I'm not sold on Zubimendi tbh. Haven't seen much of him in the past, so I decided to watch some compilations of his since last night to see how he'd fit in with us in that DLP role. I know that's not going on much, but from what I've seen he's less of type of DLP that I'd like. I was noticed the following when watching the videos:
- Defensively: He seems a lot more aggressive defensively that I expected, and stronger in the tackle, so that was surprisingly good to see as I pictured him as one of those guys who floats around in the back covering space and passing lines defensively (like Arteta or Elneny) rather than getting getting proper tight and using his strength to tackle the ball.
- On the Ball: I was watching to see how he'd be in that metronome role, dictating the play, and speeding and slowing it down as required, however he doesn't seem that type of player to play balls through the lines. I was specifically looking at his passing choices and speed, it all looked too safe. It would have been one thing to see a load of great incisive passing through the lines and thinking this was all stitched together to make him look better than he is which is usually the case.
I know comps aren't the best way to judge a player because they can make someone look outrageously good. However when a compilation video has 70% of the video showing his tackling and covering skills, with the rest showing him either dribbling the ball, laying it off to the nearest man, or long balls to the flanks, then it leaves me wondering whether those are his limitations in playing style or being limited by the team he's playing for. He seems less in the Pirlo mode and more in the Rice mold (albeit nowhere near as good as Rice).
