From what I’ve seen, I think McAteer was more of a creative source through passing/crossing, Neco is more by trying to manipulate the ball by little basic dribble moves.
We’ll just see what happens. For now, if we had a game tomorrow and Trent can’t play, I think it would be Millie to start. Maybe Gomez gets a few minutes here and there, more maybe coming off the bench, to build his fitness, if we need him at CB again. Bradley at the moment is still very much so-so. Some positives, some negatives. Maybe the club’s hope is that he can make steps towards the start of next season which would enable us to sell Neco. Millie will leave almost for sure. So it’s an area that will be open until pre-season (or end of it) next summer.
Since TAA landed on the scene, there will be an awful lot of academy players beginning to learn the traits that make TAA so special… so before too long we may have a ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ Trent wannabee putting pressure on the RB slot
I can see why we have agreed to the move. For us he’s not quite a full back (in the way we employ them), and not quite a wide forward (again how we use them).
Put him in side that sets up and plays closer to Wales and I think he’ll do a good job. I couldn’t say if that’s in the PL or otherwise though.
The difficult bit from my selfish Welsh stance on this is ideally Wales need as many players in the PL or equivalent as possible. He may not end up in such a side. That will be unfortunate.
Could strike a nice partnership down the right with Wilson ahead of him in that inside right channel. I don’t know who is Fulham’s right sided central midfielder though. If they get promoted this time, let’s see if they can survive that first season. Which has been a problem the last two(?) times. Whenever I hear that Tony Khan bloke speak, I have a feeling he’s a Youtuber.
Yeah, McAteer was a premier league quality box to box midfielder who moved to RB because with the way our squad evolved it was his best path to retaining his place in the side. Neco, not so much.
EDIT: Im also not sure how much McAteer played as a RB as opposed to a WB in a back 5. My recollection was the switch back to the back 4 left less room for him hence him moving on to Blackburn.
Picked up an assist on debut. Cut back from the rught side by-line. Some solid numbers. Hopefully he continues to get game time. Hes got hard shoes to fill with Trent, but hes not a bad footballer.
Nope, so far this season (all comps), he’s made 30 appearances (2,564 mins), scored 31 goals, 7 assists, and only 5 yellow cards - no reds. If we didn’t know anything about Mitro, purely looking at stats, we’d all be wondering which Top 6 prem club will pick him up.
Thing with him is, that when he’s in a team fighting for relegation, he’s a very different footballer, compared to when he’s in a team cruising and scoring loads, like right now. The moment his team his under the pressure, he’s the type to crack and start lunging into tackles and getting his handbag swinging. Another Xhaka type loonbat.
He’s found his level. There are people too good for Championship and not premier league quality. That said, Mitrovic would make a decent striker for a mid table team without the obvious defensive frailties that fulham exhibit when they come to the premier league. You inevitably know that the fulham team, despite playing some good attacking football won’t have enough quality at the back to stave off relegation
I’d say Mitro is certainly better than Championship level, but perhaps not the PL and not the PL with a club so wild like Fulham. Maybe another PL side or even more than that, a different top 5 league.
I’ve been following Mitrović’s career literally from the start and I can say that he grew from a really immature but passionate boy to a little less immature but passionate man. He’s a throwback to a bygone era of football, one I’m not particularly fond of (mainly because Liverpool pretty much sucked then). He’d be great for a club battling relegation the old way, i.e. your Burnleys, Stokes, WBAs… But I hope he doesn’t go to clubs like those and I also hope that clubs playing that alehouse football will never set foot in Premier League again. If you follow Serbian national team, it’s impossible to dislike him (he’s currently the nation’s top goalscorer), though I hope that tall, slow, target men will be rendered obsolete here, too.
Anyway, his presence should boost Neco’s numbers, I hope, and maybe encourage him to improve his crossing in the process. I thought Neco’s crossing was his best asset when he first broke through but I can’t remember him hitting good ones lately. A lot of clubs, hopefully in PL, will be after a fullback with decent pace and technical ability, who’s also able to pick out his forwards, especially from deeper areas. Matty Cash is rumoured to be a target for Atletico Madrid, maybe Aston Villa’s scouts might have Neco in their sights?
