When did Amrabat become average?
Sofyan Amrabat | signs for United on loan
- Thread starter TheReligion
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No he is more like Casemiro. The stats and fbref profile don’t paint an accurate picture. You only need to see him play a few times to realise that.
He is perfectly decent defensively and has high success rates for defensive actions. He is also comfortable on the ball and is a good passer. He is also a strong, aggressive personality on the pitch (although Scott can look after himself).
I’ve been following this thread for a long time. Some people prefer to assess him based on stats and some prefer to rely on watching him play. I’m in the latter camp.
There’s no real substitute for watching someone play, I’ll admit that. I just haven’t, that’s all.
Yeah of course. And all viewpoints can be interesting. Stats have their uses!
Xavi, Barça's coach, wanted him to replace Busquets, but due to financials, the club went for Oriol Romeu.
TBF the defensive concerns with Amrabat are a bit valid. He does go through the motions defensively in some games, failing to track runners, etc. , one of the reasons he has had inconsistencies in his career so far.
Not on the ball though, even when he has those days he still manages to move the ball around pretty well
Not on the ball though, even when he has those days he still manages to move the ball around pretty well
Valid point. Although the thing I was trying to ride home was that Casemiros main impact on us as a team has been his defensive contribution. So a potential backup, replacement should be able to cover that aspect as well.
True. Although you could make a case of football evolving to a point where organized pressing schemes become better and better. Something I think wasn't there when Scholes, Xavi and Pirlo were in their prime (although it started). I wouldn't be shocked, if those players wouldn't look that(!) fantastic these days. I don't know of course, but I wouldn't be shocked. Plus when we had Scholes and Carrick, we were all crying for a more defensive minded player who covers more ground.
Well I think it is safe to say that he is a great deal better passing wise than McTominay. Super comfortable with short pass give and gos and fantastic playing switches from one side of the pitch to the other. So he would definitely improve the level of that. He also is a handful so next to Casemiro, I think he really could be fantastic asset. In games like yesterday, you potentially could also make a case for him taking Casemiros spot (even though my feeling is, it wouldn't have changed much yesterday) but I fear that against more solid opposition, Amrabat as a single pivot would sink pretty fast.
Just like you, I haven't really seen him, just read a lot and tried to get some bites here and there from Fiorentina fans. What I do know though is, that I can't really put too much on his WC laudits. He played for his nation, Morocco played very deep, very defensive and compact so he certainly wasn't the only sitter to cover much ground. I really hope, that isn't the direction that United is trying to move the team towards. The things said about his role at Fiorentina are a bit ambivalent too. Some say, his defensive numbers are low because another player is the DM in the side. I checked on Fbref and there is only one player who looks like he plays the defensive role in midfield. And his numbers aren't eyewatering themselves. So it doesn't seem, the midfield is very good in getting the ball back (not necessarily a bad thing per se, if maybe the defensive is stepping up higher). Might be a factor in their league finishes that aren't something to write home about. Some also say his defensive numbers are low because Fiorentina is a possession heavy site, checked this as well and while they are ranked pretty high, they aren't much more possession based (based on the numbers at least) than a lot of teams behind them (like the 1st has like 62% average, while fiorentina has 55% in 2nd but 3rd and 4th have 54% or something).
So as a partner for Casemiro he would be a good fit (I am overall absolutely for getting him anyway) but I'd certainly still fear a Casemiro injury because there isn't much subtantial stuff indicating that he could take over (apart from games like yesterday). I'd certainly go for somebody who is more rounded skillset wise. Would have brought in Amrabat instead of Mount though as Amrabat would be great as a Eriksen upgrade for the way we played last year. But seems like ETH wants to switch it up and as he decided for Mount, I don't think Amrabat should be first priority.)
Loan him and give them their money in the summer as clearly we have an issue with selling players.
Practically begging for someone to take him now.
Quit penny pinching and get him in before arsenal on Sunday
Napoli interested.
Yes! A loan with an option plz, in case he’s decent. While we are at it let’s loan Gravenberch and Cucumberella too.
Loan FC rides again!
Surely we can get him in loan at least then?
What's next? They had enough of him and willing for him to go on a free and we still ain't interested...
Di Marzio said we're negotiating, but it's still very suspect, I really don't think utd are after this player, or at the very least a first option
Di Marzio said we're negotiating, but it's still very suspect, I really don't think utd are after this player, or at the very least a first option
It’s hard to believe isn’t it. I think we are waiting for the last minute fire sale. Then if we can’t grab a Kimmich we’ll get him.
He's free next year, so if he stays now Fiorentina will get feck all next season. They will probably end up with a sum of ~£10m, and that's a fair price. This £30m figure was never realistic and their play hasn't worked because Arambat is probably refusing to play for them any longer. It's a classic case of big club bullying small club and it's just nature in football.
GK+ this will be the last business shame about Maguire not leaving
This entire transfer has been 100% noise from Fiorentina.
Sick of reading the same tweet everyday...the guy has been sat in the departure lounge waiting to board any plane all summer. Nobody is interested!
Sick of reading the same tweet everyday...the guy has been sat in the departure lounge waiting to board any plane all summer. Nobody is interested!
Yeah of course, if you can pass like any of those guys it's an incredible tool in your armoury but football has moved on massively since they retired and those guys had all the time in the world on the ball to ping a pass to a man in space. Even the worst clubs in England employ more sophisticated pressing than any top team from those days and so players that are press-resistant are just such a valuable commodity nowadays.
This is getting Gaitan vibes isnt it.
His contract ends next season. Loan is not a possibility.
What's annoying is this guy is actually good. Gaitan never really was.
Just a flight of fancy from my imagination but considering Verratti is on his way out at PSG -it seems- and there's not a lot of DLP types on the market... Amrabat is I assume fluent in French, Hakimi is already in Paris.
I don't know PSG is specifically looking for a DLP type though.
I don't know PSG is specifically looking for a DLP type though.
Fecker is only 34 and still playing in Portugal.
Cheeky lone deal?
I’m inclining to believe this isn’t happening. Either we have dropped our interest or weren’t that much interested. He’s fairly cheap and is now even available on loan but still nothing from us.
Nah, I trust the Cafs part time scouts
I take it you don’t believe what everyone is saying - that we need to sell first?
Maybe - there have been mixed briefings from within the club. However, there's technically 13-14m left in 'surplus' (not necessarily in the 'bank', of course) after selling DH and bringing in the substitute goalie, so maybe the Donny deal just needs to be confirmed before the club will sign off on formally bidding 20m or so here...
I was believing that but now we have sold Henderson still nothing. You would think we would hurry up given our need. Also, who else needs to be sold to make a move for him? Maguire? Mctominay? I don’t think we would be able to any of those two. My hopes are fading man.
The guy has one year left on his contract. We are not getting him on loan!
Oh yeah but there’s a few days yet!
So if Casemiro picks up an injury we are left with Mount and Eriksen as holding midfielders?
Bonkers
Bonkers
Yes! A loan with an option plz, in case he’s decent. While we are at it let’s loan Gravenberch and Cucumberella too.
Loan FC rides again!
Yeah can safely say we aren't doing 3 loans
Who can that first option be I wonder
Please Manchester United. Show just a tiny bit of ambition and get him in by any means possible. If it takes a loan with a buy obligation to do it then do it. Relying on Casemiro to run midfield for a 46+ game season is going to be a monumental disaster.
This and likely agent driven. If he was as good as everyone is saying, a big club would’ve pulled the trigger already.
Ambition to add an average midfielder on good wages? I’d rather wait for Mainoo.
I see you're that person that thinks if the person isn't Modric or De Bruyne he's average.
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