Daniel James | Officially Signs

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gr3yham3 said:
James looks faster than any of those players though, at least over the length of half the pitch. His pace reminds me of a prime Valencia - remember that burst he made against Liverpool? Think he will be our fastest attacker when he joins us.
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Looking fast isn't necessarily the litmus test. Fosu mensah was the fastest recorded player in the league last season. He doesn't look that quick because being taller he takes longer getting into his stride. James by comparison hits his top speed almost immediately which is why he leaves players in his wake so easily. By the time they're up to speed he's surged past them already. I remember linford Christie opining on match of the day that Anelka would be far quicker as a 100m sprinter than Owen because he was rangier. Of course football isn't sprinting, you rarely get to sprint the length of the pitch unimpeded and the full length is not much more than 100 metres. It's bursts of just 30 metres or so even in a break before you have to pass.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
Looking fast isn't necessarily the litmus test. Fosu mensah was the fastest recorded player in the league last season. He doesn't look that quick because being taller he takes longer getting into his stride. James by comparison hits his top speed almost immediately which is why he leaves players in his wake so easily. By the time they're up to speed he's surged past them already. I remember linford Christie opining on match of the day that Anelka would be far quicker as a 100m sprinter than Owen because he was rangier. Of course football isn't sprinting, you rarely get to sprint the length of the pitch unimpeded and the full length is not much more than 100 metres. It's bursts of just 30 metres or so even in a break before you have to pass.
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While that's true, look at the Brentford goal he scored. He gets to his top speed quickly but keeps pulling away, so I assume his top speed is good also.

As you say though acceleration is far more important. Rooney used to have a very good top end but rarely reached it unless a full pitch counter. He used to regularly be at the top end of the "fastest" runner stats and nobody could believe it.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
Arsene Wenger says that technical ability needs to be developed by 12.



Those are tactical improvements not technical.
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Ronaldo turning from inconsistent winger to an all time great goalscorer isn't a tactical improvement. Nobody worked harder on the training pitch than Cristiano and it shows.
He basically relearned how to play the game.
 
He is not the most technical dribbler out there but he is two footed and that alone is a big plus. He can also run at his top speed with the ball, most players slow down whenever they have the ball but this boy just speeds through them. Other than his frightening pace he also has the willingness to run at defenders and track back. He has a great foundation to build on.
 
We can start right now playing him out of position, Jump into the RB position kid.
 
I've only seen highlights of him so i can't comment to much, but from what i've seen he seems to have an unbelievable turn of pace. For 15 mil he is a very interesting option.
 
cyberman said:
Ronaldo turning from inconsistent winger to an all time great goalscorer isn't a tactical improvement. Nobody worked harder on the training pitch than Cristiano and it shows.
He basically relearned how to play the game.
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Relearned how to play the game sounds tactical to me. And I am not saying players do not improve I am saying the basics(touch, close control) have to be their at a young age. No matter how hard Milner works he will not have the touch of David Silva.

And people bringing up Henry, Cristiano, etc when they are the worst examples possible. They were extremely hyped up young players since they were in their early teens. The skill level was always there them turning into all time greats was not a surprise.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
Relearned how to play the game sounds tactical to me. And I am not saying players do not improve I am saying the basics(touch, close control) have to be their at a young age. No matter how hard Milner works he will not have the touch of David Silva.

And people bringing up Henry, Cristiano, etc when they are the worst examples possible. They were extremely hyped up young players since they were in their early teens. The skill level was always there them turning into all time greats was not a surprise.
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I’m not sure about Henry but I think we all thought Ronaldos highest potential was as a Giggs or Figo level of brilliance...and No one predicted that he’d surpass them. Definitely think his hard work ethic took him up several levels.
 
Signing James would be a return to the hopeful punts the club made during Ferguson's time. Maybe he becomes a decent signing like Smalling and Chicharito did but, I would not bank on it.
 
Sayros said:
That's literally like saying you can't improve or learn anything new if you're 17 or older. Absolute nonsense.



Look at Thierry Henry, just as one example, in his career. Compare him from the age of 17 to his peak; it's night and day the improvements he made to his dribbling, his shooting technique, his passing, all of those are technical skills.

There's another one going on right now in Mbappe, his dribbling and skills have improved year after year since he came on the scene at 17 years old.

Then you have some who are born with a dribbling talent, and they stay with that and don't improve much on it, or anything else like a Ben Arfa.



Hate to disagree with the man, but he's dead wrong on this. Now, it may be a personal preference of his in the youth players he wants to bring in to his team for development, but it's, again, nonsense. You can improve any technical aspect at any age if you focus on it. Football is not some mystical journey, it's a sport like any other and your body can learn to improve in touch, dribbling, shooting, passing, and all other technical aspects you can think of; but you need the mind to go along with it, especially when it comes to the creativity in how to use these technical skills.
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To be fair to James, he's got a good first touch except for his control while running on the ball and also his agility. There's a player in there but we shouldn't sign him for 20mil. 10 mil should be the maximum, considering he's on his last contract.
 
Buy him and stick him straight into the starting 11. He can't be any worse than that inconsistent lump Martial.

My money is on him being the next Giggs.

And in a strange way, his father passing might be one of those sporting stories you read in 10yrs time when he looks back, after becoming a legend, and says signing for United just after his father passed was what inspired him to be as good as he could in honor of him etc etc . Its got that written all over it.

Condolences to him and his family too.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
Relearned how to play the game sounds tactical to me. And I am not saying players do not improve I am saying the basics(touch, close control) have to be their at a young age. No matter how hard Milner works he will not have the touch of David Silva.

And people bringing up Henry, Cristiano, etc when they are the worst examples possible. They were extremely hyped up young players since they were in their early teens. The skill level was always there them turning into all time greats was not a surprise.
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But they became better players than anybody could imagine they would be. Comparing Milner to Silva is extreme nonsense since the talent levels come into play.
Striking the ball is technique and the Ronaldo that signed for us to the Ronaldo today are two different players in how they strike the ball.
People judge these scenarios with hindsight and thats how the myth lives on. Go back in time and nobody was suggesting Henry / Ronaldo / Scholes would be the monsters they would become or even play in the style they grew into never mind in completely different positions yet it's dismissed as oh everybody knew he would develop into such and such. That's simply not true.
Look at Giggs. He himself admitted his speed left him wanting in the technical department since the he was traveling at such a pace that the margin for error was ridiculously high. As soon as he slowed down he adapted and worked on his on the ball technique so it improved 10 fold to the point he almost had an entirely new career in midfield. 25 year old Giggs could never had the tools to play in midfield
Nobody is suggesting every player has limitless scope for improvement but this myth of technique improvement disappearing with puberty is a nonsense in my opinion.
 
Jammiedodger said:
Buy him and stick him straight into the starting 11. He can't be any worse than that inconsistent lump Martial.

My money is on him being the next Giggs.

And in a strange way, his father passing might be one of those sporting stories you read in 10yrs time when he looks back, after becoming a legend, and says signing for United just after his father passed was what inspired him to be as good as he could in honor of him etc etc . Its got that written all over it.

Condolences to him and his family too.
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Bold predictions here. I assume you've watched more than clips then? Regular Swansea watcher? Future legend! He looks like the Welsh Valencia to me. Kick and run merchant, simple as that.
 
Man, that's sad news. At least his Dad got to see it happening to some extent.
 
Jammiedodger said:
Buy him and stick him straight into the starting 11. He can't be any worse than that inconsistent lump Martial.

My money is on him being the next Giggs.

And in a strange way, his father passing might be one of those sporting stories you read in 10yrs time when he looks back, after becoming a legend, and says signing for United just after his father passed was what inspired him to be as good as he could in honor of him etc etc . Its got that written all over it.

Condolences to him and his family too.
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You think?
 
cyberman said:
But they became better players than anybody could imagine they would be. Comparing Milner to Silva is extreme nonsense since the talent levels come into play.
Striking the ball is technique and the Ronaldo that signed for us to the Ronaldo today are two different players in how they strike the ball.
People judge these scenarios with hindsight and thats how the myth lives on. Go back in time and nobody was suggesting Henry / Ronaldo / Scholes would be the monsters they would become or even play in the style they grew into never mind in completely different positions yet it's dismissed as oh everybody knew he would develop into such and such. That's simply not true.
Look at Giggs. He himself admitted his speed left him wanting in the technical department since the he was traveling at such a pace that the margin for error was ridiculously high. As soon as he slowed down he adapted and worked on his on the ball technique so it improved 10 fold to the point he almost had an entirely new career in midfield. 25 year old Giggs could never had the tools to play in midfield
Nobody is suggesting every player has limitless scope for improvement but this myth of technique improvement disappearing with puberty is a nonsense in my opinion.
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Nobody expected the monster he became even though the club spent 12 million on him after one season of top flight Football and gave him Beckham's 7 shirt when he was 18.
 
I have been looking at his touches so far and what I love about him is the speed at which he runs with the ball. Most players seem to slow down while they are on the ball but he doesn't seem to.

I also think his control is actually solid. It's just that he doesn't often use it and tends to rely mostly on his pace after kicking the ball forward but whenever he actually has the ball close to his feet while running, his control looks good. It's not as good as that of Messi or that but it's solid. And I will repeat that the speed at which he runs on the ball looks really terrific. In fact, that's why I'm on board with his signing. However, Swansea shouldn't take us for a cleaner. He's on his last contract for crying out loud. Condolence to him and his family.
 
Mailo said:
You already knew about him?

He looks very driven and tenacious.
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As a Bridgend lad I know a lot of Swans fans and they've raved about him for ages.

He'd be a great squad option in my opinion and should only get better from there. He's really exciting.
 
I don't understand the consensus that he is a kick and chase merchant? It's obvious he is very capable of that, given his speed (which isn't a slight anyway, Bale tore the league to shreds doing that), but his touches and control is actually quite good, at full speed too, from what I can see.
 
MrSingh2002 said:
For what it's worth I was told today by someone in the know that this deal is done. The passing of his father has of course delayed confirmation and rightly so. But it's a wrap. No point asking me who I spoke to as I won't tell but I think it's a good first signing of the summer.

This message will self delete in 10 minutes.
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Have you posted on Reddit yet?
 
MrSingh2002 said:
For what it's worth I was told today by someone in the know that this deal is done. The passing of his father has of course delayed confirmation and rightly so. But it's a wrap. No point asking me who I spoke to as I won't tell but I think it's a good first signing of the summer.

This message will self delete in 10 minutes.
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We are more interested in the "This message will self delete in 10 minutes.", are you hacker?
 
MrSingh2002 said:
For what it's worth I was told today by someone in the know that this deal is done. The passing of his father has of course delayed confirmation and rightly so. But it's a wrap. No point asking me who I spoke to as I won't tell but I think it's a good first signing of the summer.

This message will self delete in 10 minutes.
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It's been 11.
 
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