I am a self confessed francophile. Love the lifestyle, the wine etc etc. But has there been a better import than Saints number 4? The man is a genius and can only get better. MoTM yesterday, and will only improve with age. In case anyone hasn't noticed, he is yet another player who has improved so much with Nige as manager. Alors bonne annee, Morgan. UTS!
Different playing positions but Michael Svensson, Antti Niemi ,Claus Lundekvam , Ivan Golac must be in with a shout
The drop down to League One didn't harm him at all. Definitely far better equipped to deal with the English game
I worry about Morgan. His touch is superb; his passing is awesome and he always finds time and space. I hate to compare, but there is a little bit of Hoddle in him. My worry is that he maybe the one to get snapped up before we really have had anywhere near the best of him. In terms of potential improvement, he's the one in our squad who could just keep on improving and become a top top player. I just hope Wenger doesn't realise how could he can be.
Hoddle can yield negative responses from Saints fans because of the manner in which he left us, but he was one of the most sublime football players of all time so I'm sure Morgan wouldn't mind the comparison. I just hope he loves life with us as much as he appears to so that when he struts his stuff at Old Trafford and The Bridge next year he is doing so in the colours of the club that has developed him. Could you see Nicola letting this guy go for the sort of money Wenger might raise?
Was his best game I've seen him play for Saints against Palace. Although I would point out that Palace didn't really pressure him much, allowing him lots of space and time to ping his passes.
I do agree with the Hoddle Comparison Letiss but to go to that next level he needs to add a few goals to his obvious skils. For someone who can stick a ball on a sixpence from any distance it amazes me how he cannot occasionally pick out the top corner of the net. If there is any slight problem with our great side its that without Chappers there is not enough goal threat from midfield and with his ability its something he could improve on
Quality player I see him fitting into a role similar to that of Sergio Busquets or Xavi Alonso, rather than an attacking midfielder like Hoddle. His touch and passing range is top level but he lacks the mobility to get up and down the pitch. For me he needs to start taking control of matches on a regular basis and start to dictate the pace of the game. This I feel would be best served from the holding midfielder role, if you watch Barcelona, Real Madrid or Spain this is the most important position on the pitch, everything flows from this player.
I didn't believe them for a second, but there were a couple of newspaper rumours about him this week - one that Man Utd were looking at him to fill the hole left by Fletcher, and the other that Pardew wanted to bring him to Newcastle (both suggested fees of around £5.5 million). The reason I bring this up (as I say, I don't believe them, so it's not to dabble in some speculation) is that it shows that the media, and possibly scouts as well, are taking note of him. And if they're starting to take note, then the clubs themselves might not be too far behind. If we don't get promoted this season, he's the one and only player who I can absoloutely see being snapped up by a PL club over the summer. I would not expect him to still be here next season.
I am a big fan of Morgan too but i would like to see more of him in that centre midfield role but Adkins seems to favour Hammond and Cork who have done well don't get me wrong. But i feel morgan as that bit of quality that Hammond doesn't have. One of Morgan's best games was against Man U in the FA Cup last season so i feel if/when we get to the premiership i will be a bigger player for us as his game is more suited the premier league.
Arsenal are never going to want a player who is unable to score a goal from time to time, and despite Morgan's undoubted brilliance in other areas, he can't shoot to save his life. At the moment, that's his flaw. He has two goals in his Saints career and it isn't enough. I'm sure Adkins has looked at this because Morgan has been getting into rather more attacking situations just recently, and been able to shoot... over the bar, or at the keeper, or the wrong side of a post. Unbelieveably, because he seems to have been a Saints player forever, he's only just turned 22. I'm sure there's time for him to learn the composure needed to score. He'll probably never be a natural at it, and that will hopefully keep the Arsenal, ManU hounds away.
I'm reluctant to go against the unanimous opinion here but I can't agree with the high praise he gets (at least not yet). Mainly because of the highlighted quote above. His lack of goalscoring in a team that oozes goals doesn't bother me because we have plenty of options and his talents lie elsewhere IMO. Where he has to improve is his involvment in the game particularly away from home. He is not alone there as has been done to death on the Guly post. You could add Adam and Jack to that list also, but it is Morgan we are talking about at the moment. He did play well yesterday, but as was posted above he was allowed space to play. When he performs that well away from home I'll be more than happy to join in the Morgan love in. I don't dislike him as a player, but feel he has a little more to offer before he is deserving of the accolades.
Great performance against Palace and one I have been waiting for him to do for nearly 4 years now. In League 1 I was always disappointed that he never managed to dictate a whole match. He reads the game well, has a brilliant range of passes and has a natural physical presence. I admit that CBK is correct that Palace did not press him too much. I thought there forward players were pretty lazy defensively but that would be ungracious on what was a great display. Here is hoping Palace is the 1st of many performances of this ilk
I agree with a lot of these comments about Morgan and must admit that it is possible to be delighted by his vision as he guides a pass diagonally across what often seems like a good proportion of the pitch and then feel frustrated when he has got in a forward position only to fire the ball hopelessly over the bar. In the former instance, I find his passing definately adds to the entertainment value. As has been said, two goals is not a good return but I would be curious to see his statistics for the number of assists he has been involved in. Like the original poster, I like most things French and spent my holidays on the other side of the Channel where I have a number of friends. There is quite a degree of interest in English football and the quality of journalism in a magazine like "L'equippe" is generally more akin to something like "When Saturday comes...." as opposed to the shoddy articles written in the tabloids or even the lazy articles that appear in the Echo. I have been amazed in the past to read some good articles about English football in this paper. I would like to broaden this thread to some degree and pose the question as to why, with our proximity to France, Southampton seems to have so little success with introducing French players. In the past we have had Patrick Collater who quickly got eclipsed by the youthful Wayne Bridge and youngsters like Yoann Folly and Leandre Grifffit looked like having a lot of potential (especially the latter, despite coming from lowly Amiens) but who ultimately fizzled out. Morgan has easily been our best French import. This seems odd when you compare players from former French colonies and who have played in the French league such as Tahar, Jaidhi and Kachloul - all of whom have done a job for Saints in the past.
My guess would be that we have not had a good euro scouting network.Hopefully that has now changed. The transfer window will show if it has.
