Interesting Article in The Athletic which notes that our players and particularly Skipp, made a lot of decoy runs in the match which opened up space for others. I noticed Skipp's one for the second goal but there were lots of others. Bentancur ran the furthest during the match according to the stats.
He probably had his best game of the season too. As PNP also highlighted earlier in the thread, he and Udogie had been ill during the week, huge testament to their characters to put in the shifts they did. Not surprising about Bentancur though, pretty sure pre-injury he was racking up long distances. He’s practically the perfect midfielder: Stamina, can tackle, dribble, pass, head, shoot… one of the most complete players we’ll see. He still has a couple years left on his deal but I think the club should be looking to tie him down further and as one of our highest earners, I’d say only Son deserves to be on more than him.
Completely agree. Can’t wait until we can get him, Maddison and Sarr/Bissouma in the midfield at the same time. If Richy can play like he did against United, with Son and Kulu either side, that is a very good team and I would fancy us against anyone, even City.
Skipp makes a specific run in the inside right channel so frequently that I can only assume Ange has him doing it 20 times a day on the training ground. He clearly listens to the coach and does his best to follow instructions. He had a good enough game yesterday to suggest that he can be a part of the squad longer term than I thought, go and watch his tape from yesterday and his one touch play is actually very good indeed. He needs to show that consistently though. I think his lack of physical stature and issues around his composure on the ball in tight spaces make him a hard sell as a long term option at 6 but he has the energy to play the Sarr role if he can replicate his performance on the ball from yesterday, particularly if gets to play with technical players like Bentancur, so the whole midfield looks a bit more balanced.
Yeah him and Maddison in the same starting XI will be brilliant to watch, a slight difference to that of Winks and Sissoko . Interesting toss-up between Sarr and Bissouma as to who joins them in that midfield three. Prior to Bentancur’s return I often said that Sarr would drop out for him once he did come back but I think Sarr has been far more consistent (and better!) than Bissouma this season, the latter had a great start but then really dropped his level after the Luton sending off. Whoever is on the bench though is a great option to have.
If Bissouma can play like he did early part of the season, and not get any stupid red cards then I think he edges it. But Sarr has amazing potential and his work rate is incredible, so I wouldn’t be bothered which of them gets the nod when we have them all fit.
Yeah agree with that. An in form Bissouma definitely edges it, especially as that’d allow Bentancur to play in that 8/ box to box role but it’s one of those situations where you ain’t gonna be mad either way whether it’s Bissouma or Sarr, both got strengths over the other. Couple years, if that, and Sarr is a definite nailed on starter though.
And Sarr definitely carries more of a goal threat than Bissouma so that’s something to consider as well. Yeah agree if he carries on in a similar trajectory, in a couple of years time, I wouldn’t be surprised if the likes of a Real Madrid or similar are sniffing around him. Glad we have him tied down to 2030!
So many of the midfielders we've been linked with in the last month or two paint a picture that we're upgrading on Bissouma, not Hojbjerg I suppose the fact we're the one team who managed to sign a Brighton player for a non-pisstake fee in the past eighteen months makes this a viable thing to pursue
