Some more Swansea forum posts, different forum from the other quotes I posted some pages back:
A young player with bags of potential, but only one championship season behind him, during which he was consistently criticized by many for a poor final ball and poor shooting ability. About to enter the final season of his contract, after which he can go for a pittance in compensation fees. £15m sounds about right to me, especially if it includes the right add ons.
That doesn't mean I don't rate him or that I want him to go, just being realistic.
I just dont see him going to Man Utd.
If they were looking for young wingers to challenge for the first team, and replace the likes of Martial who looks to be on his way, then they are more likely to go for Brooks
This is his first season. He’s great going in a straight line, with his exceptional speed, and can just play knock and go, past championship players. He has without doubt talent, but still has a lot to learn, as a wide player, as he doesn’t seem to have any “tricks” yet.
Opposition managers are already doubling up on him.
He is indeed becoming a marked man, in more than one sense of the word.
In an ideal world, Dan and his agent agree it’s in the players interest, to stay and learn his craft, from one of the most promising, up and coming young managers out there.
But Let’s not kid ourselves, There is no way in the world, the Yanks won’t sell him for the first decent offer that comes their way.
So enjoy the last few games, while he’s here
James' pace is self-evident, but what is often omitted in assessments of his ability is his tremendous balance and turn of pace. Bale obviously has tremendous pace - but owing to his size takes a few strides to get going. Not James. Take the way he burst onto the Slovakian defender for his goal - showing how blindingly fast he is over 10 yards. That's a massive commodity to have at any level of the game. He's also shown an ability to change his running angles sharply at pace, or off a standing start. In the Slovakia game he burst passed a defender on the inside from near the touchline having first completely stopped, touching the ball inside, before roasting the defender. Remarkable stuff.
The one thing missing in James' game is his decision-making, which has improved under Potter, but is still a bit hit and miss. Again we saw that in the Slovakia game - where he failed to pick out Bale in space on a couple of occasions. But the raw potential in Dan is phenomenal - and I think that should command a premium. Perhaps I'm being over-optimistic, but £20 million should be the minimum release clause in any new contract.
From Reddit:
Pros:
- Quick, fast, rapid.
- Nice lad without an ego. Look at how he got on with it after the Leeds fiasco.
- Really stretches the play wide - big for a club like you!
- He's got a good cross and a good pass, and I feel like is not far off having a good shot too.
- Big game player. He looked more than comfortable against Manchester City.
Cons:
- That shot does still need work.
- He's not as young as you might think (even though he's still young).
- He's afraid of a big tackle. Most bad games I've seen of his have involved him getting clattered early on and shying away from it (Rangel at QPR being an infamous example).
He can't play 90 minutes well. He tails off
I think he'd do well for some of the bottom clubs right off the bat, but can't imagine him staying on top 6 club the first year. Would probably get loaned out
inconsistent finishing. not the greatest shot. breaking my heart
His dribbling is fine but nothing crazy, he is more of the kind of player to put it past a defender, run around them and get it. He can put in a decent cross or a pass, bit inconsistent but he's getting better
His biggest con is probably his finishing. Sometimes he scores nice goals (Like the one against Stoke), other times he hits it well wide or over. I think a lot of wingers suffer from this, hopefully it's something he can overcome.
one thing this kid hasn't got is a third lung. He quite frequently gets gassed out in the last spell of a game before getting subbed off. I can't imagine he's actually seen many 90 minute games?
Dribbling isn't that good, I'm pretty sure he'd struggle to dribble past most Premier League fullbacks. Shooting isn't great but it's improving. Passing isn't that good. Crossing is decent though.
I don't think he's good enough for Manchester United. Well maybe as you are with your current wide options but he shouldn't be good enough for Manchester United anyway
One of the fastest players I've ever seen. Makes good runs and stretches the pitch