₦airaland Forum

Leyqute:
CB?

You’re confusing McTom himself.

That lad would’ve turned out very decent if he was played consistently in a certain position. But look at you advocating CB position for him when he can barely hold his ground in DM, CM.

Leyqute:
Your assertion is wrong. McTom doesn’t have enough to do well as a stand-alone DM. He barely does well when paired with his Congolese brother sef.

Leyqute:
Essien plays a bit like Gattuso in that he provides cover for the back four.

As a DM, esp in a possession based system, you have to be good on the ball - positioning, turning, control, passes, vision, awareness and passing range. Passing is the most important trait you have to have.

When defending you have to know how to read the game well, sense danger, block passing lanes and intercept passes. You need help from your teammates in this area. You can also make tackles but you’re good to go if you have those other qualities.

Some players can’t do both - they can pass, etc but can’t defend. So any other player does that defensive part for them. Bousquet, Pirro, Rodri, Veratti all know how to distribute the ball well. Some aren’t really good at the first part but excel at the second - Casemiro, Kante, Gattuso, etc.

And some have a healthy blend.

The thing with McTom and Fred is that they’re hardly fantastic at any of those qualities. They just possess a lil here and a lil there and sometimes are quite horrible at some of them.

That’s why we have to use McFred for the job of Ndidi and yet their combo doesn’t return a world class quality.

All those players you mention excel exceedingly well in at least one of those qualities and aren’t horrendous at the rest.

Leyqute:
I wasn’t asking for McTom’s pattern of play. I’m asking about what skills he possesses- basic for a midfielder - that will ensure he turns into a good midfielder.

Leyqute:
And how does this relate?

Leyqute:
Are you comparing McTom to Roy Keane and Gattuso?

Leyqute:
I was talking generally but let’s examine the McTom ish.

What are the basic midfield attributes that McTom has?

Leyqute:
No, you’re the one who didn’t get it.

The “theory” is that a player, who has played in a different position before, and doesn’t have the basics to play in another position, cannot be taught the basics required to play in that new position (and be really good there) once he’s grown.

It’s not as parochial as you thought.

Leyqute:
Phil Jones played as a DM when he was around 20 or so.

A younger McTom, with the right coaching and enough minutes , could maybe turn out as an elite CM. At 24, the story is different.

afrodoc:
That was an underwhelming performance. I suspect Amaka will disappoint again cos i no understand how we will play 2 games against an out oshi team from La Liga and we could not play correct football against them in either game.

Illimitable:
By parking the bus with 5 defenders.

We are talking of a quality DM that would do an excellent job when United are attacking.

The triangle in the centre of midfield should be inverted(one DM, 2 CMs). The current set up is 2 DMs, 1 CAM).

It’s limiting.

GloryIsaac:
In a defensive setup.

Expert17:
@ bolded, you are correct

And that's my point, he got atleast 5 out of the 10 necessary qualities needed as a DM.





Disconnect

Phil Jones played as a DM under Fergie oo.(2-3 times, and he played well)

Fergie dey try abeg

Expert17:
24 years is still at the right side of 20.

He plays as a DM or CB for Scotland..( he had a great game against Barcelona at Old Trafford playing similar role) - DM role is not a new trick to Mctom

GloryIsaac:
Neither Fred nor McTom can hold that role alone regardless of whatever training they go through.

This thing was discussed some months ago.

Illimitable:
Pogba isn’t a DM, he’s wasted there.

Prime Matic was very good but what we have now is a shadow of his former self.

Kante & Ndidi are the best DMs in the league. If Ole can’t get Kante, he should be snatching Ndidi from Leicester.

Illimitable:
Shaw - 70 corners taken
KDB - 83 corners taken
Bruno - 56 corners taken

Pogba - 0 corners taken.

Meanwhile, you expect Pogba to have the same number of created chances as these players. Just admit you don’t like Pogba instead of the hate speech you throw at him.

Illimitable:
The pairing of Fred and McTominay is essential in the defensive midfield for United because we don’t have players better than them in the squad. That does not mean we should kid ourselves that they are good enough.

McFred essentially does the job of one DM. I will rather have a quality DM like Casemiro, Kante or Ndidi as a sole DM to dovetail Pogba and Bruno. Ole knows his defence is shit and he tries to protect them with 2 DMs even against bottom sides.

Illimitable:
How’s that a small difference?

Bruno, KDB, Rashford and Shaw are all set piece takers, their created chances stats would be skewed. Any of them takes a corner kick and Maguire’s slabhead puts the ball into row Z, that’s a chance created.

Lana1:
And Rashford is one of the worst when it comes to touches in the team.
We all know why Forwards have far less successful touches than defensive players. So using that metric to shalaye why Fred is poor in positional awareness and always has to follow up his control with a tackle no make any sense

Lana1:
Gumming other players to make Fred look good smells like desperation

adebayo201:
See, no matter how hot you be, if guys do thesis upon your matter even the most fierce herbalist from Ifè can't save you. You go either deactivate or jp. E.g. Eruditor, Coogar, diggz, etc.

Nairaland can't forgive you momentarily but can't forget. Them go drag you like rug.

Lana1:
A good midfielder will always be aware of his surroundings.

This happens a lot with Fred. One moment he's trying to control the ball and the next moment he's throwing in a tackle because of his poor control

Lana1:
A good midfielder will always be aware of his surroundings.

This happens a lot with Fred. One moment he's trying to control the ball and the next moment he's throwing in a tackle because of his poor control

Illimitable:
Pogba - 18 chances, 1520 mins
Fred - 21 chances, 2018 mins.

Fred played 500 mins more than Pogba and he has only 3 more chances created?

Illimitable:
Pogba is the best midfielder in England. It’s unfortunate he plays for a club where he’s expected to defend, attack, score goals, make tackles, create goals, etc.

One world class player surrounded by mostly shit.

Expert17:
Last season
===========
Haaland scored 13 Bundesliga goals

Assist from Sancho = 1

This season
===========
Haaland has 21 goals

Assist from Sancho = 6

Make una calm down abeg