ajnotkeith
Senior Member
Either very lazy or so so slow.
Nico Gonzalez
- Thread starter camelot
- Start date
te amo barca
Blaugrana al vent
Not ready at all to play in this type of high-stakes CL games. Long way to go. Play him in easier La Liga games for now, if it is evident that he cannot make the jump up, sign a DM.
wisconsincule
Senior Member
This guy is not the answer. He looked just as slow as Busi.
Hope he gets a few starts now just to see where we are with him. I fear the affordable players like Kamara are a side step to him, ideally we need a good DM in his mid 20's, but those are rather impossible for us to get (if they even exist - see United's woes).
Edit: Just remembered Guimaraes, what's up with him? Always liked him.
Edit: Just remembered Guimaraes, what's up with him? Always liked him.
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ajnotkeith
Senior Member
Gonna start calling it Levante Syndrome. Currently, another one of our players who can fit in quite well and look alright when the team is dominating possession and the game against the likes of Levante or Getafe but when it is a hard-fought and competitive game has no impact. Nico is a player who has to be very good at what he does to be successful as he barely attacks or gets into the final third, doesn't make progressive passes, and doesn't press or run much so simply speaking currently there is not a lot he can add to the first-team without improvement. As we saw against Levante Gavi was running the show breaking lines with great forward passes and should have had an assist or two.
One thing he can do right now to improve his game is lose weight ASAP. Currently at nearly 90kg which is a ridiculous amount for even any top-level CB let alone a midfielder. It is painfully obvious how inagile he is.
One thing he can do right now to improve his game is lose weight ASAP. Currently at nearly 90kg which is a ridiculous amount for even any top-level CB let alone a midfielder. It is painfully obvious how inagile he is.
Mostly agreed. Highlighted is the key point for me. If he can perfect his game and impose it when the team is under pressure then most of the battle is won. What we need is someone in the squad that isn't Busquets, who is tight in possession, positions himself correctly and can aleviate defensive pressure with passing outlets.
Nico is great at that when the game is going well, he just needs to be able to do that under all game conditions. If he manages to then I do not really care about his offensive game.
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
If he doesn't lose a significant amount of weight and doesn't significantly improve his work rate he will not succeed here.
2 goals were mostly his fault. Goes forward and the ball is lost, BOTH times opponent drives through his zone and he's jogging back instead of getting back and covering the man.
On 1st goal Araujo presses high and instead of covering the runner he's jogging doing nothing. Genuinely been useless so far.
Probably too used to Segunda B where Barca B had a team levels above anyone they faced.
2 goals were mostly his fault. Goes forward and the ball is lost, BOTH times opponent drives through his zone and he's jogging back instead of getting back and covering the man.
On 1st goal Araujo presses high and instead of covering the runner he's jogging doing nothing. Genuinely been useless so far.
Probably too used to Segunda B where Barca B had a team levels above anyone they faced.
Messigician
Senior Member
So much this.
te amo barca
Blaugrana al vent
Too immobile and stationary to cut this at this level. Such midfielders are not part of the meta anymore. Still could come good but a very long way to go. Shouldn't be anywhere near starting this games really
ajnotkeith
Senior Member
There are immobile midfielders who are world-class but I have genuinely not seen any player who moves as little as Nico in the game today, and he doesn't contribute anything but nice sideways passes. Even that was in doubt as we nearly conceded from a counter after he misplaced a pass. And as I mentioned above the 2 goals we conceded he had direct fault for as he can't be bothered to run back to cover his blown assignments, providing 0 cover for the defense despite being a DM.
There is a lot of work to do with his physique if he is to become a proper first-team player. Looks more like a bouncer than a football player and it is obviously taking a toll. I don't think I saw him sprint once in 45 minutes even when his man went clean through on goal and scored, he didn't sprint back. Needs to lose a good 10kilos.
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