2021/22 Abdoulaye Doucouré

[Papa Shango]

29 and with one year left on his contract. Had three injuries in less than 12 months which included the pre-season period. Must have a similar absence record to Mina, yet there doesn’t seem to be the same clamour to sell him.

I would guess the big difference is Doucoure has had obvious injuries that have caused him to miss multiple weeks. Mina seems to just sit down half way through a game and give up with alarming regularity.

Perception is a big thing.

 

[BlueToff]

29 and with one year left on his contract. Had three injuries in less than 10 months which included the pre-season period. Must have a similar absence record to Mina, yet there doesn’t seem to be the same clamour to sell him.

I don't think there should be a 'clamour' to sell either of them. It's just realistically we need a CB and Mina is great but can't keep fit. He literally can't get a run of more than 3-4 games together. It's so annoying because he's clearly our best defender.

Doucoure doesn't have a similar injury record to Mina at all though...

He got a stress fracture last season from how much he was playing. He was then rushed back from that because we were so crap without him. Started the season brilliantly but again due to issues in midfield was playing pretty much every minute (which is fine) but then it was no surprise for that seam stress fracture to come about again. Again, was rushed back - this time because Benitez was utterly desperate, understandably so, to have a midfielder of his type, because the way Benitez wanted to play was only going to work if there was a midfielder in there that could cover ground like Doucoure (as we saw at the start of the season).

The club have an option for a fourth year on the deal, unlike with Mina. Lampard has already said how much he rates him ("one of the best midfielders of his type in the league", was the quote) but fortunately his system shouldn't rely so much on Doucoure so in that sense we can hopefully make sure he's fully fit before returning.

Dom has played less games than Mina this season, doesn't suddenly mean he has an injury record as bad, does it.

Doucoure has played 45 league games since he joined us, all of them starts, for a total of 3,867 minutes.

In the same time, Mina has played 34 times in the league, making 32 starts, for a total of 2,588 minutes.

Mina picks up different injuries, yet Doucoure's injuries while at us so far have been a recurrence of the same injury and then this groin problem. Other than that, he's not missed a game bar a suspension for the Leicester home match last season.

 

[Noisy noise annoys]

Its his role in the team that is important.

Regardless of if he "can't pass" (some people confuse errant passing with not being able to pass, they are not quite the same thing) he is the only properly mobile midfielder we have who can get up and down the pitch. We need that player in the team.

Absolutely my point

 

[Nymzee]

 

[GoldenToffee]

Get back soon Abdoo. Hopefully he'll only miss a game or two from here.

 

[blueblueskies]

From the press conference looks like he might be back for the City game

 

[Shibbywiggles]

From the press conference looks like he might be back for the City game

Would be huge having him back for that, a three with Allan and VDB would make us competitive in the midfield which is all you can ask for against a world class outfit like city

 

[DanEFC92]

29 and with one year left on his contract. Had three injuries in less than 10 months which included the pre-season period. Must have a similar absence record to Mina, yet there doesn’t seem to be the same clamour to sell him.

I'd be looking for his successor too.

 

[Simon Buttle]

I'd be looking for his successor too.

I wouldn't be against us signing Garner from Utd (on loan at Forrest at the moment) Id be surprised if he goes back and gets in the Man U team, but he can play in the middle or a bit further forward, decent pace, strong and can pass the ball. He looks a good young player and we have been linked with him before.

 

[Carlito]

I don't rate him, but I'd like see him back in time for Wolves next month. Best chance of beating them is by overrunning their centre midfielders.

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

I would guess the big difference is Doucoure has had obvious injuries that have caused him to miss multiple weeks. Mina seems to just sit down half way through a game and give up with alarming regularity.

Perception is a big thing.

I'd argue it's not even perception.

Mina does, in fact, just sit down in the middle of games and give up with alarming regularity

Doucoure has found himself injured several times for us after having played a full 90, only in the recovery period needing a couple weeks off

 

[Saint Domingo]

Gray and Doucoure back next week is good for competition

 

[Curtis]

I think he could serve as a crucial component in Frank's intentions to have a greater dominance in the midfield. He only seems to get sloppy with the ball when he's just overwhelmed by having so tasks lobbed on him. A midfield three especially with VDB would alleviate that in my mind.

 

[Parker]

Lampards got the best headache a manager could ask for he's got 4 and a half competent centre midfielders at his disposal to suit a variety of needs.

I do think Doucoure is absolutely ideal for this hectic, front foot style of play we are doing at the moment. His ability to cover ground and go properly box to box will be brilliant for our football.

 

[GoldenToffee]

Looks sharp already in training. Think he'll be back sooner rather than later.