vs Liverpool
Timothy Fosu Mensah
- Thread starter KM
- Start date
Whooa... this kid is seriously special! Perceptive and strong, but most appealingly his tackling technique is a thing of beauty! The measure of a great defender is knowing just what is enough to make a tackle without giving the ball away too much. The number of times he tackled and just simply dispossessed the player rather than away from him is quite something. This lad has great potential!
Yeah his tackling and ball skills have stood out in two matches thus far.
He looks the type of player if stayed at Ajax and developed properly will be sold to Man City for 30 mil after a few seasons.
Exactly. Looks like we bagged a real gem from Ajax. A lot like Pogba from Le Havre. Letting him go was perhaps the most questionable decision in the Fergie Era.
We didn't really let him go. We offered him a new contract, but his lack of playing time in his last season made him think it was pointless to stay at United.
He is so complete, if he doesnt get in the first team, we're doing something wrong.
Looks like a midfielder to me. That sort of vision and technique is wasted in defence.
Depends how we play. In a back 3 its exactly what LVG wants
He definitely has the ability and features to play well in midfield though from what I've seen of him
He's pretty composed, good on the ball, deceptively quick. strong and his positioning is good too.
Reminds me of McGrath; capable of playing both central defence and as a defensive midfielder to a ridiculous standard.
In the clip from the Liverpool match, I would have liked to see him be more proactive starting moves from the back.
In the clip from the Liverpool match, I would have liked to see him be more proactive starting moves from the back.
Those kinds of qualities always look better when they come from a CB, and tend to be less impressive when compared to actual specialist midfielders. Personally, I'd rather have technically-gifted, composed CBs and leave the DM space for someone more well-rounded. That way you're maximising the technical ability of the team as a whole.
I agree with that but he is not Jones. He is 16 and can turn out to be as good defender as midfielder. He looks quite beasty and with very good technique dribbling-wise. His leading of the ball and touch looks better than Pogba who always had great technique on pass but struggled with the ball at his feet little bit. He developed this skill(dribbling) quite later when he left us. Hard to tell from two games but I believe he could turn out to be a very good defensive midfielder. In the first video he looked like Tiote with better technique..
BTW any word on how he was brought in? We may have scouted him before but it looks like it is Van Gaal and his staff who were aware of him so they took him.. lad looks promising. Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at U-21 at the end of the season as we kinda miss that kind of player. Pearson can go out on loan..
He was scouted in the AEGON Future Cup and we have played against him a few times before.No doubt LVG is a big attraction for him to come here instead of staying at his old club.
That clip was very promising. Good decision making and an all round blend of skills. Can see a move to U21's toward the end of the season. Anyone vouch for his mentality and personality? Is he a grounded kid? Looked quite vocal at times which is always welcome on the pitch. That was one of Rio's biggest assets, organisation, support and all that.
Am I right in saying that he is eligible for the under 18's again next year?
Yeah he is
Cheers. More than likely will be with the under 21's by then in any case.
Yeah I wouldnt be surprised if he plays some under 21 games this season
True. The likes of Januzaj, Wilson and Pereira have done it so why not.
CB/CM it is then. either position i think he will be excellent.
This lad will be a first teamer under van Gaal, nqat.
The Dutch
The Dutch
got big hopes for him. he is what, 16 now going to be 17 in january? would not be surprise to see him playing for the u-21s before the end of this season.
man got to say i'm looking forward for his weekly videos from now on.
man got to say i'm looking forward for his weekly videos from now on.
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Looks much better going forward than I expected, great feet and vision as well for "center back" But what would you expect from Ajax youth product.. I bet that he will not end up as CB at all, he will play b2b, looks very lively, his talent would suffer from playing as CB where he couldn't use his dribbling skills and vision in a proper way.. It's my guess after three vids/matches.. looks like new "Seedorf" in making..
He played in defence last night didn't he? looks like he was playing far up in that video! Looks very promising! You never know, could get a run out against Yeovil! LVG has form playing very young players plus with all our defensive injuries who knows...
Played as a midfielder.
He seemed to have a lot of space or pockets to move into as Bury weren't pressing him very well in the clips but there was such a resemblance to that Yaya Toure, Pogba style of playing the game at a different speed than everybody else in a good sense and yet when he moves with speed he looked unstoppable too. The physicality would make that harder as he moves up toward a first team debut of course. Chalk it up as another uber positive display, in midfield this time.
I watched the game and it was quite the opposite especially in the 2nd half....
Who's no.11 in that video? That was some finish.
Zach Dearnley.
He looks a very complete player for someone so young. He's excelled at centre half and centre midfield for us so far and I've seen him play full back as well and he was one of the best players on the pitch there as well. He just seems like one of those players like Rooney who you could basically put in any position and they have enough facets to their game to adapt to it and excel
For those following Mensah and who have seen him play this season - how far do you think he is from the first team? Is he the sort of prodigious Pogba/Rooney style of player who might start making a breakthrough at a young age (unlikely for a CB of course) or is he still a few years away?
Without major injuries I think he will make his debut at some points next season and hopefully be an official first teamer a season after.I think and hope we will use him as a holding midfielder for the first team as I think his talent is best utilised there and we have couples of very promising CBs around his age (Borthwick-Jackson,Tuanzebe,Williams,...).
Cheers, he must be pretty impressive to be in consideration that early!
Think Man United gave him some drugs, he has grown massively. Saw him some weeks ago and he's already tall enough for a first team defender. Saw a pic of him with Sakho and he looked even taller. It wont last long before he gets to the u21 team I reckon.
Kid has unreal potential and been brilliant every time I've watched him play. Superb reader of the game considering his age, intelligent, very quick - maybe as quick as even Smalling, good technical skill-set for a defender/ defensive midfielder and cultured on the ball. That said he does play a bit soft at times, for lack of a better term despite his more than adequate physique. Guess that's something he has in common with a young Pogba, who was so much better physically and technically than 99 % of his opponents at the U-level that he coasted in 2nd gear off natural ability alone. But that will improve with maturation, coaching and playing against more aggressive and better opponents. He's almost the same height as Paul when he transferred to United too. Wouldn't be surprised if Tim ends up in the 190+ cm range. Might be a bit too early and perhaps this will look silly in 2 years - but he has Laporte or Zouma type of defensive talent. Could prove to be a downright steal for £300,000.
He's the first talent since Januzaj, Pogba and Morrison where I've thought he looks the real deal. Hope things go smoothly and we get to see the finished product here.
One of those players who glides around only needing to up the gears when required. Rio meets marcel.
That, I have no doubt, would be the first £100m defender.