1958Villan
Vital Football Hero
During the rest of this season and during the summer I'd have Luiz training with the central defenders half of the week and the rest of the time I'd have him practising passing and shooting.
Yes, pretty sure he didn't give away a penalty on his 23 birthday for the fun of it , just a bit too enthusiastic to win the ball.At this point in time, if he is good enough for the Brazilian national team, I think he is probably good enough for us.
At this point in time, if he is good enough for the Brazilian national team, I think he is probably good enough for us.
I think 1958Villan is right, he collapses his knee from behind.Still cheating for me, Luiz didn't even really have a foot in - the contact between both thighs was minimal at best and it's not even a weight thing as Pogba isn't a dwarf.
The thing is with Dougie is he's a very good player, probably our next most skilful to Jack, he does Brazilian things .
Makelele and Mascherano are good role models for Doug - squat and compactI agree with Platypus that deep lying midfielders don’t necessarily need to be big, think of Kante, Ndidi and Mak.....,(the one who played for Chelsea.). They don’t need to be thugs but they do need a sense of anticipation, a nose for danger and an ability to nick the ball away without committing needless fouls. In our our case a bit of height wouldn’t come amiss when it comes to defending corners etc. How many times have we seen McGinn, Luiz etc marking 6 foot players in our area?
altogether now:
Dougie is a baller
He does Brazilian things
And if he can't go forward
He taps it back to Mings
His apparently 'poor' season has earned another call up to the Brazil squad...
I thought he was fine against Everton and you could see he was determined to make it that way as well.
Spot on platypus. Somewhat dated for sure (although the best number six we've had in living memory wasn't known as hard man - step forward Sir Dennis of Mortimer).I think some people's ideas of deep-lying midfielders are a bit outdated. They don't need to be big, or mean, or be able to put in a "reducer" at the start of a game. They need good anticipation, positional sense and (crucially for Luiz) know when the limited times they need put in a tackle are. He's got the first two and the third gets better with experience.
Spot on platypus. Somewhat dated for sure (although the best number six we've had in living memory wasn't known as hard man - step forward Sir Dennis of Mortimer).
There are many different types of midfield player, some that get stuck in, some that read the game well, some that have limitless energy, some that have a great range of passing, some can get into the box at the right time to score. Not many have it all.
The number six role is a very under-rated/misunderstood position, particularly by those whose main viewing point is through a televised angle. Petrov was never really seen as a legend until after he was out of the team and we went to in his absence. Loads of unseen and off-the-ball work to close space, track runners, provide a passing option from defenders etc etc. All of which comes with experience, and at 23 (just) Dougie has time on his side....