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Player Watch - Tanguy Ndombele

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
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In the 3-man midfield lineups which I assume you are referring to, I do indeed think Winks would be the deepest player. He has played that DLP role in the past, so it doesn't surprise me. He'd need at least one physical midfielder in front of him however (Sissoko/Ndombele). That said Ndombele looks like he can play that role whilst being a better screen so if we got him I'd probably have him as the deeper CM in a 3. He looks extremely well rounded. I think he and Winks would be an interesting 2 in a 4-2-3-1. Plenty of industry and passing prowess.

I assumed we would be in the market for a specialist DM but that doesn't appear to be the case so far.
I just think people are going to be disappointed if they think Ndombele will work as the most defensive midfielder in a pairing. I struggle to see Winks/Ndombele as a functional double pivot. Literally every top club in the world plays with a defensive midfielder (except PSG and we see how that works out for them), I don't see how we would be the ones to defy that.

We had ITK from Hercules previously about Berge and tons of links in January to him so hopefully that one is still in the books.
 
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SpartanSpur

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Jan 27, 2011
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I just think people are going to be disappointed if they think Ndombele will work as the most defensive midfielder in a pairing. I struggle to see Winks/Ndombele as a functional double pivot. Literally every top club in the world plays with a defensive midfielder (except PSG and we see how that worked out for them), I don't see how we would be the ones to defy that.

We had ITK from Hercules previously about Berge and tons of links in January to him so hopefully that one is still in the books.

It's certainly something I've been concerned about. For all they've saved our season I'm still not overly happy with the Sissoko and Winks pairing because they lack a proper holding player's skillset. I think that midfield has led to more open games, which has exposed our poor fullbacks and contributed to the high amount of defeats. I agree fully that DM is a key position in modern football.

I haven't seen Ndombele outside of a few CL games where he shone. I remember being hopeful that Poch could turn him into a talented destroyer. Whether Ndombele and Winks could provide enough cover as two is an interesting question, I'd like to see us try at least. For all Wanyama/Dier help with solidity when fit they are very one dimensional on the ball. I fully agree that Ndombele seems more of a Dembele type than a pure DM currently, but maybe he could be moulded.
 

double0

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Aug 29, 2006
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Ndombele is a 8/10 performance week in week out player very consistent dominate powerful he can control a midfield.
 

wiggo24

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Jan 5, 2013
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Sounds like we're going balls in for him.

Still don't think it's likely if PSG and Juve are lurking, but if we get him it's such a good sign of how we're perceived now.

I'm sure a CL win wouldn't do any harm either...
 

SpartanSpur

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Jan 27, 2011
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I like the sound of that. Going in hard. Suggests our contract offer was better than Juve's. Doesn't sound like City or Utd are particularly serious so it's us vs PSG vs Juventus.

If you make a strong offer financially and really show the love to the player you might just get this done. Worked for Liverpool with Van Dijk, Keita and Alisson against similarly tough competitors.

I'm sure we're playing the 'game time' card too.
 

Univarn

Lost. Probably Not Worth Finding.
Jul 20, 2017
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While it sounds nice I cannot shake my skepticism at the story coming out now and with all the names involved. Sounds to me more like a player shopping for a better offer.
 

SpartanSpur

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Jan 27, 2011
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While it sounds nice I cannot shake my skepticism at the story coming out now and with all the names involved. Sounds to me more like a player shopping for a better offer.

Season hasn't even ended in France yet. He has 2 games left, I doubt any deal would ever be done before that.

This offering of contracts probably happens all the time, it's just that French media seem good at extracting info like this for their top players.

I bet we'd weep if we knew some of the players that had provisionally agreed contract offers in the past!

We definitely have our work cut out. Think our big concern is being blown out of the water financially, which is why the 'lovely' comment was interesting for me.
 

Sandros Shiny Head

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Aug 20, 2013
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Sounds like we're going balls in for him.

Still don't think it's likely if PSG and Juve are lurking, but if we get him it's such a good sign of how we're perceived now.

I'm sure a CL win wouldn't do any harm either...
I never expected to see we've made some kind of derisory offer in this scenario. Levy has previous but only when he thinks there's an opportunity for a bargain like Barkley or Grealish. This guy will always be an expensive one and missing out will likely be because of being blown out of the water by City or something
 

Univarn

Lost. Probably Not Worth Finding.
Jul 20, 2017
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Season hasn't even ended in France yet. He has 2 games left, I doubt any deal would ever be done before that.

This offering of contracts probably happens all the time, it's just that French media seem good at extracting info like this for their top players.

I bet we'd weep if we knew some of the players that had provisionally agreed contract offers in the past!

We definitely have our work cut out. Think our big concern is being blown out of the water financially, which is why the 'lovely' comment was interesting for me.
Lyon are a particularly chatty club. Very few of their deals ever happen quietly. PSG are similar on their ins and openly leak players they are interested in.
 

Univarn

Lost. Probably Not Worth Finding.
Jul 20, 2017
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Yes considering Brandt, Ziyech, and Van De Beek were all shut down by JJ in span of a few minutes, perhaps this one still has some legs....
Shhhh don't say it too loudly he may have forgotten this one or decided to let us continue to dream for just a few more days before the inevitable comes.
 

dtxspurs

Welcome to the Good Life
Dec 28, 2017
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Shhhh don't say it too loudly he may have forgotten this one or decided to let us continue to dream for just a few more days before the inevitable comes.
Glad there wasn't a Berge thread floating around...
 

worcestersauce

"I'm no optimist I'm just a prisoner of hope
Jan 23, 2006
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Shhhh don't say it too loudly he may have forgotten this one or decided to let us continue to dream for just a few more days before the inevitable comes.
Nah he wouldn't do that he's an evil sadistic bastard who feeds on the crushed hopes of the faithful.
 

shelfmonkey

Weird is different, different is interesting.
Mar 21, 2007
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While it sounds nice I cannot shake my skepticism at the story coming out now and with all the names involved. Sounds to me more like a player shopping for a better offer.

We're like the 'nice' bird a bloke chats up just to get closer to her much sexier mates!!!
 
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