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Sandro Tonali Official
- Thread starter LutonSpurs
- Start date
MartyFunkhouser
Teddy Sheringham
Yeh, I dont look at us and think we are massively unlucky, not to the levels of woe be me I keep seeing.
No way I am giving up, but just calling what I have seen
MartyFunkhouser
Teddy Sheringham
They weren't guilt edge though, keeper made some camera saves.
SteveAWOL
George Hunt
Fernandes looks like he will become a world class midfield maestro but whilst Tonali is clearly an upgrade on the likes of Gallagher plus young Bergvall and Sarr I still cannot fathom the logic in splashing out a club record fee on him when we already had reasonable options in that department.
Not when we’re so desperately lacking at CF position and especially when it’s clear from RDZ’s recent comments that he’s known for a while that Richarlison wanted out plus Solanke is well short of match sharpness.
Bishop
Ian Walker
Because we need that quality now, not in 5 years time with no actual guarantee that those players will make it to that level. I absolutely disagree that the midfield we had was good enough, the previous 2 years very much showed that not to be the case.
I don't think the issue is Tonali's ability, hes actually played reasonably well. It's down to how we've used him and set up the rest of the midfield. RDZ I have to say has gotten that wrong imo. It might be necessitated from his POV by injuries but the balances have been wrong.
Do you think we could have spent 80 on Fernandes and 100 (or whatever) on a striker maybe? Improve midfield and goal scoring.
Fernandes and Bentancur look taylor made for each other. With no Europe, they could have been supported by Gray, Bergval and Gallagher. Or we add Paulinha back in for low money.
They’ve bodged the window up - no doubt about it.
Bishop
Ian Walker
I think we could have yes just done Fernandes and paired him with Bentancur but then the issue is the depth. We would have literally two starting quality CMs. What if one of them were injured as was the case at the begining of the season? Then you're in a situation where Bergvall or Gallagher are starting as the other option.
The problem for me is not buying Tonali, it's playing Tonali and Bentancur as a double pivot and Fernandes as a 10. It should be Tonali or Bentancur alongside Fernandes and a 10. If course we'd had some injury issues in the 19 so that would be up for grabs but then you could try Gallagher/Bergvall/Marmoush/Kudus etc there. None are ideal but neither is Fernandes. Id rather fudge up one position then fudge up all 3 midfield roles which is what RDZ has sadly been doing so far.
Re Palhinha I don't understand why he's now seen as a solution to our goal scoring and creating problems? If he were playing he would exacerbate these issues.
I mentioned Paulinha as he could have been an option to add at low cost if we wanted backup to Bentancur/Fernandes. Nothing to do with goal scoring.I think we could have yes just done Fernandes and paired him with Bentancur but then the issue is the depth. We would have literally two starting quality CMs. What if one of them were injured as was the case at the begining of the season? Then you're in a situation where Bergvall or Gallagher are starting as the other option.
The problem for me is not buying Tonali, it's playing Tonali and Bentancur as a double pivot and Fernandes as a 10. It should be Tonali or Bentancur alongside Fernandes and a 10. If course we'd had some injury issues in the 19 so that would be up for grabs but then you could try Gallagher/Bergvall/Marmoush/Kudus etc there. None are ideal but neither is Fernandes. Id rather fudge up one position then fudge up all 3 midfield roles which is what RDZ has sadly been doing so far.
Re Palhinha I don't understand why he's now seen as a solution to our goal scoring and creating problems? If he were playing he would exacerbate these issues.
RDZ is totally fumbling the Fernandez situation. He should be the first name on the sheet in a deep lying position and then you build round him. RDZ keeps insisting he can cover in the 10. He’s wrong. I watched yesterday with my West Ham friend and he said Fernandes contributed nothing in that role for them and was so much better in his correct position. De Zerbi should know this.
SteveAWOL
George Hunt
Yup, this is my thinking too.
When spending £100m+ on a single transfer I expect that player to either immediately elevate the entire team (like what Kane has done to Bayern) or be the final piece in that title winning puzzle (like Rice at ARSEnal).
Fernandes has the range of passing which our midfield has lacked and if we’d actually signed a quality #10 (knowing that all 3 of those currently in our squad are either long term injured or months away from being fully fit) then RDZ wouldn’t have to even attempt to shoehorn Mateus into that position.
And discovering that RDZ knew for over a month that Richarlison wanted out which has left goal shy Solanke as the only CF in squad simply blows my mind; hopefully some of our front line rediscover how to find the back of the net over international break
Yiddo.1882
Adel Taarabt
Tonali is a brilliant player who wouldn’t look out of place at any of Europe’s top clubs, part of the current narrative around him is the misconception of what he actually is, and to a similar degree Fernandes, these misconceptions have been exacerbated by the way RDZ has used them. The fan base is starting to come around to seeing that Fernandes is a 6 in the mould of a Vitinha, Rodri, etc, but not yet what Tonali actually is, the first half yesterday was a little glimpse of his real game, these two perfectly complement each other as a pairing.
If the manager insists on playing a double pivot, while I think it would be a better balance than with Tonali I am not actually convinced that Fernandes with Bentancur would actually be that great a balance either. For me, it’s Fernandes/Bentancur/Gray as the 6 next to Tonali/Bergvall/Gallagher as the 8, but I have been saying on here all pre season this squad is built for a 433 as one of Maddison or Deki could be used as tje 2nd 8 next to Tonali.
If the manager insists on playing a double pivot, while I think it would be a better balance than with Tonali I am not actually convinced that Fernandes with Bentancur would actually be that great a balance either. For me, it’s Fernandes/Bentancur/Gray as the 6 next to Tonali/Bergvall/Gallagher as the 8, but I have been saying on here all pre season this squad is built for a 433 as one of Maddison or Deki could be used as tje 2nd 8 next to Tonali.
I think we could have yes just done Fernandes and paired him with Bentancur but then the issue is the depth. We would have literally two starting quality CMs. What if one of them were injured as was the case at the begining of the season? Then you're in a situation where Bergvall or Gallagher are starting as the other option.
The problem for me is not buying Tonali, it's playing Tonali and Bentancur as a double pivot and Fernandes as a 10. It should be Tonali or Bentancur alongside Fernandes and a 10. If course we'd had some injury issues in the 19 so that would be up for grabs but then you could try Gallagher/Bergvall/Marmoush/Kudus etc there. None are ideal but neither is Fernandes. Id rather fudge up one position then fudge up all 3 midfield roles which is what RDZ has sadly been doing so far.
Re Palhinha I don't understand why he's now seen as a solution to our goal scoring and creating problems? If he were playing he would exacerbate these issues.
palhinha would be in with shout of being our top goal scorer right now.
We also might not have conceded so many goals
Bishop
Ian Walker
The goals we ave conceded haven't really been down to the midfield, moreso errors defensively I would argue and yes Palhina scored some goals for us last season but progressive play and goal scoring are hardly his wheelhouse. I don't think we could seriously go into this season and expect another career best in terms of goal return.
Muttley
Vedran Corluka
353 league and Europa mins for Benfica. No goals, no assists. Getting some decent scores each week though for his on pitch performance though.
Bedfordspurs
Bert Smith
Fernandes will be a top player
I don’t think that will be as a 10
But in a 2 he will for sure
Bedfordspurs
Bert Smith
I think it’s easy to win midfield when you have an extra man who is capable
But we’re failing in the other parts because the extra man is in midfield
Bishop
Ian Walker
People in this thread are talking about missing Palhinha when midfield whatever the numbers hasn't been the issue. I can't see how adding Palhinha into these starting lineups as some are suggesting we could have done would make any difference when his absence isn't something we are feeling.
thfcsteff
Fanny Walden
Until we are either brave or mature enough as a team, we need a couple of leaders on the pitch. Keeping Palhinha for another season as we wait for our signings to either 'find fitness' or rhythm or both would most certainly have benefitted us in terms of on-pitch leadership. I accept that long-term he is not the answer to any long frame questions, but right now he would be very, very useful in helping navigate our current situation. I mean, DeZerbi seems immune to playing Tonali and Fernandes together right now. Maybe the decision was that Bentancur can be the Palhinha?
Bedfordspurs
Bert Smith
He wouldn’t add anything imo
I like
Him but that’s not what we’re missing imo
We’re missing the man in front who is the glue
You could see Maddison doing it as soon as he came on, flipping between coming deep and attacking
Palhina can’t do that
But to do what Maddison does we need 2 men in midfield supporting him at 10