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Player Watch: Georges-Kévin N'Koudou

The Scarecrow

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2013
5,597
12,201
How ever good a coach Pochettino maybe, even he will struggle to improve a player who demonstrates no intelligence or signs of having 2 or 3 brain cells.
That's harsh. Players mature mentally at different rates. Some look like world beaters when they are 17, but proceed to fade away, while others don't bloom until their mid/late twenties.
 

Univarn

Lost. Probably Not Worth Finding.
Jul 20, 2017
2,864
15,279
I was pretty much ready to write him off after watching him in preseason vs. PSG in Orlando where I literally couldn't see him for long periods of time he was so tethered to the touchline he was hidden by the seating wall. His brief cameos thus far did little to shake that impression.

Last night he was much better and on multiple occassions came inside and you could see him lining up alongside Llorente in the box when Son shifted wide or Dele took up the left flank. He still has a lot of work to do but he needs more of that. More willingness to pop up in spots unexpectedly. You can tell the touchline is his safe place and where he goes when he is uncertain where to be but I hope this is the start of an upward trend rather than a peak.
 

DJS

A hoonter must hoont
Dec 9, 2006
31,261
21,760
How ever good a coach Pochettino maybe, even he will struggle to improve a player who demonstrates no intelligence or signs of having 2 or 3 brain cells.

Bit harsh to judge on so few proper first team appearances?
 

LukaMotion

WHL 1899-2017
May 17, 2010
2,883
5,926
I went to the game last night and spent a lot of it watching N'koudou so thought i'd do a bit of an assessment of his performance. It's not really a list of pro's and con's as sometimes they cross-over but more just some observations of his current level.

  1. He want's to do well, it's really obvious how much he wants to be playing football and I can imagine him to be the sort of guy that would play for free if he wasn't a professional. I love that enthusiasm and it reminded me of Lamela's work rate which is great, just sometimes he get's overly carried away.

  2. He's always showing for the ball and asking for the ball to his feet, but sometimes it's not a good thing. At one point last night while we had possession he ran around the pitch, following the ball, non-stop for at least two minutes, asking for a pass, instead of moving around his own position, losing his marking, making an intelligent run off the back of a defender etc. It's the opposite of Dele's movement, which is always intelligent and purposeful. If we were playing a better team who had won the ball back and broken, Nkoudou's then out of position and it's would have been a 2v1 in the left back position.

  3. His shooting is weak and needs major work. Part of that is he needs to work on his composure in the final third, which would help with his crossing as well, and the other part is he needs to take some lessons from Sonny in finding the corner of the net instead of shooting at the middle of the goal.

  4. He was far better when he was moved further forward and central alongside Llorente. He had some nice link-up play with Dele in the inside left in the second half which led to a few chances and eventually to his goal. When he plays out wide on the wing he seems to have too much time on the ball and that often led to him overthinking his movement. If he's going to be played there i'd like to see him make more out-to-in runs off the back of defenders as he is very, very quick. Playing the ball ahead of him rather than into his feet could be a way to mitigate his slightly nervous clumsy control under pressure.

  5. He's clearly a popular member of the team as he got a lot of hugs and the like when he scored. I think everyone really wants him to do well, Poch included, and it's great that he's finally stepping up and showing us what he's capable of. He is still very young and still needs to do a lot of work on both his tactical awareness and his physical skill set but he does have a lot of potential. If anyone can turn him into a diamond i'd bet my house it would be Poch.
 

JayB

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2011
6,652
26,046
If Poch genuinely saw nothing in him I think he'd have been unceremoniously jettisoned in the summer the same way that Stambouli, Njie, Janssen etc. were after their first seasons under Poch. That alone makes me somewhat optimistic that he might eventually have something to offer.
 

allpaths

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2014
3,174
8,381
it was a performance to build off of and that's very encouraging. On the ball he was a lot more mature and thoughtful. next step is getting his movement right, it's the biggest difference between him and the likes of mane, salah and our son. these guys are constantly moving across the back line ready to make a run in behind. GKN off the ball, is still static and waits for the ball to come to him instead of trying to create or attack space for himself.

I hope he gets a shot against stoke bc i think pace really hurts them and he needs the minutes to continue to progress.
 

Bulletspur

The Reasonable Advocate
Match Thread Admin
Oct 17, 2006
10,690
25,246
Surprised by how harsh people are on him

He beat his man a few times, put in some good crosses, scored a goal on the back of some great skill and worked fucking hard

What more did people expect from his first start of the season?

Exactly.

First start for ages. Showed aggression, strong work ethic, looked a little quicker and, most importantly for me, wanted the ball and wanted to impact the game. A few minutes before he scored there was a passage of fairly low-urgency possession from us and he covered significant distance to try and get on the ball, and when he did he immediately looked to 'up the ante'. Even if his goal was a bit lucky, he wanted the ball in the last thirdl, took on his man, made space and got a shot off. He has never shown that aggression / proactive play up until now.

A solid 7/10 display and if he shows this application and gains confidence then he will put pressure on our AMs for a place in the 18.
I am with both of you here. Some supporters are just hard to please. When we play slow and labored without anyone being incisive and wanting to push the game forward at speed, we complain. We have a player who despite not having enough games under his belt to make an impression or gain experience, started the game yesterday and worked his socks off. He did not hide or make backward and sideway passes, he put in a lot of effort and he is still ostracized. No wonder most of the time we are a laughing stock for most clubs and the media. Not saying he is a world beater, but come on!
 
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Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
2,864
3,680
I am with both of you here. Some supporters are just idiots hard to please. When we play slow and labored without anyone being incisive and wanting to push the game forward at speed, we complain. We have a player who despite not having enough games under his belt to make an impression or gain experience, started the game yesterday and worked his socks off. He did not hide or make backward and sideway passes, he put in a lot of effort and he is still ostracized. No wonder most of the time we are a laughing stock for most clubs and the media. Not saying he is a world beater, but come on!

You disagreed with my post and assume I am one of those idiots you are calling out. I hinted at his work rate, but still doesn't mean I think he will come good. I'll be an idiot though, I am fine with that term cause I have been wrong many a times and hope Kevin proves me wrong, which I also said in my post.
 

daryl hannah

Berry Berry Calm
Sep 1, 2014
2,674
7,717
You disagreed with my post and assume I am one of those idiots you are calling out. I hinted at his work rate, but still doesn't mean I think he will come good. I'll be an idiot though, I am fine with that term cause I have been wrong many a times and hope Kevin proves me wrong, which I also said in my post.
One always hopes one is wrong about a player's poor form. I personally think the club held onto him because we couldn't afford to bring another target in. We do seem to hang on to people a bit too long - Janssen & Njie the exceptions, here (1 season). Most of those struggling are afforded at least 2 seasons to improve their stock - Paulinho, Soldado, Nkoudou, Sissoko... I think it's more to do with sale price/replacement cost than with Poch. The other top 6 teams (possibly not Arse) wouldn't give these players a second chance, and that's more about where we are as a club.
 

Bulletspur

The Reasonable Advocate
Match Thread Admin
Oct 17, 2006
10,690
25,246
You disagreed with my post and assume I am one of those idiots you are calling out. I hinted at his work rate, but still doesn't mean I think he will come good. I'll be an idiot though, I am fine with that term cause I have been wrong many a times and hope Kevin proves me wrong, which I also said in my post.
I did cross it out but now I have deleted it. Lets leave it that some of us are hard to please
 

Streetspur77

Happy Clapper
Jul 20, 2017
2,792
9,404
IMG_0346.PNG
 

Cravenspurs

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2011
2,864
3,680
I did cross it out but now I have deleted it. Lets leave it that some of us are hard to please

GKN put in a decent shift, not arguing that. I would rather see him come on that Sissoko with 30 minutes to go and we are trying t to win a game. I have said that for awhile. We will see if he comes through in the end as we really don't have any options on the bench that have GKN natural abilities (pace, agility, a bit of dynamism). I really hope my projections are off.
 

dynamoSpurs

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
2,718
895
I thought we looked good but never really got into high gears as a unit.

With that said it's difficult to play a high tempo game (which is what GKN tried to do and typically does) on your own.

With that said, I thought he looked very very promising. For every start sissoko has had, GKN should get double.
 

southlondonyiddo

My eyes have seen some of the glory..
Nov 8, 2004
12,599
15,012
Ok he only played 30mins in his first game for us in a new county and doesn't speak the language yet but:

I was not impressed at all. Hope he improves!

Energy made a much better start than him imo. Shame he was never fit!


My opinion on from his first appearance last September, hasn’t changed. If anything it’s even more entrenched

He’s got a bit of pace but is pretty hopeless.

Looks like a guy who’s won the lottery with a nice contract playing at a 'big' club

N'Jie was much better. We were well and truly done on this deal. Whoever sanctioned it needs to wake up and smell the coffee!!
 

THFCSPURS19

The Speaker of the Transfer Rumours Forum
Jan 6, 2013
37,886
130,485
Odd that he's still not getting onto our bench even though he should've been on a high after his goal/performance against APOEL.
 
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