goal threat.
We'd still be without a top class playmaker in the team if we signed him. Unless we signed a playmaker who plays out wide like his Lyon buddy Fekir or someone like Eriksen who will just have a year left on his current contract by next summer if he doesn't renew with Spurs.
Anyways there's just no way the board will sanction this move in January when we already have 2 expensive central midfielders who play in front of a defensive midfielder in both Fred and Pogba. Unless Jose plans on ditching one of Fred or Pogba, which is something the board would almost certainly veto also.
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I have mentioned N'Dombele from last year as one to look out for. Great on the ball and can drive forward. He used to play as the deepest midfielder but I'm not sure where he plays now.
Let’s sign another good midfield talent and watch him flop as we fail to recognise that good coaching is the key to forging a midfield unit not just throwing enough shit on the wall to see what sticks. I’m just hoping enough of these signings stay and aren’t demoralised by the time a new gaffa is appointed. Not really sure why he would want to leave his club in Jan as Lyon seem to have a good project going on there and he could attract attention from clubs in a better state than Unifed if Lyon qualify into knock out stages and do well.
No it's not. 5'9 is 175 cm.
I get it. I'm criticising a player you rate based on a few videos. Time will tell whether my assessment is terrible or not. Ive seen hundreds of midfielders hyped up in that league over the years with similar enough skillsets. Maybe he can be a decent DM for somebody.
Moussa Dembele bosses most games using strength and dribbling. You'd struggle to find many talents of his age group better than Ndombele. Sure his dribbling, strength on the ball and all action style are his strong suits but he's also good at one touch passing. Not to mention, he's getting better all the time.
He certainly isn't a Pogba replacement or a Carrick who can dribble as he's been described in here.
If there's one french kid that all top clubs should go after, it's him. No doubt in my mind he's gonna be world class, he has absolutely everything you need in a midfielder. He's already such a complete player yet he still has a lot of room for improvement.
I was previously the captain of the Ndombele boat, but have shifted to the Houssem Aouar boat. Still would not mind Ndombele, but he is not a "buy at all cost player" and given that we managed to pay +£50m for Fred.
Hope Jose is gone soon so we address the real holes in our squad like the fecking RW which has been a thorn for the past 5 years.
I know the kid very well, he has great potential but :
- he's not very confortable when his team has possession (not such a big deal for Man Utd under Mourinho)
- he already has a tendancy to pick his games, which is for me a big liability for such a young player.
I doubt Aulas will let him go under 70-80M though.
- he's not very confortable when his team has possession (not such a big deal for Man Utd under Mourinho)
- he already has a tendancy to pick his games, which is for me a big liability for such a young player.
I doubt Aulas will let him go under 70-80M though.
When did I accuse anyone of saying he’s as good as Kroos or Xavi? I don’t actually believe that you think I said people said that. No one on earth would say that so I’m not sure how you thought I was accusing posters of that. I’m obviously not comparing his quality to theirs. I was talking about the type of players they are. Passers that tend to sit and dictate games.
Also, saying that his dribbling is better than his passing isn’t superficial at all. It’s based on actually watching him play. What’s superficial about it? I didn’t say he was a bad passer. In fact, he’s a surprisingly good passer for someone of his age. You seem to think that I don’t appreciate his passing, but I do. I simply believe he’s a better dribbler. Which is relevant because we are having a debate regarding how to most optimally use him. The point isn’t to liken him to Moussa Dembele, the point is more: would you play Ndombele as the sitter behind Moussa if they both played together? Forget about comparative quality; my point is about roles and attributes. Do you think Moussa Dembele would be a like-for-like replacement for Pjanic at Juve? Or Kroos at Real? Or Jorginho at Chelsea? If not, (I expect that you would agree) then Ndombele wouldn’t be a fitting replacement either.
Let’s use players how they’re meant to be used and focus on their strengths. There are more than enough young quality midfield prospects around to actually get someone with those qualities (Neves, Tielemans, etc) than try to fit Ndombele into that role.
He's a good player with a very high ceiling IMO, but if Pogba stays then for me he doesn't really make sense as the third piece in the midfield, to me Herrera is proving yet again that he is the nasty dog soldier the midfield needs for winning the ball and helping out the other CM defensively as well as pressing the opposiition. Pogba is the freer AM style role and what we need to add in place of Matic is a deep lying playmaker, players like Neves, de Jong or even a riskier option like Maier or Tonali.
Wasn't there reports last summer of Aulas 'bumping' into Mourinho at the WC? At the time I think it was reported that it was to talk about Fekir, I think it was about this fella. Hope we sign him.
Can he or Fred play CDM? I’d be concerned if we didn’t buy a Matic replacement if neither can play there. I think Neves is the more suited player for us atm.
Unless, we signed both, but then what was the point in spending £50m on Fred?
Unless, we signed both, but then what was the point in spending £50m on Fred?
So I've done the most obvious/lazy thing and looked on Youtube for a compilation of this chap.
My conclusion,and this will now be my closed judgement of the player from now on til he and us cease to live on this earth, is that he's energetic,direct,physical,somewhat skillful and yet never really seems to have full control of the ball.
My conclusion,and this will now be my closed judgement of the player from now on til he and us cease to live on this earth, is that he's energetic,direct,physical,somewhat skillful and yet never really seems to have full control of the ball.
Sounds a bit like a physical Lingard when you put it that way.
Just pay the £300m for De Jong. Frenkie is a must.
Think your fee is a tad off, but agreed.
De Jong is better and suits what we need a lot more.
I didn't say you accused anyone, I should have worded it differently. IMO it's too early to say, he's never going to be that type of player that dictates the play. Neither Kroos nor Xavi are/were players that sit in front of the defence (Kroos has done it from time to time, but it has mostly been Casemiro recently and for Xavi it was Busquets). Kroos at the same age as NDombele was played as an AM for Munich, while Xavi was struggling to break into Barcelona's midfield (despite showing his talents early, if I recall it correctly). I could make a similar point about Modric, who has been one of the best passers of the last decade. At 21 years of age he was still playing in Croatia and similarly to NDombele, he's also someone, who's a very good at dribbling and shielding the ball.
IMO it's superficial to say he's a better dribbler than a passer, because it downplays his passing or his potential ability to dictate the play by quite a bit. Against City, he was Lyon's player, who completed the most passes by a good margin (Aouar was second best for Lyon with 56 of 62 completed passes). He completed 75 of 80 passes, only Zinchenko, Laporte, Stones and Fernandinho completed more, which IMO is a very impressive statistic against any Guardiola team. From what I saw, I thought he did a good job in terms of dictating the game for his inferior team. I guess it depends on your definition of dictating the play, whether he's actually doing it or not. In my eyes he's already doing it for Lyon to a certain extent and he could definitely improve there.
Last season only Marcelo and Morel completed more passes than him per game, this season only Marcelo, Marcal, Denayer, Ferland Mendy and Morel are completing more passes than him. All of them are defenders. Obviously the ability to dictate the rhythm of the game goes beyond simple completion numbers, so looking at xGBuildup; this season only Tameze, Thiago Silva, Neymar, Verratti, Marquinhos and Rabiot are better than him, last season he was Lyon's second best player in that regard, with mostly players from PSG in front of him (the others were Fabinho, Luiz Gustavo, Tousart and Anguissa). His figure was similar, albeit slightly worse than Pjanic's or Lucas Torreira's last season.
So to answer your question, no I wouldn't play him as the sitting midfielder with Pogba and Fred in front of him. I'd hope, we'd play him alongside Pogba in front of Herrera (who's best position for us IMO is Matic's position at this moment of time). Mousa Dembele has been a very good player over the years and definitely could have helped in midfield during our barren years there. If anything, I'd have Mousa as the one who sits in front of the defence, while NDombele would be the one with more freedom, since he's the younger and at this point more dynamic player. Mousa wouldn't need to be a like-for-like replacement for those players, neither was Carrick for Keane. NDombele is also someone, who keeps it more simple than Pogba, while Pogba has the passing range, which is why I think they would work very well together. As long as we have Pogba the need for someone like Neves isn't as great as people are making it out to be. Obviously I would love us to sign de Jong or Neves and move on from Matic, but whether we are actually able to is another question.
Mentioning Tielemans also contradicts your point somewhat. He usually has a partner in midfield, who plays deeper than him. For Monaco it's been Bennasser and Aholou mostly, and for Belgium it's been Witsel. So kinda like NDombele he likes to get forward and also has the freedom to do so.
I probably should have addressed this post differently. So I am going to ask you this, how can you be sure, he's never going to be that type of player? Also, players who dictate the rhythm of the game don't need to stay back or don't need to sit in front of the defence, wouldn't you agree? I mean, there are Messi, Modric, Iniesta, David Silva, Xavi, Thiago, Bernardo Silva, Kroos, Pjanic and Isco, who have all done it from further forward.
Since you rate his passing, I guess my question would be, what does he need to do more in terms of being the metronome for his team?
I understand the point you are trying to make here, but against most teams is there really a need for that sort of player? What I am trying to say is, against the more difficult opponents that approach is perfectly reasonable, but against the lesser teams, which are the majority, I just don't see the need as much. Since you and I want us to be a dominant team, that imposes their style on the opposition and doesn't sit back like we currently do, wouldn't it be enough to play Herrera as the more restrained sitting midfielder instead of Matic? Early on I had question marks over NDombele's ability defensively, but I think he is more than good enough there and he still has room to improve.
Deep dive, how did you come up with those players? Is Tonali the one, who plays in Serie B? You don't actually watch the second division there, do you? Maier is the one from Berlin, isn't he? I've mentioned Santiago Caseres, Rodrigo's replacement in another thread, maybe that's someone you want to check out. He's showing some early promise and could present good value.
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Damn bible length post
At this point in time Tielemans is shit. He has no business being mentioned anywhere in this forum.
Looks like a bit of a Bambi on ice. Don't like that at all we have enough of those.
Shame as he was highly rated.
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