Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

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Didn't watch today but assuming he played LB and even if ETH thinks he's a capable LB, it's far from his strongest position.

I'll only be judging how he does as a midfielder to be honest.
 
Was he as good today as he was midweek, no. But he also had to help out today in that god awful midfield of Cas Bruno and Mount. He gave away the cheap foul that lead to to the goal but it was in a typical patch of a game for United where everyone just shits the bed and they give away the ball so cheaply and panic.
 
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I thought he was very good. Not strange that the caf experts think otherwise considering we lost the match. He was great in possession.
 
Ekeke said:
Yep. I still cant judge Sancho because he was amazing for Dortmund on the right wing, and he never plays for us there so it would be unfair to rate him on his performances on the left wing
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Yup and Ten Hag wanted him as centre forward not so long ago.

Expect the unexpected, then expect it to be all unexpected turn, just to be unexpectedly surprised by another unexpected thing, leading to another expected result.
 
He should be starting in central midfield. Unfortunately our baldy leader doesn’t have a clue.
 
Oh and Sofyan said not so long, he can play as a goalkeeper if expected.

I don't think he was joking, lads.
 
He wants to much time on the ball and his first touch seems sloppy. He could get found out in the PL when Shaw is back and he's moved to central midfield.
 
IhabX7 said:
I thought he was very good. Not strange that the caf experts think otherwise considering we lost the match. He was great in possession.
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The thing that makes me chuckle is 90% of the stuff today was the exact same as he did midweek and had praise heaped on him for, even though some caution was probably merited before getting carried away by that game due to the low intensity Palace showed.

So we have another game where 90% of the positioning is the same, the consistency on the ball is similar, the passing success is maybe a bit worse (dunno what the stats say but gut feeling) but essentially pretty good and one of our more consistent presences on the ball.

So what is the other 10%? Well, mainly full back play which he would be expected to be fairly poor at as he's never played there and doesn't have a skillset to be running down a line defending against a tricky wide player.

Yet apparently in all this he's gone from hero to zero over the span of those games. What's different? The result. The result and some fouls/defensive play. which is attributable to him doing a job for the team in a dire injury situation. I think a bit of hyperbole might have taken place over the last week...
 
Ekeke said:
How is 10 million euros for a single season cheap? The loan + full fee is as much as Brighton's record transfer fee, for Joao Pedro and that only happened this summer. Before that it was 28.2 million euros for Moises Caicedo

What does he bring to the team on the ball?
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I would imagine it's 30m EUR total transfer fee, which is not bad IMO. I am not interested in getting into that discussion at the moment though, if he turns out to be a decent squad player then we made a ok deal. I never expected him to transform us.

Imagine how shite Casemiro or Eriksen would look like as full backs.
 
He did his role well...United dominated possession gave away next to nothing from a defensive point of view.

Sure the attack was limp but how was that Sofyan's fault.
 
The bar is low but he seems to be able to play a defensive role in the midfield better than anyone we have here atm. Or give him a few games with us and he will forget about it?
 
Borys said:
I would imagine it's 30m EUR total transfer fee, which is not bad IMO. I am not interested in getting into that discussion at the moment though, if he turns out to be a decent squad player then we made a ok deal. I never expected him to transform us.

Imagine how shite Casemiro or Eriksen would look like as full backs.
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You say that but it is the role of our deep midfielders to cover the fullbacks when they are caught forward or doubled up on. So we do see them, and McTominay given those tests down the sides. Like we even saw Bruno 2 times by my count but maybe more coming back to make tackles at left back to cover Amrabat
 
Manny said:
He wants to much time on the ball and his first touch seems sloppy. He could get found out in the PL when Shaw is back and he's moved to central midfield.
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It’s what I’ve always maintained. The guys too slow.
 
He was quite good when he was playing closer to Casemiro in the opening minutes. They were snuffing out the Palace attacks together and getting us on the counter but he's quite clearly not a left back and that whole left hand side is Rashford constantly facing up to three lads.
 
Needs to play in midfield. One of our main signings of the summer and we're shoehorning him in at left back
 
Ekeke said:
You say that but it is the role of our deep midfielders to cover the fullbacks when they are caught forward or doubled up on. So we do see them, and McTominay given those tests down the sides. Like we even saw Bruno 2 times by my count but maybe more coming back to make tackles at left back to cover Amrabat
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Let's give him a chance to be a cover then. I also think it's wingers + Bruno/Mount who cover for fullbacks more often.

He's been thrown under the bus by the manager, just like the kid playing with #11.
 
I'm not surprised that he was poor playing as a make shift left back. Not sure what everyone was expecting with Rashford in front of him.

GinobiliTheGOAT said:
Your take was oddest of all, plenty were happy to see him go. Just own up to the fact that you didn’t watch him and move on. It’s all good. Post World Cup he’s had a bit of a mare.
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This shite again. Come on then, provide the evidence that plenty of Fiorentina fans were happy to see him go. And just so we're clear; plenty means more than a handful of people on a single forum post.
 
He can't play left back but surely, people are being knee jerk with the "awful" comments? To me, he seemed like our only actual midfielder who constantly makes himself available for the ball, and cycles possession without frequently giving it away.
 
:lol:
This place...

It's literally his first game in the PL, and his first full competitive game since last season(?). Give him a chance to adjust, at least!
 
Fortitude said:
:lol:
This place...

It's literally his first game in the PL, and his first full competitive game since last season(?). Give him a chance to adjust, at least!
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It's unreal.

I may be wrong here, but I don't think he has even had pre-season as he didn't train with Fiorentina or played in any of their pre-season matches. Anyways, I don't even think he was that bad. He wasn't good either, but I just think people are annoyed with him because of how many needless fouls he committed and that has clouded their view.
 
DarkXaero said:
He can't play left back but surely, people are being knee jerk with the "awful" comments? To me, he seemed like our only actual midfielder who constantly makes himself available for the ball, and cycles possession without frequently giving it away.
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That’s what I saw as well.
 
Not an encouraging PL start, he was beyond shit. He gets a pass for now as he was at LB but I hope he’s better soon
 
Not buying the hype and I think at best he'll turn out to be a peak Fletcher-like player- useful, but not world class, but the reactions today considering it's his first game and played out of position are a bit OTT?
 
Seveneric said:
Not buying the hype and I think at best he'll turn out to be a peak Fletcher-like player- useful, but not world class, but the reactions today considering it's his first game and played out of position are a bit OTT?
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We can only hope he'll be as good as Fletcher. Doubt it.
 
Seveneric said:
Not buying the hype and I think at best he'll turn out to be a peak Fletcher-like player- useful, but not world class, but the reactions today considering it's his first game and played out of position are a bit OTT?
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Jesus Christ, only as good as peak Fletcher? He’d be our best player by a mile.
 
He played well in cm but wasn't good defending out wide. Too early to judge but I like him when he has the ball in midfield. He will need to adjust to the tempo of the PL and hopefully he will.
 
Manny said:
He wants to much time on the ball and his first touch seems sloppy. He could get found out in the PL when Shaw is back and he's moved to central midfield.
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Correct. He's slow and not particularly strong or athletic. Not used to the hectic pace in this league. Struggles under pressure.

He's a tidy recycler of the ball with a good work ethic so he'll be a useful squad player this season, nothing more (or less).
 
I'm going to reserve judgement until he's played in his natural position.
 
You will see him a lot in those same positions in attacking phase when he plays in midfield (LCB, going centrally and splitting CB's or playing alongside Casemiro). It is ten Hag idea of gaining more control. However, we didn't have natural LB who would provide much needed danger on the left considering Rashford was rubbish and he struggled defensively which is not so surprising.

However, in attacking phase we needed a player of his qualities in those areas which is a plus. The minus is that he still looks like a budget version of such player. It is quite fascinating that we needed that press resistent midfielder who can control the game along with the striker for so long and our 1st options atm are still more than questionable. Also, the rest of the team (and our "star" players) absolutely didn't help either of them in this transition period.
 
Manny said:
He wants to much time on the ball and his first touch seems sloppy. He could get found out in the PL when Shaw is back and he's moved to central midfield.
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He won't be any worse than Eriksen and McTominay. He doesnt need to be Roy Keane, just having an actual central midfielder will make us a better team.
 
zaafi said:
It's unreal.

I may be wrong here, but I don't think he has even had pre-season as he didn't train with Fiorentina or played in any of their pre-season matches. Anyways, I don't even think he was that bad. He wasn't good either, but I just think people are annoyed with him because of how many needless fouls he committed and that has clouded their view.
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It was his first full game in the PL so we shouldn't draw too many conclusions but it wasn't just that he gave fouls away. He played it almost too safe on ball, nothing passes too safe and no ground gain 9 out of 10 times (became a little better in 2nd half), none of the those spicy switches we were expecting and defensively, he certainly wasn't the mobile steel bulldog, some on here were selling. Granted - it was his first match, he will get a feeling for the speed of the league, he will get more confident with his passing and I am optimistic, that he will turn out a good transfer. But I think, some posters and certainly some content creators have prematurely drawn a picture where he almost has to be a success because he is such a perfect fit. And I don't think, that this should be a given. And not because I've been skeptical from the beginning and hope for my gotcha-moment, but because it the big expectations are hurting the player more than anyone else. In the dying moments of the game, Eriksen took his role from as a distributor of the ball within the defensive line. I thought, this was very odd because further forward, I think he had next to no effect at all (a description that would be applicable to many other players today as well).
 
I won't comment on his game positionally because that's unfair but I thought he was poor on the ball. Lots of under/over hit passes or ones that were awkward to receive. Wasn't much incisive or sharp passing too.

It's too early to judge him of course until he starts playing in midfield. I do like his eagerness and tenacity even if it was often times too much and ill judged/timed.
 
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