Not often then.
25
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 5
This isn't remotely true, though.
was a point where he kept the ball from Curtis jones for what seemed like a good 5 seconds, using what I would class as close control and dribbling
Such good player. Totally meant pass at end. You can see the look he had before passing. He scuffed a little but meant the passs
He doesn't waste the ball because he doesn't make any risky passes or pass through the lines. Occasionally he might spray it out to a full back on a transition.
He's relatively press resistant and tidy, and is in the team for breaking up play.
But he rarely progresses the ball (ball carrying, passing or even a Busquets style drop of the shoulder).
If you're ranking ability on the ball for our current CMs he's fighting it out with Casemiro for last (who has more in his game from a passing pov).
Probably classified as one of his 6 duels won.
What is and isn't counted as a dribble is determined by the stato Gods.
Amad's header was so bad today that it didn't register as a shot, for example. Great clearance.
Right but you’re completely missing the point. He doesn’t need to be Kroos or Scholes or Fabregas or Carrick. That’s not what is being asked of him. He’s doing everything asked of him with the ball and nobody expects him to be cutting defenses open. What he’s doing equates to being good on the ball.
This is when stats become silly. These aren't advanced stats or within the context of the game, they're just primitive counting stats. Ugarte objectively dribbled out of pressure or used smart body feints to avoid it entirely a number of times in the game. Because he chose to pass it off rather than bursting past a player, it doesn't count as a dribble?
We gotta use our eyes and interpret the game. His big error was getting pulled out of shape on the first goal and hanging De Ligt out to dry. But he did generally fantastic elsewhere.
I don't have an answer to your question.
We missed him so badly against Newcastle. Painfully essential. We need to add another player that can also win duels in the summer.
Yes he doesn't need to be Scholes but even if you compare him to the top ball winning DMs in the league he's not as good on the ball eg Rodri, Rice, Caicedo. I'm not digging him out for it, he does some things well and is overall fine.
No.
Not what Amorim requires from the centre mids in his system.
Heard Scholes complaining about him..
That means he was fine then.
He was being negative about the signing in the summer because "if he was any good PSG wouldn't let him go", I doubt he'd ever actually watched him properly. I've not heard his comments today but I would guess he's now trying to validate his summer prediction that Ugarte is rubbish by continuing to be negative about him.
Quickly becoming my favorite player. He is everywhere!
Scholes would still be playing Casemiro.
Bruno --- Ugarte
the new
Scholes --- Keane
!!
the new
Scholes --- Keane
!!
Absolutely class.
I was really sad when he wasn’t performing, thinking, 'Why can’t we have nice things all at once?' But now, he’s delivering performances like these!.
Makes me really happy
Makes me really happy
Great to have a proper enforcer in midfield.
Feels like we have to go all the way back to Keane for when we last had a midfielder who has the ability to control the midfield with aggression. He's shown he is more than just hard tackles and aggression of course, some of his passing today was absolutely class - eg. the pass right at the end, and another one in our own half with the outside of the boot to the left.
But what I'm enjoying seeing is that you can sometimes sense the opposition seeing him coming in for a 50:50 and almost shirking the challenge slightly. We haven't had that edge to our midfield in so long and losing those 50:50s and second balls has been massive issue for us in recent years.
Given how many yellows he picks up I think it is important we find a midfielder in the summer who can provide a similar level of steel and aggression when he is out.
Feels like we have to go all the way back to Keane for when we last had a midfielder who has the ability to control the midfield with aggression. He's shown he is more than just hard tackles and aggression of course, some of his passing today was absolutely class - eg. the pass right at the end, and another one in our own half with the outside of the boot to the left.
But what I'm enjoying seeing is that you can sometimes sense the opposition seeing him coming in for a 50:50 and almost shirking the challenge slightly. We haven't had that edge to our midfield in so long and losing those 50:50s and second balls has been massive issue for us in recent years.
Given how many yellows he picks up I think it is important we find a midfielder in the summer who can provide a similar level of steel and aggression when he is out.
Beast.
Yes.
I heard the opposite. Scholes was raving about him. He was saying our midfield going forward should always be Ugarte plus another.
What a turn around for him, under ETH he was absolute dross and now he looks great under Amorim. Long may it continue, he has an incredible work rate and stamina.
The technique of a rushed clearance involves absolutely skying the fecking ball at no risk of interception. That was nothing like a rushed clearance, zero.
We always get bullied in midfield when going to Anfield and at OT this season. He was the main reason why we weren't. Absolute monster.
He was in full Beast Mode against Liverpool.
He’s been very very good the last few weeks now.. makes a huge difference to how we play. Hopefully him and Mainoo can continue to develop an understanding together. They’re only 23 and 19 so they could be a pairing for many years to come.
Can't believe we've actually signed genuinely great midfielder
I think he was trying to make that pass, but skuffed it a bit and got lucky it still ended up bobbling through to where he wanted (rather than the high ball that he was trying to do).
Excellent performance. I've felt he's been tidy on the ball for a while, but yesterday it was against actual top class opposition. We missed him agaisnt Newcastle for sure.
I like the look of him and Mainoo together as well. Could be a solid base to build from.
I like the look of him and Mainoo together as well. Could be a solid base to build from.
It’s really starting to bother me the way he’s still flying below the radar of the media and pundits. He’s been absolutely top class for ages now but not getting any recognition for this in any of the analysis. When is he going to get the credit he deserves?!
Carrick also never got the recognition he deserved, so I chose to see this as a positive sign
Probably not until the team are 5th or 6th. Happy not to see any praise for them until then personally…we don’t want Real coming in ha
That really just shows the importance of looking at stats in context. I remember multiple occasions of him dribbling out of tight spots so would take the dribble completed stat with a huge pinch of salt. Plus, I would see him getting involved in 16 ground duels as a positive. Even if he doesn’t win every one, he’s still causing problems for the other team in possession. Did any other player have more ground duels than 16? How many won more than 7?
He's easily my favourite player in the squad this season. He was the signing this summer that I was the most excited about. He's essential in our midfield.