Digne looks miserable in the press photo’s. I think he had his sights wet a bit higher than Villa.
Is he really that good, or has Gerrard done Rafa a favour there…
If only we had Aston Villa’s owners. We could have spent £25m on a third choice LB.
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He’s a decent player, but I assume there is a bit of an ego there, which has led to him leaving Everton after he fell out with Rafa.
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I’ve always rated him in terms of his attacking threat - he’s a good crosser/passer, and good with set pieces. Defensively, he’s not that great, but he’s not the worst. He’s the type of fullback that is good when the team has most of the ball.
He’s not a Rafa player - he doesn’t suit the tactics or have the discipline. He will suit Gerrard’s style more I feel.
I’d not have him here personally - not good enough. But he’s definitely good enough for a team fighting for the European places beyond CL.
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Not having watched any of his teams in-depth (I think the only match I’ve ever watched was the FA Cup Villa game – I missed his match against us), I don’t know enough about his style, but do his teams require less discipline than Rafa’s? I remember an early interview of his saying he wanted to model his management on Rafa, so it would be interesting.
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Maybe my use of the word discipline isn’t the best. I was leaning towards tactical discipline - Rafa’s teams don’t are far less attacking via the fullbacks. Gerrard likes his fullbacks to get forward. He did it at Rangers, and also with Targett and Cash of late.
Discipline in terms of managing the person, we will only see if Stevie and Digne get on. Rafa had no issue booting players out that weren’t doing as he wanted - Stevie will likely do the same.
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I would imagine that attacking fullbacks require even more discipline than purely defensive ones. If they slip up, mess up their positioning, it could be a massive liability for the team.
It doesn’t matter if the tactics are to sit back in two banks of four and hold a deep line, or to have a high line and the fullbacks up in the final third - discipline is required, and that works best when players suit the system the manager employs.
What Rafa needs from his full backs isn’t the same as what Stevie needs. Digne didn’t suit the Rafa style, he’s not the right type of footballer for the job. But that doesn’t mean he’s not right for a different system.
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He’s the best LB in the league not already at a CL side or with semi realistic pretension of being one this season (Shaw and Tierny), and even then think he’d make a reasonable argument for himself to be better or as good as those two, and really anyone who isnt Robbo, Tsimi, or Chilwell (when fit).
In terms of players who are available who can improve them quickly in an area they wanted to improve it’s a fairly obvious player to have targeted and a bit f a coup to have landed someone who probably was wanting something bigger. And that’s really the question here. For a player who’s played and won stuff (mostly while sitting on the bench) for PSG and Barca, the issue is motivation and attitude. We dont know much about Stevie as a manager, but we know as a person who doesnt tolerate people who are lacking in this area.
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Surprised to hear how the numbers being rumoured for Adama Traore are.
How are they? Are they ok? Should we send someone over to check up on them?
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Gah, English failure.
Surprised to see a low number like £20M in play. Spurs apparently trying to do that on a loan first basis.
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FIFY
Thiago Maia from Lille to Flamengo for £3.6m.
Kristijan Bistrovic from CSKA Moscow to Karagumruk on a free.
Renaud Emond from Nantes to Stanard Liege for £180k.
Gonzalo Villar from Roma to Getafe on loan.
Borja Mayoral from Roma to Getafe on loan, £450k.
Filip Benkovic from Leicester to Udinese on a free.
Cedric Bakambu from Beijing Guoan to Marseille on a free.
Anwar El Ghazi from Villa to Everton on loan.
Glad to see Levy returning to form.
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Kilian Ludewig from RB Salzburg to Willem II on loan.
Ibrahim Amadou from Sevilla to Metz on a free.
Chelsea have recalled Kenedy from his loan at Flamengo.
David Neres from Ajax to Shakhtar for £10.8m.
Melayro Bogarde from Hoffenheim to Groningen on loan.
Jesus Corona from Porto to Sevilla confirmed, £2.7m.
Riccardo Calafiori from Roma to Genoa on loan.
Mohamed Fares from Lazio to Torino on loan.
Pontus Dahlberg from Watford to Gillingham on loan.
Deyovaisio Zeefuik from Hertha to Blackburn on loan.
Cristiano from Sheriff to Fluminense for £1.2m.
Onel Hernandez from Norwich to Birmingham on loan.
Edon Zhegrova from Basel to Lille for £6.3m.
Rodrigo from PAOK to Juventude on a free.
Mert Cetin from Hellas Verona to Kayserispor on loan.
Luke Matheson from Wolves to Scunthorpe on loan.
Giangiacomo Magnani from Sampdoria to Hellas Verona on loan.
Interesting. Wasn’t he one that some were keen for us to bring in a year or two ago?
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He was often linked (or perhaps not linked heavily, but football public was interested to see where he would go next and what he would develop into) with a move in last years, but obviously not all talents are destined for the top. Looks like he has stagnated and Ajax turned more towards someone like Antony.
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