MJB
Well-known member
- Joined
- 6 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 7,954
Arsenal and Barcelona will have both trained him to win fouls and keep the ball. This is why for much of his time on the pitch last season he had an infuriating tendency to spin around like a bottle top and make nothing five and ten yard passes that didn’t move the ball forward, because he was too concerned with keeping possession. The sort of play that keeps your stats high as your pass percentage and lack of losing possession will look good on a spreadsheet, but in reality it does nothing. This is why he’s got around 100 appearances - across league and cup games at club level, plus a bunch of internationals at various age groups for England and Ireland - and has two goals to his name. He’s got the scoring record of a holding midfield player like Gorrin.
I haven’t seen him much this season, I’ve only been to maybe eight or so games and he’s made the odd cameo off the bench in a couple of those, so perhaps he’s improving this season and evolving his game somewhat. I can only comment on what I’ve seen, but I think he has the potential to do a lot more than he usually does. I’ve seen him have rare moments in the past when he charged past a couple of players at pace and picked a pass, so he’s clearly got the tools, but I’ve always felt he holds back. I’ve been wary of Browne’s temperament and concentration levels when he’s been here on loan previously, but what he does do far more by comparison is drive forward through the middle, and while he gets fouled a lot he also has a desire where possible to stay on his feet and get into the box. If you want to stop Browne you have to really take his legs away. As you rightly said also, Baptiste developed a similar trait and it turned him from a tidy midfield player into a box-to-box dynamo. McGuane has often looked more likely to look to go down at the first touch or play the ball sideways to begin with.
It might sound harsher than I intend it to when it’s written down - I do really think he has all the tools that he needs to be a very good player. He just needs to show more intent, and a desire to impact games in a meaningful way. Sykes is probably the best example of a player doing this of late. Eight goals in his last 19 games after just three goals in 2.5 seasons previously, including zero last season. That is an enormous improvement and is hopefully one that McGuane can use for his own motivation in the future. He’s young and has had a bad injury, so there needs to be a bit of leeway there, but hopefully he can start to kick on. The next 12 months are massive for him.
Sykes is doing an Asa Hall, seemingly.