Confirmed Signing Abdoulaye Doucouré

[TheBigIguana]

Its like your taking stats of a player whose mostly played in an attacking /forward thinking role last season and discounting the fact they were alwaye seen as a box to box CM and consider their best position to be DM.

Only reason he was pushed forward is because Pearson wanted Will Hughes in the side. Hes not suddenly a number 10.

Hes joining at the same age Gana did and in the same circumstances having just been relegated.

Watford turned down £30mil from us before and quoted £50mil to us and PSG. If he was a terrible player them i imagine they would have taken the cash...



On his day hes an absolute monster and unplayable. Ancelotti needs to get that out of him consistently.

What it is really like is that his stats were bad in 17/18 and 18/19 too when he was playing his preferred spot. In fact they weren't really too different from this year at all.

Let's stop comparing him to Gana. It's getting slanderous. It's Bernard is the new Pienaar level bad.

 

[AmericasToffee]

He would legitimately be the only scoring threat the midfield has.

He's 27th out of all midfielders in blocks which, for some reason, people care about blocks from midfielders - seems especially pointless from ones that tend to play more advanced. Seems to rarely get dispossessed for the number of times he touches the ball. 17th in tackles by midfielders.

 

[tnc85]

On the flipside though there will be a lot of pressure on Gomes as he needs to provide the creativity, he needs to find those defence splitting passes. As you rightly stated he has played far too deep to fulfill that role. Hopefully now we can start to see the best of him.

Yeah I agree. I’m also encouraged that people think we can play a 3 man midfield with the signing of Allan/Doucoure. We certainly will have power and drive then. But as you say you need a creative type still to supply the forwards. Potentially exciting times.

 

[Zatara]

What it is really like is that his stats were bad in 17/18 and 18/19 too when he was playing his preferred spot. In fact they weren't really too different from this year at all.

Let's stop comparing him to Gana. It's getting slanderous. It's Bernard is the new Pienaar level bad.

I dont see anyone but you comparing him to Gana?

If i was then the only similarities i see with them are both came to the league from France and both got relegated the season before they (at the same age) joined Everton--if Doucoure signs.

 

[Exeter_Gently]

Yeah I agree. I’m also encouraged that people think we can play a 3 man midfield with the signing of Allan/Doucoure. We certainly will have power and drive then. But as you say you need a creative type still to supply the forwards. Potentially exciting times.

Apparently sticking with Big Dunc's 442 that got a point at OT.

 

[Stephenlloyd]

There is no doubt that he would be an upgrade on or current midfield option, however that really isn’t saying too much. Given the state we find ourselves in I would rather keep things simple, buy a defensive midfielder who can provide a shield for the defence. I like to think if our defenders had some confidence that when teams broke on us they had some protection who would allow them time to get into position and not be caught in two minds to move out to shut down or stay put and not allow space. At the moment I will settle for a defensive midfielder who can defend.
I still think Gomes can be effective going forward if he had confidence in his midfield partner to make up for slips and mistakes. Having seen that I would like to see Allan at Everton but even he needs a trustworthy partner in central midfield. I am hopeful that if we invest in the best we can afford in midfield we will discover our attack and our defence are not as bad as they have appeared to be.

I still think we wouid be very weak in midfield, if we just bought a defensive midfielder to sit and protect the back 4 ( which isn’t Allan by the way) and let Gomes do the play making role. Because Gomes offers nothing from a defensive point of view.

Allan is a bit like Gana, but better on the ball, yes he can defend It also likes to press higher up the pitch, alongside a Doucoure, who also prefers to go forward, but at least has some defensive nous, so they can cover for each other. Gbamin is also similar, but probably the more defensive of the 3.

Ive said for 6 months, if Ancelotti is sticking with 442, then we need 2 aggressive, powerful midfielders. I just don’t see a place for Gomes

 

[toffee66]

in 155 top division league games for Valencia, Barca and us Andre Gomes has 10 goals and 9 assists, roughly 2 of each per equivalent season. Anyone expecting him to transform into an assist machine is deluding themselves. An additional 62 European games & cup ties yields 2 goals and 6 assists just to drive the point home. He started roughly 155 of those games with about 60 sub appearances so it isn't a matter of limited time but of limited impact. He's an elegant 'water carrier' not a playmaker.

 

[TheBigIguana]

in 155 top division league games for Valencia, Barca and us Andre Gomes has 10 goals and 9 assists, roughly 2 of each per equivalent season. Anyone expecting him to transform into an assist machine is deluding themselves. An additional 62 European games & cup ties yields 2 goals and 6 assists just to drive the point home. He started roughly 155 of those games with about 60 sub appearances so it isn't a matter of limited time but of limited impact. He's an elegant 'water carrier' not a playmaker.

Honestly when you put it like that it is very rough viewing for Andre considering he can't stay in front of anyone who dribbles at him.

 

[Eggsyblueskin]

He’s quite rangy, not as strong as you’d expect for a lad his size and isn’t particularly aggressive either. He’s decent on the ball and can pop up with a goal. Tactically speaking I don’t think he’s aware enough to play as a defensive midfielder or clever enough to play more creatively. He’s what I’d call a box-to-box midfielder, just not a great one. Maybe that’s the level we’re at?

Perfect description of this player and the level of his abilities.
He is a solid mid table midfielder whose form has always seemed to oscillate wildly between very good and dire and probably rests somewhere in between.
If we do sign him it will be because Brands and Ancelotti believe he can be an asset to the team they are building, not because he is a superlative player who will instantly transform us . If he was an outstanding PL player we wouldn’t have a chance of signing him. That is where we are.
Great teams are more than the sum of their parts so I hope if we do sign him he becomes one of those parts.

 

[TheSecondComing]

Reckon this won’t happen myself, we will go abroad.

 

[BlueToff]

What it is really like is that his stats were bad in 17/18 and 18/19 too when he was playing his preferred spot. In fact they weren't really too different from this year at all.

Let's stop comparing him to Gana. It's getting slanderous. It's Bernard is the new Pienaar level bad.

Stats in terms of what?

As a ball-winner, he's nowhere near Gana's level and never will be. He is a presence though which is something we lack and if Allan is in there too then that hopefully covers both bases, with Gomes in there too if we switch system (which I think we may well do).

If you're on about stats in terms of goals/assists, well they were pretty impressive in both 17-18 and 18-19. Only last season did he tail off (with 4 goals - more than any of our other mids last season - and 2 assists).

 

[billyblue80]

Personally I hope we sign him we have been dying for physicality in our midfield since Gana left

 

[TheBigIguana]

Stats in terms of what?

As a ball-winner, he's nowhere near Gana's level and never will be. He is a presence though which is something we lack and if Allan is in there too then that hopefully covers both bases, with Gomes in there too if we switch system (which I think we may well do).

If you're on about stats in terms of goals/assists, well they were pretty impressive in both 17-18 and 18-19. Only last season did he tail off (with 4 goals - more than any of our other mids last season - and 2 assists).

He's good going forward, I've said already somewhere that I can see the logic if we are changing systems, but he isn't good defensively and in our 4-4-2 I think he's a poor addition. The defensive stuff worries me and it is also worth noting that Watford improved under Pearson at about the same time they moved Doucoure to a #10 full time. The last 3 defeats were what happened when they switched back.

 

[MikeH72]

Reckon this won’t happen myself, we will go abroad.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Zatara]

I still think we wouid be very weak in midfield, if we just bought a defensive midfielder to sit and protect the back 4 ( which isn’t Allan by the way) and let Gomes do the play making role. Because Gomes offers nothing from a defensive point of view.

Allan is a bit like Gana, but better on the ball, yes he can defend It also likes to press higher up the pitch, alongside a Doucoure, who also prefers to go forward, but at least has some defensive nous, so they can cover for each other. Gbamin is also similar, but probably the more defensive of the 3.

Ive said for 6 months, if Ancelotti is sticking with 442, then we need 2 aggressive, powerful midfielders. I just don’t see a place for Gomes

100%.

Perfect description of this player and the level of his abilities.
He is a solid mid table midfielder whose form has always seemed to oscillate wildly between very good and dire and probably rests somewhere in between.
If we do sign him it will be because Brands and Ancelotti believe he can be an asset to the team they are building, not because he is a superlative player who will instantly transform us . If he was an outstanding PL player we wouldn’t have a chance of signing him. That is where we are.
Great teams are more than the sum of their parts so I hope if we do sign him he becomes one of those parts.

Him and Allan will be on 4 year deals i think.

Lets not forget in summer 21 and summer 22 we will potentially lose a combined 18 players from the squad as their contracts expire.

These 2 signing gives us stability in the centre and if Brands/Ancelotti can build the rest of the squad in the next couple of summers then we can also bring midfielders through e.g Onyango or find gems to bring into the squad with less pressure.