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Tanguy Ndombele

Yes, I realise that. But running round aimlessly and doing donkey work while having zero positive influence on our attacking game isn't what I look for in a player that is supposed to be one of our main creative outlets. Hence, the only way I see Ndombele being effective is by taking Alli's place: stick Ndombele up there then bring in Dier (or similar) into centre midfield.

The whole Dele runs around a lot thing is just his supporters using the last fig leaf of legitimacy to try and defence what have become shockingly poor performances. If all you want is a player to cover the ground and do defensive work, we may as well sign up Mo Farah and put him up there, or play Wanyama off the striker.

From a player playing in Alli's position, I'd rather have assists, goals, link up play and through balls than headless chicken style industry. So the point I was making is you could move Ndombele into Alli's attacking role as he might actually influence the game when shorn of defensive responsibilities, then bring another central midfield in to add more steel into the centre of the pitch.

If Alli's last remaining attribute is running around and defending, then he - or any supposedly creative attacker - is going to find playing time very limited. Hasn't he been dropped recently? Actually, and correct my if I'm wrong, but when he was hauled off against Leipzig didn't we look a different proposition?

Dele this season in the PL.

18 starts (2 sub).
7 goals
3 assists

Before Kane's injury

12 starts (1 sub)
6 goals
3 assists


I'll use those fig leafs well before I get to 'running around'.

As I've pointed out many many times. He has a goal and assists record that compares with many of the best AM's even though he has spent a lot of time not as AM. Your Maddison's, Grealish's and historically Lampard's (without the pens) have never returned the numbers Dele has.

He's a special talent who we need to persevere with through tricky times.
 
The injury to son was no fault of the club
It wasn’t because he was being overplayed
Injury to a player is rarely the fault of the club (unless the club happen to be overplaying the player due to having so few alternatives). Being in a position where a single player getting injured leaves nobody available to play centre forward is certainly the fault of the club however.
 
Injury to a player is rarely the fault of the club (unless the club happen to be overplaying the player due to having so few alternatives). Being in a position where a single player getting injured leaves nobody available to play centre forward is certainly the fault of the club however.
Well we have 2 players injured in the same position where you only play 1
 
Well look at who was signed by others who needed strikers.... that gives you a clue who was attainable in January
Man Utd needed a centre forward and signed one. Which other clubs needed one? I bet there were none other than us with zero number 9's available for the second half of the season?

Aston Villa lost their striker Wesley to a knee injury and then managed to sign TWO strikers, one for a mere £8.5 million and one on a free transfer.
 
Well we have 2 players injured in the same position where you only play 1
One of which was known to be out for pretty much the rest of the season on day 1 of the transfer window. The other one is actually a wide forward who is filling in in the number 9 position, thus weakening our team in both the number 9 and the number 7/11 position.

If you think it was acceptable for us to be prepared to play the second half of this season without a replacement for Kane, knowing that we were a single injury/suspension away from having nobody at all capable of playing centre forward then clearly you and I have a difference in opinion.

The way I see it Levy is saying he isn't bothered about trying to win a trophy or even finish in the top four this season. I expect us to go out of the CL this round with a whimper and only a lucky draw will save us in the FA Cup if we manage to get past Norwich.
 
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I was talking about Ndombele. I am not suggesting that he plays up front, just further forward in a position where he has less responsibility and his ball carrying and distribution would be an asset.

sorry, Ndombele? We might as well move him forward!
 
sorry, Ndombele? We might as well move him forward!
He barely gets the ball in midfield though due to his lack of movement. That will be even more evident if he moves further forward. IMO he shouldn't play at all until he actually puts in some effort to try to find some space.
 
He barely gets the ball in midfield though due to his lack of movement. That will be even more evident if he moves further forward. IMO he shouldn't play at all until he actually puts in some effort to try to find some space.

£60m for him! Unbelievable!
Some heads should role for this!
 
We are not the only ones who it happens to. If he turns out to be as good as Robben, who was brick in his first season, I think that we can agree he was a good signing.

like it, well dug up ‘Robben’, sadly I doubt he will be around too long to morph into a world class winger!
 
One of which was known to be out for pretty much the rest of the season on day 1 of the transfer window. The other one is actually a wide forward who is filling in in the number 9 position, thus weakening our team in both the number 9 and the number 7/11 position.

If you think it was acceptable for us to be prepared to play the second half of this season without a replacement for Kane, knowing that we were a single injury/suspension away from having nobody at all capable of playing centre forward then clearly you and I have a difference in opinion.

The way I see it Levy is saying he isn't bothered about trying to win a trophy or even finish in the top four this season. I expect us to go out of the CL this round with a whimper and only a lucky draw will save us in the FA Cup if we manage to get past Norwich.
Maybe your right
I don’t think we did anything wrong working on the assumption that we can had cover and looking at the mediocrity available in January the club stuck with the plan
 
Man Utd needed a centre forward and signed one. Which other clubs needed one? I bet there were none other than us with zero number 9's available for the second half of the season?

Aston Villa lost their striker Wesley to a knee injury and then managed to sign TWO strikers, one for a mere £8.5 million and one on a free transfer.
So you would prefer players who are poor and take up space rather than one who would useful and add value to the squad?
 
I don't understand the point you are making.

Good players can struggle to adapt to the Premier League. Ndombele might be one of these, time will tell.

I think you're right. Give the boy time because he clearly has tonnes of ability.

He's not helping himself with his lack of application though. There are people at games saying he looks like he wants out when the going gets tough. Also, if you watch when he came on against Leipzig, for the first few minutes he was hiding. He could have taken a couple of steps and given the man on the ball an option and he just stood still. That's going to tinkle people off. Funnily enough, once he got on the ball in that game he was great which makes him all the more frustrating.
 
I think you're right. Give the boy time because he clearly has tonnes of ability.

He's not helping himself with his lack of application though. There are people at games saying he looks like he wants out when the going gets tough. Also, if you watch when he came on against Leipzig, for the first few minutes he was hiding. He could have taken a couple of steps and given the man on the ball an option and he just stood still. That's going to tinkle people off. Funnily enough, once he got on the ball in that game he was great which makes him all the more frustrating.

We also have to give him time because of the sheer amount of money we've dropped on him.

The talent is there, the application is infuriating. He definitely has a tendancy to hide when he gets clattered once or twice too, which is only going to be a vicious circle for him and us.
 
It's a position he has played before.

I don't think that we should break up the Winks/Lo Celso partnership in midfield. I think that moving Lo Celso to the right last weekend was a mistake and made it harder for us to retain possession.

I think that moving Ndombele to a position where he would have a little more time on the ball would benefit him and might help him settle.
I'm a bit lost here..... Are you saying that Ndombele would have MORE time on the ball if played further forward?
 
Or maybe give him a season and see how he develops. Plenty of excellent players struggled in their first PL season.
I'm more than happy to give him a season before judging him. I'm very happy with what Ndombele does when he gets on the ball. He has both skill and vision. The problem is that I'm not sure I have ever seen a more static player off the ball. He literally just stands there when one of our other players is in possession.
 
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