Hakim Ziyech

dutchred said:
This is a really good analysis.
He can be brilliant. He can be frustrating. But he can win you games on his own. We have none who can unlock defenses. He can. I would love to see him here but everyone must have patience. If everything does not work out in the first few games we must have patience.
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Kicker Conspiracy said:
Ziyech plays like a tennis player who goes 100% full on his service, which means a lot of aces but also many double faults. With Hakim there is no middle of the road, its all or nothing.
At Ajax, the supporters in the beginning had difficulties with accepting this, and was the emphasis more on the fumbles and wrong passes. But after some time the fans started to see that the absolute brilliance and genius he displayed was worth the annoyance. So any team which plays with Ziyech has to accept this. If you try to kill Hakim's demons, his angels will die as well.
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I agree.

One major mistake. The fact that the fans were annoyed was because at that time he didn't switch and defended. Now he's one (if not THE) hardest worker in the squad. First one to engage pressure-mode and he makes sure everyone is following by example.

So it's not only the fans who learned to live with the risk in his play, but also his own accomplishment by changing his game and especially his approach.

I really think he's able to play at he highest level now.
 
I think Ole will still prioritize signing players he feels will integrate easily into the group. Usually British or foreign players who have maybe dreamed of playing for Man Utd. Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and has worked with Ole, so he for example, perhaps would dream to play for us.

I think Ole is adamant not sign anyone who doesn't feel some huge connection to the club such as a Di Maria, Falcao, Depay, Mkhitarian, Matic, etc but are happy to come due to the salary on offer.

Obviously exceptions will be made once in a while. Dani Olmo for example might buy into what Ole is doing with young talent, and Ole might fancy Olmo's chances of settling into the group quickly due to Juan Mata being here etc.
 
Champagne Football said:
I think Ole will still prioritize signing players he feels will integrate easily into the group. Usually British or foreign players who have maybe dreamed of playing for Man Utd. Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and has worked with Ole, so he for example, perhaps would dream to play for us.

I think Ole is adamant not sign anyone who doesn't feel some huge connection to the club such as a Di Maria, Falcao, Depay, Mkhitarian, Matic, etc but are happy to come due to the salary on offer.

Obviously exceptions will be made once in a while. Dani Olmo for example might buy into what Ole is doing with young talent, and Ole might fancy Olmo's chances of settling into the group quickly due to Juan Mata being here etc.
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If that's his attitude then he has no business managing at this level. Team bonding and other niceties are good but they are no substitutes for absolute talent and the impact such a talent could have on a team. There will always be difficult characters to handle and that's among one of the reasons why the manager is paid the big bucks.
 
AneRu said:
If that's his attitude then he has no business managing at this level. Team bonding and other niceties are good but they are no substitutes for absolute talent and the impact such a talent could have on a team. There will always be difficult characters to handle and that's among one of the reasons why the manager is paid the big bucks.
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It's all about context....
We were crying out for wingers and central midfielders over the summer, yet Ole walked away from the Bruno Fernandes, Tielemans, and Nicolas Pepe deals for various reasons that we don't really know.
Alexis Sanchez could have done a job as a squad player but he got the boot as there were murmurs that he wasn't mixing well in the group.
Ole walked away from the dybala deal as there were fears money was the only motivation.
 
Champagne Football said:
I think Ole will still prioritize signing players he feels will integrate easily into the group. Usually British or foreign players who have maybe dreamed of playing for Man Utd. Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and has worked with Ole, so he for example, perhaps would dream to play for us.

I think Ole is adamant not sign anyone who doesn't feel some huge connection to the club such as a Di Maria, Falcao, Depay, Mkhitarian, Matic, etc but are happy to come due to the salary on offer.

Obviously exceptions will be made once in a while. Dani Olmo for example might buy into what Ole is doing with young talent, and Ole might fancy Olmo's chances of settling into the group quickly due to Juan Mata being here etc.
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Why would he dream of us after one of United's greatest players, Keano ended the career of his dad? :rolleyes::rolleyes:
A cnutish tackle to his dad Ralf's right ankle and puff, the Leeds great's career was gone.
 
sglowrider said:
Why would he dream of us after one of United's greatest players, Keano ended the career of his dad? :rolleyes::rolleyes:
A cnutish tackle to his dad Ralf's right ankle and puff, the Leeds great's career was gone.
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He didn't end his career ffs! This is a worse myth than Giggs playing for England.
 
Why no one from big clubs didnt try to sign him? In my opinion he is better than Sancho at rw and than Madison at 10.
 
I find it quite staggering that we aren't seriously looking at him,then again he is born outside of the UK so no surprise really.

When will Ole realise he can get some real quality at a decent price on the continent.
 
Macedonian Red said:
Why no one from big clubs didnt try to sign him? In my opinion he is better than Sancho at rw and than Madison at 10.
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I can see a load of clubs tip toeing around the idea of signing Ziyech but never really pulling the trigger until the inevitable happens and he joins a club and becomes a major success.
Like Bernardo Silva. Bet a whole host of clubs regret not making a move on him,our club being one of them but we have a (recent) long list of that.
 
Just sign him ffs.

Him, Fekir are no brainers. No idea why We didn't even attempt to sign them. They can play fluid, attacking football, creative, can play as RW, SS, AM, even LM and both are still only 26.
 
Champagne Football said:
I think Ole will still prioritize signing players he feels will integrate easily into the group. Usually British or foreign players who have maybe dreamed of playing for Man Utd. Erling Haaland was born in Leeds and has worked with Ole, so he for example, perhaps would dream to play for us.

I think Ole is adamant not sign anyone who doesn't feel some huge connection to the club such as a Di Maria, Falcao, Depay, Mkhitarian, Matic, etc but are happy to come due to the salary on offer.

Obviously exceptions will be made once in a while. Dani Olmo for example might buy into what Ole is doing with young talent, and Ole might fancy Olmo's chances of settling into the group quickly due to Juan Mata being here etc.
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Might as well build a National Team then.
 
Oftentimes there are reasons why the elite teams collectively don't (or hesitate to) sign a prolific player when he's available/attainable — mostly due to underlying factors that hoi poloi like us aren't privy to. Or, maybe there's a feeling that De Jong and De Ligt were the clear outstanding talents, and Ziyech is not worthy of substantial offers for the highest level (e.g. Mbappé, Bernardo, Fabinho have obviously been great signings from that Monaco team but Lemar, Mendy, Bakayoko not so much on the basis of what they have shown thus far). Ajax are a very good organisation these days and have given a superb account of themselves in the Champions League, but barring some unknown disqualifiers, I can't quite think of other reasons why Ziyech isn't already at a club in the biggest domestic leagues, like Bayern or even United (since we actively need a player with his creative qualities), unless he's not convinced by the projects being offered to him.

As it stands he has proven himself in the Champions League (which is the probably the single best tool for standardizing the performances of players from weaker domestic competitions), evidences much improved decision-making and work-rate and tactical acumen, seems a considerably more mature player than at Twente or even his early Ajax days, scores a decent amount of goals and assists like few others (18 already this season including a chart-topping 5 in the Champions League with the realistic chance to match/beat Milner's record of 9). Oh well, Ajax stand to gain by the indecision of the sharks — last year was a romantic story, but them using it as a springboard for a sustained siege on the Champions League front while retaining difference-makers like Ziyech or Promes or Van de Beek or Tagliafico (and obviously seasoned performers Tadić/Blind) would be something else entirely!
 
AneRu said:
If that's his attitude then he has no business managing at this level. Team bonding and other niceties are good but they are no substitutes for absolute talent and the impact such a talent could have on a team. There will always be difficult characters to handle and that's among one of the reasons why the manager is paid the big bucks.
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I think Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Sánchez and Lukaku say there is a substitute for absolute talent.
 
AKDevil said:
I think Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Sánchez and Lukaku say there is a substitute for absolute talent.
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When you look at each signing on that list you'd see the difference with this one. Schweinsteiger, Sanchez and Falcao were on the way down, Di Maria didn't want to come and Lukaku was not a failure - he had a poor season last season but he didn't fail at United. Sometimes as a manager you have to back yourself to be able to manage difficult characters, the upside could be immense. What I am against is closing the option of signing players from elsewhere other than the PL and Championship when arguably the other half of our best ever CB partnership came straight from Serbia.
 
croadyman said:
I find it quite staggering that we aren't seriously looking at him,then again he is born outside of the UK so no surprise really.

When will Ole realise he can get some real quality at a decent price on the continent.
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You don’t believe the links to Haaland, Zakarias, Soumare, Sancho, Tonali, Salisu?
 
One thing that has really fascinated me over the last weeks is that assist against Chelsea. Because it was a sick pass, but also because most of the time you will see players pull off something nice against small teams, and then maybe they try the same thing later in a big match. With Ziyech it was the other way around, which I guess is quite typical for him and why people over here in the Netherlands have been crazy in love with him for years now. He's just so magical.

Here's that pass against Chelsea on 5 November



Two weeks later 23 november against Heracles Almelo



And this week against Lille there was again an exact replica of that pass from the right by Ziyech followed by a goal from Promes at the second post. Can't find the proper clip at the moment.

Both Ziyech and Ajax coach Erik ten Hag talked a bit about that trademark defense splitting pass that led to those goals. Ziyech himself is of the opinion that if he hits it perfectly no team or player in the world can defend it, which I agree with.

I also agree with Ten Hag who gave all the credit to Ziyech, by explaining how those assists are purely down to the individual quality of Ziyech, and how he as a manager can't coach that or had any part in it (some people who think you can just hire an attacking coach to solve creative problems in a team should think about that remark).
 
I like what I see from him more and more. I think he has matured the last couple of years and his tendencies to disappear from games Ajax struggles in and his shotfrequenzy from impossible distances/angles has gotten a lot better. His top game is fantastic, both creative and hardworking. If we fail to sign Sancho, I want this guy.
 
I think we need a number 10 more than a right winger as we now have James doing a good job for us.

Ziyechs creativity would add a lot to our midfield and attack in general.

Martial, Rashford, Ziyech, James, Pogba, McTominay, LB, Maguire, Tuanzebe, AWB, De Gea

In a 4231....
 
Gordon S said:
You don’t believe the links to Haaland, Zakarias, Soumare, Sancho, Tonali, Salisu?
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I would ignore anyone who persists with this point of few. It was abundantly clear we were looking at players on the continent, and went as far as to make contact/offers. For some reason, some posters seem to think being culturized, knowing the commonly spoken language or having played in the league already, aren't things that are weight to suitability of a player.
 
I've decided that he would be my choice for RW. Sancho is nothing but la-la-land. Ziyech would actually be attainable and would come here, I reckon. Which basically means we'll spend a few months in the summer chasing rainbows and end up with Lingard/Mata/Pereira at RW again next season.
 
Alabaster Codify7 said:
I've decided that he would be my choice for RW. Sancho is nothing but la-la-land. Ziyech would actually be attainable and would come here, I reckon. Which basically means we'll spend a few months in the summer chasing rainbows and end up with Lingard/Mata/Pereira at RW again next season.
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Why you have to always insert a bit of negativity in each of your posts is beyond me. Are you a glass half empty person in life?
 
Gordon S said:
You don’t believe the links to Haaland, Zakarias, Soumare, Sancho, Tonali, Salisu?
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I believe the links to Haaland because of the Molde connection but Sancho only happens if we win europa league.

I am not convinced by the links to the others until I hear it from a more reliable source.
 
InLevyITrust said:
Interesting that Tadic at now 30 is ripping it up at Ajax when he was mostly shite in the PL, he has 35 goals in 49 games.
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Smalling and Lukaku are doing well in Serie A. Farmer league.
Tadic is doing well in Eredivisie. Farmer league.
Sancho rips apart Bundesliga, while couldn't get games with Chelsea. Farmer league.
Trippier enjoying life in La Liga, while no-one wanted him here. Farmer league.

EPL is the blue collar league.
 
Isotope said:
Smalling and Lukaku are doing well in Serie A. Farmer league.
Tadic is doing well in Eredivisie. Farmer league.
Sancho rips apart Bundesliga, while couldn't get games with Chelsea. Farmer league.
Trippier enjoying life in La Liga, while no-one wanted him here. Farmer league.

EPL is the blue collar league.
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True, and he even said it. PL was too much for his body.

But also; He's playing in a different position, which makes a big difference. He's not quick enough to be a winger, but can hold on to balls like (almost) no one else. So perfect fit for the false 9.
 
Imagine him distributing the long balls as Mata did today. Ziyech could do this all game long and at 26 years he has the time to improve further. He is scoring less then last season, but he is still a key player for Ajax.
 
LazyRed-Ninja said:
Imagine him distributing the long balls as Mata did today. Ziyech could do this all game long and at 26 years he has the time to improve further. He is scoring less then last season, but he is still a key player for Ajax.
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I agree. There's a highlight reel on YT somewhere of Ziyech playing similar diagonal passes to the one Mata did for Rashford & Martial last night. Ziyech has mastered it.

Hoping we secure his signature this window or in the summer
 
My Ajax friends are pretty sure that he is leaving this transfer window, Ajax is preparing to buy replacement already. Spurs seems to be the main suitor atm.
 
It really amazes me that we aren't all in for Ziyech. He can leave for a reasonable fee, can play right wing or in the middle and can be the orchestrator of the attack. He will see the runs made by Martial and Rashford. Puts them in front of goal at least three times a game.

Also mentality wise he's cold as feck, he really doesn't mind pressure.
 
Ziyech is obviously a top talent and it amazes everyone that he has not been snapped up yet. He has proved he hasn't been playing 'above his level' at Ajax and would absolutely be a good buy to whichever club went for him.

My view is that Sancho is our #1 target and we will be in for him in the summer. Ziyech would be the best alternative to Sancho if he decides to go elsewhere.

What I'm worried about is if we miss out on both due to waiting on target #1.

I personally think Ziyech could be better for our system at this time due to his defensive capabilities and the fact he doesn't stop running. Sancho is alot younger and could give 10 years service as opposed to 4-6 years from Ziyech.

If we get one of them I will be happy!
 
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