careful. my uncle was once in the birmingham mail and he used to sniff seats on the night bus.
Hannibal Mejbri | Birmingham Loan Watch
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Happy that he's playing in midfield. Very combative, but still has the quality of midfielders who are known more for their class on the ball. We could use a player like him in our midfield, once he's developed to be at the level required.
In the early years, a range of circumstances dictate who develops quickest, but I never felt he was inferior to Bellingham in terms of talent. I have some hope that he could be a United level 8. He was class last season, although I got the impression that Ten Hag didn’t fancy him.
Agreed, but that was surely due to not playing him in his preferred position. It's clear he's at his best in the midfield, but instead we have played him as an attacker (winger or as a striker in preseason).
But that is part of it. He was like an afterthought put on the pitch to just ‘get minutes’ rather than genuinely being trialled with a view to being part of the squad. Was incredibly frustrating after the season Hannibal just had to see him go on your and be exclusively used as a fecking striker. But it seemed like Ten Hag valued Iqbal and Savage above him.
Pre-season is about giving players minutes ffs you drama queens. Telles played CB, do you think ETH thought Telles was a central defender? We only had four first team wingers/forwards on the pre-season tour (Elanga, Rashford, Martial, Sancho). Do the maths.
Isn't that sort of adding to their argument? Telles was definitely an after thought and played out of position, they are saying the same of Hannibal
No. If you have 4 players for 3 positions in games where 11 subs are made, the players in other positions who can best fill in are used to fill in. Trying to read more into it that that is absurd.
You prioritise the players you see a future in though. There's no way of making an argument that Hannibal was prioritised over Savage and Iqbal this summer. I'm not making any statements further than that, but this summer is a fact Hannibal got short shrift to show what he can do.
Oh boy if he could become a starter for us....I have really really high hopes for him. Lot of times who gets to realize their potential depends on if there's an obvious path to the first team for them. Here there is. Hopefully he will save us a ton of money.
Reading too much into it. You know what they say about assumptions...
What if the priority was for players who would be staying this season, if a loan for Hannibal was already on the cards? What if ETH doesn't judge a player on pre-season games and sees them as largely for fitness with the real assessment being made in training? What if ETH simply wanted to spread the minutes out as much as possible and didn't think Iqbal, Garner or Savage could play in the forward line?
There's too many unknowns and variables to suggest he got poorly treated or hard done by. For all we know ETH may have a major hard on for Hannibal and think he's the future, he may think he's rubbish, he may reserve judgement and assess his progress this season. I think it boils down to fans wanting a glimpse of Hannibal in midfield in one-season so that they can get some insight into his progress, but I think it's highly likely ETH wouldn't see those games as super informative, in comparison to training or his performances on loan. Pereira was pre-season Ronaldinho, Cleverly had Yaya on toast, Iqbal tore Liverpool a new arsehole and hasn't seen a minute on the pitch when the real stuff started. Its only pre-season.
Also worth noting in our first game, first actual real game, Eriksen started as a false 9. Doesn't mean ETH didn't rate him as a midfielder...He wasn't deemed the most disposable midfielder behind Fred and McTominay
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The recovery pace he showed at 21:26 to halt the Hull counter was probably the most pleasing aspect of his performance and is something that i'm sure has endeared him to both the Birmingham fans and players.
Let's hope ETH appreciates these attributes.
We've sold and loaned out so much hair to Birmingham it's unreal.
Clearly, ETH has an agenda. Hairist.
That's obvious isn't it? Very bald of him to do it actually.
hair today, gone tomorrow.
The kids need to shave their hairs off if they want to get a chance. That's how van dar gaag the gig.
VDB out for so long because he goes the extra mile to remove his hair one by one
He will need to if he wants to prove he is truly dedicated to the United cause. So far with all that hair I am having some serious doubts. Spending too much time at the hair saloon conditioning his hair rather than getting fit.
That's why ETH only trust baldies. No distractions with unnecessary vanity.
Sounds like we can ship out Fred next season and bring in a younger version but one that is blessed with good technique.
I think something has to change mate, because we don't have a single player in central areas of the pitch who has the ability to carry the ball forward, evade the press and then keep composure and find the final pass.
It's about having a balanced midfield, and I was hoping Hannibal would be given a chance due to him having the craft, guile and ball carrying ability which is a combination none of our other players have in central areas. I would've loved to have seen a midfield 3 of Casemiro, Eriksen and Hannibal in some games.
I agree.
I couldn't work out why he was not tried in the midfield in the preseason by Erik given he was ahead of other youngsters but I think it has probably worked out better for Hannibal if he can kick on and get a full season of Championship football under his belt.
As you stated....the Championship is a fast moving physical league where he will be up against men so it should be a good environment to get the rubbish out of his game and develop a good mindset to benefit his team.
I think ten Hag had decided early in preseason that he was going to go with the more experienced players for the new season. And like you say, it was probably for the best that Hannibal went on loan and got game time rather than be a bit part player at United whilst ten Hag figured things out as far as team composition is concerned.
Nice one but keep posts snappy, Adnan. We haven't time to be reading that thesis.
I just finished watching a reply of the game and Hannibal from my POV is showing pretty drastic improvements. The skill has always been apparent — so has the attitude, the spectacular tackles and everything — but for a PL first team player the consistency has definitely been shaky and his play hasn’t been very conform with the team. And the last part is definitely something that will make Ten Hag doubtful about using him (compared to say an Elanga who despite’s all his faults will be 100% zeroed in on doing what the coach wants).
Even if Hannibal is fighting for a spot and trying to prove his worth — I think his decision making from the coach’s point of view was more impressive. It’s obviously that he got a good “exit meeting” with Ten Hag/team representatives pointing him in the right direction.
Also, I want to add that from my point of view, both Hannibal and Laird are much closer than what they get credit for. Hannibal isn’t quiet there yet — but when he gets there, you are not getting a ‘meh’ performance. The kid will be spectacular. Someone compared him to Bellingham. I mean, they are different and JB was on another level in terms of stability and so forth. But Hannibal definitely also has many abilities that someone like JB does not have. I would honestly say that Hannibal from my POV has the highest potential of all kids coming up the last decade. If Hannibal arrives and can acclimate to ETH’s style, you will have a player with abilities that no coach in the world would turn down.
Lastly, re ETHs decision to not go with him this year. I have nothing against that, I 100% agree with it. Look, you got to respect all the aspects that goes into to this besides the obvious capability to play with and without the ball. Look at Casemiro against Everton. He played a heck of a game, right? But let not forget that he gift wrapped 1-0 for Everton. That is a big boy performance if anything considering how unphased he was by it. This team has and will be a real mess for parts of this season. Why did Arsenal give Guendozi away? He is now almost a starter for the French national team. Guendozi was ‘rushed’ to the PL and put in a situation it was impossible to perform well in — and couldn’t handle it.
I would read nothing into that and I would be extremely surprised if ETH wasn’t very impressed with Hannibal.
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Another compilation. Love his performance
He's a great player. Not saying he will make it at United but he will make it as a top, top player.
Still will be truly baffled if he doesn't make it with us. I'm not one to put too much hope in our youth players unfairly these days, I've grown out of thinking each of them are the next big thing, which you still see on here funnily enough. But this lad is pure class. He's got everything thats needed to be an important player for us.
I think the thing that sets him apart is he has a fighting mentality, at least from what we can see.
Think the issue is the reserve league is so poor, you see our kids dominating and running rings around others, it makes you think they're capable of way more.
Unfortunately the step up to mens football is a lot bigger. I do think Hannibal has the talent though.
A solid season in the championship will do him wonders, way better than sitting on the bench or another season of reserves.
Good post and I agree with what you're saying. He's a young midfielder with ability and attributes that make him a very interesting young prospect. He has the touch, technique, dribbling as well as the intensity and speed/mobility that make him a standout player for me. He fits the role of the deep roaming play-maker like a glove and that's a role we need filling. And it would be nice if we had several of those players like some of the bigger teams like City, Bayern, Madrid and Barca have.
I don't think we're too far away from having a very competitive team and once we have players in the midfield who can knit it all together and connect the dots in the defensive and midfield thirds, then we'll see a very different team to the one we're seeing now. But we need players in central areas who not only have the passing ability but also the ability to dribble/carry the ball which breaks the opponent's press and opens up the game for team mates. And Hannibal definitely fits that profile and he's a player that doesn't let the game pass him by because he wants to be involved both in the offensive and defensive transitions in all phases of play.
Exactly. Hannibal was a better substitute CF than Savage or Iqbal or so the coaches thought. That's it.
So far he isn't one for youth players in the slightest is he. I don't see how these handful of young players are going to make it here as a result
https://www.smallheathalliance.com/read.php?1,3267207
They don’t think he’s the best loan player they have.
They don’t think he’s the best loan player they have.
Is that it?! Jaysus. Reading the comments above was expecting a hell of a lot more. Glad to hear things are going well for him but Chong was class for them last season and seems to have been excellent again this season. Yet the whole caf decided he’s an absolutely rotten footballer. Go figure.
Onwards and upwards for Hannibal from here, hopefully. First step would be to look like a much better player than Chong does in that team. By all accounts, he’s not there yet.