Exactly what we want for our players out on loan. Pressure football and how to respond to adversity
Timothy Fosu-Mensah | 2017/18 Crystal Palace Performances
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Lucky there.
Just fouled Kane for a penalty, but it was offside. Lucky boy.
Stupid, rash challenge. Has a lot of work to do.
what an awful tackle...fing hell the guy has no brain.
Smalling would've played him onside, then fouled him, so it's an improvement.
I think his innate desire to win every one-on-one is a big part of why I think he’s better suited as a RB than a CB. He’s got good tackling technique at it, but he’s a bit too aggressive with it.
Extremely young of course and could easily grow into a CB role, but for that he’d probably need a whole season of gametime there which he wouldn’t get for us or on loan again unless he goes a level a little lower.
Extremely young of course and could easily grow into a CB role, but for that he’d probably need a whole season of gametime there which he wouldn’t get for us or on loan again unless he goes a level a little lower.
I can only see him as RB, at least at the moment. His love/tendency to rash tackles can easily be costly. Free penalties and gifted free kicks. More and more players will try and con ref knowing this, and try to get him booked.
60'+ mins and still nil-nil, against Spurs.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Thought he was in no man's land playing as a centre back. Far, far better a right back for sure.
Spurs ended up winning 1-0, Kane scored last 2 mins. Almost clean sheet.
Playing as CB at that.. so TFM's ready for us next season right?
Playing as CB at that.. so TFM's ready for us next season right?
Fortunately, that is not true at all.
Unfortunately, that is actually true
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Even in preseason, TFM dealt with him (and Bale) so easily. IIRC Sane showed a gesture of appreciation after the final whistle in the preseason game.
He is definitely better than darmian at least. Should be competing tony v for that right back slot next season.
Don’t think it’s much of competition to be honest. Timbo is probably better than him nowadays let alone next season.
Big praise!
TFM must be in the first team next season. He is completely ready for this level and his handling of top wingers like Sane proves this. Even Pep realised he wasn't getting any joy and moved him to the other side. B Silva had a go and was also completely nullified. Here is the highlightes if anyone missed it:
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Not surprised by the praise. Doubt there are many players Sane can come up against with similar pace as Fosu-Mensah. Also helps that he´s an outstanding ball-winner.
His positioning will also come good with enough games, and then he´ll be ace as a right back. Offensively i think he´ll contribute more with time as well. In the few times i´ve seen him
as a right-back for the reserve side he did very well going forward as well, just needs to do the same at PL level.
His positioning will also come good with enough games, and then he´ll be ace as a right back. Offensively i think he´ll contribute more with time as well. In the few times i´ve seen him
as a right-back for the reserve side he did very well going forward as well, just needs to do the same at PL level.
That looks like a superb performance. Defensively and especially on the ball. He made very acurate passes forward to attacking players... a lot of class in his play.
Excited to see where he goes from here. Him and Mitchell may develop into cracking options.
I was surprised he wasn’t given the nod for RB at the start of the season. I would have preferred him over Valencia. And from the limited amount of times I’ve seen him at RB for us I’d imagine he would improve us quite a bit on that right side. He’s got all the physical aspects of Valencia without that fear that Valencia seems to play with.
That's his weakness at he moment. The tactical side of his game.
Valencia is miles ahead of him at this stage. I like TFM but come on that’s to much praise and seriously underrating Valencia.
He is.
TFM is potentially great but to put him ahead of one of the best RBs around is folly
sorry I’m of the opinion Valencia has been vastly overated for the past few years. He is certainly a solid option, dependable. but TFM would give us more in my opinion. Just a smarter footballer who is capable of more than just that feint left to right that Valencia does. He does more in the final 3rd, also and can deliver a better ball.
I’m not saying Valencia hasn’t been good, he excels at being average but I think as a team we would function better with someone else on that side and from what I’ve seen of Fosu for us I would have gone with him this season to battle it out with Valencia.
Fair enough my opinion is just opposite.
Valencia's biggest asset is being a defensive rock, which TFM looks like he can become. Similar pace too.
Of course Valencia always offers the out-ball but what does he ever do with it? Fake forward, turn around and pass back wards.
How is TFM's crossing btw?
Of course Valencia always offers the out-ball but what does he ever do with it? Fake forward, turn around and pass back wards.
How is TFM's crossing btw?
I mean Fosu might not be the long term answer but I think if in the summer or even the season before if we had brought in Semedo or Fabinho our team would be transformed. It’s also not to slag off Valencia, personally I would say Walker and Bellerin are much much better than Valencia is but Where those guys can have really up and down performances Valencia week in and week out will give you a solid no frills, no fuss performance where the other two are capable of more just no where near as consistent. So guess it comes down to dependable vs wow factor.
He's a good player but suggestions of him being better than Valencia seem premature, to say the least. While Fosu-Mensah is defensively solid and very impressive physically, he rarely gets forward so I doubt he'd offer more than Valencia in that respect.
That said, I'd happily see him given first-team minutes next season and replace someone like Darmian in the squad.
That said, I'd happily see him given first-team minutes next season and replace someone like Darmian in the squad.
I don't agree at all. Well yes, Valencia can do better offensively sometimes but I don't know where you found that TFM has a good final ball, and what MORE does he actually do in the final third? seriously I would like to know. Because yes, I've seen him had a nice cross but then also overhitting the next 2, he's really inconsistent crosser.
Is he a better dribbler than Valencia? certainly not, fullbacks won't have the freedom to take on players at every opportunity so you don't need to excel at it but trait like keeping the ball under pressure and not loosing it is part of the dribbling. Valencia is one of the very best I've seen, simply noone can take the ball from him, which is great because you know you can trust him passing it to him.
How about the shot? Valencia doesn't go for a shot very often but when he does it's a screamer, how many goals TFM scored? how is he better at creating chances than Valencia?
I wonder when TFM gets the chance to run the right wing alone 90 mins every game if he gets everything right like Valencia does. It is very hard position, fullback and especially in our team when we play mostly without right wing.
Valencia for me is doing fantastic job, he just doesn't make mistakes, wins almost every duel and always support the attack, obviously he won't go past players like in his old days because a) he plays different position and taking risks is not sth you should do very often from fullback b) his game evolved
Fosu-Mensah looks promising and I am sure he can match Valencia defensively one day, he still has a lot to do with his postioning, he mistimes tackles quite regularly but that's somehting you can learn, I am sure about that but what can he provide going forward? It is much harder to develop your attacking game in later years, you either have it in you or you have to work extremely hard...
I don't see TFM being an elite crosser, like stated above, he's really inconsistent but some signs that he has a eye for an early cross, that could come down to his vision which I believe he has and can see a pass in general, not totally important skill for a fullback but interesting nevertheless..
He likes to drag the ball forward and that's good to see but he has an odd heavy touch in his dribbling so we will see how that goes if he can iron that out. Hopefully he can provide some height in set-pieces but although he can jump andwin headers, he's hardly dominant in it.
All in all I think TFM is an elite defensive prospect duet to his athleticism. You know he will be a fecking beast but I am not sure if he can be as good fullback as say CB or CDM but lately he's been played there so you never know, important is to get minutes nevermind the position. So fingrs crossed for him.
I appreciate that you took a lot of time to write a response but I can’t be bothered getting in to a Valencia debate of all the things he does right and wrong. This passage was enough for me to realise that us debating it would be pointless as there are things you say in it which for me and how I view his game I would classify as fairytale stuff. Especially the gets everything right like Valencia part. As for me Valencia will never have played a game in his life where he got everything right and this is where the no point debating it comes in. We just view his contribution differently.
Also I class TFM better as I think he would bring more to the team which doesn’t always mean goals and assists as so many jump to. You can be a massive influence on a team without having those stats.
Also I class TFM better as I think he would bring more to the team which doesn’t always mean goals and assists as so many jump to. You can be a massive influence on a team without having those stats.
It great to hear a young player getting both games and praise on loan and doing a good job of marshaling one of the most dangerous wide players in the prem, however the difficulty for me comes when he gets back to United and what position we actually decide to use him in.
For me he simply is not suited to playing RB in a team that expects to have the majority of possession and therefore expect to be doing the lion share of attacking. He simply for me isn't good enough at carrying the ball down the flanks or delivering crosses, he isn't for me of a sufficient enough technical level to offer what a top four team should be looking for going forward at RB and I do not expect that to change.
For me he is clearly a CB/CDM and its there that he might find some joy with us though he would if still at United be competing with McTominay for the later of those two roles. I think he could make a very good combative CB/CDM but I've never seen him long term as a RB and certainly not for a top four side. Whilst he is very good at destructive play he simply isn't a good enough dribbler or deliverer of the ball into the box and his passing should always be of the simply variety although he does appear to have a decent cross field pass.
For me I'd love to think one day we could see a team set up as a 4-3-3 with TFM at CB, Tuanzebe at DM (or vice versa with these two) and McTominay playing as a ball wining midfielder with Pogba pulling the strings in attack. I think those three prospects (Pogba being far more than a prospect at this point) show the makings of being good players who can go on to better however I don't see TFM being the one who displaces Valencia, I think we need to be thinking of better attacking options at RB.
For me he simply is not suited to playing RB in a team that expects to have the majority of possession and therefore expect to be doing the lion share of attacking. He simply for me isn't good enough at carrying the ball down the flanks or delivering crosses, he isn't for me of a sufficient enough technical level to offer what a top four team should be looking for going forward at RB and I do not expect that to change.
For me he is clearly a CB/CDM and its there that he might find some joy with us though he would if still at United be competing with McTominay for the later of those two roles. I think he could make a very good combative CB/CDM but I've never seen him long term as a RB and certainly not for a top four side. Whilst he is very good at destructive play he simply isn't a good enough dribbler or deliverer of the ball into the box and his passing should always be of the simply variety although he does appear to have a decent cross field pass.
For me I'd love to think one day we could see a team set up as a 4-3-3 with TFM at CB, Tuanzebe at DM (or vice versa with these two) and McTominay playing as a ball wining midfielder with Pogba pulling the strings in attack. I think those three prospects (Pogba being far more than a prospect at this point) show the makings of being good players who can go on to better however I don't see TFM being the one who displaces Valencia, I think we need to be thinking of better attacking options at RB.
Axel will never make it as a DM and we'll ruin him trying to mess with that. He is a CB.
TFM v Valencia v McTominay
PL stats only, per 90 mins:
Tackles: TFM 2.1, V 1.9, McT 0.3
Interceptions: TFM 1.6, V 1.4, McT 1.3
Fouls conceded TFM 0.9, V 1.3, McT 0.3
Blocks TFM 0.5, V 0.3, McT 0
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Passing
Pass Completion %: TFM 74.5, V85.8, McT 89.1
Accurate Long Balls: TFM 1.6, V 2.5, McT 1.7
Inaccurate LB: TFM 4.2, V 2.9, McT 1.2
Accurate Short Passes: TFM 21, V 40.9, McT 28.2
Inaccurate SP: TFM 3.6, V 4.3, McT 2.5
Key Passes TFM 0.3, V 0.6, McT 0.2
Unsuccessful Touches: TFM 0.7, V 0.8, McT 0.2
Dispossessed: TFM 0.3, V 0.8, McT 0.5
TFM's passing stats look worrying to me, especially the ratios of accurate to inaccurate passes both for long and short. I think he could be a viable right back but him and Shaw would be a horribly negative full-back pairing even if both improved their final third play significantly.
PL stats only, per 90 mins:
Tackles: TFM 2.1, V 1.9, McT 0.3
Interceptions: TFM 1.6, V 1.4, McT 1.3
Fouls conceded TFM 0.9, V 1.3, McT 0.3
Blocks TFM 0.5, V 0.3, McT 0
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Passing
Pass Completion %: TFM 74.5, V85.8, McT 89.1
Accurate Long Balls: TFM 1.6, V 2.5, McT 1.7
Inaccurate LB: TFM 4.2, V 2.9, McT 1.2
Accurate Short Passes: TFM 21, V 40.9, McT 28.2
Inaccurate SP: TFM 3.6, V 4.3, McT 2.5
Key Passes TFM 0.3, V 0.6, McT 0.2
Unsuccessful Touches: TFM 0.7, V 0.8, McT 0.2
Dispossessed: TFM 0.3, V 0.8, McT 0.5
TFM's passing stats look worrying to me, especially the ratios of accurate to inaccurate passes both for long and short. I think he could be a viable right back but him and Shaw would be a horribly negative full-back pairing even if both improved their final third play significantly.
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Why is McTominay in that comparison? I also wouldn't out too much stock into passing stats from Palace.
Because it was suggested TFM might be a possible defensive midfield option. See post 474 by BAMSOLA earlier today.
His pass completion was 80% in the PL under Mourinho last season and 73% under LVG.
I think TFM could improve his passing but it may take time.
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Related to the passing , I would take into consideration that Crystal Palace are not a great possession team.
Those stats are something that will definitely improve when he is slotted into a good team. Ex : Kyle Walker , the City players make it easier for him to complete passes .
It's a pointless comparison though. Passing stats at CM for a top team vs playing at RB for a relegation team. It tells you nothing.