Player Watch Player Watch: Giovani Lo Celso

[Westmorlandspur]

A lot of people are not aware that ,but for a really bad hamstring injury, just before the World Cup, Gio was first choice for Argentina and would now have a World Cup winners medal. Instead MacAllister is feted as this wonderful midfielder who hasn’t exactly pulled up trees for Liverpool

 

[Locotoro]

A lot of people are not aware that ,but for a really bad hamstring injury, just before the World Cup, Gio was first choice for Argentina and would now have a World Cup winners medal. Instead MacAllister is feted as this wonderful midfielder who hasn’t exactly pulled up trees for Liverpool

I think we have to be wary to say that Gio would have a medal if ihe played because there are too many variables that go into that. The fact though remains that he's walked back into a worldcup winning side without very much game time.

Also MacAllister is a good player but like most players changing team style and system needs time to adapt

 

[DiVaio]

I think we have to be wary to say that Gio would have a medal if ihe played because there are too many variables that go into that. The fact though remains that he's walked back into a worldcup winning side without very much game time.

Also MacAllister is a good player but like most players changing team style and system needs time to adapt

He was crucial for Argentina before World Cup and only Messi has more assists than him for Argentina since Scaloni is their manager.

 

[Locotoro]

He was crucial for Argentina before World Cup and only Messi has more assists than him for Argentina since Scaloni is their manager.

i assume you're talking about GLC and not MacAllister. Yes I agree he was crucial for them. But that doesnt make it a fact that they would have won with him. Every decision he made that may have been different from the other players, the runs his teammates may or may not have made, there are so many variables that could have seen them beaten by another team. MacAllister gets the first goal in that final group game against Poland, any other result would have changed the positions and their final pathway drastically

 

[JimmyG2]

Pleasantly surprised
by his attitude and contribution.
Made himself available,
looked for the ball
and was mainly positive.
He's no Maddison
who is one of the top half dozen
in the country
but a very useful squad player
especially at the moment
Unless Ange can fit them both in somehow

 

[Rosco1984]

Pleasantly surprised
by his attitude and contribution.
Made himself available,
looked for the ball
and was mainly positive.
He's no Maddison
who is one of the top half dozen
in the country
but a very useful squad player
especially at the moment
Unless Ange can fit them both in somehow

Kulusevski played in Maddisons spot so there is no reason maddison and GLC couldnt play together.

 

[HNIM]

When all available we have a very solid group of midfielders, and even Kulu has shown now he can slot in if needed. There are some combinations I really look forward to and hope we get the chance to unleash them all at some point.

There's the rub, though, right? This is Spurs we're talking about.

 

[HNIM]

But thats the thing, its not turning it around IMO. Its the system. I know i've said this a lot on here but he is an awful player for a defensive system. Like the personification of a square peg in a round hole. He was never ever going to fit Jose, Nuno or Conte. When he went on loan to more attacking teams he fit like a glove and was always a key player. You go back and look at his stats in Spain he was regularly one of the best players in the league in his position. He is also integral to the Argentina team. The key thing now is that he clearly believes in Ange, the system, is happy and looks confident. What I thought was great yesterday is you could see him directing the players around him where they should be. He looked in control and it benefited the whole team. The only question mark for me around Gio has always been his injuries, much like Maddison he is susceptible to them.

The flip side is that PEH isn't great in an attacking system. He was awesome in Mourinho's defensive system, sort of out to sea in Conte's structured system, and not much use in Ange's. The difference is that PEH can be useful as a late defensive sub in Ange's system, whereas Gio was no use at all if you needed a late goal under Jose or Conte, because the team wasn't set up to do that in the first place.

 

[bubble07]

Or Bissouma. I think we have a good 5 there with Bentancur, Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison and GLC. I just can't decide if GLC should be an 8 as not sure he has enough in the final 3rd for a 10. Happy to play any 3 of those 5 though. It's mad we have 3 out at the start and a 4th half hour into the game. Fair play to Kulusevski though for doing a good job in midfield.

I'd be happy with that midfield 5 for the next few years. Not sure we have ever had such good CM depth before. Sell Skipp and Hojberg and promote Donelly.

 

[mil1lion]

I'd be happy with that midfield 5 for the next few years. Not sure we have ever had such good CM depth before. Sell Skipp and Hojberg and promote Donelly.

Seems to be the way with Mason then Winks then Skipp as our homegrown and academy trained squad players. If Donley supersedes Skipp then it gives us another homegrown for depth. 5 should be largely enough to rotate so he won't be needed too often. It's unprecedented to have so many injuries as we do in there though.

 

[djhotspur]

Would love to see one of those videos of all his touches against villa

 

[GLC10]

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Such a lovely player to watch.

I’m now nicknaming him ‘the Grandma’ as he knits play together so nicely.

 

[cjbyid]

He's a very good player.

Would love to see him stay fit and get a proper run

 

[djhotspur]

So many nice passes

 

[djhotspur]

Also thanks for that mate! Dunno how you guys find these

 

[HildoSpur]

He had a good game on Saturday but I want to see that on a regular basis before I'm convinced he can really make it here. If he is regularly making good performances over the next few months then fair enough but one swallow does not make a summer.

 

[HarryKane]

Amazes me how GLC has been thrown under the bus over the years (he's also far from the only one), how people think he's not good enough, not talented etc. Yes injuries have been a big problem but he's a quality player if he can stay injury free. Seen a lot of Argentinians say he's their second best player especially leading up to the world cup last year and he was one of the best midfielders in spain when he was bought. He was also one of the few bright spots in a poor Mourinho season but he couldn't carry the team by himself. Being a bellend quoting myself from July:

If he wants to be here and has far less time out because of injured he could absolutely be class as an attacking option/Maddison competition/attacking midfield two against teams you expect to have most of the ball against. good on the ball, can thread a pass, skip by a man, is pretty quick (yes he is), good at picking up space in between the lines, works hard off the ball and is aggressive at winning it back.

If he wants to go then fair enough, he's already been here for 4 years and I'll wish him the best. But he could be very good and fits Ange's system well. There's a lot of people completely underestimating him or flat out think he's crap for some reason because he has been either loaned or injured so much, it's like the reverse Lamela. Similar to hojbjerg he gets a lot of unfounded grief

You ever read people's comments and think are we watching the same game/player when people have a completely different take? That's how I've felt reading comments about GLC the last couple of years

 

[McFlash]

That's a really good performance.
I didn't get to see the game but I like to see Gio playing like that, like many of us know he can.
Hopefully he keeps this up and finally proves his worth because he's a very talented player and can suit Ange's style perfectly.

 

[bubble07]

Seems to be the way with Mason then Winks then Skipp as our homegrown and academy trained squad players. If Donley supersedes Skipp then it gives us another homegrown for depth. 5 should be largely enough to rotate so he won't be needed too often. It's unprecedented to have so many injuries as we do in there though.

Thinking about winks. I'm sure he would have been more useful to ange than skipp and possibly even hojberg