Albert Gudmundsson

[cliff jones]

I was impressed with Richarlison that day. And generally with players who do the same.

And think Trossard made his own bed in how he left, so should be able to handle a few boos without resorting to that. Typical goon scum.

 

[piedpiper]

I was impressed with Richarlison that day. And generally with players who do the same.

And think Trossard made his own bed in how he left, so should be able to handle a few boos without resorting to that. Typical goon scum.

The fans giving the boos by the same token should be mature enough to handle the push back from a player.... reminds me of how our fan base gave Theo Walcott hell in a game and he scored a goal or 2 then went off Injured but gave our fans some stick before leaving the field.... gave me a good chuckle.... we ready as fans to dish it out... but heaven forbid... our egos are bruised when players or opposing players reciprocate.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Was an interesting game from him last night that got me thinking, more so in the first half. Genoa set up in their standard 352 but Albert started in the left of the middle 3 instead of in the top two as normal. In the second half he was moved up top after Messias got injured. Albert bagged a pen to make it 4 goals in his last 5 games and total of 13 for the season.

I’m going to talk more about him in the first as in the second it was a fairly standard display from him in regards to his movement.

I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread that when he plays deeper he doesn’t tend to influence play as much. I still stand by that but today’s performance did get me thinking that maybe tweaking the tactics might actually resolve my concerns somewhat and make him a significantly more viable option for us in midfield.

When he got on the ball in deeper positions today he was very effective, he has a supremely graceful way of getting out of danger and he’s excellent at receiving the ball on the half turn. When he wriggles out of pressure he always looks incredibly dangerous due to his great acceleration.

The issue I have had with him when he starts deeper is that he will often drift into areas that stop him being a viable outlet resulting in the game passing him by at times.

What you end up with is Albert being very effective WHEN the ball gets to him but the ball won’t always get to him due to his positioning. Essentially this stops Albert from dictating the play and more being another cog in the system. He’s still dangerous but he’s not the central figure you want him to be. Basically you end up wanting him to be moved up field where he is all together more effective even if that means loosing his technical ability in deeper positions.

As I’ve said before Albert is a little bit of an awkward fit for AM, I think he flourishes in the final third because of the freedom it allows. He will often go wide and find space or drop in to a pocket causing his marker to panic. He’s unpredictable which makes him an effective second striker but not such a constant in midfield.

However I also think Genoa’s structure allows him that freedom in the final third but not so much in the centre which results in him struggling to find pockets deeper as easily as he does up top. It works on a counter but not in longer periods of possession.

Having thought on it more I certainly think that in a more aggressive system where the wingers keep the width he could potentially flourish in an AM role. What he needs is licences to roam but in a defined area as well as being given as much time as possible near the oppositions box which is certainly something our tactics would allow. I’m still not sure how he would cope being a focal point in midfield but from a skill set perspective he has all the tools and then some as I outlined in an earlier post.

Over the last few weeks I’ve certainly come round to the idea of a more versatile AM being the move we should make when Gio leaves. I’ve talked with @Nick-TopSpursMan about this a few times on here and I do think there is lot of sense in it from a squad building perspective.

I also think if we balance the rest of the squad right then we wouldn’t even necessarily need to view our AM as the sole creator. Tbh this is something that we need to address whoever we replace Gio with. It’s never ideal to have one playmaker in a high possession system and I think we are seeing some of the weaknesses of that in our performance currently.

I have a strong feeling we won’t be going for Albert for the reasons I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts, even under the remit of a versatile playmaker he isn’t necessarily a clean fit BUT I am going to backtrack slightly and say that I could actually see him working well in our system as long as we help him to adapt to it and look to utilise him in areas we know he is most effective whilst also improving the creative options around him which is something that needs doing regardless.

He might not be a flashy name and i'm not saying he'd necessarily be my first choice, ultimately I think he goes to Inter anyway, but he really is a very good player and with Spence being at Genoa I certainly wouldn’t dismiss the potential of this move. From a financial perspective as well it would certainly be a very savvy move.

Ultimately if we got him I think a lot of Spurs fans who haven’t seen him would find him a very exciting player, he’d surprise a lot of people imo.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Was an interesting game from him last night that got me thinking, more so in the first half. Genoa set up in their standard 352 but Albert started in the left of the middle 3 instead of in the top two as normal. In the second half he was moved up top after Messias got injured. Albert bagged a pen to make it 4 goals in his last 5 games and total of 13 for the season.

I’m going to talk more about him in the first as in the second it was a fairly standard display from him in regards to his movement.

I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread that when he plays deeper he doesn’t tend to influence play as much. I still stand by that but today’s performance did get me thinking that maybe tweaking the tactics might actually resolve my concerns somewhat and make him a significantly more viable option for us in midfield.

When he got on the ball in deeper positions today he was very effective, he has a supremely graceful way of getting out of danger and he’s excellent at receiving the ball on the half turn. When he wriggles out of pressure he always looks incredibly dangerous due to his great acceleration.

The issue I have had with him when he starts deeper is that he will often drift into areas that stop him being a viable outlet resulting in the game passing him by at times.

What you end up with is Albert being very effective WHEN the ball gets to him but the ball won’t always get to him due to his positioning. Essentially this stops Albert from dictating the play and more being another cog in the system. He’s still dangerous but he’s not the central figure you want him to be. Basically you end up wanting him to be moved up field where he is all together more effective even if that means loosing his technical ability in deeper positions.

As I’ve said before Albert is a little bit of an awkward fit for AM, I think he flourishes in the final third because of the freedom it allows. He will often go wide and find space or drop in to a pocket causing his marker to panic. He’s unpredictable which makes him an effective second striker but not such a constant in midfield.

However I also think Genoa’s structure allows him that freedom in the final third but not so much in the centre which results in him struggling to find pockets deeper as easily as he does up top. It works on a counter but not in longer periods of possession.

Having thought on it more I certainly think that in a more aggressive system where the wingers keep the width he could potentially flourish in an AM role. What he needs is licences to roam but in a defined area as well as being given as much time as possible near the oppositions box which is certainly something our tactics would allow. I’m still not sure how he would cope being a focal point in midfield but from a skill set perspective he has all the tools and then some as I outlined in an earlier post.

Over the last few weeks I’ve certainly come round to the idea of a more versatile AM being the move we should make when Gio leaves. I’ve talked with @Nick-TopSpursMan about this a few times on here and I do think there is lot of sense in it from a squad building perspective.

I also think if we balance the rest of the squad right then we wouldn’t even necessarily need to view our AM as the sole creator. Tbh this is something that we need to address whoever we replace Gio with. It’s never ideal to have one playmaker in a high possession system and I think we are seeing some of the weaknesses of that in our performance currently.

I have a strong feeling we won’t be going for Albert for the reasons I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts, even under the remit of a versatile playmaker he isn’t necessarily a clean fit BUT I am going to backtrack slightly and say that I could actually see him working well in our system as long as we help him to adapt to it and look to utilise him in areas we know he is most effective whilst also improving the creative options around him which is something that needs doing regardless.

He might not be a flashy name and i'm not saying he'd necessarily be my first choice, ultimately I think he goes to Inter anyway, but he really is a very good player and with Spence being at Genoa I certainly wouldn’t dismiss the potential of this move. From a financial perspective as well it would certainly be a very savvy move.

Ultimately if we got him I think a lot of Spurs fans who haven’t seen him would find him a very exciting player, he’d surprise a lot of people imo.

Haven’t seen him but like the sound of being good on the turn with great acceleration. Think we need a lot more of that in the squad. Even though we do have some pace in forward areas, body shape and first touch is more often square/backwards from all of them. Only Maddison really let’s it run across his body and has a change of pace.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Haven’t seen him but like the sound of being good on the turn with great acceleration. Think we need a lot more of that in the squad. Even though we do have some pace in forward areas, body shape and first touch is more often square/backwards from all of them. Only Maddison really let’s it run across his body and has a change of pace.

It’s hard to find a comp that succinctly displays this characteristic of his and in general I find comps vastly annoying even tho I tend to post them quite a bit when talking about players. But in the one below you can kind of see glimpses of him picking up the ball deeper and taking the ball forward under pressure.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

It’s hard to find a comp that succinctly displays this characteristic of his and in general I find comps vastly annoying even tho I tend to post them quite a bit when talking about players. But in the one below you can kind of see glimpses of him picking up the ball deeper and taking the ball forward under pressure.

compilations can sometimes be misleading agree, but looks like he’s got good balance, strong and a burst to get by people. kind of why I’m keen on Eze as well with the ball retention/manipulation he brings

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Starting as an AMC behind Ekuban and Retegui against Lazio in the 5.30 Friday kick off. Could be an interesting watch for us.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Starting as an AMC behind Ekuban and Retegui against Lazio in the 5.30 Friday kick off. Could be an interesting watch for us.

So he actually started on the left of a 3 again, not as an AMC, the internet lied to me. And again he isn’t seeing enough of the ball but when he does he looks very dangerous.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

So he actually started on the left of a 3 again, not as an AMC, the internet lied to me. And again he isn’t seeing enough of the ball but when he does he looks very dangerous.

Saw the first half but it was a hard watch.

Gudmondsson with literally the only 2 moments of real quality in the half.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Saw the first half but it was a hard watch.

Gudmondsson with literally the only 2 moments of real quality in the half.

Pretty much the same the second, only moments of quality coming from Albert. Tbf Spence had a nice dribble but got fouled.

 

[king_yid]

The fans giving the boos by the same token should be mature enough to handle the push back from a player.... reminds me of how our fan base gave Theo Walcott hell in a game and he scored a goal or 2 then went off Injured but gave our fans some stick before leaving the field.... gave me a good chuckle.... we ready as fans to dish it out... but heaven forbid... our egos are bruised when players or opposing players reciprocate.

This is completely different, he never played for the club ffs

 

[piedpiper]

This is completely different, he never played for the club ffs

Thank you for pointing out water is wet. Read the thread and read for meaning understanding.

 

[stevespurs]

I’ve just re-watched Cantona’s, get back at the crowd moment.

Still makes me LOL.

The kung fu kick was good, but the punch knocked the bloke back about 2m, and then the fan had second thoughts, started putting his hands up to say “what have I done?”…..sensational stuff!

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Good interview/article, thanks for sharing! I knew his grandfather was at AC and that he came from a football family but didn’t know he had trials at Arsenal. I still think it could be a good bit of business depending on our other targets.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

 

[King of the Lane]

I cant work out where he would play for us. He is best as a second striker from what I can tell. He wouldnt be a winger or a CF in the prem so would he just compete with Maddison?

We are being linked to a lot of players that dont seem to fit the profiles I and a lot of people presumed we would be targetting. Maybe a system change is on the way next season.

 

[cjsimba]

I cant work out where he would play for us. He is best as a second striker from what I can tell. He wouldnt be a winger or a CF in the prem so would he just compete with Maddison?

We are being linked to a lot of players that dont seem to fit the profiles I and a lot of people presumed we would be targetting. Maybe a system change is on the way next season.

Or the links are just that.

 

[King of the Lane]

Or the links are just that.

Hopefully yeah but ITK has even said Eze is true and he is best at AM.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I cant work out where he would play for us. He is best as a second striker from what I can tell. He wouldnt be a winger or a CF in the prem so would he just compete with Maddison?

We are being linked to a lot of players that dont seem to fit the profiles I and a lot of people presumed we would be targetting. Maybe a system change is on the way next season.

Your right that he certainly looks very much at home in his current role as a SS and as I said in my post at the beginning of this thread I had reservations about our supposed interest because of that. But as I mentioned above having thought about it more I think a change of system (especially our system) could make him a far more viable option in AM and as a winger. It’s also worth noting for a start that he’s actually played more as a winger in the past then he has any other position (see below), he’s actually played a combined 150 games between the wings.

As a player he has the skill set to play as a winger, he’s fast with good acceleration, has excellent technique and he’s a very good dribbler that can go both ways. Even when he plays as an SS he will on occasion drift out wide to the touchline to receive the ball. The only thing is when he starts on the wing in the past he will cut inside often but again, he has the skill set to player winger in our system.

As a CF tho I agree 100%, i don’t think he’d be of any use to us in that position by himself.

Whilst it’s true I wouldn’t bring him in just to be a winger, as you say the playmaker role would probably suit him best, my opinion is that he would essentially be a technical gifted attacker that can cover a few roles AM, LW, RW to a very good degree. I think in a better team and the right system he could become a top class player.

Given his versatility and ability I can completely see why Ange would like him. Would certainly be a significantly cheaper alternative to Eze and one who is more accustomed to playing on the wing.