- May 12, 2010
- 37,667
- 88,678
Pff, Mark Noble does that every week.
The Poch sides of 3 years ago, yes. For the Poch side of last year or this, he seems perfect. Just as slow as our play.It’s not looking good for him imo, this isn’t the only time I’ve seen him act like this when pretending to track back. I can’t honestly believe that this is the guy Pochettino was so desperate to sign, he’s lazy, unfit and the very antithesis of a Poch player, let alone a Mourinho player.
He’s clearly got bags of talent, but that’s going to account to fuck all of he doesn’t pull his finger out and work hard.
Spot on, even making allowances for settling in doesn't excuse a perceived lack of effort. First season at a new club surely you'd be busting a gut at the opportunity with a new club? Given the fact that he's only managed a few games you'd have thought he'd be raring to go when given an opportunity on the pitch to prove himself...It's attitude pure and simple, it's about wanting the ball and winning it back for your team.
He either doesn't feel at home yet and doesn't care about winning or losing, or he just doesn't care enough about football full stop.
Yeah, he's had a couple of niggly injuries but he's been in full training for well over a month and had a full pre-season. It's about attitude and both he and Aurier's attitudes stink, you wouldn't get that from Sissoko, Winks etc and I hope when we get rid of Serge, Ndombele bucks his ideas up or he will become a very expensive flop
Spot on, even making allowances for settling in doesn't excuse a perceived lack of effort. First season at a new club surely you'd be busting a gut at the opportunity with a new club? Given the fact that he's only managed a few games you'd have thought he'd be raring to go when given an opportunity on the pitch to prove himself...
The concern for me is our recruitment policy.
Who watched the player? How many times? How many people? Did the manager? Was their a background check on training attitude? Commitment to improving? What were the red flags? Who was he compared to? Did anyone look into his fitness history? His playing history? Distance covered? High intensity runs forward? Recovery runs? Etc. Etc.
I know in the past we had a good scouting system and depth charts for each position, but that does not seem to be the case at the moment.
The likes of Celtic, Wolves, Leipzig and Dortmund have moved ahead of us in terms of signing potential diamonds and all four clubs have players we could and should have signed at some point. Although that could be said of other teams too.
Having said that, who was responsible for signing Ndombele ahead of or even instead of Fernandes now of United?
Funny you should reference Carl! He played for Barnet for a few seasons and I saw him score a cracker from 30 yards once. But on the whole he was crap!I think you make a lot of good points here. I don't know who is old enough to remember but Carl Hoddle, Glenn's brother also came through our academy and by all accounts was highly skilled, but his body wasn't suited to football and lacked serious mobility. Never came through and struggled even in the lower leagues.
My old dog used to put more effort in when it was shagging my leg.
The concern for me is our recruitment policy.
Who watched the player? How many times? How many people? Did the manager? Was their a background check on training attitude? Commitment to improving? What were the red flags? Who was he compared to? Did anyone look into his fitness history? His playing history? Distance covered? High intensity runs forward? Recovery runs? Etc. Etc.
I know in the past we had a good scouting system and depth charts for each position, but that does not seem to be the case at the moment.
The likes of Celtic, Wolves, Leipzig and Dortmund have moved ahead of us in terms of signing potential diamonds and all four clubs have players we could and should have signed at some point. Although that could be said of other teams too.
Having said that, who was responsible for signing Ndombele ahead of or even instead of Fernandes now of United?
watch this video of him against Man City - he ran that game last year. Let's see if Jose can get him to that level.
Bet is yes:
It's an illuminating collection of clips, especially as it's one match and against a Premier League side, but even there at 21, his running appears laboured. It's a strange contrast that I alluded to above: with the ball at his feet, especially in tight spaces, he's quicksilver, but when he has to make ground, he sort of lumbers up to moderate speed. As someone else wrote, he doesn't run like a 21/22 year old.
I have a prejudice in favour of players who prefer to make the ball do the work. I mentioned Riquelme above, but also Carrick and Pirlo are different examples and, of course, Iniesta. But many of that kind of player need to have a team built around their skill-set - they need someone to provide cover and to take pressure off them, so they can do magic things. I'm not sure that's practical in the PL in 2020 and I don't think it's Mourinho's way of doing things. His midfielders can be exemplary, but they aren't usually magicians.
Tom "Burger van" Huddlestone for example.