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Marcel Sabitzer Austria flag

2022-23 Performances

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5.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
18
Goals
3
Assists
1
Yellow cards
1
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Would be a very solid buy around the 15-20m range. A good squad midfielder.
 
He's going to be great next to Casemiro. I feel like while he may be a bit worse than Eriksen on the ball, he's got much more bite about him.
 
Looking forward to seeing him beside Casemiro and get a much better feel then of how he fits into the team.
 
Thought he was very combative and passed the ball well. Played a huge part in our opening goal.
 
Not surprised he's been good - bayern don't buy poor players

Still think there's a little more adjusting to the leagues pace to come from him but I expect that to happen over the next few weeks. He'll be a key player for us during the run in

A fantastic bit of business for a January loan
 
I don't necessarily think he is an upgrade on Fred. For all the complaning about Fred's sloppiness on the ball and praise of Sabitizer's composure Fred ended with a 79% completion rate and Sabitzer with a 78%. Not prone to the brainless Fred moments in bad areas but also not capable (from what I have seen so far) of matching Fred's top level or pure energy.
 
I think him and Casemiro is going to be a great pairing. I’m also liking Sancho in the 10 with Bruno a freeish role out wide.
 
It would be a gamble splashing the cash on a midfielder over simply keeping him.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
For the rumored 20m he’d be a fantastic signing.
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Where though? Our best midfield would still be the one we had before he arrived/Eriksen's injury

I actually don't think he's really a Fred alternative either. Of course I guess when we're really playing the way ETH wants us to a Fred type player hopefully won't be needed
 
charlenefan said:
Where though? Our best midfield would still be the one we had before he arrived/Eriksen's injury

I actually don't think he's really a Fred alternative either. Of course I guess when we're really playing the way ETH wants us to a Fred type player hopefully won't be needed
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He’s better than Fred, and similar in his passing to Eriksen when comparing both except he brings more legs. Our best midfield anyways involves a top ball carrier that we don’t have anyways (Jude anyone?) but he’s a legit upgrade on 2 of our options already for 20m and a great alternative to an aging Eriksen that struggles in more intense games.
 
I would have felt hard done if he got sent off but, that would have been through red tinted glasses. Other than that it was a very solid performance and it definitely will be interesting to see him next to Case when he is bit more freed up to get forward. Fred and him definitely a very makeshift duo in that setup but, we've got through the games now.

Very good bit of business by the club to identify him and get him the way we did.
 
I like him. He just seems pretty good at everything. Nothing seems to phase him and he doesn't feck around with the ball which is refreshing. Never realised how good he was at the dark arts too. He seems abit more level headed than Casemiro but knows how to shithouse.

Sign him.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
He’s better than Fred, and similar in his passing to Eriksen when comparing both except he brings more legs. Our best midfield anyways involves a top ball carrier that we don’t have anyways (Jude anyone?) but he’s a legit upgrade on 2 of our options already for 20m and a great alternative to an aging Eriksen that struggles in more intense games.
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There's no doubt in the summer we need to go for a Bellingham or FDJ (or maybe not after the other night) so if that happens our midfield options if Sabitzer is signed would be (rated best to worst)

Casemiro
Bruno
New CM
Eriksen
Sabitzer/Fred
McTominay

I get he'd be cheap but he'd still be our 5th best midfielder
 
Didn’t do well in the beginning but grew more influential as the match progresses. There’s a superb player in there.
 
From what I've seen so far I think he'd be a good piece of business if we can sign him for £20m or so. He'd be a really solid squad player who fits the system
 
Think he could be a Gundogan type player for us. Can play in a midfield 2 or 3 and will add a good amount of solidity against top sides while also being a solid option in a deeper role against lesser sides.
 
He has been good for you, but could see him easily next season as starter for Liverpool if you dont sign him.Would be much better then Thiago for them.
 
Not sure about him and Fred together. I feel like they ideally want to be doing the same thing. They're both better when they can move forward, neither is amazing at building play, both want to press and neither seems to fill spaces very well in front of the back 4. As good as we looked in the second half (and some of that was with McT) we looked shambolic in the first in terms of organisation and protecting the back line. I dunno, maybe they'll rectify it with time together but its a questionable partnership. Not that we have much choice currently.

All that said, he had a pretty solid game in his own right.
 
charlenefan said:
There's no doubt in the summer we need to go for a Bellingham or FDJ (or maybe not after the other night) so if that happens our midfield options if Sabitzer is signed would be (rated best to worst)

Casemiro
Bruno
New CM
Eriksen
Sabitzer/Fred
McTominay

I get he'd be cheap but he'd still be our 5th best midfielder
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In your scenario McT would be sold, and I don’t really think of Bruno as a midfielder.

Anyways I’m always of the opinion that if I can upgrade my squad for cheap with more quality I’d do it, especially with midfielders when quite frankly you can never have enough of them. But we’ll see as we do need better cover for Casemiro as well.
 
Abraxas said:
Not sure about him and Fred together. I feel like they ideally want to be doing the same thing. They're both better when they can move forward, neither is amazing at building play, both want to press and neither seems to fill spaces very well in front of the back 4. As good as we looked in the second half (and some of that was with McT) we looked shambolic in the first in terms of organisation and protecting the back line. I dunno, maybe they'll rectify it with time together but its a questionable partnership. Not that we have much choice currently.

All that said, he had a pretty solid game in his own right.
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It’s an emergency partnership, not one that we’d ever use with regularity but we basically don’t have any midfielders
 
Sunny Jim said:
Good player but he is Fred mk2. No point in buying him unless we lose Fred
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Not quite Fred mark 2 but yeah similar qualities and I agree. Unless we have a big transfer kitty, the likelihood is that we'd have the budget for only one midfielder. We need a Eriksen replacement and/or basically a De Jong type. Not another box to box busy body.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
It’s an emergency partnership, not one that we’d ever use with regularity but we basically don’t have any midfielders
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True, but it's something we have to consider if we decide to keep Sabitzer. What the viable partnerships are that make sense because he's another box to box all rounder which all of him, Fred, McTominay are in slightly differing forms. Him and Eriksen looks a bit wrong too, there's only Casemiro I'd be comfortable with. I guess that's an overall problem though - too reliant on Casemiro. I think we need to sell a few, buy a few and get some better options that work together.
 
Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
Seems a bit shocked at the pace of the games, needs to get used to it.
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Difficult to join in January and get thrown in against a chaotic team like Leeds back to back with your midfield partner being just as chaotic. I think he will settle in a couple weeks time
 
Skills said:
He's far better than McTominay and Donny. Sell them, sign him + 1 more midfielder
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I agree that he's better than those two. However, I would like us to sign an Eriksen upgrade and a Casemiro deputy. I'm not so sure Sabitzer fills either of those roles. However, I do get the feeling that we will sign him permanently.
 
Skills said:
He's far better than McTominay and Donny. Sell them, sign him + 1 more midfielder
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This! Sabtizer and Bellingham for McTom and Donny would be cracking business in the middle of the park.
 
Think he did well against Leicester. Quite a few moments where he sensed danger and his passing was safe, but consistent (Except one peach of a ball out to Bruno I think). The main reason he pushed for this loan was minutes, so I don't think he will be happy to be just a squad player here if we are interested in signing him end of season. Feel like him and Cas together would be a great combo for this season though.
 
It needs to be seen how he plays alongside Casemiro, Eriksen (and McTominay....), but for now, like I said in the Mctominay thread, I'd sign him and keep McTominay, and sell Fred and Donny.

For me, he's a marked improvement on Fred, and would be pushing Eriksen as the first-choice partner for Casemiro from what I've seen of him so far. People seem to like Fred more because he runs around a lot, but Sabitzer does what Fred does, but much, much better. He (and the rest of the footballing world) doesn't need to run around as much as Fred because he's got a footballing brain to understand when he should press to be effective and win the ball. Most of the 'extra' running around Fred does is actually detrimental to the team because the team loses it's shape when he does so, leaving huge gaps in midfield that better teams usually punish. Sabitzer, for me, is able to put pressure and win balls through pressing just as effectively as Fred at his best, without sacrificing anywhere near as much as Fred even on his good days. I also like his passing once he's on the ball, as he doesn't lose the ball in dangerous areas as Fred is prone to do, it seems like Sabitzer only tends to lose the ball when attempting 'higher reward' passes (but tends to be lower risk ones if they don't come off).

Also, for the balance of the team, Sabitzer looks like he'd be a better fit too. Fred can only play with Casemiro, and while it's too early to know for certain, but I feel like Sabitzer would be effective alongside all the other central midfielders bar Fred. I think he'd be completely fine alongside Casemiro, if anything he would probably help Casemiro play better (not that Casemiro needs to be any better than he already is) since Sabitzer is physically stronger and is less likely to be stuck in no-man's land if Casemiro occasionally pushes up. He looked fine with McTominay, and I think having a relatively stationary DM like McTominay actually suits Sabitzer. And I think he'd be ok even with Eriksen, as Eriksen could drop back to being a Pirlo-like 6 with Sabitzer because Sabitzer can help Eriksen with the defending with his physicality and more savvy pressing.

If there's an extra 100m floating about in the summer, then yes, a Bellingham/FDJ type midfielder would be best. But if money is short for whatever reason, I would prefer to buy Sabitzer on the cheap, keep McTominay, and sell Fred and Donny.
 
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Abraxas said:
True, but it's something we have to consider if we decide to keep Sabitzer. What the viable partnerships are that make sense because he's another box to box all rounder which all of him, Fred, McTominay are in slightly differing forms. Him and Eriksen looks a bit wrong too, there's only Casemiro I'd be comfortable with. I guess that's an overall problem though - too reliant on Casemiro. I think we need to sell a few, buy a few and get some better options that work together.
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We 100% need a young DM or someone that can both partner and replace Case. Caicedo and FDJ fit that mold. Or we could go with a lesser known option if we chose to pursue Jude instead
 
He looked so much better partnered with McTominay.
 
This fella is an upgrade on Fred and Mctominay massively, and for the reported 20 million it’s a no brainer to sign him permanently! If he’s our 2nd or 3rd best central midfielder then our midfield has improved! It’s a squad game and ours has only improved with Sabitzer!
 
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