2018/19 Bernard

[john jako]

Bernard on his way. Didn’t expect that.

 

[Exeter_Gently]

I love the little guy. I reckon he'll kick on this season.

 

[Toffeelover]

YOU SON OF A BITCH

You got me.

Not hard Ijjy.

 

[Nymzee]

Heard he prefers West Ham

 

[Bob Latchford]

Bernard's Resurrection at Shakhtar Donetsk - Futbolgrad

Shakhtar Donetsk's Brazilian Bernard has resurrected his career at Shakhtar, becoming one of the most valuable players at the club.

futbolgrad.com

This little wizard is a blessing from the Devine.
I’ll cry if he leaves.

 

[Bob Latchford]

Heard he prefers West Ham

Wants to ping the crosses into Arnautovic
Oh, wait....

 

[ijjysmith]

Not hard Ijjy.

Happens when you get older TL. You can get tabs without a prescription these days though.

 

[Deco]

Selling him for anything more than £18m would be great business. He doesn’t score enough and I can’t think of any other way to judge a footballer.

 

[paulbefc]

Great to watch. Fantastic work rate, first touch and close control.

His goal and assist stats aren't low because stats are meaningless, they're low because he missed quite a few chances last season where he could have been a bit cooler under pressure e.g. United away, where he pulled off a boss bit of skill to send De Gea to the shops before inexplicably missing an open goal which may have been crucial. Also remember a big chance at Chelsea which would have won us the game. Not that he didn't contribute elsewhere in those games. But those chances obviously matter.

There were a number of other chances where he was through and delayed/chose the wrong option. A cooler head in those situations and he bags a few. His stats actually do a good job of highlighting his weaknesses last season, which were pretty much exclusively in final ball/finishing. I'll bet his stats outside the opposition box are superb e.g. defensive stats, possession, dribbling etc, so he's not far off.

Most of his mistakes were earlier in the season, when he clearly was still adjusting and gaining fitness though, so I suspect his numbers will improve next year, with a proper pre-season behind him.

 

[evertony]

Sold to Brighton.

Danny Drinkwater incoming.

Hurrah for football

 

[evertony]

Lookman being binned off to Germany...the Sulker to Schalke.

Midfield powerhouse coming in on a free....Lee Cattermole.

Bravo close season

 

[TheBigIguana]

Great to watch. Fantastic work rate, first touch and close control.

His goal and assist stats aren't low because stats are meaningless, they're low because he missed quite a few chances last season where he could have been a bit cooler under pressure e.g. United away, where he pulled off a boss bit of skill to send De Gea to the shops before inexplicably missing an open goal which may have been crucial. Also remember a big chance at Chelsea which would have won us the game. Not that he didn't contribute elsewhere in those games. But those chances obviously matter.

There were a number of other chances where he was through and delayed/chose the wrong option. A cooler head in those situations and he bags a few. His stats actually do a good job of highlighting his weaknesses last season, which were pretty much exclusively in final ball/finishing. I'll bet his stats outside the opposition box are superb e.g. defensive stats, possession, dribbling etc, so he's not far off.

Most of his mistakes were earlier in the season, when he clearly was still adjusting and gaining fitness though, so I suspect his numbers will improve next year, with a proper pre-season behind him.

He had 1 goal and 0 assists after the turn of the year. There wasn't a great deal of difference in his performances later in the year vs early on. He was poor in and around the penalty area and even with all the other stuff if that doesn't improve he's no better at playing the wing than your average carthorse. His best traits last year would have been fine if he were playing fullback or defensive midfield but wingers have to be a threat always and he just wasn't.

 

[john jako]

Sold to Brighton.

Danny Drinkwater incoming.

Hurrah for football

Will be a straight swap with Knockeart.

 

[evertony]

Will be a straight swap with Knockeart.

Orly

 

[paulbefc]

He had 1 goal and 0 assists after the turn of the year. There wasn't a great deal of difference in his performances later in the year vs early on. He was poor in and around the penalty area and even with all the other stuff if that doesn't improve he's no better at playing the wing than your average carthorse. His best traits last year would have been fine if he were playing fullback or defensive midfield but wingers have to be a threat always and he just wasn't.

Disagree strongly. When you're as good at everything else as he is you'll get by comfortably.

Agree he needs to improve in the box though. I don't get the impression he's a lethal finisher at the best of times, so I don't think he'll ever be bagging 10+ unfortunately, but we're going to be asking a huge amount of Sigurdsson, Richarlison and the striker to get us top 6 goals if he doesn't get/create a good few more.