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Conor Gallagher

Ghost Hardware

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
18,327
63,030
I'm sorry but I have almost no idea what people are banging on about with this Numberwang malarkey.

Can someone please educate me and every other normal person for whom this latest fad has passed by with a breakdown?

I mean, we’re not completely unaware, we know number one is a goalie :D

But come on, fucking hell, this is just the latest hipster bollocks really isn’t it and the trouble with it is, ‘normals’ don’t have a clue what you’re on about 🤪 ;)
I wrote the below in answer to your question but then got sidetracked. Your question has probably been answered 10 x by if you’re bored feel free to read the long winded answer below… or if you have 101 better things to do on Friday night like alphabetise your vast array of “tools” then feel free to ignore.

In the most basic way a 6 in the context of the thread is a defensive midfielder and and 8 is a central midfielder.

Obviously it’s significantly more complex than that as there are numerous types of DM’s such as Anchors (DM who sit deep and rarely move from their position) and Registas (a deep lying playmaker who has defensive responsibilities) as there are CM’s such as Box to Box (a hard worker who will be both attacking and defensive minded essentially occupying the space from our box to theirs.) or Mezzela (a half winger Ie a player that tucks into midfield but will look to take the ball wide to create width) But that’s just going down the rabbit hole as there are plenty more. Really there are numerous “roles” for every position on the pitch.

Sometimes these roles are very much implemented by a manager others are derived by a players skill set. A good example of this is Dele Ali who as he developed struggled to find the perfect role for himself. He wasn’t really a creative midfielder so couldn’t really play the AM/10 role in a traditional capacity but he wasn’t strong enough defensively to play as a CM. Ultimately his best role was probably that of a Shadow Striker. Essentially a player that would line up in midfield behind the 9 but would look to occupy spaces just off the shoulder of the 9 in the oppositions box. He’d do this by sitting quite high up the pitch, ghosting into the box and find pockets of space in a defenders blind spot. From there he would ether look to score or play a simple pass to the striker. Essentially it’s a role that needs to be carried by the rest of the team as he’s still a midfielder rather than a CF yet is primarily focused on attack. Furthermore this isn’t a creative player and shouldn’t be relied on for creating opportunities. It’s an incredibly niche role that requires a specific squad set up to make work. I haven’t seen enough of Havatz since he has been at Chelsea and Arsenal but from what I have he seems to be a similar type of player.

Anyway sorry for the digression. Point is that it’s never as simple as 6 or 8 or 10 or DM or CM or AMC but essentially it’s a shorter short hand.

Also you can play a 6 in CM the same way you can play a 10 in CM rather than as an AM (attacking midfield) this is where more specific roles as pointed out comes into play.

Essentially the debate over the last few pages has been about Bentancur being better as a defensive midfielder or a central midfielder and in tern if we should actually be looking at Gallagher due to him being a CM.

I bet you wish you hadn’t wasted your time reading this and no I shall not be refunding you the minutes waisted. I did warn you😂

 
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Spursberg

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2019
1,619
3,109
Out of curiosity, would people shift Skipp if an acceptable offer came and we got a replacement e.g Hackney/Gallagher?
In a heart beat. Skip does not work in this system, he is way to passive in a progressive team, we need 8.s that can turn fast and pass forward, skip choses the safe pass almost every time.
He is perfect for a manager like Southgate, but there is No "to dare is to do" anywhere in Skips DNA.

Also his defending and descision making is at times scary poor. Last couple of games now, he is running back when we get countered, he starts to run with his man, then leaves him and strays of to where the ball is almost running into Porro. leaving his man unmarked, just ballwatching like a 10 year old learning football. I just shake my head in disbelief when i see this over and over.

Not sure Gallagher is our saviour either, but i think Ange wants his character as he never stops working and he obviously has the attitude he looks for, seeing he is already captain of Chelsea.
We are probably willing to go as high as 45 since we want more homegrown players. He will most likely be Hoibjergs replacement although i hear people say he is not a 6, but we have Bis and Benta for that role so maybe the new 6 will be promoted after we sell skip in the summer. 🤷‍♂️
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
This weekends game shows what Gallagher would bring to our squad IMO.

Sarr and Bissouma out at the AFCON, Madders, Lo Celso and potentially Kulusevski injured.

Out of the remaining CM options Gallagher would be my first choice in the 10 in this situation, and first choice in the 8 role, with Bentancur being my preferred 6.

It would give us excellent depth and options in midfield. Granted any quality CM signing would do.
 

InOffMeLeftShin

Night watchman
Admin
Jan 14, 2004
15,105
9,122
What if the 6 strays into the 8’s territory and vice versa.
They always do. We keep having fullbacks and strikers too, why can’t they just stick to roles we can understand?

I think Gallagher is a good player. I think it’d almost be worth paying the asking price to watch Chelsea melt as we take a major asset from them in his prime.
 

Zino

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2017
63
400
I don't really care about numbers or if he's a die hard Chelsea fan. All I know is I'd much rather have Gallagher as a midfield option and squad depth than Hojbjerg and Skipp.
 

SuperLuka

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2011
462
1,390
It seems we want him but as you say the possibility of this deal is driven by Chelsea needed to hit FFP targets and he is the main piece. I suppose the resistance could come from Gallagher himself, can’t force a player to move.
We should not help Chelsea with FFP. We need to look elsewhere.
 

Ron Burgundy

SC Supporter
Jun 19, 2008
7,738
23,414
This weekends game shows what Gallagher would bring to our squad IMO.

Sarr and Bissouma out at the AFCON, Madders, Lo Celso and potentially Kulusevski injured.

Out of the remaining CM options Gallagher would be my first choice in the 10 in this situation, and first choice in the 8 role, with Bentancur being my preferred 6.

It would give us excellent depth and options in midfield. Granted any quality CM signing would do.
Doesn’t that also show us what kind of situation we’d need to be in to really value having him? Ie a very unlikely scenario for both injuries and absences.

We shouldn’t be solving squad depth for such an extreme situation. I can barely think it’ll be this bad again for a while.
 

SuperLuka

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2011
462
1,390
It’s not about “helping” Chelsea with FFP though. We should do what’s best for us. If that’s Gallagher, so be it.
We can sign someone else. It's not like he's the only option or a special player that we'd struggle to sign otherwise. Helping Chelsea out of a massive whole is also not good for spurs even putting rivalries aside.
 

Styopa

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2014
5,346
14,785
We can sign someone else. It's not like he's the only option or a special player that we'd struggle to sign otherwise. Helping Chelsea out of a massive whole is also not good for spurs even putting rivalries aside.

Yeah no doubt we can sign someone else, in fact we probably will because this deal will be too challenging for us.

But if he’s our top target, we should try to sign him, irrespective of Chelsea’s FFP situation. That’s just common sense in my opinion.

We can’t be worrying about Chelsea’s ffp situation because ultimately it’s nothing to do with us. They can potentially sell Gallagher to someone else, or find other ways out it. They’ll still have massive problems at that club whether the keep or sell Gallagher anyway. Selling Gallagher’s not going to fix everything for them.

We need to focus on ourselves. If That’s what a big club does. If Ange and his team think he’s a missing piece and our top target, then we should try to do a deal at the right price.
 
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