Birdy
Senior Member
A lot of his appeal is that he looks good doing the basics and can drive with the ball. But without space to drive with the ball he doesn't have much left in his game that you'd consider beyond okay/good.
Final ball he often refuses or doesn't see, rarely makes passes between the lines and his one footedness closes off options to switch play or dribble to another area of the pitch.
Even when you watch his highlights pre-Barca the majority is of him driven up the pitch with acres of space. That's why he looked so good at libero at Barca, as he can evade a challenge very well and then lay the ball off to the next available player.
When moved forward as an interior, you need to either be more intricate with one-touch play or have an eye for a pass nearer the goal but he often falls over as that really isn't his strong point thus not quite executing what he's been asked to do.
Said it all