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Wout Weghorst Netherlands flag

2022-23 Performances

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5.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
31
Goals
2
Assists
2
Yellow cards
2
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No point in slagging him on here. He is a loan signing, covering for our perma-cropped Martial. Loan deals were the only option as we are currently going through the process of selling the club and the transfer budget was squandered in the summer.

I thought he played well tonight. Certain players have a ceiling, and they have to give everything they've got to compete at this level. He is giving his all for us. Got stuck in to challenges, at one point he was clearing the ball from our box like a CDM. He was making runs and bringing players with him, which gave Rashford and Sancho loads of space. He was diving into challenges in that last five minutes and fighting for the ball. Yeah, he's not Oshimen, but he's doing a job out there for us and if Ten Hag keeps picking him, then I back the manager more than some numpty on here.
 
Wheato said:
No point in slagging him on here. He is a loan signing, covering for our perma-cropped Martial. Loan deals were the only option as we are currently going through the process of selling the club and the transfer budget was squandered in the summer.

I thought he played well tonight. Certain players have a ceiling, and they have to give everything they've got to compete at this level. He is giving his all for us. Got stuck in to challenges, at one point he was clearing the ball from our box like a CDM. He was making runs and bringing players with him, which gave Rashford and Sancho loads of space. He was diving into challenges in that last five minutes and fighting for the ball. Yeah, he's not Oshimen, but he's doing a job out there for us and if Ten Hag keeps picking him, then I back the manager more than some numpty on here.
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Agreed, not ideal he’s clearly not good enough but there is no one else
It’s a season too soon to be throwing garnacho in

only thing I will say, I never seen someone so tall be so shit at reading the flight of the ball
 
I’m not sure what he brings behind the striker that means Bruno has to move to the right, Bruno might have had a field day playing centrally today. It can only be having another player with high work rate.

I’m not really going to criticise him as he’s supposed an extra body. Mental that he’s having to start so much.
 
He is not that great but he is so fit and does not stop running and pressing
With his energy levels he should be a midfielder really
 
harms said:
Not to put myself forward as someone who is tactically astute, that's quite a claim, but I do have an explanation.

With Fred (who himself played a fantastic game) being stuck on De Jong's man-marking duties and Rashford playing de-facto up front Wout did an amazing (yes, that's the word I'm going with) job at disrupting their midfield even further — making sure that they don't capitalize on their numerical advantage in midfield like they did in the recent El Classico — not just by tackling (less so) and harassing (more so) other players but mainly by coordinating our pressing and cutting off passing lanes. It was a thing of beauty. Something that Fergie loved to do as well with the likes of Welbeck. With Busquets missing the game, stopping De Jong from running it from deeper areas was the biggest task of the night. If we didn't have Wout doing what he did and simply added, say, Garnacho in his place, even the almighty Casemiro wouldn't have been able to hold that midfield together.

It is a shame that he's that limited on the ball (I didn't expect much but I still expected better) and his lack of aerial prowess is almost comical. Hence why he's not good enough for us going forward even as an emergency squad option once we do get any striker in (or back, in Martial's case). But Wout had his role tonight and he played it brilliantly — I'm sure that ten Hag expected him to do just that and he's happy with the big guy.
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He played in midfield what was usually Bruno's position, Garnacho doesn't play there. And Bruno is much better midfielder than Wout will ever be. Bruno is much better at pressing and much quicker than Wout who isn't even that great at pressing because he spents the game chasing shadows because he is slow as feck. Also comparing his pressing to Welbeck's is underrating Welbeck.

The fact that people have to defend everything Ten Haag does it's becoming pretty boring. He is doing some great things but insisting on Wout who is championship player at best isn't the best thing he does no matter how some of you want to portray it.

The fact that we gave Barca a game with Wout in our midfield was another proof how good job Ten Haag did, but not every moment and decision he does is perfect. Which is fine, even Fergie wasn't perfect.
 
V.O. said:
Well, yeah, apart from that World Cup quarter final that he scored two goals in a couple of months ago.

People talk such bollocks when they want to stick the boot in :lol:
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We're clearly talking about club level.

We don't need to invent things to criticize him. His performance is enough on its own.
 
He’s definitely better at pressing than Bruno because he doesn’t constantly abandon his position in midfield and instead relentlessly presses in the areas where the opposition actually have trouble playing through.
 
Pronewbie said:
He just said the same thing (at least to that effect) in the de Gea thread.
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Yeah it was bad from me to praise one of our most reliable players. I have to go with the flow and criticize De Gea while pretending Wout is doing well because he's running a lot.
 
Brwned said:
He’s definitely better at pressing than Bruno because he doesn’t constantly abandon his position in midfield and instead relentlessly presses in the areas where the opposition actually have trouble playing through.
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Serious questions.

what makes a good presser?

what makes a bad presser?

can a bad presser become a good presser?
 
You can bemoan his lack of quality as much as you like, but his availability alone has been so important to us since January.

Martial has been missing almost the whole time and Antony is now missing too. Sancho only just coming back in as well, which would have meant almost zero rest for our other forwards and probably overplaying Garnacho in that period.

I doubt even EtH envisaged having to use him as much as we have already, but thank god he’s been here.

And he’s not really been detrimental to us either, he does plenty of good things and makes the team work well. I for one am grateful for the role he has played thus far.
 
Can't fault his effort, he's trying his best he's just not very good.

As I said at the time we really should have gone for Ings or Iheanacho.

They would have scored at least 5 by now with the chances we are creating.
 
Lewandowski didn't really do much all game either...even Haaland only has about 12 touches a game.

Weghorst is a 2.5 million player on loan who is fit and puts a shift in, he is doing what he is paid to do.
 
Amar__ said:
He played in midfield what was usually Bruno's position, Garnacho doesn't play there. And Bruno is much better midfielder than Wout will ever be. Bruno is much better at pressing and much quicker than Wout who isn't even that great at pressing because he spents the game chasing shadows because he is slow as feck. Also comparing his pressing to Welbeck's is underrating Welbeck.

The fact that people have to defend everything Ten Haag does it's becoming pretty boring. He is doing some great things but insisting on Wout who is championship player at best isn't the best thing he does no matter how some of you want to portray it.

The fact that we gave Barca a game with Wout in our midfield was another proof how good job Ten Haag did, but not every moment and decision he does is perfect. Which is fine, even Fergie wasn't perfect.
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Well, Bruno did play from the start tonight — Garnacho didn't. And of course he's a better player, midfielder etc. But there are two big points that you seem to miss:

  • Bruno does his defending — and pressing — differently though, he always goes to apply the pressure to the player while Weghorst cuts off the passing channels better. Bruno isn't disciplined, he's enthusiastic (the best comparison for his defending style is young Rooney or, perhaps, peak Sanchez)
  • If you ask Bruno to play this role, you put your most potent creator on a job that he's not only not perfectly suited for, it's the job that hugely limits his offensive output. And that's the main issue, really. Especially we don't have Eriksen as a second top-notch creator anymore and Sancho isn't anywhere close to his Dortmund's form
Bear in mind — I didn't say that Wout was as good as Welbeck, be it at defending, overall or in any way, really. Welbeck was head and shoulders above Wout in terms of his talent, football brain and athleticism, which is why he played for United for as long as he did and Weghorst will only get this half a season. Their roles are similar but that's it.
 
PoTMS said:
Can someone more tactically astute than me explain what he brings to the team? What does Ten Hag see in him? He's not even playing as our striker, he's playing #10 for Christ's sake.
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He is playing because of injuries and suspensions. No Sabitzer means he’s a stopgap at no 10. Hag wanted Bruno playing from the right.

He works his arse off pressing and does decent hold up play and lay offs. That alone makes him 10x more useful than Ronaldo.
Team player who gives his all.

He should have buried that chance.

Workhorst.
 
Weghorst works hard and does a lot for the team. However, when Bruno put him through one on one he had to score. When you are a striker, whatever else you do, when you get a chance in the box you have to score.
 
He's not good enough but I think we all know that, we'll send him back to Burnley in summer and sign a proper striker. Our hands are sort of tied for now due to Martial's injury woes.
 
Ironically, tonight Wan-Bissaka's best work was done overlapping forward.

We all know he's brilliant in a 1v1 on the deck. However, his awareness is so low that he simply can't be trusted when the ball is in the air. He repeatedly failed to even see what was around him.

There are too many bad habits in him to see him changing either. Dalot needs to come back in.
 
Fluctuation0161 said:
No, it's because our owners won't give Erik any more budget to replace Ronaldo, despite saving his wages, because they are about to sell the club.
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While that is true, tonight he played him there because he wanted him there and he did what was needed of him. He wanted someone physical to press Kessie out of the game while Fred did the same on De Jong. Coincidentally they both played poorly today. There's no point moaning about it, just trust that Ten Hag knows exactly what he's doing.
 
This game he is close to be as bad as Fred last midweek IMO. His best moments in this game are that of the striker role: 1. The clearest chance to score of both teams (he failed to beat Barcelona GK). 2. Occupying Araujo in our second goal 3. The time he attacked a cross across Barcelona goal, heel flicked (ball ended up for Sancho, but he failed to get a shot on goal) 4. Being a body in defending set piece.

The rest is nothing you can't get from someone like McTominay, with expectation of better level. Won few header in open play that lead to nowhere, while lost a fair few other amount of aerial ball to Alonso, FdJ, Kessie. Had another moment where he totally mis headed the ball (Kessie was not close to him). Some wild missed tackle at the end of the games, where Barcelona ended up just bypassed him, and in one of those ended up with Ansu Fati shot. I remembered he pressed and led to run in circle by Kessie.

Our 1-1 equalizer goal is clear for you to see that we don't need him at all. He neither helped with defensive phase, nor transition phase, nor attacking move. Rashford scored an unbelievable goal from difficult angle. Here our supporting forward is no where close to support, provide option if Rashford chose to pass. Casemiro helped won the ball back, progress the ball with the pass. Fred was in no 10 position, received the ball, played it to Rashford.

In helping defending set piece, I am not sure he's doing a good job. De Gea was frustrated with him when he cleared the ball from a free kick for a corner, where it seemed like De Gea communicated to leave the cross out for a corner (Casemiro was there to mediate the situation). Another one is when Barcelona hit the post near the end of the game. Christensen is not supposed to be a strong player. That ball should be dealt easy, but somehow WW looked like a wimp.
 
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Cant wait till Martial gets back. Weghorst should never start another important game. Would rather play Rashford up front with Sancho Antony on the wings. He should be nothing more than a sub until we send back in the summer, unless it's an easy game, but even then he really can't do much, as we saw against Leeds.
 
His average position was slightly deeper than Fred's according to sofascore. He was asked to do a job and he gave everything.
 
3KDré said:
While that is true, tonight he played him there because he wanted him there and he did what was needed of him. He wanted someone physical to press Kessie out of the game while Fred did the same on De Jong. Coincidentally they both played poorly today. There's no point moaning about it, just trust that Ten Hag knows exactly what he's doing.
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This is a myth.

No one from Barcelona midfield got pressed out of the game. Their forced mistake mostly came from their defenders, or final third passing, which WW didn't play a part. However, they didn't really struggle with playing out of the back, just as despite some individual mistake here and there from AWB, Shaw, Varane, we're not struggling to play out of the back under their pressing.

Barcelona struggled mostly because Xavi decision to play his mate in Alba, and started Alonso for morale reason (Alonso at least had some positive impact). Alba can be seen in one sequence that he couldn't outpace Bruno. That side is weak defensively, and most of the second half, Rashford targeted that side channel, instead of his usual preferred left channel.

After Xavi finally strengthened that side both defensively and offensively, they got more control of the game toward the end. Balde should be the first choice. Alonso was not their regular starter either.

ETH is smart tactically, but the use of WW is pretty much the same issue that Xavi has by playing his mate. The bad things just overshadowed the good contribution.

Edit: ETH tactic is to crowd up the central of the pitch, so Barcelona needed to go around more to the wings, which Barcelona for most of the game has no left wing; Raphina is hot and cold with his decision making. However, it's by no mean pressed out of the game of any Barcelona midfielders. They still progress the ball, comfortable on ball for most part. Their most struggle come from their defensive line, on ball or defending against our direct play. Xavi has the tools to change the game from the beginning, or earlier than he did.
 
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SirScholes said:
Agreed, not ideal he’s clearly not good enough but there is no one else
It’s a season too soon to be throwing garnacho in

only thing I will say, I never seen someone so tall be so shit at reading the flight of the ball
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He seems to want to bring the ball down and play it, instead of just flicking it on. It must be a Dutch thing.
 
Venkman24 said:
His average position was slightly deeper than Fred's according to sofascore. He was asked to do a job and he gave everything.
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As he always does, there is absolutely no doubting his work rate or his desire. He works as hard as any striker I’ve seen at United. Tevez levels of pressing, harrying and chasing back. And that is commendable.

He is however, so far short of quality on the ball that it really does hurt us as an attacking unit. We’d be a far better team with Rashford upfront & Bruno in the #10 (who himself has fantastic defensive work rate) flanked by two on Sancho, Garnacho or Antony. I do worry that ETH has a bit of a blind spot towards Wout and that it’ll cost us in at the end of the season. For all his hard work, a bit more quality in the attack today and I think we would have won.
 
Wheato said:
He seems to want to bring the ball down and play it, instead of just flicking it on. It must be a Dutch thing.
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I don't believe this is true.

It's more about his lack of ability to judge the drop of the aerial ball. 2 consecutive matches, there was a moment WW missed headed a ball with little pressure (no pressure in Leeds game). In this game toward the end of the game, WW anticipated an aerial ball which he totally misjudged, for FdJ way behind him to get the ball on the ground under no pressure.

Luuk de Jong is fair competent in these kind of thing. RvN, RvP may not be the battering ram type of forward, but they're very good with anticipation of aerial ball. Kluivert is known for his aerial prowess.

Dutch CBs are not bad at all aerially.
 
Looks like ETH rates him as a potential number 10. 90 minutes in the Nou camp at 10 and he didnt look out of place. Played some nice stuff He had a big chance and the goalie made a good save, had that gone in those on his back may ahve a less tainted view.
 
RedIan said:
Looks like ETH rates him as a potential number 10. 90 minutes in the Nou camp at 10 and he didnt look out of place. Played some nice stuff He had a big chance and the goalie made a good save, had that gone in those on his back may ahve a less tainted view.
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He's very much looked out of place.

If he scored that goal, he might have made an impact, then had the same game, the question would be again what is his best position (?). It's a forward goal, but the rest of the game, he's neither good enough as forward, or looked competent enough as no 10/third midfielder.

Most of the fast transition chances, it was somebody else to run the furthest and attack the cross, square ball when Rashford were involved in the transition. That's obviously strange for a supporting striker.
 
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In a certain way, he reminds me a bit of Fellaini. It’s not his fault. He tries really hard and isn’t without his merits, but he’s just plainly not good enough. There was this tiny window in time where, for a variety of reasons, never to be repeated, he could end up signing for United and being a starter. It’ll be over soon.
 
I bet you in the next game a lazy commentator will mention how we aren't playing enough aerial balls into him and not playing to his strengths.

Its astonishing how bad he is in the air for his size, Lukaku was also terrible at winning balls in the air but he was at least very good at getting on the end of crosses. I feel he's had maybe two headed chances since he's been here and delivery certainly isn't the problem as Rashford has scored a few.

A couple of weeks ago, I said I'd be surprised if he scored another goal this season and I'm sticking to it.
 
He was bought in as cover for Martial he obviously won't be the long term striker, it's not his fault he's starting every game because our other attackers are injured. He's doing what Ten Hag wants of him so I'm glad he's here
 
Feed the Horst and he will struggle to make it to the ball.
 
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