Longstaff has had one strange progression as a player. Started off a CDM, then a box to box, now a attacking mid with an eye for goal. I imagine he will retire at NUFC
Apart from his goals he was dreadful... he seems to he in the right place alot , but also loses 50/50s in the wrong place over and over again He's cack.
Scoring goals wasn’t the problem yesterday. It was conceding them. We can’t just blame the defence for that. I don’t think any players played well defensively. Longstaff however wasn’t at fault for any goals yesterday.
I can mainly blame the defence for that. I was there and off the ball their positional sense was poor yesterday. we did allow them to play through the middle but that was down to Miley being knackered and Longstaff playing more advanced so tactical and positional. The collective back 4 yesterday were a shadow of the back 4 from Villa. Even Botman looked out of sorts.
It really feels to me that Longstaff is our Scott McTominay. Will pop up with a few goals here and there but if he's not scoring, doesn't add much to the team. I would expect him benched once Tonali is back
Spot on and it won't surprise me one iota if Joelinton and Willock are sold and Longstaff is still playing next season.
We may not have much of a choice on the Joelinton front if he wants out or a massive payday that we can't afford. It could be however that FFP will kick in and players will not be able to get the bumper pay days any more so he'll then stay with a more modest pay bump
No he doesn't even do that much either but he's not a striker so other parts of his game being dreadful are very unhelpful.
he’s does Bruno’s running which allows Bruno to be our best player. You gotta look 360 degrees on this one mate.
agree. £44k feels right. No seriously I’d say £100k as a package but part of that is appearance linked.
Agree. We always look more dynamic when he plays. If we had everybody fit & available, he would most likely start. So he should be up there with some of the higher earners.
The problem is it's one dimemsional and unsustainable. Either levels drop - as has happened dramatically this season - or other teams work you out. Look back on the constant defeats and watch as other teams target Bruno - there's only so much running Longstaff can do, before teams stop worrying about him being in possession and press Bruno instead. What's really started to grate on me is Bruno gets ball, is pressed then fouled about 30 yards from our goal - and the fans cheer. It's stupid, because it's a tactic opposition have used to great effect - we can't then counter, and a free kick in that area is irrelevant, they just reset at a canter. Longstaff, much like Burn, Murphy and Almiron, is no threat in possession and easy to control. He lacks any real vision and his only threat now is his running off the ball. But yesterday for one of their goals their midfield - LUTON's midfield, costing about £3.50 - just cut through him (and Bruno), then watching them try and run back is borderline amusing, particularly Bruno. Joelinton and Willock in possession are far more dangerous than anyone we currently have, plus both have more pace and Joelinton is a beast at times. Longstaff is nowhere near either. However, both these lads play in the same position!! I'd keep Longstaff as a squad player. There's so many worse than him.
Let's give it some context. Realistically he is (at best) 5th choice in midfield behind Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton & Willock. That's about £180m worth of players (based on what we paid for them) ahead of him in the pecking order. And you could potentially argue that Miley is already pushing him into 6th choice. The issue is, we've not had those first 4 together as options. So Longstaff is getting way more game time than planned. So on that basis, he's done a fantastic job of stepping in when needed. He always gives his all and while he might not have the quality to be a £40m - £50m type of player, in theory we have 4 of those. If/when we get everyone back available, he'll realistically be on the bench, ready to add some energy when there are tired legs.
On the stream I was watching they all had poor defensive displays. Trippier only gets some credit because going forward he was good. But defensively he was poor. They all were. We should not be conceding 4 at home against anyone let alone Luton.
