Player Watch: Bryan Gil

[mil1lion]

He did well for the 1st goal but was very poor. Totally bossed by Walker who obviously is one of the best. Johnson gave him a tougher test though. It was a tough game for him but I don't like when he goes down so easy. It always seems when he's in trouble with players closing down he's just looking to win a cheap foul. City are great at pressing though and I have no issue to see how he does against West Ham. If Sarr is still out I would stick with it while Richarlison builds his fitness at least.

 

[Rosco1984]

Just thought Bryan deserved a bump if only for his composure when he turned and fed Kulu from the edge of our box which started the move for our first goal. Doesn’t seem to have had enough of a mention in my opinion…

unfortunately, walker bullied him every other time he touched the ball and we couldn't build anything down that side of the pitch until he went off. Definitely a player there but he needs to find pockets of space rather than play on the wing in the prem as he isn't going to have the physicality against a lot of the fullbacks to get away from them 1 on 1.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

unfortunately, walker bullied him every other time he touched the ball and we couldn't build anything down that side of the pitch until he went off. Definitely a player there but he needs to find pockets of space rather than play on the wing in the prem as he isn't going to have the physicality against a lot of the fullbacks to get away from them 1 on 1.

I agree with most of this but I’d say that we failed to create anything down the right side as well first half. Aside from one excellent moment where Johnson sped past Givardiol on the counter he was completely anonymous and got marked out of the game. City were just much more aggressive first half, second half they got sloppy and took their foot of the gas at times.

Aside from that I agree, Walker was always going to be a brutal test for him and Gil lost the battle. Personally I think the criticism from some is way over the top at this stage tho. I mean the boy has had 4 PL starts in his entire time here, missed pre season with an injury and has been consistently loaned back to Spain instead of being given time to adapt to the PL… and yet despite all this people are writing him off and laying into him because he struggled against one of the best RB in PL history who plays for probably the best team in Europe right now.

Yes I think the jury is still out and he may just never be able to adapt. It’s very possible. But patience and perspective is needed imo. At the moment he just needs game time and encouragement rather than picking him out for every mistake like many fans were doing in the match thread last night. If he doesn’t come good then we sell him, im sure it won’t be too difficult as he’s still well regarded in Spain but the lad is only 22, way way too soon to write him off imo.

 

[olithfc]

I agree with most of this but I’d say that we failed to create anything down the right side as well first half. Aside from one excellent moment where Johnson sped past Givardiol on the counter he was completely anonymous and got marked out of the game. City were just much more aggressive first half, second half they got sloppy and took their foot of the gas at times.

Aside from that I agree, Walker was always going to be a brutal test for him and Gil lost the battle. Personally I think the criticism from some is way over the top at this stage tho. I mean the boy has had 4 PL starts in his entire time here, missed pre season with an injury and has been consistently loaned back to Spain instead of being given time to adapt to the PL… and yet despite all this people are writing him off and laying into him because he struggled against one of the best RB in PL history who plays for probably the best team in Europe right now.

Yes I think the jury is still out and he may just never be able to adapt. It’s very possible. But patience and perspective is needed imo. At the moment he just needs game time and encouragement rather than picking him out for every mistake like many fans were doing in the match thread last night. If he doesn’t come good then we sell him, im sure it won’t be too difficult as he’s still well regarded in Spain but the lad is only 22, way way too soon to write him off imo.

He also seemed to lack the confidence in attacking positions that required quick thinking. I remember from yesterday Son being frustrated at not receiving a pass from him and I feel he has an instinct to turn round and pass it back. Might develop the longer he is in the team but who knows?

 

[thelak]

I quite like Gil as an impact sub with a bit of unpredictability against a tiring team

Think the Ange system needs a different type of LWF though and think he would be behind Solomon and Perisic right now if they were fit

it’s the weakest first team area when all players are fit

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I know Modric became a world class CM but I remember under Ramos and then Redknapp he started off playing LW at times and was seen as too lightweight, however I always felt his quality and composure with the ball were top class, he moved to CM and the rest is history.

Whereas with Gil he is never going to play CM, he’s always been an out and out winger and I don’t think his quality on the ball is good enough to make up for his lack of physicality especially in the Premier League.

That said I’m not giving up on him just yet as I’ve seen many a player around his age bulk out in their mid to late 20’s and just generally become better players in time.

If I was a betting man right now I’d say it’s 60/40 that he won’t make it long term with us and with Ange but you never know and yes credit where it’s due he did very well in the build up for the 1st goal and I know it’s City away and Walker is world class however Gil lost the ball 6 times in 45 mins!!! That is really absolutely not good enough for the level we want to be at, that would mean over a full match he’d give posession back to the opposition TWELVE times!! That’s Sunday league levels of posession turnover.

As per SofaScore, the winger only managed to complete 79 per cent of his passes, gave the ball away 6x in 45 mins, none of those passes being key and struggled to create any big chances. In addition to this, he didn’t manage to complete a single cross or long ball forward and failed with his one dribble attempt. *id argue his pass in the build up for our 1st goal was a key pass*.

Ange has been around football long enough to realise that Gil giving the ball back to City so often was killing our ability to try and control the game and we saw from the change at HT how much we improved from then on.

I think it’s all a learning process as Ange says he’s giving players a chance right now and will see if they’re up to what he needs or not.

Gil was much better home vs Villa and if he starts he may well be more effective against West Ham or Newcastle but for me that game yesterday was interesting ‘evidence’ about how Gil played/coped at the very highest level and for me he overall failed the test.

Will be interesting to see if he starts next game, I’m pretty certain he won’t and PEH will deservedly come into midfield and Kulu to RW and Johnson LW.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I agree with most of this but I’d say that we failed to create anything down the right side as well first half. Aside from one excellent moment where Johnson sped past Givardiol on the counter he was completely anonymous and got marked out of the game. City were just much more aggressive first half, second half they got sloppy and took their foot of the gas at times.

Aside from that I agree, Walker was always going to be a brutal test for him and Gil lost the battle. Personally I think the criticism from some is way over the top at this stage tho. I mean the boy has had 4 PL starts in his entire time here, missed pre season with an injury and has been consistently loaned back to Spain instead of being given time to adapt to the PL… and yet despite all this people are writing him off and laying into him because he struggled against one of the best RB in PL history who plays for probably the best team in Europe right now.

Yes I think the jury is still out and he may just never be able to adapt. It’s very possible. But patience and perspective is needed imo. At the moment he just needs game time and encouragement rather than picking him out for every mistake like many fans were doing in the match thread last night. If he doesn’t come good then we sell him, im sure it won’t be too difficult as he’s still well regarded in Spain but the lad is only 22, way way too soon to write him off imo.

Nice points although I’d say the difference between Johnson being ‘anonymous’ 1st half was that he didn’t keep giving the ball away like Gil did and as soon as Johnson moved to LW within minutes against Walker he had the ball played into him, he held off Walker and just calmly passed the ball back and we retained possession and switched the play to the other side, that might seem like a small thing but at that level against a side like City who dominate the ball so much it is vitally important that if you don’t have any forward pass or run on that you play a simple pass backwards or inwards and keep the ball, constantly giving the ball back to them is criminal.

 

[DarwinSpur]

Saw him live vs Villa and thought he was excellent. Tougher challenge against Walker but held his own against Foden/Silva when getting us up the pitch.

The hate he's getting from the usual brain dead sections of our fanbase are boring and predictable. Will be a very good footballer whether with us or elsewhere

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Did really well for the first goal but then struggled badly. Gave the ball away too easily and missed an easy pass to Son which would have put us 2-1 up.

I still think he’s got a lot of talent but the more I see the more I don’t think he’s a wide player, he’s more of an attacking midfielder. He certainly doesn’t suit the Ange winger profile imo as he simply lacks the necessary pace and physical qualities as well as 2 way dribbling ability.

I think his optimal place is playing in a free role where he can drift in to pockets of space. Doing this he could develop his game and become a good player I think, though possibly not in the PL.

But in terms of what we need from an Ange winger, he doesn’t fulfil the requirements imo.

That’s not me saying he’s shit etc, it’s just my analysis of his suitability for the position he is playing for our team in the PL. I wouldn’t play him CM ahead of Deki, Gio etc either.

 

[easley91]

Great little turn and release for Kulu for Son's goal, then Walker had him on toast for the one on ones. He works his socks off, but he just wasn't quick or strong enough to be on the wing. Do wonder if he'd be better off as a central option instead? He has the technical ability no doubt, as well as the work rate. I just don't think a winger in the Premier League is his best position.

 

[HodisGawd]

It's a no from me.

 

[The Scarecrow]

The biggest issue for me is his decision making. Like when he didn't play that ball for Son yesterday. I think that's probably coachable, and I also think it might come down to confidence, but nonetheless: he's probably the most upgradeable player in our squad right now.

 

[rabbikeane]

Ill suited to both league and the team, all while his contract is running - 2 years left coming summer. Got a feeling he'll need a move to become the player he can be, but also can see us in 5 years saying oh my god what have we done.

 

[mil1lion]

I didn't think the chance to play in Son was as simple as people make it sound. He would have had to play first time because as soon as he takes a touch the gap through to Son closes. It's by no means easy to spot the run and play first time with the right execution. There are always multiple instances of similar chances to play a team mate in that you see on TV that you think "if only".

I think he looks too weak for the wing but could do well just inside in the Maddison role. However I think with Lo Celso and Kulusevski we already have good cover for that position. For now he's doing fine with this crisis of injuries. In the long run when the injuries lighten up he's not likely to get a look in. It's vital for him to impress in this spell with the team to stand a future here. I hope he starts again Thursday as we do need to see a run of games from him which he just hasn't had yet.

 

[Joely]

His touch, control and ability to manoeuvre the ball in tight areas looks good to me. All very natural and free flowing. Decision making isn't there at the moment.

However yesterday, it was a complete physical mismatch between him and Walker and he was rightly taken off. Granted he was up against one of the best in the league but it really was man v boy.

He is game but think it's a problem when you know 9 times out of 10 you haven't really got a chance of coming out on top in physical duels during games. Right now feels like he needs time and space if he has any chance of impacting the game in the last third something which is at a premium at this level . What also limits him is his heavy reliance on his left foot.

Happy for him to be given more game time but Its difficult to see him really making it in this league unless he somehow develops the core strength to deal with the cut and thrust of games over here. At the moment, feels a player who has something about him but just not cut out for this league.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

His touch, control and ability to manoeuvre the ball in tight areas looks good to me. All very natural and free flowing. Decision making isn't there at the moment.

However yesterday, it was a complete physical mismatch between him and Walker and he was rightly taken off. Granted he was up against one of the best in the league but it really was man v boy.

He is game but think it's a problem when you know 9 times out of 10 you haven't really got a chance of coming out on top in physical duels during games. Right now feels like he needs time and space if he has any chance of impacting the game in the last third something which is at a premium at this level . What also limits him is his heavy reliance on his left foot.

Happy for him to be given more game time but Its difficult to see him really making it in this league unless he somehow develops the core strength to deal with the cut and thrust of games over here. At the moment, feels a player who has something about him but just not cut out for this league.

Great summary.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Nice points although I’d say the difference between Johnson being ‘anonymous’ 1st half was that he didn’t keep giving the ball away like Gil did and as soon as Johnson moved to LW within minutes against Walker he had the ball played into him, he held off Walker and just calmly passed the ball back and we retained possession and switched the play to the other side, that might seem like a small thing but at that level against a side like City who dominate the ball so much it is vitally important that if you don’t have any forward pass or run on that you play a simple pass backwards or inwards and keep the ball, constantly giving the ball back to them is criminal.

So I disagree somewhat with your robust criticism of Gil and I’d actually say the stats in the certain areas you highlight back this up in comparison to Johnson say who you’re championing. Not that I’m saying he was good or Johnson wasn't more effective, Gil struggled I agree, but he wasn’t as awful as you and some others suggest.

Gil in the first half completed 79% of his passes (11/14) which really isn’t bad but he did lose possession 6 times which isn’t great. Johnson by comparison had a 50% pass completion completing only 11 of his 22 passes all game, incidentally the same amount Gil completed in one half, and overall lost possession 13 times which is on par with Gil and equally poor. Essentially the point you make about Gil loosing possession more then anyone isn’t quite true and if you’re going to call him giving the ball away “criminal” then you’d have to do the same for Johnson.

Now obviously Johnson’s big chance creation exceeded Gil’s as he got an assist and almost had 2 plus his defensive stats will naturally be more impressive as he played the whole game. That also goes for his ground duals which are significantly better then Gil's but again he played the full game. On that note I'd be very curious to see how many came in the second half compared to first.

I agree that Johnson was much more effective in the second half and it was a favourable match up against Walker. His pace is truly impressive even if his decision making needs work, as does Gil's. Again tho, as I mentioned in the Lo Celso thread, City very evidently lost focus and tired significantly in the second half all across the pitch. Their marking became much more disjointed and the tight lines in midfield broke down more and more as the game went on. Im assuming this was down to CL hangover plus us stepping up. I don’t say this to dismiss Johnson’s second half performance or question his ability, I think he certainly has potential and he put in a very solid display in the 2nd half, had a great assist and almost had 2, but it’s not a given that if he had started on the left he would have faired any better then Gil. City where on another level that first half and the fact Johnson saw little to none of the ball is testament to that. Anyway my point isn’t about Johnson at all and I wouldn't even mention him here if you hadn't have brought him up, it’s about Gil and the strong criticism he has been getting when at this point IMO only patience and support should be given.

Now look, I know stats can certainly be misleading and one should never fully subscribe to them. Parameters will often be changeable + obscure and making a judgment on a player purely based on numbers is risky at best and frankly often misguided. The eye test is also very important. But in cases like this, where I personally think Gil is being overly criticised and deserves mores chances and you who thinks he was extremely poor and, judging by the match thread, don't particularly rate him, they can be somewhat useful. And you know I rate you and your opinion as a poster, we see eye to eye on many things but this is the beauty and art of football. We can all see different things yet fundamentally believe in the same ideal.

To reiterate my initial point in the post you quoted, i'm not saying he will succeed. He may well never make it here and be shifted out in Jan/summer. Its perfectly possible, I think its almost guaranteed he won't start on Thursday and the criticism on his lack of physicality and pace is justified. BUT as i said in my aforementioned post, speed and physicality can be worked around once you have learnt the nuances of the league. Gil hasn't had time to learn the league, at all, as I said this was only his 4th start since being here, so we really have no idea what he is actually capable of. What he is is very technical and if your not going to be physical or a speed merchant, being technical will go a long way to helping you get around your shortcomings once you've learned how to use that within your surroundings. And I also think there might be some ground to the idea that he isn't a true winger and actually Conte comparing him to Bernardo Silva wasn't actually a million miles away. Time will tell on that one.

But really the bottom line is a 22 year old winger who's had hardly any PL experience, is seriously lacking match sharpness struggled against the best team in Europe when matched up against the best RB in the league away from home. And statistically speaking, one major brain fart aside, he wasn't even that bad, he was just largely ineffective for the most part, yet despite all that he was still instrumental in our first goal. Plus the fact he had no pre season and clearly lacking confidence etc play a big part. I honestly just feel some have unrealistic expectations at times. At this point I don't see why he should be given anything other then support and encouragement tbh, and that goes for every one of our younger players. Personally I hope to see Gil continue to get a good amount of game time so we can see if he manages to develop on his raw ability which he does have.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

So I disagree somewhat with your robust criticism of Gil and I’d actually say the stats in the certain areas you highlight back this up in comparison to Johnson say who you’re championing. Not that I’m saying he was good or Johnson wasn't more effective, Gil struggled I agree, but he wasn’t as awful as you and some others suggest.

Gil in the first half completed 79% of his passes (11/14) which really isn’t bad but he did lose possession 6 times which isn’t great. Johnson by comparison had a 50% pass completion completing only 11 of his 22 passes all game, incidentally the same amount Gil completed in one half, and overall lost possession 13 times which is on par with Gil and equally poor. Essentially the point you make about Gil loosing possession more then anyone isn’t quite true and if you’re going to call him giving the ball away “criminal” then you’d have to do the same for Johnson.

Now obviously Johnson’s big chance creation exceeded Gil’s as he got an assist and almost had 2 plus his defensive stats will naturally be more impressive as he played the whole game. That also goes for his ground duals which are significantly better then Gil's but again he played the full game. On that note I'd be very curious to see how many came in the second half compared to first.

I agree that Johnson was much more effective in the second half and it was a favourable match up against Walker. His pace is truly impressive even if his decision making needs work, as does Gil's. Again tho, as I mentioned in the Lo Celso thread, City very evidently lost focus and tired significantly in the second half all across the pitch. Their marking became much more disjointed and the tight lines in midfield broke down more and more as the game went on. Im assuming this was down to CL hangover plus us stepping up. I don’t say this to dismiss Johnson’s second half performance or question his ability, I think he certainly has potential and he put in a very solid display in the 2nd half, had a great assist and almost had 2, but it’s not a given that if he had started on the left he would have faired any better then Gil. City where on another level that first half and the fact Johnson saw little to none of the ball is testament to that. Anyway my point isn’t about Johnson at all and I wouldn't even mention him here if you hadn't have brought him up, it’s about Gil and the strong criticism he has been getting when at this point IMO only patience and support should be given.

Now look, I know stats can certainly be misleading and one should never fully subscribe to them. Parameters will often be changeable + obscure and making a judgment on a player purely based on numbers is risky at best and frankly often misguided. The eye test is also very important. But in cases like this, where I personally think Gil is being overly criticised and deserves mores chances and you who thinks he was extremely poor and, judging by the match thread, don't particularly rate him, they can be somewhat useful. And you know I rate you and your opinion as a poster, we see eye to eye on many things but this is the beauty and art of football. We can all see different things yet fundamentally believe in the same ideal.

To reiterate my initial point in the post you quoted, i'm not saying he will succeed. He may well never make it here and be shifted out in Jan/summer. Its perfectly possible, I think its almost guaranteed he won't start on Thursday and the criticism on his lack of physicality and pace is justified. BUT as i said in my aforementioned post, speed and physicality can be worked around once you have learnt the nuances of the league. Gil hasn't had time to learn the league, at all, as I said this was only his 4th start since being here, so we really have no idea what he is actually capable of. What he is is very technical and if your not going to be physical or a speed merchant, being technical will go a long way to helping you get around your shortcomings once you've learned how to use that within your surroundings. And I also think there might be some ground to the idea that he isn't a true winger and actually Conte comparing him to Bernardo Silva wasn't actually a million miles away. Time will tell on that one.

But really the bottom line is a 22 year old winger who's had hardly any PL experience, is seriously lacking match sharpness struggled against the best team in Europe when matched up against the best RB in the league away from home. And statistically speaking, one major brain fart aside, he wasn't even that bad, he was just largely ineffective for the most part, yet despite all that he was still instrumental in our first goal. Plus the fact he had no pre season, is still massively lacking match sharpness and clearly lacking confidence etc play a big part. I honestly just feel some have unrealistic expectations at times. At this point I don't see why he should be given anything other then support and encouragement tbh, and that goes for every one of our younger players. Personally I hope to see Gil continue to get a good amount of game time so we can see if he manages to develop on his raw ability which he does have.

Fair enough if those are the stats although I played and coached football to a professional level and to me stats aside, Gil looked like a boy vs men and so it’s telling that Ange (an experienced world class manager) also saw the same thing and took Gil off at half time not Johnson.

I did caveat all of my comments with the fact that he was much better at home to Villa and City away vs Walker is about as hard as it gets. I also said to not write him off just yet as he is still young and can develop as a player and physically so you never know but right now he’s not quite where we need him to be imo, and I think most others would agree.

That’s not to say I won’t support him and don’t want him to succeed. I’m just saying what I see.

 

[SpainSpur85]

I like Bryan, under Ange he's made 3 appearances and maybe 150 minutes? I think given more time he can do bits for us. Playing against Walker is a tough ask for anyone.

He did well with the wriggle and lay off to Deki for the first goal, I think it's an Ange tactic but I don't like it, Skippy did it well for the third goal. But Biss lost the ball and we conceded. 2 out of 3 is probably worth the risk for Ange though, so I should shut up and hope it keeps working more often than not.

 

[Hoddlegenius]

Wish I’d kept quiet now, all I said was that I thought he deserved a mention for his part in our opener