₦airaland Forum

BlueMann:
To think he started well. I just feel there's been too much disruptions in his campaign thus far. And I don't think we'll see the best of Ziyech this season.

Though you're a scummy so I wonder if you're trolling or just asking an honest question

If I troll, you sef will know. You won't be in doubt

Ziyech in the team and mount was still the creative outlet. What's going on with Ziyech?

FatherCHRISTMAS:
Penalty is part of football naa

Remove his penalty goals and compare his G/A with other midfielders

Expert17:
The only way James would have scored without taking another touch is by using his left, and we all know he is going to miss 9 out of 10.

You don't expect terebor aka Mr Mud to know this.

If you don't know ball, you don't know ball. Nothing anyone can do about it

Yeah a brilliant midfielder would have left the ball even though he had sight on goal

handelex:
Martial has been shite but James thrives with the kind space Sociedad left for our attackers yesterday.

Against teams who don't give such space, you'll realize he's even clueless more than Martial at the moment.

He may be clueless, but visible. Martial just disappears

Joezinho:
Swears bro.. rashford is now acting like the British sunday makinwa. But it still beats my imagination why ole still trusts him.

I hope we get it right against Newcastle..

If Rashford doesn't play, who will?

Oasis007:
Not in Orlu as well, but it's so funny Sowore is already using it to call for Occupy Nigeria again. Like I tweeted some weeks back, if indeed East want Biafra, they should do the Agitation politically.

Elect responsible Politicians to National Assembly with sole Responsibility of calling for Referendum at all costs. Arms won't give the desired Result, it would only cause a massive Setback.

Everyone is responsible until they get to that seat.

BikeMan:
It's not only about fans. Henderson has been playing at Anfield for years now, it will definitely be a different experience when he goes to Goodison Park maybe twice a year.

I agree with you. The grass at Anfield is greener

NewDelhi:
It's useful. Some players can comfortably play on their stadium blindfolded.

Bullshit

KingAlabi:
Thumbs up to Maguire he was really solid tonight, did you see why we need a fast CB, just watch how bailly runs when been countered, chia if ole no start bailly against Newcastle na thunder go fire am

Daniel James was very good today, did you all notice how our front three were constantly changing around the pitch??

Greenwood should stop playing that wing position, it is really affecting him, why was Bruno always ahead of him when marking?

Finally

Bruno man of the match

Trevor in the mud

Bruno is always the one pushing our press, alongside Cavani if he's on the pitch

Fred finally got an assist today. He should have had a couple before now

I thought Amad was bought for the RW? They shouldn't toss him around o

NewDelhi:
The tie is really unfair on them. They had to play a "home" game in another stadium (Turin) due to the Covid restrictions on the UK. Infact they didn't just play in another stadium but also played a home game in an entirely different country.

Meanwhile the second leg would be played at old Trafford. What's sorta unfair home/away match is that. They coulda just made it a one legged affair.

It's not like there are fans in the stadium or anything sef. This home and away thing is currently not really useful

Can Amad and co enter now?

This Rashford is possessed

GloryIsaac:
With their technical limitations?

Have you seen how McTominay behaves when the ball is passed to him?

To play as AM no be for mouth

He will do better than this if he has the right coaching staff

GloryIsaac:
McFred has been together before this season.

Pogba injury caused them to play together for some time until Tom got his own injury too last season. Immediately football resumed back, Bruno and Pogba were the first players in our midfield. The season before then Fred barely featured. He was struggling

Leyqute:
VDB may still do well under Olé, going by what he has been saying. He’ll do well playing in a possession based style surrounded by players who can pass the ball well. He is very good up the pitch in and around the opponents box.

OGS said recently that the team is playing more high lines these days in contrast to last season. But then...

I am confident he will still do well. I only have problem with people looking for other players to blame for his current situation.

We currently have attackers who always rush their passes, instead of the patient build up VDB is used to. Maybe if injury strikes and he spends some time on the field, he will get used to the system faster.

I saw OGS last presser. Thankfully he recognized the different systems the team have had to play between last season and now and hopefully he finally settles with one and everyone understands their role or get in players that can do the job

afrodoc2:
LOL OK. E remain make una draw graph. Everybody has to chip in in terms of goals and assists. That is another aspect in which your man Freddy Krueger struggles. He should be chipping in a few goals na. Abi how you take see am?

Having said that, McFred is not responsible for VDB's struggles. He is just a very intelligent player with okay football skills, and those 2 qualities make him seem like a midfield hyena.

LOL Tom is scoring enough for both

Fred should have had a goal or two, but his village people are strong. His assists get wasted by the usual suspects

GloryIsaac:
They play a role in it because they’re occupying the space of an extra player.

They can’t individually function in their primary role well due to their limitations hence the need to pair them for technically the same role.

At Madrid, Casemiro plays that role.
At Barca, Busquets.
At City, Rodri or Fernandinho.
At Bayern, Kimmich.
At Liverpool (at full strength), Fabinho.
At Chelsea (Pre-Tuchel), Kante.
At PSG, Gueye.

The mentioned players all possess both abilities of McFred, and they aren’t hybrids.

As said earlier, this might look alien because we’re already accustomed to McFred.

Did Pogba not pair either of them before he got injured?

What's this accustomed you have been saying? Because of this season, e don turn accustomed? We are saying the system is shit and instead of pointing fingers in the right direction, we are looking for targets we don't like. VDB has not done himself any favors too

afrodoc2:
What is the origin of this Gundogan CM or AM debate sef?

Nitrogen said midfielders should not be scoring goals, that we should check other top teams. He goofed by mentioning City, so I brought up Gundogan's stats. Someone that has only 1 assist in a free scoring City side

Panther7:
That's unfair criticism

VDB isn't Bruno he is a different player and his strengths are; link up play, short passes and goal predator in the box.

People make this unfair assertion that VDB is suppose to do a Bruno ( play line breaking passes and long passes into the box) VDB isn't that player.


Unfortunately the only person that has scouted and watched VDB extensively on this thread is Kagawa and Afrodoc2 to less degree. Kagawa listed his qualities as far back as 2018 and analayzed what he does best.



If Amaka can't find a system or adjust his system to suit VDB when he plays that's Amaka's fault. He should find another creative player to provide such creativity unfortunately Mcfred can't provide that.

Then people should stop blaming McFred for everything that happens to the club. At this time, VDB does not fit in, simple. He will need to adjust his game to play fast counter football like Ole wants. It has nothing to do with McFred. If another coach comes tomorrow and prefer the patient build up style, emphasizing on the use of their brain when with the ball or without it, VDB will do better in that system

nitrogen:
Gundogan, technically plays as an attacking midfielder at City. If a team dominates for 60-70 minutes out of 90 and a CM mostly plays in AM position throughout the game, then the initial position does not matter.

One question, how come there is a huge space for Rodri to cover when City surrenders possession (completely)?

That Cancelo pushes forward does not make him a CM or winger. If we play that dominantly too and are disciplined, McFred will be playing as AM too

GloryIsaac:
The discussion is how McFred play a role in hindering VDBs excellence for the team.

I have explained it up there that Fernandes bears the same burden that two attacking midfielders bear at Man City.

Which means that when VDB is put to replace Fernandes, he automatically bears same burden, and he can’t function properly with that much on him, Lingard and Perriera were much worse in same position.

And considering putting in a shift, the same is done for any position on the pitch regardless of the team. Leicester’s not special, but in spite of that, Ndidi still brings that long-sought balance to the midfield.

It’s understandable that this might look alien because we’re already familiar with McFred, but as a team looking to dominate the league and the continent at large, these little things matter. Matic could have been the better option in the team if not for old legs.

Actually, I don't see how its any of those 2 fault. VDB has to do more than running into the box and playing those short, safe passes you accuse McFred of

GloryIsaac:
The discussion is how McFred play a role in hindering VDBs excellence for the team.

I have explained it up there that Fernandes bears the same burden that two attacking midfielders bear at Man City.

Which means that when VDB is put to replace Fernandes, he automatically bears same burden, and he can’t function properly with that much on him, Lingard and Perriera were much worse in same position.

And considering putting in a shift, the same is done for any position on the pitch regardless of the team. Leicester’s not special, but in spite of that, Ndidi still brings that long-sought balance to the midfield.

It’s understandable that this might look alien because we’re already familiar with McFred, but as a team looking to dominate the league and the continent at large, these little things matter. Matic could have been the better option in the team if not for old legs.

Those midfielders that you're calling AM in ManCity were not originally AM, the training and tactics made them so. Watching Cancelo, one would think he plays in the midfield for City. That City are able to push forward is not because Rodri is very solid and offers that defensive shield, its because the attackers and other midfielders are very disciplined and stay on their men. They fall back to block the channels and win the ball back asap

GloryIsaac:
I updated the post.

Exactly though. McFred is efficient against teams that have the right quality to stretch the midfield using their fullbacks e.g Liverpool, but even at that Ndidi still beats both of them combined.

He showed top quality against Liverpool despite functioning as a sole defensive midfielder, whereas McFred usually have to share the role else the midfield will collapse.

Beside Ndidi is Tielemans. Plus the wingers and attackers put in great shift when without the ball. Vardy is even comfortable playing that way so he has space to run. Which of our CM offers the solidity Tielemans is offering beside Ndidi or you think Ndidi is doing it all by himself? Do you understand the shift Barnes and co is even putting in to make things work? I tell you, if we swap McFred for Ndidi today, we will still have problems

nitrogen:
Exactly my thoughts and submissions. Pep does two AMs, Rodri is the only DM. Man Utd would either play double 4 or have some sort of a diamond formation which almost looks like two DMs as the game proceeds.

I don’t have issues with McFred combo when we play big teams, but we should avoid it when we play other teams abeg.

The reason why we play diamond is because we have more CM than wingers. James and Greenwood are hardly giving us the numbers from the wings. And that's even against tougher opponents sef.

No Gundogan, no Stones, no Mee. Wasted double week. Didn't gain a single extra point

Those boys are good with the ball. What about when they are not with the ball, what shape do they take? Can they follow their man all the way?

nitrogen:
I agree that it's tactical flexibility, but the fact is Pep uses two AMs. When they attack, Gundogan pushes forward, what about when they are chasing the ball? Do you think that Gundogan and KDB/Silva recover quickly to the central midfield to ultimately help/support Rodri? No. The gap is always there, what they typically do is try to press and collect the ball back ASAP or have one of the defenders step up to support Rodri. I think I watch City more than you do.

We all know how Pep's team suffers when they face a team that breaks and transitions easily from defence to attack, reason he tries to rely mostly on one of the CBs to support Rodri, since most times, the AMs are closer to the opponent's box.

I watched City's matches against LFC and Tottenham. I even mentioned it here how those guys form 2-3 walls without the ball. Every player, including the striker falls back to their half when they lose the ball and are unable to recover it in their opponent's half

nitrogen:
My point is when City attacks (which they do 60-70 percent in a game), they have one of their CBs become a DM while Rodri turns to a CM + DM. The remaining two midfielders are AMs throughout, the style of play ensures that they snuff out threats/risks before they get escalated. When almost all your players are in the opponents' half, the reasonable option when you lose the ball is to recover it ASAP, if you don't, then the midfield/defense gets exposed especially when the opponent has fast forwards and are good with counter-attacks.

Rodri suffers the most when the opponent is able to transition quickly beyond City's front men. See the picture below. Laporte had to step in to help, the other midfielders are in the front.

This is due to Peps tactical prowess. It doesn't change the fact that Cancelo is no more the RB because you see him in the midfield and attacking positions. They didn't start the match in those positions