Player Watch Player Watch: Giovani Lo Celso

[WiganSpur]

Porro is certainly a big concern but I think considering the amount we only just invested into him we need to give him and Ange time to see if he can adapt. It was never going to happen overnight with him imo. He’s not technically strong enough to be a WF in our system imo so he’s a bit of a ? At the moment. Shame that Spence also isn’t great defensively and supposedly had attitude issues as a HG young FB would be very helpful.

I think Porro will go next summer and we will look to bring in a HG replacement.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

I think Porro will go next summer and we will look to bring in a HG replacement.

Yeah I’d say there’s probably a good chance of that if he doesn’t adapt. I actually feel really sorry for him. Seems a good lad.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

After Buendia's injury, Villa tried to again to bring in GIO, but their efforts were rebuffed. GIO's potential transfer from Tottenham hinges on a promising offer, as there's a demand for his skills right now from several clubs. Nevertheless, Ange is intent on retaining him.

My feeling is he stays.

WLB

If Ange wants to keep him then we have to keep him imo. I don’t see anyone paying a large fee anyway. Barca don’t have the cash as they want Cancelo and Felix, Villa are getting Zaniolo and Napoli seem to be getting Veiga. Those are the three currently linked teams. I’m not convinced we would replace him well ether.

 

[jolsnogross]

What a cock up signing Porro was. A specialist wing back?? It's as though Levy hasn't a fucking clue that the whole approach is likely to change within 6 months, even though its him who gets to decide that its gonna change!

 

[fecka]

Doesn't really make sense to sell Gio IMO unless it's for a HG alternative as that'll be something we need to keep in mind for when we're back in Europe. Also, any replacement HG or non-HG that'll be at Gio's level or better will cost much more than any fee we'll likely get for him - which would feel like throwing away money for the sake of it.

 

[KingNick]

What a cock up signing Porro was. A specialist wing back?? It's as though Levy hasn't a fucking clue that the whole approach is likely to change within 6 months, even though its him who gets to decide that its gonna change!

Udogie has adapted well from a similar base of skills though. Porro might as well. The limited games pre season hasn’t helped.

 

[G Ron]

I mentioned this before, but I only see this happening if Douglas Luiz comes the other way.

It would be a risk to sell now with Bentancur still recovering as we’re an injury to Maddison away from losing all our creativity.

 

[Snuzzy]

What a cock up signing Porro was. A specialist wing back?? It's as though Levy hasn't a fucking clue that the whole approach is likely to change within 6 months, even though its him who gets to decide that its gonna change!

Lol, IIRC the forum was full of "THE priority has to be getting the players Conte wants personally and that fits Contes system, if that's a RWB then that's that, pay the money" at the time

 

[Timberwolf]

What a cock up signing Porro was. A specialist wing back?? It's as though Levy hasn't a fucking clue that the whole approach is likely to change within 6 months, even though its him who gets to decide that its gonna change!

Yeah very shortsighted.

Reading between the lines, I think Paratici went for him with an eye to signing another back 3 coach if Conte left. At the start of the summer before Pararici got banned we were linked much more heavily to back 3 managers like Glasner, Amorim, Frank and I think Paratici was pushing for that continuity of system. Nagelsmann also would've also been a great fit for Porro when he was being linked too.

It was only once Paratici got the boot that the board suddenly swung towards fully attacking managers like Slot and Ange that play with a back 4, making Porro's signing much less useful.

I rate him as a footballer highly but I genuinely would've been in favour of cancelling the transfer this summer if that was an option as he simply doesn't have a natural starting role in the system and we could've really used that 40m somewhere else. Plus it will be hard to find a buyer for such a specialist player when none of the big teams use wingbacks atm.

 

[WiganSpur]

I mentioned this before, but I only see this happening if Douglas Luiz comes the other way.

It would be a risk to sell now with Bentancur still recovering as we’re an injury to Maddison away from losing all our creativity.

I rate Luiz but that would be an awful move that would cause an imbalance in the squad.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Udogie has adapted well from a similar base of skills though. Porro might as well. The limited games pre season hasn’t helped.

Udogie has played as a LB in a 4 before though and has also played CM so he has more experience to suit the inverted FB role. Added to this Udogie is on a whole other level compared to Porro when it comes to physicality. Udogie is lightning quick and incredibly powerful for a 20 year old and he is imposing 1 on 1. Where as Porro is smaller, not particularly powerful, not as quick, doesn't have the same kind of recovery ability Destiny has and isn't anywhere near as imposing 1 on 1. He could never do what Udogie did to Mbeumo.

 

[jolsnogross]

Lo Celso should displace Skipp in the 11 if he's in Postecoglu's plans. If there's a concern he can't do that, for lack of defensive ability or endeavour, then he should be sold. He's not worth keeping as cover because Bentancur will be back in contention soon enough.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I also think we need a RB to cover for Royale. Porro is not a good enough defender for the role.

Nah. How about the coaches work with Porro to improve his defending instead?

When Danny Rose was a similar age he had only just been playing LB a couple of seasons but was seen as a liability and roundly derided when given a new 5 year contract. Poch got hold of him and he became one of the best LBs in europe for a couple of seasons.

Players can improve with coaching in the right environment. There is no reason why Porro can't reach the right level defensively.

 

[SG7]

Porro is certainly a big concern but I think considering the amount we only just invested into him we need to give him and Ange time to see if he can adapt. It was never going to happen overnight with him imo. He’s not technically strong enough to be a WF in our system imo so he’s a bit of a ? At the moment. Shame that Spence also isn’t great defensively and supposedly had attitude issues as a HG young FB would be very helpful.

Porro should have come on for Kulusevski against Brentford. Was a no-brainer for me.

 

[kythg]

Lol, IIRC the forum was full of "THE priority has to be getting the players Conte wants personally and that fits Contes system, if that's a RWB then that's that, pay the money" at the time

My feeling was either back Conte or sack him, particularly if he wasn't signing a contract - and this was at Christmas. We did a sort of half measure (as we usually do) which tends to be the problem, but he clearly wasn't signing a new contract. It was clear externally and we should have moved him on at the time and probably brought in Poch (imo). I am happy with Ange and where we are going but Porro signing looks like is going to be another high cost mistake.

This sort of thing is why it's insane that we STILL have no Director of Football but luckily I think Ange is actually really sensible and grown up and will mitigate other areas of incompetence and illogical decision making. I also worry about the Kulu signing tbh, we maaaybe shouldn't have kept him after last season but I'm hoping he'll adapt..

 

[G Ron]

I rate Luiz but that would be an awful move that would cause an imbalance in the squad.

I’m not advocating the move, I just only see this happening if we get a player we want in return. Luiz would replace Holjbjerg and provide cover for Bissouma and we would need to buy another creative midfield type player.

I doubt this happens though

 

[WiganSpur]

I also think we need a RB to cover for Royale. Porro is not a good enough defender for the role.

I'm not sure we can even sell him this summer, and he wouldn't want to leave anyway. We'll have to stick with him as a backup this season if Ange isn't a fan of Spence. Hopefully he won't need to play a great deal.

 

[rabbikeane]

Lol, IIRC the forum was full of "THE priority has to be getting the players Conte wants personally and that fits Contes system, if that's a RWB then that's that, pay the money" at the time

It was divided. Many of us made the point that if we signed Porro we better be sure the next manager was a wing back manager and not someone who'd switch to a back 4.
It was obvious to see that we might have an issue in the summer, everything pointed towards it.

 

[Timberwolf]

Porro should have come on for Kulusevski against Brentford. Was a no-brainer for me.

Thing is Porro's still a pretty bad fit for the right wing position too - certainly against a compact back 5. He's got a great cross on him but he's not quick enough or skillful enough to beat his man and would've had similar issues to Kulu with 2 players in front of him that he couldn't get past to influence the game or put balls in.

Solomon is a much better backup to Kulu on the right than Porro is in my book as he's at least got that acceleration and trickery.

 

[Tucker]

Lo Celso should displace Skipp in the 11 if he's in Postecoglu's plans. If there's a concern he can't do that, for lack of defensive ability or endeavour, then he should be sold. He's not worth keeping as cover because Bentancur will be back in contention soon enough.

Surely it’s obvious to people that Skipp and Lo Celso are going to be performing different roles in midfield?

Was pretty clear to me that the reason Gio didn’t come on on Sunday was that Ange wanted Skipp on the pitch for his work rate and defensive qualities. If Gio came on it was always going to be for Maddison.

I can’t see that midfield balance being changed when we play a better team on Saturday night. So people hoping we’ll see Bissouma, GLC, and Maddison at the weekend are setting themselves up for disappointment.