[Albion] Carlos Baleba SINGS a 5-year deal

[Live by the sea]

He’s going to be a top player - u can tell

 

[Munchkin]

Wonder if Baleba has played himself into our strongest XI and features regularly now or whether RDZ will protect him and we see his appearances be limited.

Gilmour puts in an MOM performance against Bournemouth and hasn’t started since.

 

[dazzer6666]

Wonder if Baleba has played himself into our strongest XI and features regularly now or whether RDZ will protect him and we see his appearances be limited.

Gilmour puts in an MOM performance against Bournemouth and hasn’t started since.

We’ll keep rotating given the number of games we have. Plenty of minutes for everyone and no real ‘strongest XI’.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Wonder if Baleba has played himself into our strongest XI and features regularly now or whether RDZ will protect him and we see his appearances be limited.

Gilmour puts in an MOM performance against Bournemouth and hasn’t started since.

Started in a 6-1 thumping unfortunately.

I’ve said it before on here about Gilmour. He’s a great, neat and tidy player but I’m not convinced he’s an entirely suitable player for an RDZ system. He’s not got Gross levels of adaptability and intelligence, and he’s not got Baleba levels of power and drive. He will get minutes and do a steady job but I don’t think he’s in a best XI.

 

[Farehamseagull]

I've liked the look of this kid since his first game but obviously he's raw and in some games that has really shown but I thought last night he played with a lot of maturity. Really impressive and a big part of the win.

 

[Oh_aye]

I've liked the look of this kid since his first game but obviously he's raw and in some games that has really shown but I thought last night he played with a lot of maturity. Really impressive and a big part of the win.

Think De Zerbi clearly rates him as he was given a really big, responsible role last night. Building possession from some mad flexible sweeper / central midfield / occassionally dropping into right back / inside half role

 

[BevBHA]

You could tell he was scared to lose the ball as he was the deepest man, often chose the ‘safe option’ sideways or back to the keeper rather than a risky pass into midfield to break the press. Can’t blame him, lose the ball in midfield and you have a defence behind you, lose it as last man and the chances of conceding are high. Agree it was quite a mature performance. I’m sure RDZ is still working with him with regards to his risk/reward strategy that we’ve seen so often.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

You could tell he was scared to lose the ball as he was the deepest man, often chose the ‘safe option’ sideways or back to the keeper rather than a risky pass into midfield to break the press. Can’t blame him, lose the ball in midfield and you have a defence behind you, lose it as last man and the chances of conceding are high. Agree it was quite a mature performance. I’m sure RDZ is still working with him with regards to his risk/reward strategy that we’ve seen so often.

I'd agree with that. He played really well, but occasionally slightly hesitant. And I can totally understand why. The Albion play without a safety net.

 

[worthingweird]

RDZ changing stratergy again...love it.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I'd agree with that. He played really well, but occasionally slightly hesitant. And I can totally understand why. The Albion play without a safety net.

His confidence to make more progressive passes will come. Last night was more about providing pace and cover in the centre and staying calm. I'd rather passes back to the keeper in that position than risking losing the ball. We were mainly using the wings to probe anyway.

 

[Gill's White Jumper]

Thought we had glimpses last night of the player to come. Exciting prospect!

 

[Farehamseagull]

You could tell he was scared to lose the ball as he was the deepest man, often chose the ‘safe option’ sideways or back to the keeper rather than a risky pass into midfield to break the press. Can’t blame him, lose the ball in midfield and you have a defence behind you, lose it as last man and the chances of conceding are high. Agree it was quite a mature performance. I’m sure RDZ is still working with him with regards to his risk/reward strategy that we’ve seen so often.

He definitely played more cautiously than he has before but even so went on a great forward run bursting through the middle in the second half and played a couple of lovely through balls still.

He's such an exciting talent.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Started in a 6-1 thumping unfortunately.

I’ve said it before on here about Gilmour. He’s a great, neat and tidy player but I’m not convinced he’s an entirely suitable player for an RDZ system. He’s not got Gross levels of adaptability and intelligence, and he’s not got Baleba levels of power and drive. He will get minutes and do a steady job but I don’t think he’s in a best XI.

I thought he had a cracking game last night

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

He definitely played more cautiously than he has before but even so went on a great forward run bursting through the middle in the second half and played a couple of lovely through balls still.

He's such an exciting talent.

He really is - reminded me more of Bissouma last night than Caicedo. But if he gets anywhere near those two...... wow.

 

[Zeberdi]

Started in a 6-1 thumping unfortunately.

I’ve said it before on here about Gilmour. He’s a great, neat and tidy player but I’m not convinced he’s an entirely suitable player for an RDZ system. He’s not got Gross levels of adaptability and intelligence, and he’s not got Baleba levels of power and drive. He will get minutes and do a steady job but I don’t think he’s in a best XI.

Gilmour’s head and heart are bang on in the right place which makes him incredibly likeable. He also has excellent positional awareness and his passing accuracy is superb but he is too light weight overall IMO and not technically skilled enough as a player to hold a crucial pivot position in RDZ’s double pivot set up but in the overall context of the team, it is a position he can handle well if he has someone better playing alongside him. Baleba on the other hand is a powerful pivot and is showing the sort of characteristics that made Caicedo (and Bissouma to a lesser extent) so impactful - he is much bolder in possession and more technically gifted than Gilmour. Like Caicedo and Biss, Baleba has shown he is more versatile on the pitch and more physically imposing than Gilmour too with a greater ability to receive the ball on a half turn without losing the team’s attacking pace. A very impressive signing so far.

 

[essbee1]

He really is - reminded me more of Bissouma last night than Caicedo. But if he gets anywhere near those two...... wow.

My thoughts exactly. He's clearly still learning - but will be immense before long.

 

[wehatepalace]

I get the same feelings I did about bissouma when he started, he’s going to be a big player for us next season

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

RDZ said in his post-game stuff that at the moment Baleba is better when the game is in front of him rather than when he's in central midfield with a lot of stuff happening around him, which I thought was interesting. And trust him to find the solution that he did.

 

[Farehamseagull]

Started in a 6-1 thumping unfortunately.

I’ve said it before on here about Gilmour. He’s a great, neat and tidy player but I’m not convinced he’s an entirely suitable player for an RDZ system. He’s not got Gross levels of adaptability and intelligence, and he’s not got Baleba levels of power and drive. He will get minutes and do a steady job but I don’t think he’s in a best XI.

I agree fully re: Gilmour. He's a popular with some fans as he's a busy player but I don't actually think he's that effective.

 

[um bongo molongo]

He really is - reminded me more of Bissouma last night than Caicedo. But if he gets anywhere near those two...... wow.

I agree there’s more than passing resemblance to Biss. And we need to remember how long it took Biss to get to grips with the Prem. Having someone athletic and quick is so important. Suspect we wouldn’t have conceded the penalty at Chelsea with someone like him on the pitch.