brighton_tom
Well-known member
- Jul 23, 2008
- 4,881
Was this his preferred role at youth level?
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
[Albion] Carlos Baleba SINGS a 5-year deal
- Thread starter Stumpy Tim
- Start date
macbeth
Dismembered
I do think we suffered without Gilmour and we would’ve kept hold of the ball a lot better had he been available. I just think the idea of playing him and groß as the midfield two has been far from ideal, and massively highlighted his weaknesses. I do agree we will need another midfielder this summer, however that’s more due to the disaster that dahoud has been, rather than gilmour needing to be replaced
AZ Gull
@SeagullsAcademy Threads: @bhafcacademy
He sees himself as a box-to-box midfielder.
Jimmy Grimble
Well-known member
Makes sense given one of his biggest strengths seems to be his ball carrying. Unfortunately for him, I don’t think De Zerbi favours that trait in his central midfielders.
Nobby Cybergoat
Well-known member
- Jul 19, 2021
- 7,059
The way I see it, ideally we should have at least 2 specialist defensive midfielders and at least 2 specialist attacking midfielders in the squad.
Baleba I think is the only specialist defensive midfielder. Yes, we've been playing Gilmour there, Gilmour being a player I like, but he can't cover the ground. He should be competing with Gross for a playmaker role further forward and in reality, be his understudy.
We need someone to compete / rotate with Baleba. Someone with that Bissouma, Caicedo ability to stay behind the play, anticipate us being turned over and get back to make a challenge from nowhere. Baleba I think can do this. But at that age, he can't be playing every game. Baleba should be the understudy to a specialist defensive midfielder. This, in my mind is our number one priority this summer.
aolstudios
Well-known member
Biss?
Mancgull
Well-known member
I agree that this is our priority position for an addition. However, I’m not sure that Roberto trusts Baleba yet in terms of his requirements for a defensive pivot to take the ball facing his own goal/ on the half turn and keep possession.
Caicedo was very good at this.
Manuel Locatelli would be the ideal addition although it’s highly unlikely that will come off.
GrossTurn
Well-known member
- Jun 20, 2020
- 288
It hasn’t been the case since Makelele (probably earlier..)
aolstudios
Well-known member
My point was Biss barely ever scored. Although his spectacular misses were entertaining
macbeth
Dismembered
agree 100%. i would’ve liked another midfielder last summer even if we had kept hold of caicedo. in my opinion the strongest our midfield has been was when we had bissouma and caicedo to rotate between. note that guido rodriguez of real betis has an expiring contract this summer. a bit older but would be an incredibly astute pick up on a free. of course if there was even any slight possibility of locatelli coming here then the wallet, piggy bank and any spare change down the back of the sofa should be thrown at that
GrossTurn
Well-known member
- Jun 20, 2020
- 288
Indeed - my point was specialist DMs who barely ever score (and aren’t expected to) go at least as far back as Makelele.
maresfield seagull
Well-known member
- May 23, 2006
- 2,247
Spuds see him as a more forward thinking player from what I ve read recently
How true that is ?