jones wrote:
Tactics wrote:
Who are these players you are referring to? ,
Well in the current team Xhaka and Mustafi, both looked way better at their previous clubs than they do now
Of course they'd look better playing for relatively smaller clubs who play from a deep defensive block(their weakness are harder to expose in such systems). I'm sure Evertons fans would tell you Jagielka has been a great defender for them, but do you really think he wouldn't have found it more difficult under a manager, like say, Klopp? Lovren(who I'd say is a similar level defender as Mustafi) was quality for Southampton, looked one of the very best defenders in the league, but we've seen him struggle under different managers for Liverpool. It doesn't mean all those managers were?poor talent developers, I think he was better protected at a club like Southampton. For me Mustafi is a poor man's Kos, they both have dodgy positioning and decision making but he lacks Kos' recovery pace and top class 1 v 1 defending.
This might shock you, I didn't mention it here at the time but I was very excited by the Xhaka signing. I 1st saw him play for Basel against the Mancs eons ago, everyone was raving about Shaqiri but it was Xkaka that caught my eyes. He later moved to Germany and I tried to watch Mönchengladback whenever I could. I remember him and Kramer bossing the Bayern midfield (think it was under Guardiola) and either won the match or got a draw - can't remember. Anyway, he continued to leave great impression on me. However watching him at close quarters, I admit I was wrong to be excited by his signing, I now think he's a poor fit for us(my opinion is not fixed though I must add, it could change).
I remember Wenger being hesitant to play him at the start, I suspect he wasn't totally convinced after watching him in training. He then said in a press conference he considered Xkaha a box to box midfielder and was thus directly competing with Santi (a competition the Spaniard woud always win). However Santi got injured, and Xhaka became a guaranteed starter, but as a DM!! For me he isn't suited to this role, he's looked his best when had a runner next to him. However is he good enough to warrant such a set up? I don't think so, I think he lacks the touch and close control to be the conductor of a passing team like ours. I know you are a critic of Ramsey in such a role(I'm too), but I think Xhaka also shares similar technical deficiencies to play that role for us. Unless we set up in a way where Xhaka is neither the DM nor the main distributor, I don't think he'll ever get the critics off his back.
Is there a luckier team than Man Utd on the planet? They've been shit but are currently leading 2-0!
