Adrien Rabiot

[Hoopspur]

What may be happening is that PSG and Spurs are negotiating over Lloris. Rabiot would be part of the compensation. Talk of the deal being just a loan is smoke & mirrors and part of the negoations.

Are you trying to drop a hint that the old bearded one will soon be saying something? No I thought not, was just hoping....

 

[fecka]

we need master of all trades , jack of none

He's called Cristiano Ronaldo. I think it would be hard to get him off of Real Madrids hands though

 

[kd2000]

It may be Spain - but looking at what has happened in the past with our star players I wouldn't be at all surprised if he leaves this coming summer. Real Madrid or Barcelona would be the Spain destinations - but Madrid may be after De Gea and so Lloris to RM may not happen. Barca are probably happy with their goalie. That leaves PSG with all that cash and ambition. And it's France. I see PSG for Lloris as a distinct possibility.

Hope Lloris stays but...

They have to be, doesn't their transfer ban include the summer??

 

[rawhide]

They have to be, doesn't their transfer ban include the summer??

Isn't it 2 windows?

 

[longtimespur]

I agree with your rationale for ruling out Spain there, but where I disagree here is that it leads to the conclusion that PSG is a likely destination. I think honestly that he may just choose to stay with us, and I've never said this about one of our top players before.

He's in a decent side, playing in the world's most watched league, getting to flaunt to the world just how incredibly talented he is, he's already the captain of his national team and has the trust of their manager so has no more rungs to climb by going to a more prestigious club, he and his family are by ITK accounts extremely happy in London, has world class facilities to train at, and there's just no one who would be willing to drop the cash to get him these days with their respective possible vacancies. I think considering the context of the rest of Europe, and the above, we may actually have this guy for awhile.

Perhaps it will be Man U if De Gea goes

 

[SHaRD]

I agree with your rationale for ruling out Spain there, but where I disagree here is that it leads to the conclusion that PSG is a likely destination. I think honestly that he may just choose to stay with us, and I've never said this about one of our top players before.

He's in a decent side, playing in the world's most watched league, getting to flaunt to the world just how incredibly talented he is, he's already the captain of his national team and has the trust of their manager so has no more rungs to climb by going to a more prestigious club, he and his family are by ITK accounts extremely happy in London, has world class facilities to train at, and there's just no one who would be willing to drop the cash to get him these days with their respective possible vacancies. I think considering the context of the rest of Europe, and the above, we may actually have this guy for awhile.

Lloris has said several times he won't go back to France till just before he retires. It's an uncompetitive second rate league.

Madrid, Barca or Bayern are the only clubs we need to fear with him.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Lloris has said several times he won't go back to France till just before he retires. It's an uncompetitive second rate league.

Madrid, Barca or Bayern are the only clubs we need to fear with him.

Barca can't sign anyone, Bayern have Neuer and Madrid want De Gea. I'm confident about keeping him.

 

[DaSpurs]

It depends on how you see it. Paulinho contributes more with assists and goals when he's playing regularly but yes, he's not a splendid passer and defensively not as good. Delph might be better defending but doesn't contribute as much going forward except with his pace. Other than that they are very similar and both are players we don't really need atm. Unless we wait for summer and get him for free I'm against him as a signing.
We need either a midfield maestro in the mould Verratti, Pirlo, Pjanic or Modric or someone with real steel like good 'ol Sandro prior to QPR under AVB. Any of the Bender brother's in Leverkusen and Dortmund for example or Krychowiak. These players are probably not attainable at the moment but shows what kind of players I'm talking about.
I hate to bring in Sherwood into this but we have too much of muchness and not enough specialized players in the middle.
We don't have a single amazing passer or anchor but just players who are slightly better at dribbling, slightly better at passing or slightly better at defending.
That's our biggest problem right now as we are too focused on looking for versatile players that all we've ended up with are players who are jack of all trades but master of none.

I agree we need that maestro, but I don't see anyone who provides such a skillset who's viable.

The next best thing IMO is someone who physically moves the ball forward with their feet quickly, as we're stunningly poor at this and we give opposition sides so much time to get back and organize their defenses. Delph is very good in this regard, and is actually a rather underrated passer.

Defensively he absolutely puts Paulinho to shame (relevant considering the press). Upon transition, his avg pass length is 19.35m, higher than any of our midfielders from last season (over 4 m longer than Paulinho's average). He also actually created significantly more chances last year than Paulinho did, but earned just as many assists playing in a side that survived relegation in May vs Paulinho doing so with the side that finished sixth. Paulinho's the world's deepest lying striker as there is no one better than him at finding space in the box to pop up with the occasional goal other than Lampard, but he just does not contribute a midfielder's workload. He doesn't dribble or pass forward to get his team forward at all, and doesn't defend to get his team the ball in the first place, while Delph does all of the above. He isn't outstanding quality admittedly, but he provides a skillset we're very much lacking, and especially so in Poch's system.

 

[kd2000]

Isn't it 2 windows?

Yes so january 2016 window is their next opportunity to but iirc

 

[RichieS]

Barca can't sign anyone, Bayern have Neuer and Madrid want De Gea. I'm confident about keeping him.

And have both Bravo and ter Stegen anyway.

 

[IGSpur]

I'm still going to be pretty nonplussed if this one happens because I just don't get it.

As talented as he is, he's a very young player who's going to be dropped into a new, very competitive league mid-season, having had limited game time so far. He's also not going to be at Poch's exacting fitness standards. By the time he's adjusted, he'll likely be back off to Paris. I also don't see the critical need for him - we have the cover, i'd rather blood in Winks if we need to rotate and give people a rest.

I very much agree with this. I don't see why we need to buy Rabiot when we have Bentaleb, Veljkovic, with Carroll coming back plus Winks and Onomah.

I saw some stats which showed that Rabiot was doing slightly better than Bentaleb, but Bentaleb is playing in the most competitive league in the world for roughly the 6/7th best team. Rabiot is playing in a considerably weaker league for by far and away the best team in the league. Of course his stats will look slightly better. I personally don't see him as a significant upgrade on what we have and don't see especially on loan why we should stunt the growth of our own young player to develop theirs when he isn't going to come in and be world class. Bentaleb, Veljkovic and Winks were our midfield when we knocked PSG out of the NextGen. Don't know if Rabiot played that game I know he was in the tournament, but why not develop our own.

 

[DaSpurs]

I very much agree with this. I don't see why we need to buy Rabiot when we have Bentaleb, Veljkovic, with Carroll coming back plus Winks and Onomah.

I saw some stats which showed that Rabiot was doing slightly better than Bentaleb, but Bentaleb is playing in the most competitive league in the world for roughly the 6/7th best team. Rabiot is playing in a considerably weaker league for by far and away the best team in the league. Of course his stats will look slightly better. I personally don't see him as a significant upgrade on what we have and don't see especially on loan why we should stunt the growth of our own young player to develop theirs when he isn't going to come in and be world class. Bentaleb, Veljkovic and Winks were our midfield when we knocked PSG out of the NextGen. Don't know if Rabiot played that game I know he was in the tournament, but why not develop our own.

Fair shout, but I think the only player he would be directly inhibiting with a loan move this term would be Veljkovic. I imagine him playing behind Bentaleb in that role.

However, I think with Stambouli's improved play there's very much less of a need, and furthermore since Dembele seems to have finally accepted being a holding mid. As is, we have no one after Mason who is capable of moving the team forward quickly, so I think if we're going to bring anyone in this term then that should be the priority rather than another defensive option.

That would however, block the pipeline for Carroll and Winks, and Onomah to an extent. So it's tough as we have to balance not blocking those youth against what we want to accomplish this season. The loan for Carroll to Swansea seemed absolutely brilliant at the time, and it has massively reaped dividends for the player, but my God do I wish he were still with us atm performing like that. We'd be set IMO. But in lieu of that, I think we may need a versatile option to plug that spot to tide us over and then play elsewhere as need may be.

I'm not as adamant admittedly as I was a week ago about getting Delph as frankly I think events of the last week have put a sizable dent in our chances at top four, so I have to admit I've leaned somewhat back towards keeping that place open despite still as of now thinking we need to improve ASAP.

 

[IGSpur]

Fair shout, but I think the only player he would be directly inhibiting with a loan move this term would be Veljkovic. I imagine him playing behind Bentaleb in that role.

However, I think with Stambouli's improved play there's very much less of a need, and furthermore since Dembele seems to have finally accepted being a holding mid. As is, we have no one after Mason who is capable of moving the team forward quickly, so I think if we're going to bring anyone in this term then that should be the priority rather than another defensive option.

That would however, block the pipeline for Carroll and Winks, and Onomah to an extent. So it's tough as we have to balance not blocking those youth against what we want to accomplish this season. The loan for Carroll to Swansea seemed absolutely brilliant at the time, and it has massively reaped dividends for the player, but my God do I wish he were still with us atm performing like that. We'd be set IMO. But in lieu of that, I think we may need a versatile option to plug that spot to tide us over and then play elsewhere as need may be.

I'm not as adamant admittedly as I was a week ago about getting Delph as frankly I think events of the last week have put a sizable dent in our chances at top four, so I have to admit I've leaned somewhat back towards keeping that place open despite still as of now thinking we need to improve ASAP.

See alternatively, I would rather make Bentaleb as the backup to Mason if needs be and let him revert to what made him so good at u21s and below, and earned his call up in the first place. We know he can create and like to get forward and he used to be box to box playing alongside Veljkovic. I think he has only played slightly advanced for us a few times and one was against Newcastle when he had a really good game.

Plus as you say Stambouli has looked good, so would have Veljkovic back up to him and Dembele if Dembele is to be our other holder.

I just don't see any significant benefit of having Rabiot. He isn't World Class, he most likely won't have an instant impact, he won't be ours, and he will stop potential chances for our own players.

 

[prawnsandwich]

Hotspur Related @HotspurRelated · 13s 13 seconds ago
Blanc: "It is not impossible that one of our players will go away. Rabiot is a young player who has just extended." #THFC

I did that all the time when I was a teenager.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Hotspur Related @HotspurRelated · 13s 13 seconds ago
Blanc: "It is not impossible that one of our players will go away. Rabiot is a young player who has just extended." #THFC

I did that all the time when I was a teenager.

He's definitely changed his tune.

Hotspur Related ‏@HotspurRelated 4m4 minutes ago
Blanc: "I hope he stays at Paris Saint-Germain because for me he is the future of PSG, but we can not control everything." #THFC
Hotspur Related ‏@HotspurRelated 4m4 minutes ago
Blanc: "He has ambitions very high, as do those around him of course, I still hope to keep him." #THFC

 

[spurs9]

I very much agree with this. I don't see why we need to buy Rabiot when we have Bentaleb, Veljkovic, with Carroll coming back plus Winks and Onomah.

I saw some stats which showed that Rabiot was doing slightly better than Bentaleb, but Bentaleb is playing in the most competitive league in the world for roughly the 6/7th best team. Rabiot is playing in a considerably weaker league for by far and away the best team in the league. Of course his stats will look slightly better. I personally don't see him as a significant upgrade on what we have and don't see especially on loan why we should stunt the growth of our own young player to develop theirs when he isn't going to come in and be world class. Bentaleb, Veljkovic and Winks were our midfield when we knocked PSG out of the NextGen. Don't know if Rabiot played that game I know he was in the tournament, but why not develop our own.

Rabiot didn't play that game but the very highly rated Kingsley Coman (now at Juve) did.

Also, I was under the impression that it was just a loan and to cover Bentaleb whilst he is away, meaning that from your list, we only have Mason, Veljkovic, Winks and Onomah and adding Bentaleb mid Feb, which is inexperienced. I think with Stambouli starting to adapt and look good, it may mean that Rabiot is no longer required from a numbers point of view, however, he is very good in attack and can play long accurate passes, so his skill set may be the reason why we want to bring him in on loan.

 

[spurs9]

However, I think with Stambouli's improved play there's very much less of a need, and furthermore since Dembele seems to have finally accepted being a holding mid. As is, we have no one after Mason who is capable of moving the team forward quickly, so I think if we're going to bring anyone in this term then that should be the priority rather than another defensive option.

Rabiot isn't a defensive option from what I have seen. He can play accurate long passes and drives forward with the ball too. In fact, I'm pretty sure he started his career as an AM.

 

[DaSpurs]

See alternatively, I would rather make Bentaleb as the backup to Mason if needs be and let him revert to what made him so good at u21s and below, and earned his call up in the first place. We know he can create and like to get forward and he used to be box to box playing alongside Veljkovic. I think he has only played slightly advanced for us a few times and one was against Newcastle when he had a really good game.

Plus as you say Stambouli has looked good, so would have Veljkovic back up to him and Dembele if Dembele is to be our other holder.

I just don't see any significant benefit of having Rabiot. He isn't World Class, he most likely won't have an instant impact, he won't be ours, and he will stop potential chances for our own players.

See this factors into the discussion we were having yesterday about Onomah and how sometimes their positioning changes with growth. Bentaleb used to play that role, but by all accounts it seems he had a late growth spurt. As a result, I don't think he has quite the agility and tight-dribbling skill needed to perform the more advanced role at this level. His reading of the game is also absolutely superb and he's a decent tackler for his age, so I think that's where his future lies, and furthermore because of how wonderful his passing can be when he's entrenched and squares his hips (also more conducive to the more holding option).

But when he's played alongside Dembele or Capoue, he's just not provided enough forward drive. That's the problem, after Mason we're just very weak in our options to get the team forward. So IMO, either we need to find us an option that would give us that needed option, but have the versatility to play around so as to not block the path of upcoming youth, or we need to more aggressively push through some of the youth such as Winks or Onomah there. It's just no coincidence IMO that when Mason's out, we are so easily kept out because we simply can't get it forward enough. If Winks or Onomah will at least get the ball forward, they'll be a significant improvement IMO.

 

[DaSpurs]

Rabiot isn't a defensive option from what I have seen. He can play accurate long passes and drives forward with the ball too. In fact, I'm pretty sure he started his career as an AM.

Could he do so in the rapidity of the Prem though? It seems his performances this season have been half at "CM" and the other at "DM," which says to me he's more of a holding player who utilizes his passing first and foremost rather than pressing forward. It would be difficult for a 19 year old to come into this league and figure out how to do well in this manner consistently given how aggressively and tenaciously midfielders attack ball-carriers, and I'm just not sure I see him having the agility or skill to maneuver through such situations.

But if you know something I don't and he's our selection, I'd be delighted to be wrong.

 

[spurs9]

Could he do so in the rapidity of the Prem though? It seems his performances this season have been half at "CM" and the other at "DM," which says to me he's more of a holding player who utilizes his passing first and foremost rather than pressing forward. It would be difficult for a 19 year old to come into this league and figure out how to do well in this manner consistently given how aggressively and tenaciously midfielders attack ball-carriers, and I'm just not sure I see him having the agility or skill to maneuver through such situations.

But if you know something I don't and he's our selection, I'd be delighted to be wrong.

That's the big question and I'm not sure tbh. He is definitely a passer that can/does press forward rather than the latter from what I have seen and I haven't seen enough to be able to comment on how regularly he presses forward but if you look at his heat map below, he sees a lot more of the ball in the oppos half. I have included Delph's for comparison and although you would expect Delph's to be a lot deeper than Rabiot's considering the teams they play for and the opponents played, I think it gives a bit of an idea.

He has good footwork and agility especially for a guy his size. Again whether it is good enough for the PL is debatable.

Rabiot heat map:
http://www.squawka.com/news/young-fearless-should-arsenal-target-this-rampaging-midfielder/28635

Delph Heat Map:
http://www.footballfancast.com/prem...ve-signings-to-make-spurs-a-pochettino-team/6