billy osman gueye

[toffeestillidie]

i wanted to comment on the midfield we used against wolves. the executioner's bong mentioned it in his writeup, but i think it deserves a bit more discussions, particularly as its so unlike what i'm used to seeing from moyes.

bily and osman both seem to be similar styles of player, and from what i've seen, gueye isn't too far off either. they're players commonly deployed as wingers, and while many on here will say bily and osman play best in the center, i think they're actually at their best when they're free to cut inside from the wing and find space. against wolves, our starting formation had osman in the centre with gueye on the left and bily on the right (a good move since baines and bily don't seem to work too well together yet). as the game progressed however, i saw each of the three of them occupying the left, right, or centre of midfield at some point. osman was playing out left when he delivered the assist to beckford, and bily was in the centre when he scored his screamer.

this style of play seemed to really suit our midfield, but i was surprised to see that much fluidity from a moyes midfield. i generally like to see a more total-football approach, and i think it definitely played to these individual players strengths.

for the remainder of the season, i think this should undoubtedly be the way forward. however, will this be a workable formation once we see a couple other players return? would their be a way to give 2 of these 3 midfielders the same freedom to move around if we were to play coleman in place of one of them, seeing as how coleman rarely cuts inside except to get into the box ? once cahill is back, would this formation with cahill sitting in front of the midfielders just behind beckford, and fellaini at defensive midfield, be as deadly as i'm picturing?

 

[Dom1878]

Both Osman and Bily need to play in the centre. They are creative but they need more space and the ability to go either way to beat their players, and you have more freedom in the centre. Both players like to take on players, but not be greedy, they like to pass rather than cross, and shoot when they have the chance. Both of them arent good at defending, so the centre suits both of them perfectly imo.

But if i had to pick one to put behind the striker, it'd be bily, simply because he can play that killer pass or shoot better than any player we have, and Osman has the work rate to compensate for the defending on the wing.

 

[no.1_evertonian]

bily plays CA for russia and played CA for moscow so i dont know why he was bought as a winger

 

[duncan's pigeon]

Both Osman and Bily need to play in the centre. They are creative but they need more space and the ability to go either way to beat their players, and you have more freedom in the centre. Both players like to take on players, but not be greedy, they like to pass rather than cross, and shoot when they have the chance. Both of them arent good at defending, so the centre suits both of them perfectly imo.

But if i had to pick one to put behind the striker, it'd be bily, simply because he can play that killer pass or shoot better than any player we have, and Osman has the work rate to compensate for the defending on the wing.

Mr Nail meet Mr Hammer!!!!


They both have two good feet and whilst with Bily your never sure he knows what he is doing, Ossie on the other hand is, in my opinion, the most balanced player we have at the club. Every time he plays in the centre rather than the wing you always get these positive comments on his play, but they are completely forgotten when he plays out on the wing and struggles to beat a man.

Ask yourselve this question, I'll give you 3 of the best team performances, and results, from the recent past few seasons and ask yourselve where did Ossie play in that game? Fiorentina, Utd at home last year, Chelsea at home last year. Answer centre midfield!!!!

 

[Rook]

Sadly for Osman he's always had to play 2nd fiddle to other CMs. He's basically doing for us what Charlie Adam is for Blackpool.

 

[Arteta10]

Both Osman and Bily need to play in the centre. They are creative but they need more space and the ability to go either way to beat their players, and you have more freedom in the centre. Both players like to take on players, but not be greedy, they like to pass rather than cross, and shoot when they have the chance. Both of them arent good at defending, so the centre suits both of them perfectly imo.

But if i had to pick one to put behind the striker, it'd be bily, simply because he can play that killer pass or shoot better than any player we have, and Osman has the work rate to compensate for the defending on the wing.

I dont think ive EVER seen billy beat a man, id agree with the praise for his wonderstrikes and the fact that playing him central would allow him more opportunities from those sort of areas but i think his crossing is also one of his best attributes which sorta makes me think hes better on the wing

I agree about Ossie tho, hes much better when played in the middle with a bit of a free role

 

[chicoazul]

If Osman is dropped for Cahill at the moment then it's a disgrace. There, I've said it.

 

[RFUS]

Bily and Ossie are infinitely better in the center.

That said, Ossie's quite tidy on the left, and plays well when he can roam too. Give him some space and he'll punish the opposition. The same goes for Bily, too.

I really don't know why we don't play Bily off the striker/as an attacking, central midfielder. It's his best position, and it will mean less defensive work and more chances to shoot from what must now be known as the "Bily screamer range". If it still doesn't work, then at least we know we'd tried everything before flogging him and/or writing him off.

 

[Neiler]

Ossie is better then Pienaar - there i said it.

 

[RFUS]

Ossie is better then Pienaar - there i said it.

He's got more to his game. Pienaar was perfect for that LM slot, ahead of Baines, but everywhere else, for every other team, he's looked crap-average.

Ossie on the other hand, well he has his flaws, but if he gets the chance to play in a decent position (in the center, on the left), he will take the game by the scruff of the neck and actually do something. It doesn't always work, mind, but he's been class this past month.

 

[duncan's pigeon]

Ossie is better then Pienaar - there i said it.

He's a game little bugger as well, never shirks a challenge or hides from the ball despite the abuse he gets all to often from his own supporters.

 

[Neiler]

He's got more to his game. Pienaar was perfect for that LM slot, ahead of Baines, but everywhere else, for every other team, he's looked crap-average.

Ossie on the other hand, well he has his flaws, but if he gets the chance to play in a decent position (in the center, on the left), he will take the game by the scruff of the neck and actually do something. It doesn't always work, mind, but he's been class this past month.

And despite Sexy upgrades, he, Hibbert and Cahill still managed to fisnish fourth qualify in CL spots.

*Defriends Stevie the snide on facebook!

 

[RFUS]

He's a game little bugger as well, never shirks a challenge or hides from the ball despite the abuse he gets all to often from his own supporters.

To be fair Pienaar has a fantastic work rate, and got stuck in all the time. His last 6 months for us, well, he did this less, but then he had one eye on Spudface's media darlings.

 

[Neiler]

To be fair Pienaar has a fantastic work rate, and got stuck in all the time. His last 6 months for us, well, he did this less, but then he had one eye on Spudface's media darlings.

I think he was massively overated, he had a very good 8 months for us - when Arteta was out. Not a bad player, he was an outlet for me, made up yards, took up a player or two nothing more nothing less. He simply wasnt effective, you look at players that most clubs fans would turn their noses up at - Hunt, Etterington, Brunt, Osman - all more effective then Pienaar in terms of assists, goals and frankly they all have fairly similar work rates as well.

We massively overatted him for me, it was the cornrows and the Ajax thing. I havnt heard anyone say since he left, that we badly miss him.

 

[duncan's pigeon]

To be fair Pienaar has a fantastic work rate, and got stuck in all the time. His last 6 months for us, well, he did this less, but then he had one eye on Spudface's media darlings.

Spot on both have great work rate and appetite for the game, despite there small stature.

Couldn't knock Piennar, even this year, he always tried for the team even though sometimes his final ball was poor. Ossie has put in some fantastic assists recently, as well as getting a few goals again as well.