[Robbie Boy]

Good performance.

 

[kafta]

Thought he was very good today. Hopefully much more to come from him.

 

[antsmithmk]

Watched the game live. Barely noticed him. Guess in that position it's a good thing.

 

[In Absentia]

He is just insufferable. His new habit is particularly annoying: He’ll talk about the game as if he's the manager or some kind of stock trader.

“I’m not liking their pressing in the central areas, I need them to show me XXX”
“I’m not saying he’s a BAD player, but I need to see him increase his ratio of progressive passes. Come back to me when he does that, and maybe I can say he’s a GOOD signing.”

He does it all the time now, and it makes him even more infuriating.

See also Carl Anka and his in-depth knowledge of fbref stats.

 

[Bwuk]

Him and Casemiro as the 2 in the 3-4-3 seems the way forward. Mainoo can rotate in.

 

[In Absentia]

It’s a reflection of just how stubborn Ten Hag was and just how badly our midfield was setup consistently.

It made very good players look absolutely tragic. I am happy for them that they don’t have to put up with absolute nonsense anymore.

Me, too. His setup, especially from Preseason 2023, has just been unforgivable.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Yeah he played well tonight. Great ball winning and strength and his passing was much more progressive too.

 

[ErikElevenHag]

Really good breaking up the play tonight, looked positive at progressing the ball as well.

Why ETH didn't play him more is a mystery, especially with obvious problems we had under him in midfield.

 

[3KDré]

I don't think he's a sitter. More of a Herrera/Fred type. A defensive box to box.

 

[Remember the geese]

More of a Herrera/Fred type. A defensive box to box.

That's exactly what he is. He's at his best when he's pressing the opposition, like Kante was.

 

[Adamsk7]

Looked good. Not surprising as he is good. Ten Hag…….

 

[NotChatGPT]

More of the same as we've seen before. Makes pointless fouls, good at winning the ball back but not very good with the ball at his feet.

 

[LDUred]

More of the same as we've seen before. Makes pointless fouls, good at winning the ball back but not very good with the ball at his feet.

Thought he played really well and that he used the ball intelligently. A couple of nice balls to set Garnacho and Bruno free, didn't dither on the ball, tried to inject a little urgency by carrying the ball.

I don't see how anyone can complain about that performance, other than to say that it was against a poor Leicester side.

 

[JBG]

 

[ScholesBrain]

would love to see him and casemiro partner more while mainoo is away.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Looked good. Not surprising as he is good. Ten Hag…….

I have a theory that refusal to play Ugarte was a final nail in ETH coffin. It was widely reported Ugarte was INEOS transfer and Erick was reluctant to approve it

 

[Alemar]

would love to see him and casemiro partner more while mainoo is away.

We have yet to see Amorim’s system and setup, but with Mainoo and Eriksen back and with Ugarte and Casemiro both playing as yesterday, it will be interesting to see who plays more

 

[Woodywizz]

Unfathomable why the idiot refused to play him and kept going on that he was not ready.

 

[Beachryan]

I like him. He's also bigger and stronger than I'd expected. As we knew, his passing isn't great (though not awful) and he occasionally gets caught on the ball which is a worry, but he's so much more active than our other midfielders without the ball.

For all the love Mainoo gets (rightly) he's not particularly involved defensively, and if Bruno is on the pitch, that's kind of not good enough for a functioning midfield.

We need to build around him.

 

[JJ12]

More of the same as we've seen before. Makes pointless fouls, good at winning the ball back but not very good with the ball at his feet.

This nonsense just going to get trotted out no matter how he plays I guess.

 

[Irrational.]

He was quite impressive. Deserves to start on Sunday.

 

[NotChatGPT]

This nonsense just going to get trotted out no matter how he plays I guess.

Him in tight situations is a nightmare. If that’s just a temp stumble related to playing in a different league than that would be fantastic. Wouldn’t be the first player and won’t be the last, which is why i argued it was a good idea to not just throw him on the pitch in desperation. He also makes a number of daft fouls when the better option is to stay tight as the only passing options are backwards.

I like him and I think he’ll be a solid midfielder for us, but for some reason people are going completely overboard and pretending that it’s shocking he hasn’t played more.

Nailed on starter for sunday.

 

[P-Nut]

Thought he was great last night. Nothing too fancy, but covered the pitch well and closed attacks off before they could truly get started.

 

[dogwithabone]

He’s getting better each game. Could flourish under his old boss.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Him in tight situations is a nightmare. If that’s just a temp stumble related to playing in a different league than that would be fantastic. Wouldn’t be the first player and won’t be the last, which is why i argued it was a good idea to not just throw him on the pitch in desperation. He also makes a number of daft fouls when the better option is to stay tight as the only passing options are backwards.

I like him and I think he’ll be a solid midfielder for us, but for some reason people are going completely overboard and pretending that it’s shocking he hasn’t played more.

Nailed on starter for sunday.

“Nightmare” is a wild exaggeration. He came out of plenty of tight situations with the ball last night. As for all these “daft fouls” he wasn’t booked and didn’t concede a single free-kick in a dangerous area. Considering his job is to break up opposition attacks I don’t think those fouls were as daft as you think they were. Far rather a “daft foul” than our usual midfield approach of letting opposition players dribble past us unchallenged.

 

[Cutch]

I see him as a stronger, more consistent and secure passer than Fred who's type of profile we've missed since he left. He's not the lone 6 that will protect your defence singlehandedly, needs a bit of licence to be like a dog after a bone. Amorim should know exactly what do with him and his system should allow him that

 

[NotChatGPT]

“Nightmare” is a wild exaggeration. He came out of plenty of tight situations with the ball last night. As for all these “daft fouls” he wasn’t booked and didn’t concede a single free-kick in a dangerous area. Considering his job is to break up opposition attacks I don’t think those fouls were as daft as you think they were. Far rather a “daft foul” than our usual midfield approach of letting opposition players dribble past us unchallenged.

It’s pointless to commit a foul on the half way line when the player just passed the ball backwards. Imo he’s awkward with the ball, underhit passes, overhit passes, he’s a bit like Fred in that sense. Nothing that can’t be sorted out.

I don’t mind tactical fouls at all.

 

[RedIan]

I thought he had a very good game last night, watched his highlight backs. Solid ball winner. Passing always accurate. His flair passes were also very good bar one that went astray.
His presence allowed Casamiro to get forward. He Looks to be a great midfield addition a big upgrade on Mctominay and Fred.

 

[Fetshu]

Reading some of these comments, I would think I was watching a different game yesterday -
Thought he did excellent in tight spaces and more than a few times - had players on him and he came out on the front foot with some slick footwork.

 

[Utterly De Ligt'd]

I have a theory that refusal to play Ugarte was a final nail in ETH coffin. It was widely reported Ugarte was INEOS transfer and Erick was reluctant to approve it

When we signed Casemiro at the end of the transfer window, much like Ugarte, Ten Hag didn't play him in favor of an inform McTominay, much like how he had been using inform Casemiro and Eriksen this season. I am sure given time he would have integrated him into the team, just like he did with Case after a couple months.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

When we signed Casemiro at the end of the transfer window, much like Ugarte, Ten Hag didn't play him in favor of an inform McTominay, much like how he had been using inform Casemiro and Eriksen this season. I am sure given time he would have integrated him into the team, just like he did with Case after a couple months.

And he's not remotely unusual in allowing new signings plenty of time at the club before making them a first team regular. Klopp took almost a full season to start picking Robertson regularly.

 

[Blood Mage]

Much better yesterday, I think he'll be great under a good coach. I wish he was a bit better on the ball but his passing isn't too bad.

 

[Isotope]

Didn't realize he had such a good game. Great anticipation, and good passer.

 

[Blood Mage]

Didn't realize he had such a good game. Great anticipation, and good passer.

He's the type of player of you don't really notice when they're doing their job well, but he sticks out badly if he's having a poor game.

 

[Isotope]

He's the type of player of you don't really notice when they're doing their job well, but he sticks out badly if he's having a poor game.

Yes. The water carrier job has been proven as an important job throughout football eras.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

I have a theory that refusal to play Ugarte was a final nail in ETH coffin. It was widely reported Ugarte was INEOS transfer and Erick was reluctant to approve it

None of that is true, Ten Hag was not forced on any player.

 

[SmashedHombre]

I know it was a second string LC side, but that's a really good compilation