Lol I don’t dislike him - I think he’s a tidy player but I get frustrated with the hype because I think he’s all style and little substance. Dwells on the ball, kills attacks, doesn’t have an eye for a pass, isn’t a goal threat. He has a lovely touch and ball control but then doesn’t have the intelligence to take it the next step.
Such a shame because I think with the right coaching at an early age, he could have been immense.
I do believe when Keita and hopefully Fekir join, we will see what progressive, quality midfielders look like, similar to VVD impact on the defence.
Keita and Fekir are brilliant at beating players either by dribbling, skill or passing through the lines. Not to mention their ability to support the attack and make runs into the box. It means our front three are more likely to receive the ball in dangerous areas rather than having to drop deep to get the ball.
The main reason why our midfield is so poor is because of its inability to get the ball up the field. None of our current midfielders have the ability to either run with the ball or play through the lines. Our main playmaker is by winning the ball high up the pitch and catching teams out. That’s well and good against teams who like to have possession and push higher but it’s very hard to execute when a team sits back and expects us to play through them.
At the end of the day, I don’t want to sell Hendo/Lallana etc (yet!) because they are good squad players to have. The signings this summer will take us to a new level though, which is why I’m so excited.