Sofyan Amrabat | 2023/24 Performances

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We'll see if he can get up to speed. I liked his World Cup performances but said I was worried about him not being fast enough.
 
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poleglass red said:
Not been great, the pace of the PL seems a bit much for him. Not sure he's ever been entirely fit since he got here though. Bit like the Sabitzer signing last season, not turned out as good as hoped for.
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Sabitzer was a lot more impressive and thats saying something, Amrabat has been appalling and thankfully he's on loan. He can't turn, takes far too long in possession and can only pass sidewards or backwards, add that all together and he's miles off the desired standard.
 
As far as I can see there are a plethora of issues for Amrabat in relation to this loan in particular:

  • He joined late. He desperately needed a preseason with us to familiarise with teammates and requirements
  • He looks too heavy. Makes his movements cumbersome and clumsy.
  • In relation to the above, he's facing faster, fitter more mobile players with more agility than Serie A, this makes him look even slower in comparison.
  • The aggression of the league is clearly a shock to his system. He isn't getting time to think, which means most things are reflexive, hurried executions. If you are forced to play faster than you can cope with, you'll look like less of a player than you might otherwise be. This can be linked to the first point in that, with adjustment to the league, he is mentally readied for the onslaught and can act to the best of his capability.
  • No defined role. We don't cater to his game, but nor should we as he's not of the talent level where he'd be considered special enough to have others facilitate his key attributes. I think this kind of player would shine in a role where he works within his own parameters and doesn't have to worry about much else. He isn't afforded that privilege here and never will be.
It wouldn't surprise me if he looked considerably better coming into a season with a full camp behind him, but he won't see one here as there's little reason to keep him on. We should be looking to promote from within with regard to squaddies, so I can't see him having a role to forge out here, especially for the outlay.

I think it's incredibly difficult for such a player to find his feet without a run in the team, and as we start to face better teams, there's even less of a window for him to acclimatise with such sporadic game time. Mainoo also sets him back massively, as unless he's partnering, he'll only get subbed in for the most part. Perhaps they'll rotate due to the youngster's age and need to be handled correctly in terms of minutes, but that's again waiting on others being out for Amrabat to get any semblance of proper consistency.

On one hand, it can be said he's being harshly judged as he's barely had any PT, but on the other, he looks slow, cumbersome and like the league is a step or two up for him, and because he's a loan who is expected to be the experienced, ready-made package, he doesn't get the good graces a youngster or academy product would.

My feeling when watching him is everything's a struggle for him and that it'll be very hard for him to turn it around mid-season. He's not a liability, per se, however, so I don't get jitters or doubts when he's on the pitch, but for sure expect him to be targeted and also look frazzled by the speed everything is happening at. He's not a bad or dire signing, but he isn't a good or impressive one, either. Just average, and that's obviously not enough for us outside of being an extra body until we sort ourselves out.
 
If you're this slow, you have to be really good on the ball to make up for it. See Eriksen as an example, and even he is a problem when playing for United.
Also, we have been told by multiple people on this board that Amrabat isn't a DM, so back to the second part of first sentence of this comment.

The only way IMO that Sofyan can save himself is he becomes an important cog in how we play in possession. Even then, I would probably pass on signing him permanently.
 
Fortitude said:
As far as I can see there are a plethora of issues for Amrabat in relation to this loan in particular:

  • He joined late. He desperately needed a preseason with us to familiarise with teammates and requirements
  • He looks too heavy. Makes his movements cumbersome and clumsy.
  • In relation to the above, he's facing faster, fitter more mobile players with more agility than Serie A, this makes him look even slower in comparison.
  • The aggression of the league is clearly a shock to his system. He isn't getting time to think, which means most things are reflexive, hurried executions. If you are forced to play faster than you can cope with, you'll look like less of a player than you might otherwise be. This can be linked to the first point in that, with adjustment to the league, he is mentally readied for the onslaught and can act to the best of his capability.
  • No defined role. We don't cater to his game, but nor should we as he's not of the talent level where he'd be considered special enough to have others facilitate his key attributes. I think this kind of player would shine in a role where he works within his own parameters and doesn't have to worry about much else. He isn't afforded that privilege here and never will be.
It wouldn't surprise me if he looked considerably better coming into a season with a full camp behind him, but he won't see one here as there's little reason to keep him on. We should be looking to promote from within with regard to squaddies, so I can't see him having a role to forge out here, especially for the outlay.

I think it's incredibly difficult for such a player to find his feet without a run in the team, and as we start to face better teams, there's even less of a window for him to acclimatise with such sporadic game time. Mainoo also sets him back massively, as unless he's partnering, he'll only get subbed in for the most part. Perhaps they'll rotate due to the youngster's age and need to be handled correctly in terms of minutes, but that's again waiting on others being out for Amrabat to get any semblance of proper consistency.

On one hand, it can be said he's being harshly judged as he's barely had any PT, but on the other, he looks slow, cumbersome and like the league is a step or two up for him, and because he's a loan who is expected to be the experienced, ready-made package, he doesn't get the good graces a youngster or academy product would.

My feeling when watching him is everything's a struggle for him and that it'll be very hard for him to turn it around mid-season. He's not a liability, per se, however, so I don't get jitters or doubts when he's on the pitch, but for sure expect him to be targeted and also look frazzled by the speed everything is happening at. He's not a bad or dire signing, but he isn't a good or impressive one, either. Just average, and that's obviously not enough for us outside of being an extra body until we sort ourselves out.
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I agree with most of this, really.

If I had to summarise the problem in under 20 words I’d say: He isn’t fit and he hasn’t adapted to the pace and physicality of our league.

I doubt we’ll see the best he’s got to give because, at this rate, he’ll leave before he gets fit and settled.

It’s a shame for all concerned but it was always going to be hard for him to get regular starts. I rate him but I always said he’d struggle to get ahead of Casemiro as a lone 6. The hope was that he’d provide some competition and relief and also a tactical option in deep midfield - you could argue he is doing that, to some extent, but his contribution on the pitch has been limited. I hope he manages to enjoy his time here and gets closer to the level we need from him.

Probably we sign someone else in the summer.
 
Pace, power and aggression. After seeing another failed timid experiment of trying to find these Btec Pep ballers. Maybe we will sign midfielders suitable for the EPL.

This guy is as shite as his slow motion Fiorentina compilations were on YouTube. Who would have known.
 
DanClancy said:
He's nowhere near United standard, you could see from his first game he turns like a bus and not good enough.

Wouldn't trust any of your judgements on players, no doubt there's plenty more posts on this forum from chancers praising Amrabat.
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I mean, my opinion is still the same. He was one of my favourite players to watch during his one season at Verona, and I thought he was underwhelming during his entire tenure at Fiorentina. A big reason being that his game was changed by his managers there after thriving under a manager in Juric who was in favour of him playing to his strengths.

I made a post about him a few days ago in another thread of his:
Yagami said:
He's not reached anywhere near his best levels since leaving Verona and changing his game - for us or Fiorentina - which was something I expressed concern about despite being a big fan of his during that season at Verona under Juric.

With that said, although he's not been that good, I don't think he's been as bad as he's made out to be either. Especially when you take into context that, like Casemiro when he's played, they're basically alone in midfield. Whether that's due to Eriksen being invisible out of possession due to his physical limitations, McTominay hiding in general play as the 8, or the rare times we play Mount who we basically use as another 10 alongside Bruno.

Amrabat at least brings something to the midfield that we're lacking. Though not at a high enough level as is. That is his agility at turning away from pressing opposition and the ability to carry the ball when space allows it, though this is rarer in his game now compared to under Juric who promoted these attributes instead of limiting them like his managers at Fiorentina which has transcended to here.

We need to change our midfield setup as a whole. Amrabat, like anyone we play as our 6, cannot carry the midfield alone to compensate for a bunch of midfielders who just want to get forwards. Or, in Eriksen's case who helps his midfield partner in the build-up phase, is a liability defensively. In the right setup where we have a cohesive midfield unit, with everyone pulling their weight in and out of possession, I think he can definitely make a positive contribution, but not as we are now. It's too disjointed.
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Personally, I'm still hoping that, with a run of games, ten Hag can get him back to his Verona levels, but I'm not holding my breath either because a player all of a sudden getting back to his best after years of having his game changed and suffering from it isn't that likely. Still, I'd partner him with Mainoo for the foreseeable even if that's an unpopular opinion.
 
Yagami said:
I mean, my opinion is still the same. He was one of my favourite players to watch during his one season at Verona, and I thought he was underwhelming during his entire tenure at Fiorentina. A big reason being that his game was changed by his managers there after thriving under a manager in Juric who was in favour of him playing to his strengths.

I made a post about him a few days ago in another thread of his:


Personally, I'm still hoping that, with a run of games, ten Hag can get him back to his Verona levels, but I'm not holding my breath either because a player all of a sudden getting back to his best after years of having his game changed and suffering from it isn't that likely. Still, I'd partner him with Mainoo for the foreseeable even if that's an unpopular opinion.
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I was just going to say this. I think this should be our midfield (with Bruno) against Gala.
 
He's had maybe 1 good game, the rest have been poor and the past 5 times hes appeared for us have probably been the worst showing hes not getting better, but the opposite
 
He’s just an okay player. Doesn’t do anything badly, doesn’t do anything especially well. Fine for a loan but not a permanent signing.

I also didn’t realise we paid 8m for this loan. Only a club as badly as us / Chelsea pays such silly amounts for squad players only loan.
 
Ayoba said:
I was one of them :nervous:

This was based off the conference league final where I thought he played really well, better than Rice. Shows what I know :lol:
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I want it to work out for him and I hope he gets to grips with the increased intensity that is the Premier League.
 
It just proves the fact that there is an increased intensity in the PL that you don’t get in other countries leagues. Some players just can’t play at that intensity straight away or ever.
 
OrcaFat said:
I agree with most of this, really.

If I had to summarise the problem in under 20 words I’d say: He isn’t fit and he hasn’t adapted to the pace and physicality of our league.

I doubt we’ll see the best he’s got to give because, at this rate, he’ll leave before he gets fit and settled.

It’s a shame for all concerned but it was always going to be hard for him to get regular starts. I rate him but I always said he’d struggle to get ahead of Casemiro as a lone 6. The hope was that he’d provide some competition and relief and also a tactical option in deep midfield - you could argue he is doing that, to some extent, but his contribution on the pitch has been limited. I hope he manages to enjoy his time here and gets closer to the level we need from him.

Probably we sign someone else in the summer.
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There's a caveat to what's happening to him also in that we're a struggling midfield, which offers a lot less protection and a lot more exposure to each individual in said midfield. In other words, it's much easier to get at an individual in our midfield or make that person work harder or look more bamboozled because the layers of protection and rallying you have in other midfields is not there with us. Casemiro has been the forum whipping boy this season without context that he's been by himself in absolute acres of space trying to fend off entire midfields by himself, which is a literal impossible job, I don't care if you're the best DM of all time, you can't do that by yourself. And if we can make the most experienced and decorated DM in the world look like he's struggling to come up for air, someone like Amrabat has no chance of managing the fort, so that is allied to my previous post and his own personal problems with the league switch. I don't think he'd look so lost in a more structured midfield in the league, most likely still off the pace and still heavy and bumbly, but able to show more of his qualities than he has been afforded the time to do here.

This is like someone who was struggling in an intermediate class suddenly finding themselves in the advanced class surrounded by much better students than previously encountered. It's a tough gig.
 
DanClancy said:
Sabitzer was a lot more impressive and thats saying something, Amrabat has been appalling and thankfully he's on loan. He can't turn, takes far too long in possession and can only pass sidewards or backwards, add that all together and he's miles off the desired standard.
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Only when played at #10. Amrabat has been pretty shit the last couple of games, but before that I'd say he was better in deeper areas than Sabitzer was for us. Sabitzer was pretty much anonymous.
 
DanClancy said:
He's nowhere near United standard, you could see from his first game he turns like a bus and not good enough.

Wouldn't trust any of your judgements on players, no doubt there's plenty more posts on this forum from chancers praising Amrabat.
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Same every summer. Unless I've seen them in the PL or CL myself (I don't watch a great deal outside of it) I don't take many transfer opinions on here seriously.
 
Wow, I mean I can make a statement on here, but some of the comments re Amrabat are really unfair. This is all down to ETH for me. Amrabat is a good player, he had a good season at Fiorentina and few good clubs were looking at him. He was key in a wonderful WC for Morocco (yes, Morocco..) and I think people forget the quality and intensity of performance. They played a very physical, high-tempo, attacking game, and his style worked within that system.

So now he is at Man Utd under ETH, and what happens? First of all, he is aksed to play left-back, which is just nuts. And now people are questioning his ability. Where is the coach? And then consider Mason Mount, Rasmus, SMT...

I recently stated that we do not have one, one player playing anything close to their best under ETH. There is a reason for that. Amrabat needs a manager that knows how this player would fit into a team, before making the purchase/ or loan agreement. He's no keane, or KDB, Toure etc, who is.. but he is as good as many decent players at top clubs in Europe. But he needs coaching. All players, even the most brilliant players, benefit from good coaching. Howe is a coach. Klopp is a coach. Pep is a coach. Emery is a coach. You can see it. They get their players to play a certain way and will change things if neccesary. Look at Trent Alexander Arnold as an example.
 
I do wonder whether we would have bothered signing him if Mainoo wasn't injured.

Todibo and Frimpong would be big signings for this team.
 
I think we've seen what Amrabat can do at his very best in the FA Cup game against Palace. A central midfielder who can pass the ball around the first and middle half of the pitch.

... The only issue is that the FA Cup game was a much lower intensity. Don't think he can do it in the PL or CL.
 
Jeffthered said:
Wow, I mean I can make a statement on here, but some of the comments re Amrabat are really unfair. This is all down to ETH for me. Amrabat is a good player, he had a good season at Fiorentina and few good clubs were looking at him. He was key in a wonderful WC for Morocco (yes, Morocco..) and I think people forget the quality and intensity of performance. They played a very physical, high-tempo, attacking game, and his style worked within that system.
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Did they really? I mean, there is no defined catalogue of what an "attacking game" is but what I have seen was a very compact team that defended deep and countered very fast. Nothing wrong with that considering their squad but it definitely is different when playing in midfield trying to defend when your team mates are close to you and support or at ManUnited where there is next to no support at all (which would be the polar opposite). I just checked, possession stats support that, only in last two matches against France and Croatia their respective coaches did something against that and dragged them more out.
 
Competition winner gets another chance ahead of players that are miles better than him - hopefully he doesn’t try to pick up the ball up today.
 
Yagami said:
I don't think he's been bad at all and, again, he was fine tonight.
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Do you think he was better than Ndombele and Torreira? or Oliveira who came on and made a difference for them

Personally I think he's our least creative midfielder other than McTom and McTom sort of makes up with it by getting forward and scoring himself. Amrabat doesnt do either
 
Ekeke said:
Do you think he was better than Ndombele and Torreira? or Oliveira who came on and made a difference for them
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Yes. Amrabat was playing alone in midfield with Bruno and McTominay bombing forward and still did well. He, like every outfield player aside from Pellistri, was good today.

An all time classic goalkeeping performance from Onana has prevented a comfortable 3-0 win here.
 
Yagami said:
Yes. Amrabat was playing alone in midfield with Bruno and McTominay bombing forward and still did well. He, like every outfield player aside from Pellistri, was good today.

An all time classic goalkeeping performance from Onana has prevented a comfortable 3-0 win here.
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Not true in the slighest Mrs. Amrabat
 
He's the type of player who - if he was English - you could imagine having a Coventry > West Ham > Fulham > Reading > Swindon Town career trajectory.
 
Average player whos had an average career on loan from an average club

People thought Fiorentina were loaning us a Zidane clone? He’s shite

Played well in a couple of world cup games and tackled Mbappe that one time
 
Yet another player that ETH coached in the past, knew everything about, and yet somehow came to the conclusion that he'd be good enough to play for United.
 
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