Who is our best #8?

[ItsBoris]

Against Liverpool we basically had a midfield of 3 #8s in Bentancur, Bissouma, and Sarr. I didn't think any of them did particularly poorly (and thought Biss had his best game in a while actually), but it definitely seems like they're all really trying to do the same sort of thing, and so there's a balance lacking there. I don't think there's really room for more than one or two at a stretch to play. Plus you could probably throw Bergvall, Lo Celso, Hojberg, Skipp into the same category. All of them are missing a true DM to sit behind imo. Sort of reminds me Liverpool's midfield last season, which was corrected this season by Endo coming in.

Just focusing on Sarr, Bentancur, and Bissouma since these three seem to be Ange's preferred 3, who would you start/bench/sell if you had to, assuming we get a good DM in the summer and Maddison plays as a #10 for most games next season? Who best suits the style of play we're trying to implement?

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[SpursForever71]

Against Liverpool we basically had a midfield of 3 #8s in Bentancur, Bissouma, and Sarr. I didn't think any of them did particularly poorly (and thought Biss had his best game in a while actually), but it definitely seems like they're all really trying to do the same sort of thing, and so there's a balance lacking there. I don't think there's really room for more than one or two at a stretch to play. Plus you could probably throw Bergvall, Lo Celso, Hojberg, Skipp into the same category. All of them are missing a true DM to sit behind imo. Sort of reminds me Liverpool's midfield last season, which was corrected this season by Endo coming in.

Just focusing on Sarr, Bentancur, and Bissouma since these three seem to be Ange's preferred 3, who would you start/bench/sell if you had to, assuming we get a good DM in the summer and Maddison plays as a #10 for most games next season? Who best suits the style of play we're trying to implement?

Bentancur all day for me. Yes he has been off it a tad since the injury, but out best midfielder. Form is temporary, class is permanant

 

[talbot64]

Bentancur to start if he can get to last years form otherwise Sarr
Sarr bench but worthy of plenty of starts
Bissouma sell as not a number 8 for me, also really dislike him and Bentancur in the same midfield when playing as a 6 so he is the one I would sacrifice

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Oooh he's an 8, I think he's a better 6, fuck that he should be a 10

Whatever happened to good old fashioned plain speaking when it comes to all this. Now you have to have a fucking degree in mathematics.

Fucking number hipsters.

It's a consolation of sorts that as with all the other 'buzz' phrases, this'll eventually pass.

haha, i'm so fucking old

 

[SpursForever71]

Oooh he's an 8, I think he's a better 6, fuck that he should be a 10

Whatever happened to good old fashioned plain speaking when it comes to all this. Now you have to have a fucking degree in mathematics. just to talk about football.

Fucking number hipsters.

It's a consolation of sorts that as with all the other 'buzz' phrases, this'll eventually pass.

haha, i'm so fucking old

ha ha i had to think of what an 8 actually was, but given the options Bentacur is our best midfielder, regardless of the number

 

[tobi]

Bentancur is the best #8 at the club.

 

[Powder Keg]

Bergvall

 

[ItsBoris]

Oooh he's an 8, I think he's a better 6, fuck that he should be a 10

Whatever happened to good old fashioned plain speaking when it comes to all this. Now you have to have a fucking degree in mathematics.

Fucking number hipsters.

It's a consolation of sorts that as with all the other 'buzz' phrases, this'll eventually pass.

haha, i'm so fucking old

I actually do have a degree in mathematics so fuck off, I was a number hipster before it was cool!

In reality it's just easier to type "8" than "box to box central midfielder" 20 times. 6-8-10 is an easy way to categorize midfielders although granted there will be some fuzziness in terms of where certain individuals fit into that, like is the case with most categorizations.

 

[DannyNZ]

No one has played the 8 role well for months. Sarr, Bentancur and Kulu have all been used and none of them have been convincing. On paper Bentancur is the best option but he is still some way off his pre-injury form.

 

[nico97531]

No one has played the 8 role well for months. Sarr, Bentancur and Kulu have all been used and none of them have been convincing. On paper Bentancur is the best option but he is still some way off his pre-injury form.

Not sure what’s happened to sarr after the internationals, is he still carrying an injury? He was playing so well in that role prior to that.

 

[Hazelton]

Bentancur is the better player of the three but I think Sarr has clearly run out of steam since the AFCON, fasting etc and long term he's probably our best "box to box" midfielder because of the energy he provides. Ideally we find a way to get both of them in the team.

 

[Gassin's finest]

The numbers thing has been around since the WM became the 442, iirc?

 

[archiewasking]

Steve Archibald.

 

[Japhet]

The numbers thing has been around since the WM became the 442, iirc?

Briefly interrupted by that 'trequartista, regista, mezzala' guff that made the midfield positions sound like an Italian menu.

 

[SixtyFour]

The numbers thing has been around since the WM became the 442, iirc?

5 & 6 were often centre backs. 4 was a journeyman midfield clogger. But then 7 8 9 which was unfortunate.

 

[Dunc2610]

Oooh he's an 8, I think he's a better 6, fuck that he should be a 10

Whatever happened to good old fashioned plain speaking when it comes to all this. Now you have to have a fucking degree in mathematics.

Fucking number hipsters.

It's a consolation of sorts that as with all the other 'buzz' phrases, this'll eventually pass.

haha, i'm so fucking old

Amge doesn't think in terms of numbers, he's even said as such. It's just skillet and flexibility. This whole we need a 6, 8, 59 it's just football manager bollocks.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Briefly interrupted by that 'trequartista, regista, mezzala' guff that made the midfield positions sound like an Italian menu.

That's because we were all watching Italian football in the 90s, so learned those terms. They just translate to the same thing.

 

[Gassin's finest]

In relation to the OP, our best proper 8 is Sarr. Indefatigable, box to box water carrier.

 

[gavspur]

Gazza is our best #8, don’t think we’ve had a better one since him.