Hannibal Mejbri | Birmingham Loan Watch
- Thread starter Samid
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He did a B-tec Bruno x Martial link up with Chongy. Lovely.
Love his arrogance & calmness under pressure in possession, he has really added that natural assertive shithousery to his game like Bruno aswell. Knows he belongs and opponents hate that air of arrogance!
Shipping him off again? I don't think it's 100% neccesary mate he could very easily slot into our current midfield roster, Fred is gone soon if we dont renew and Eriksen needs to be rotated more. He is still clearly raw in aspects and can be a little casual at times but he has the athleticism and technical assurity for mens' football already.
He is being bashed about a lot this season which is great in helping to get used to not overreacting. Personally think his "temper" that gets mentioned isn't something to worry much about when you look at other top players in the game that operate at the same intensity but have referee protection. He plays on the edge like most top players do and doesn't like being scythed down with cynical fouls and tugs designed to wind him up, much like Bruno & Grealish who also enjoy a whinge to officials. Opponents got away with it in academy football and he is getting a good schooling this year in the boundaries in senior ball from Deeney and Eustace. He just needs more consistent coaching to improve on-the-ball areas like @Messier1994 has pointed out earlier.
Mctominay was diabolical in and out of possession with his bad habits on the ball, then not showing well for it and "hiding". ETH got all that bad body balance and awkward footwork out of him in a few weeks and couple of months and improved his metronome decision making massively he went on huge strides even taking his lessons into scotland internationals where he was playing out of his skin.
We should ship Donny Van De Beek off in the summer and let Hannibal bed into the squad taking VDB old sporadic minutes. He can't possibly do worse which was literally nothing to date pretty much. A season of championship football then a season deputising Bruno & Eriksen learning during drills and practice from two top class pass masters and ETH in training every day, picking up 20 minutes here and there to show what he's learnt in the week, whilst starting a handful would be great development.
Just on the basis that ETH will have his system principles installed further by then and whilst another season away from the club at a higher level playing as much as possible would be equally beneficial in a different way of maturing and growing just like it is for any young player, there does always come a point where you weigh if they have enough fundamentals to be useful for you and I feel we can see already he has what it takes, in abundance. We are not stacked with quality in MF and he has that midfield general profile that we do need. Where better to finish his graduation than under the watchful eye & instruction of ETH?
That's because the salaries are high. So we need to flog them off heavily discounted. So do we pay players less but may lose them to competing clubs?
Generally, we get top prices only when the club's on a winning streak like under the Fergie years. Clubs want to buy our cast-offs because of their winning mentality and they will know what it takes to win, and bring that attitude to the respective clubs.
Its about getting back to winning ways again. But how do we do that without spending big on salaries in getting payers to come? Then if they don't work out....
Management isn't black & white. It requires taking chances and a lot of the time it fails.
Picking his spots better? Useful item of cosmetic advice, that.
I'd be worried he wouldn't get time in La Liga, and the Segunda is too weak. Maybe to a fairly big team in Belgium or the Netherlands where they would still want him to get on the ball more? Or a front-running Champo team with a hole in midfield. Ligue 1 is the obvious choice, but he might not develop his weak points there, just be used as a runner on a counter-attacking in the bottom half of the table.
One thing I have noticed is that he isn't afraid of physical challenges anymore compared to when he first came at the Academy.
He used to react or whine at the ref if someone came into him relatively hard at the Academy level. Seemed to have embraced it and dish some out himself now.
He used to react or whine at the ref if someone came into him relatively hard at the Academy level. Seemed to have embraced it and dish some out himself now.
Do we recall him now that Donny has suffered that nasty injury? Seems to be the only obvious option, unless Iqbal is trusted?
Neither, Eriksen will be pushed forward and Fred drops in Eriksens place if need be.
surely Bruno in the middle and Anthony/Garnacho/Elanga wide.
Doesn´t feel like we need to replace Donny since he wasn´t getting minutes, but it is good to have a few options on the bench when the games comes thick and fast. Would love to see Amad back in the squad but don´t want to stop his development at Sunderland. Similar situation to Hannibal. Hopefully players like Fred and Scott can keep fit and step up when needed.
We’re another long term injury away from recalling him, I’d say.
So light further up the field.
So light further up the field.
I think like the other poster said, in a pinch we’d push Eriksen further up the pitch and drop either Fred, McTominay or Iqbal in the pivot. Striker is my big concern, especially considering we don’t have anyone either out on loan or at the club readily able to step in, other than Rashford which is shaky at best.
Agreed. Shame we haven’t a pot to piss in.
Performances must have dipped, haven't heard much about him on twitter the last month.
The performances of Birmingham as a whole have dipped and they're playing probably the worst football in the division. They can't seem to buy anyone due to financial issues and had to leave players out of the line up in their last league game because they've got too many players on loan.
Watching a rerun of today’s game and what sticks out first and foremost is that it’s a very dysfunctional team, Birmingham, right now.
The coach they have, John Eustance, has obviously done an awful job. The team isn’t comfortable on the ball, they have very little movement among the players when they aren’t running N-S. They are deep deep down in the bottom 3 in all passing categories.
Like today they play Preston, they fell behind 2-0 early. Crap happens, it is was it is. Preston backed down and Birmingham was allowed to control the play. It was beyond awful. Couldnt control the play for any longer stretch before shooting them selves in the foot. Just so obviously that it’s an unprepared poorly drilled team. After 60 minutes Eustace took of all skilled players they had and put three big guys at top and only sent long balls to them. Then they actually looked a lot better, but Preston didn’t try and it’s hardly something you build on.
It’s not a game that will give Mejbri a long YT film with highlights. But I don’t think he was bad. He played as a more deep lying CM today, and kept his possession much more than usual. Completed a much higher percent of his passes than before.
Think it was there 6 straight loss. It would of course be good if they got in a coach who wasn’t as clueless, but I don’t know, it’s not easy to make changes mid-season in the Championship.
Sounds like recalling him and putting him somewhere more expansive would be better. It'll certainly be character building at least.
I watched the game on ifollow earlier and Birmingham did lose again, but this time there was a change of formation to 442 and they were actually trying to build play through the thirds. And Hannibal was far more involved on the ball compared to before the formation change, where his average touches per game were around 33 per game. And he only played around 60 minutes today before being subbed due to being on a yellow card but amassed around 49 touches. But his last two yellow cards were a little unfortunate imo and the highlights below against Forest Green and today's game against Preston show both yellow card incidents.
I think the way Birmingham setup today is the way to go and they should look to build play through the thirds. Bielik was dropping in as the extra CB in the build up and Hannibal was occupying the space in the deeper build up phase just ahead of the first line. And if they carry on playing like that, I think it will suit Hannibal and Birmingham City going forward because they also now have a young player on loan from Brighton who is very quick and plays on the left wing. But they have two battering rams up front in Hogan and Deeney, so the final third is about getting the crosses in because there's not going to be intricate play around the box involving them.
But this was a game where Birmingham had 66% possession and it's a step in the right direction as far as attempting to control possession. And they lost the game because they conceded from a corner kick and the first goal came about after a double ricochet which fell kindly to a Preston player who fired in from 20 yards.
I think the way Birmingham setup today is the way to go and they should look to build play through the thirds. Bielik was dropping in as the extra CB in the build up and Hannibal was occupying the space in the deeper build up phase just ahead of the first line. And if they carry on playing like that, I think it will suit Hannibal and Birmingham City going forward because they also now have a young player on loan from Brighton who is very quick and plays on the left wing. But they have two battering rams up front in Hogan and Deeney, so the final third is about getting the crosses in because there's not going to be intricate play around the box involving them.
But this was a game where Birmingham had 66% possession and it's a step in the right direction as far as attempting to control possession. And they lost the game because they conceded from a corner kick and the first goal came about after a double ricochet which fell kindly to a Preston player who fired in from 20 yards.
Promising.
Watching the highlights, I don't see a higher technical level than Mctom with his control and passing.
I can assure you that he's on a completely different level technically to McTominay.
I can second that. His technical level is elite. He needs to put it all together and show that he can be a controller in CM.
He's much better technically.
He definitely has potential to be good enough for us.
I haven't seen enough to know if he's decision making and workrate are good enough, but technically he is definitely good enough.
Id like to see us ship out players like VDB and Elanga who aren't good enough and give minute to Hannibal and Amad
An absolutely mental take.
Yeah. Imagine how good he will be with, say, three more years of experience and development behind him.
It’s a bit of a conundrum what to do with him but I think another whole year on loan somewhere and then a pre-season with us and he can challenge for the no8 spot (assuming we don’t buy FDJ in the meantime).
Ok, give me time stamos in the last 2 highlights posted on whether his touch and passing was anything Mctom could not do.
I like how you’ve never watched a player actually play and are demanding others to do the watching for you.
I started my post by saying "watching the highlights", that means judging from the highlights. So when you call that a "mental take", I would like you to add substance to that and show me, from the 2 videos I am referencing, where the mental take is.
No, fair play. You've watched 4 minutes of highlights so you couldn't possibly have put in more effort coming to this well-informed opinion. Can't believe people are challenging it! The absolute cheek of it!
FFS, how dense are people. When you start the post saying "from the highlights" the assumption is that the opinion is based from the highlights. Who does not know the highlights are not a well-rounded in-depth opinion.
There were 3 posters who immediately responded to my initial opinion saying he is better technically etc etc and notice I did not challenge or respond to them on it. Why, because I assume they have watched him in youth matches and on loan and I have not, so why challenge something I don't know.
What I did challenge is the poster adding no substance to their reply.
It wasn't worth challenging you on, it was an inherently stupid take and someone who bases their opinion off 4 minutes of highlights isn't worth taking on. Here:
Now you have another 5 minutes worth.
Good review.
Just from BCs perspective, I think it’s a bit false security with the possession numbers since the away team took a 2-0 lease and then gave up possession.
But I 100% agree with your take on HM, his role as a deep lying playmaker is one I wanna see him more in.
What worried me the most was that they came up with a plan that was a desk product without the necessary instructions and ground work to make the game plan work. 100% if someone like Potter took over them, and wanted to play more up field, he would have them focusing on 2-3 plays and make them work. You just cannot expect to achieve anything playing up from the back unless set up so that you always get numerical advantages in certain areas.
When you watch the way the two of them show for and receive the ball there is an obvious difference. Hannibal is much sharper to turn, get his head up, carry it or pass it. His mind and technique are enabling him do this stuff more quickly than McT normally does. And don’t forget McT is a lot more experienced so that gap is going to widen as Hannibal matures.
I only said touch and passing. I'll expand on both, when you see Amad control the ball, it's clear to see he touch is head and shoulders above anyone on the pitch. I'm not getting that with Hannibal compared to whoever he is around.
On the passing, I mean the long ground passing above 15 metres trying to rush a pass to an attacker. They kept being short and either hitting the defender or attacker on their heels. I am by no means saying he is a better/worse player than Mctom, I hope to god he is better, because it immediately improves the squad next season, it was just basic observations from the last two sets of highlights.
Only because you were crying about it in another comment.
I assume crying is also inherently pointless, so again, if pointless take, then why bother with a pointless response.