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Ndombele

But he wasn't it the team to assist or create. He was a in there to nullify the press.and provide a platform to play out from as you've said in your post. He was played as a press resistant midfielder who's job was not to lose the ball and was the best in the business at his role. Losing the ball was simply something he didn't do. Comparing him to Sissoko is futile, they play completely different roles.

No disagreement there... but that was not what we were discussing...

Nope - still think he's Sissoko with better dribbling. His running is nothing like Dembele who was never neither a powerful nor fast runner

The issue was N'Dombele's style of running with the ball. And still convinced it's more Sissoko than Dembele...
 
Of course he was.... but he was not a powerful runner (nothing to do with his physical strength, which was immense). He was an extraordinary dribbler; however his lack of speed and his own fixation with dribbling, merely for the sake of it (he attributed it to playing as a youth in games where scoring was prohibited) often resulted in the opposition catching up with him after the first two dribbles and shepherding him into a blind alley where he either lost the ball or had to pass it back. Remember, this was a player who in our last four seasons produced just TWO assists and created NO big chances - in comparison, this season alone, playing from a similar position, Sissoko produced 3 assists and created 4 big chances (premierleague.com).

Don't get me wrong, I am not dissing his contribution in our successful last 4 seasons because he was critical for building attacks by taking the ball off Lloris and holding onto possession - none better than against Juve in Turin. However tales of his exploits should not be tainted by historical revisionism.

This is where Stats fall down, I would like to see how many goals Dembele created by taking 2/3 men out of the game with one of his runs.
 
I was responding to the statement that

'he invariably ended shepherding himself so many times into blind alleys - something that seems to have been conveniently brushed under the carpet of history'

and

'Remember, this was a player who in our last four seasons produced just two assists'.
 
I was responding to the statement that

'he invariably ended shepherding himself so many times into blind alleys - something that seems to have been conveniently brushed under the carpet of history'
and
'Remember, this was a player who in our last four seasons produced just two assists'.

...which was perfectly answered by:

Well from that video he looks a lot quicker then Dembélé and also has a better end product.

which is exactly what i was saying in the sentence before those you quote...
 
Is there any dissent that Ndombele is the best CM option we can realistically hope to bring in? Is everyone strongly on board with this? He seems to tick all the boxes for me.
 
we missed boat on this last season. Too many other big guns sniffing now. Credit to Spurs for acting now and playing on the CL finalists momentum. But I don't think it will happen now.
 
Do you have a source that systematically, accurately and regularly shares xGchain stats?

It seems like an interesting stat, but I can't shake the feeling that it's too flawed to be very meaningful... what do you think?
No, they all cost a fair bit to get access too - usually a search for a midfielder's name and xgchain will result in some info though.

I don't think it's flawed, just limited. It's a perfect example of one of those stats that aggregates lots and lots of data to find a single trend. It's a very useful comparative tool - especially when adjusted for possession.
 
Reminds of Gascoigne strong running, quick feet - loves a cruyff turn! I'm in.
 
Is there any dissent that Ndombele is the best CM option we can realistically hope to bring in? Is everyone strongly on board with this? He seems to tick all the boxes for me.

If .. big IF we could close on him, I don't think anyone would be against it.

It's the club stepping up, I hope for us we can pull it off, especially if we can early.
 
If .. big IF we could close on him, I don't think anyone would be against it.

It's the club stepping up, I hope for us we can pull it off, especially if we can early.

There doesn't really seem anyone else around in his ability bracket, that is potentially available for us.

I suppose there's Diawara at Napoli, but he's much less proven at the moment.
 
It's a good point though. The teams we would be in contention with are buying elsewhere and leaving us with less competition. As much as the Lyon president wants to sell him elsewhere for more, we may be the club prepared to go the furthest.
 
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