I agree and, I think that's actually more useful than pace when teams park the bus. Could also be useful as a 10 in that situation, too.He's got an unusual skillset for a wide man. Not particularly agile, quick footed or pacey but seems to make chances using his strength and tenacity.
Agree with this completely. I don’t think anyone is saying Kulu is a bad player and Richy is certainly the weaker winger by some significant distance. But we have to look at the squad in relation to what we want to achieve. If we are actually hoping to challenge for honours every year then for me, on current form, he’s not quite good enough to be a starter.
Im not even saying we should drop him, after all Brennan and Gil are still completely untested and we have no idea what, if anything, they can bring to the table. But unless he goes up a level (which to be fair he could) then I’d be looking to upgrade and keep Kulu as a hard working rotation option.
Personally I think we need to be taking the Liverpool approach when it comes to building our forward line Ie having a number of top quality players rotating in.
Agree completely. After I posted I realised I should have also mentioned the LW situation having a detrimental effect on Kulu. You’re completely right about the LW, Richy essentially, effectively limiting Kulu. It makes the front 3 completely unbalanced and lopsided. Kulu isn’t necessarily the best dribbler but he’s certainly not the worst ether but with Richy being so incredibly limited in possession (essentially he is a basic pass and move player when out wide) it allows defences to give more attention to Kulu. We shouldn’t be in a position where Kulu is our only incisive 1v1 wide player, it doesn’t do him or the team any favours.Great post.
I do think Deki would be helped if we had a truly electric 1 vs 1 player on the left side as it would create more space for him on the right imo. I think he can be an excellent squad player for us and something of a Bernardo Silva type creative outlet in the wide position rather than an elite pace winger.
If we can sign someone like Nico Williams, Nusa etc for the left then we could mainly use 2 out of 3 from Deki, Johnson and the new signing out wide. Then we could look at upgrading Solomon in the summer if we don’t think he’s good enough long term.
Deki has an important role within our team and squad. I just think we need to add more explosive attackers with dribbling ability in the squad to complement him and give us options.
He looked knackered 2nd half tbf.Is it just me - can't fault his work rate, but if there's a next level for him to reach, he has to make much better decision in his final ball. He very predictable. Too predictable.
Sometimes I wished he could release the ball so much quicker but he will always take that extra touch and Son has already been marked. Some times he could have just threaded a ball forward to the centre region but he will most definitely pass to Porro who may not had the most available of space to run. Then most cases he will cut to his left to cross and/or shoot, which nobody, including our forwards, will be anticipated to defend/block or to attack, because either way the ball will sky.
To me, he looks like playing with a shackle of self-expectation, which was weird because when he first played for us he was as is playing freely without a burden.