Malcom

[FinBarcelonafan]

We went from having Balon d'or shortlisted wingers like Ronaldinho, young Messi, and Neymar to Malcom and Dembele....sigh.

Nothing wrong having Malcom as a backup winger.

 

[Laplacian]

Like Giuly, Gudjohnson, Bojan, Pedro in 2015, Alexis, overmars,tello.
We always had squad players who added something but were not worldclass.
Dembele can easily become worldclass if not injured and he breaks trough.
Malcolm is a decent squad player when given faith and a very good rotation option with a proper coach.
If you can be motm vs Madrid you can be a solid squad player. It was t a jeffren once a season type thing either.

Thing is, we had at least one world class winger with the players you listed. We have zero now. I have no confidence in Ousmane "only on form for 7 games a season" Dembele.

 

[BBZ8800]

Nothing wrong having Malcom as a backup winger.

A 4th attacker should be a player who can come in and change a game.
In 2006, we had Ronaldinho, Etoo, Guily.
If we were in problems, we had Messi and Larsson to change a game.
In 1999 we had Figo, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Sonny Anderson, Lucho, Giovanni, Zenden.

Today we have Prinze and Malcom.
Barto created a team where starters can't be benched and a 4th pick attacker is on a midtable team level.

Malcom can't change a game.
He is not much better than Munir or especially Paco.
Malcom would have been the 8th attacking option in 1999'.
Today, a coach is crucified for not playing him.

Crazy times.

 

[Tackle]

A 4th attacker should be a player who can come in and change a game.
In 2006, we had Ronaldinho, Etoo, Guily.
If we were in problems, we had Messi and Larsson to change a game.
In 1999 we had Figo, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Sonny Anderson, Lucho, Giovanni, Zenden.

Today we have Prinze and Malcom.
Barto created a team where starters can't be benched and a 4th pick attacker is on a midtable team level.

Malcom can't change a game.
He is not much better than Munir or especially Paco.
Malcom would have been the 8th attacking option in 1999'.
Today, a coach is crucified for not playing him.

Crazy times.

Finally some sanity on this board.

Malcom is a very average player with no real outstanding qualities. If he was better he wouldn't have been at Bordeaux for 3 years. If he was better why were only clubs on the level of Roma, Dortmund and Arsenal linked to him? No big clubs like PSG, City, Bayern, Juventus, or Real Madrid were in for him. We only decided to scoop him up at the last second because the Willian transfer fell apart and this was a deal we could close quickly with the framework already set by Roma.

His pace is pretty average for the type of winger he is. Is EV to blame for this? Can't cross to save his life, supremely one-footed, average dribbling abilities, inconsistent shot, dire vision and average I.Q. He is nothing more than a poor man's Philippe Coutinho and we all saw how he did this season. I'd bin him for 30m and spend the money on some proven class while we still have Messi in his prime.

I will present some data as well:

- 3 seasons at Bordeaux
- 84 matches played and 6143 minutes played
- 20 goals + 12 assists

Doing the math:

- Malcom had one goal contribution (G/A) every 192 minutes.

So in other words he needed over 2 matches to contribute one goal/assist while being the main man on a midtable French team. And we all know the quality of Ligue 1.

Yeah, so maybe the reason why he sucks is because he's just a mediocre second-tier level player not at the level of Barca rather than the the big bad boogeyman Valverde ruining his career.

But he scored on an empty net against a 68 point Madrid side at the Camp Nou in the cup so he must be the first name on the team sheet for the next 10 years!

 

[Ernesto GOATverde Tejedor]

I have never trusted a Brazilian footballer with an English name, ever since I saw FRED's World Cup disaster. It's almost as is they inherit English footballers poor technique when they have an English name. Only buy brazilians with brazilian names, especially if they begin with the letter R.

 

[BBZ8800]

The level of expectations has dropped a lot on our forum.

People say that Malcom is a good 4th choice for Barca.
Our starter Semedo is the 4th pick for Portugal.
Golden boy Dembele is not a starter for France.
New Xavi Arthur is not a starter for a weak-ish Brasilian team.
Puig, never called for youth Spanish NT teams is the new Iniesta.
Wow.

For those who don't think that our level of quality has dropped a lot (except for Messi), this is how our 4th or 5th attacking pick in 2006 looked like.
Henrik Larsson, a player who scored more goals than Coutinho, Dembele, Malcom and our midfield combined will score in their whole career:

 

[MTL_Barca]

It's not like other teams have exclusively world class players on their bench. So i'd say Malcom is decent as RW sub / 4th winger. Klopp brought in Origi and Shaqiri for example.

If he gets replaced i don't think it would suddenly be a world class player either, unless Coutinho leaves as well of course and only one winger gets signed as a replacement for both. But even then Barto will most likely get Griezmann making it 3 + Dembele again so it would probably just be another Malcom level player that Valverde will never use.

 

[clemente]

The level of expectations has dropped a lot on our forum.

People say that Malcom is a good 4th choice for Barca.
Our starter Semedo is the 4th pick for Portugal.
Golden boy Dembele is not a starter for France.
New Xavi Arthur is not a starter for a weak-ish Brasilian team.
Puig, never called for youth Spanish NT teams is the new Iniesta.
Wow.

For those who don't think that our level of quality has dropped a lot (except for Messi), this is how our 4th or 5th attacking pick in 2006 looked like.
Henrik Larsson, a player who scored more goals than Coutinho, Dembele, Malcom and our midfield combined will score in their whole career:

top 3 dumbest comment this year nominee

 

[Laplacian]

Finally some sanity on this board.

Malcom is a very average player with no real outstanding qualities. If he was better he wouldn't have been at Bordeaux for 3 years. If he was better why were only clubs on the level of Roma, Dortmund and Arsenal linked to him? No big clubs like PSG, City, Bayern, Juventus, or Real Madrid were in for him. We only decided to scoop him up at the last second because the Willian transfer fell apart and this was a deal we could close quickly with the framework already set by Roma.

His pace is pretty average for the type of winger he is. Is EV to blame for this? Can't cross to save his life, supremely one-footed, average dribbling abilities, inconsistent shot, dire vision and average I.Q. He is nothing more than a poor man's Philippe Coutinho and we all saw how he did this season. I'd bin him for 30m and spend the money on some proven class while we still have Messi in his prime.

I will present some data as well:

- 3 seasons at Bordeaux
- 84 matches played and 6143 minutes played
- 20 goals + 12 assists

Doing the math:

- Malcom had one goal contribution (G/A) every 192 minutes.

So in other words he needed over 2 matches to contribute one goal/assist while being the main man on a midtable French team. And we all know the quality of Ligue 1.

Yeah, so maybe the reason why he sucks is because he's just a mediocre second-tier level player not at the level of Barca rather than the the big bad boogeyman Valverde ruining his career.

But he scored on an empty net against a 68 point Madrid side at the Camp Nou in the cup so he must be the first name on the team sheet for the next 10 years!

Exactly, perfect comment. Now let's add on Dembele to the mix. I have never seen a player touted to be "potentially world class" have such an inconsistent technique when there's no pressure on him, no ability to retain the ball or dribble it in tight spaces, no fucking composure in front of goal, and have such a low IQ (movement and instincts). It's like he can play a completely mediocre game but puts in one or two good crosses, one of them resulting in an assist, and everyone forgets about it and it's just "see always shows up when we need him." It's especially true this season. Mediocre to bad for the MAJORITY of the first half of the season, gets in form for less than 6 games and suddenly he's had a GREAT season. His goals are shit, usually deflected or scuffed shots (just look at his Sevilla brace or his 5 clutch goals in the beginning of the season). Very rarely the goals came as a result of his movement, intelligence, and actual skill (PSV, Spurs, Sevilla Supercopa, and Huesca goal). Always constantly ball watching, not having the balls to shoot when he's on goal but instead pushing the responsibility to Messi or Suarez, inability to dribble when he's not running into space or constantly ball watching.

Holy shit the standards in this forum have fallen to complete shit. People still think we don't need one or two more wingers to help, they are utterly and completely content on Dembele; hoping that he'll become world class after an injury free season. .

 

[jairzinho]

Finally some sanity on this board.

Malcom is a very average player with no real outstanding qualities. If he was better he wouldn't have been at Bordeaux for 3 years. If he was better why were only clubs on the level of Roma, Dortmund and Arsenal linked to him? No big clubs like PSG, City, Bayern, Juventus, or Real Madrid were in for him. We only decided to scoop him up at the last second because the Willian transfer fell apart and this was a deal we could close quickly with the framework already set by Roma.

His pace is pretty average for the type of winger he is. Is EV to blame for this? Can't cross to save his life, supremely one-footed, average dribbling abilities, inconsistent shot, dire vision and average I.Q. He is nothing more than a poor man's Philippe Coutinho and we all saw how he did this season. I'd bin him for 30m and spend the money on some proven class while we still have Messi in his prime.

I will present some data as well:

- 3 seasons at Bordeaux
- 84 matches played and 6143 minutes played
- 20 goals + 12 assists

Doing the math:

- Malcom had one goal contribution (G/A) every 192 minutes.

So in other words he needed over 2 matches to contribute one goal/assist while being the main man on a midtable French team. And we all know the quality of Ligue 1.

Yeah, so maybe the reason why he sucks is because he's just a mediocre second-tier level player not at the level of Barca rather than the the big bad boogeyman Valverde ruining his career.

But he scored on an empty net against a 68 point Madrid side at the Camp Nou in the cup so he must be the first name on the team sheet for the next 10 years!

Statistics without context are meaningless. Just throwing data around.

You talk about this guy's time at Bordeaux as if he's been playing professionally in Europe for years. He joined Bordeaux (2016) as an 18 yr old from São Paulo.

18, a new country, a new language, still green, but with lots of potential. How many goals did an 18 / 19 year old Pedro Rodriguez score or a Sterling at 19/20 ?

How many goals did an 18/19 year old Asensio score? What about Greizmann, Salah or Jovic at ages 18/19/20?

How much goals and how much appearances did it take to get them ? What about the injuries in that span? That would be some good data for you to present.

Age, Goals, Appearances, Injuries, comparison with similar players. That's how you present data. Then we can say he is ready or developing, still green or not good at all.

But i guess it's easier to pull some data from wiki and then shit on a young player.

But seriously, i agree that him joining us at 21 turned out to be a mistake. He is still not the finished product and needs the playing time to develop. Really not good for him here,

especially under Valgreen. Like i said. He should either be sold or loaned. that's the best decision for all parties.

 

[Laplacian]

The level of expectations has dropped a lot on our forum.

People say that Malcom is a good 4th choice for Barca.
Our starter Semedo is the 4th pick for Portugal.
Golden boy Dembele is not a starter for France.
New Xavi Arthur is not a starter for a weak-ish Brasilian team.
Puig, never called for youth Spanish NT teams is the new Iniesta.
Wow.

For those who don't think that our level of quality has dropped a lot (except for Messi), this is how our 4th or 5th attacking pick in 2006 looked like.
Henrik Larsson, a player who scored more goals than Coutinho, Dembele, Malcom and our midfield combined will score in their whole career:

It's funny considering that Henrik Larsson was a better finisher than Coutinho and Dembele will ever be, and we paid a combined total of 300m for them...

 

[jairzinho]

A 4th attacker should be a player who can come in and change a game.
In 2006, we had Ronaldinho, Etoo, Guily.
If we were in problems, we had Messi and Larsson to change a game.
In 1999 we had Figo, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Sonny Anderson, Lucho, Giovanni, Zenden.

Today we have Prinze and Malcom.
Barto created a team where starters can't be benched and a 4th pick attacker is on a midtable team level.

Malcom can't change a game.
He is not much better than Munir or especially Paco.
Malcom would have been the 8th attacking option in 1999'.
Today, a coach is crucified for not playing him.

Crazy times.

This other issue about the 4th attacker and the standards being dropped, Valgreen not having a proper 4th attacker and crazy times.

Who were the 4th attackers when Pep won the treble or Lucho? How many games did these guys get.? How many goals did they score?

Were they just rotting away on the bench for an indefinite period or did they get regular minutes ?

In all likelihood Pep's fourth attacker was Bojan. Did he get regular minutes? Where is he now? lol. How many goals did he score and in how much games?

When Lucho won a treble. There was a supporting cast of attackers like Pedro, Sandro and Munir. Where are the latter two now? Lol. And you have experts shitting on Malcolm and Dembele.

For example. How much goals did a 4th attacker under treble winning Lucho and Pep score. How much minutes did these guys get and the goals. Compare that with Dembele or Malcolm.

Present that data, i'm not going to do that.

 

[jairzinho]

Klopp barely missed out on a leauge and is now in CL finals 2nd year running. Who are his 4th attackers this year? These guys must be impressive.

Oh wait. It's Origi and Shaqiri. 9 goals combined in the league and 2 in the CL.

11 all season for both of them. Do you know who Klopp knocked us out with? Origi and Shaqiri. Go figure.

 

[BBZ8800]

It's not like other teams have exclusively world class players on their bench. So i'd say Malcom is decent as RW sub / 4th winger. Klopp brought in Origi and Shaqiri for example.

If he gets replaced i don't think it would suddenly be a world class player either, unless Coutinho leaves as well of course and only one winger gets signed as a replacement for both. But even then Barto will most likely get Griezmann making it 3 + Dembele again so it would probably just be another Malcom level player that Valverde will never use.

If other teams don't have a plan B...
And if you also don't have a plan B, then you will play a 50:50 match against them.

If they don't have a plan B, and you DO, then you have a 60:40 advantage.

If the other team have a crappy sub attacker and you do the same, you are again 50:50, or even worse if your starter gets injured or if you are losing.
If the other team have a crappy sub attacker and you have a better sub, you again have an advantage in tight matches, like 60:40 since you do have a plan B, a fresh player for the last 20 minutes, a good player in a case of injuries and a player who can actually turn a match around.

Pep didn't win Cls with us because we were as average as other teams.
We won because we were better and had better options than them.

We didn't win 2:1 against Arsenal in 2006' because we had an okish 4th CF on a bench (who will be decent against Rayo and Girona).
We won because a sub 4th pick CF Larsson made two assists to Etto and Belletti.
We won because a sub CM Iniesta managed to turn the match around.
And we won because a more attacking RB Belletti managed to get into a box and score a lucky winning goal.

Imagine if Rijkaard had Malcom and Semedo as bench options instead of Larsson and Belletti.
An answer: we surely wouldn't win a CL back then.

Some will say: we didn't have good attacking subs during Pep.
Well, we won INSPITE of that flaw, not because of it, lol.

People will get mad, but imagine if we had Larsson in the last 10 minutes in the first home leg vs Liverpool.
We would won 4:0 or 5:0 with his cool head and cool finishing.
But we had Dumbele.

Or, in the 2nd leg, when we were losing 4:0, in the last 10-15 minutes:
Would you rather have Malcom who won't be able to do absolutely anything on a field, or again: let's say Larsson who can score with feet, head and score 10s of random lucky goals from inside of a box?

Moments like those are moments when there is a thin line between champions and losers.

 

[snowy]

Man Larsson looks like an assassin in that goal compil _ sweet diving headers too.

Here's a cool Q&A with the dude

about Bouzeman missing that goal, yeah it was unfortunate _ maybe it was a Pavlovian thing and he heard Pistolero in zzzze yellow sub kit bark at him to pass the ball

A coach like Sarri or Bielsa would put him on a tailored practise regimen with like 1000 shots at goal per session

n turn him in2 the ultimate ninja assassin

+ he's so quick he'd hardly ever be caught offside