2022/23 Abdoulaye Doucouré

[blueboy72]

He is a solid professional who can do a job for us.
We could let him leave but then we would probably have to pay more than 20m just to replace him.... that would make no sense for a club that has to be very careful with it's spending.

He played every game under Dyche apart from when he was suspended and the manager obviously trusts him.

Trusts him because he’s big, strong and runs a lot. I can’t bare the thought of him playing off the striker for the whole of next season.

I understand why we’ve done this, but say he costs 6mil on wages. You could get a young player from abroad for 15/20 mil on a 5yr deal on 30k a week, who’d actually cost less on the books. I get the experience factor, comes into our thinking

 

[MikeH72]

Last season on £120k as a 31 year old though, no one needs to match it, just give him a 3y contract on let’s say £70k /w then he’s got a choice to make over guaranteed £6m (and playing with the risk of a career ending injury) or guaranteed £10m come 3 more years or a leg breaker……

Makes sense when you put it like that, however I have a feeling his suitors will not be the type of clubs that will be offering him anywhere near £70k a week either.

 

[Tony’s Carp]

We're useless but we're even more useless without him. See how his sending off at Spurs effected us.

Exactly. I posted the numbers yesterday but since Dyche came in and brought him back we are 1.2 ppg when he has played. We were 0.33 ppg when he was suspended. That’s not all Doucoure but I think there’s evidence that although not great his contribution improves the team.

1.2ppg doesn’t sound spectacular but over a season it’s 46 points. What we wouldn’t give for a full season of that.

 

[Bedfordblue]

Trusts him because he’s big, strong and runs a lot. I can’t bare the thought of him playing off the striker for the whole of next season.

I understand why we’ve done this, but say he costs 6mil on wages. You could get a young player from abroad for 15/20 mil on a 5yr deal on 30k a week, who’d actually cost less on the books. I get the experience factor, comes into our thinking

Do you trust our recruitment to get a better player for £15m-20m though?
In theory you are absolutely correct but in practice our shower likely need to recruit 2 or 3 of what you describe in the hope of one of them being an adequate replacement.

 

[Zatara]

Trusts him because he’s big, strong and runs a lot. I can’t bare the thought of him playing off the striker for the whole of next season.

I understand why we’ve done this, but say he costs 6mil on wages. You could get a young player from abroad for 15/20 mil on a 5yr deal on 30k a week, who’d actually cost less on the books. I get the experience factor, comes into our thinking

Its just a 12month stopgap. 19 players out of contract this/next summer.

He'll add an experienced body which gives a year to find a replacement.

 

[blueboy72]

Its just a 12month stopgap. 19 players out of contract this/next summer.

He'll add an experienced body which gives a year to find a replacement.

Yes I get all that, but dyche will play him at number 10 for 38 games. The worst technical number 10 in history.

 

[Zatara]

Yes I get all that, but dyche will play him at number 10 for 38 games. The worst technical number 10 in history.

If the £20mil to replace him is added to the £20mil budget for a centre forward we can now buy a £40mil player.

I could live with Doucoure at 10 and Iwobi right wing if we sign a couple of £40mil players. Quality over quantity.

 

[Gilbert..]

Have i just read advocating doucoure as a number 10

We should be sued for tarnishing the image that a number 10 shirt stands for.

Platini
Maradonna
Zidane
Bergkamp

Doucoure

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

Yes I get all that, but dyche will play him at number 10 for 38 games. The worst technical number 10 in history.

I don't even think he plays as a number 10. He just happens to be a midfielder that plays in the centre off the striker.

His role isn't to create (because that would be a laugh), but merely to pick off scraps as they come and slot occassionaly. It's bizarre

 

[MikeH72]

If the £20mil to replace him is added to the £20mil budget for a centre forward we can now buy a £40mil player.

I could live with Doucoure at 10 and Iwobi right wing if we sign a couple of £40mil players. Quality over quantity.

We aren’t signing one £20m player let alone a couple of £40m ones.

Our fans’ obsession with transfer fees baffles me. Onana cost £35m and he’s done absolutely nothing.

 

[MACCA75]

I don't even think he plays as a number 10. He just happens to be a midfielder that plays in the centre off the striker.

His role isn't to create (because that would be a laugh), but merely to pick off scraps as they come and slot occassionaly. It's bizarre

Will be really important for us on Sunday tbh as I imagine Gray will be upfront. Will be Doucs job to get forward on the end of the big diagonals we’ll be launching.

 

[Martin Alvito]

If the £20mil to replace him is added to the £20mil budget for a centre forward we can now buy a £40mil player.

I could live with Doucoure at 10 and Iwobi right wing if we sign a couple of £40mil players. Quality over quantity.

It's like the old NBA trade adage of "Never trade a $20 for a ten and two fives." The trade looks balanced on paper, but it isn't. You want scoring, that costs. You want defense, you can shop in the bargain bin, but if you do too much of that you lose games you win with the $20 pure scorer.

Football has much the same problem. Goals in boots cost. If we sold DCL this summer, we would find a taker and net a large profit. It wouldn't be as large as it would have been before the injury-ravaged seasons, but that's a risk you take when carrying a young player with market value on the roster.

 

[Martin Alvito]

We aren’t signing one £20m player let alone a couple of £40m ones.

Our fans’ obsession with transfer fees baffles me. Onana cost £35m and he’s done absolutely nothing.

It mitigates risk somewhat, if spent on the right players. Onana costs because he has a physique that says the right coaching can make him a player. He's raw, but if he figures it out we just struck gold, and it will take three or four managers with different approaches before everyone gives up on him. There will be a taker if we sell, and probably at a profit so long as we're in the Prem.

If we buy Maupay for 12 million pounds because he kicked in eight goals a season for three seasons, there's a legitimate risk that this was caused by the system rather than the player, and that the investment goes straight to zero. It's hard to separate that one out. If we want a young potential star like Rico up top, that costs. It carries its own set of risks, but the odds of taking a total bath are relatively low.

 

[Amokachi1995]

His role isn't to create (because that would be a laugh), but merely to pick off scraps as they come and slot occassionaly. It's bizarre

He's also asked to leg it after defenders high up the pitch and win the ball. Usually the same one Iwobi is going for making it easy to pass around.

 

[blueboy72]

I don't even think he plays as a number 10. He just happens to be a midfielder that plays in the centre off the striker.

His role isn't to create (because that would be a laugh), but merely to pick off scraps as they come and slot occassionaly. It's bizarre

Looked like from 70 to 80 mins v wolves he was playing up top, until dyche finally moved a striker up there, I mean Keane