GWT: PL Matchweek (mostly) 31

[JeffreyLFC]

So you think they have more depth/talent than Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and others? That's a pretty lofty belief that they 'should' be 'quite comfortably' in the top 4.

Chelsea no but LFC (as it stands) and Spurs. Yes!
I think LFC are in downward spiral and will get worse. The form of Mane/Firmino this year is shocking and quite concerning.

Spurs are horrible too. Other than the obvious names they have been awful too.

I rate Leicester players very high obviously.

 

[Evilo]

I don't understand how Spurs are rated this low.
They have a great goalie some decent defensemen, some quality midfielders and the best attacking duo in the PL.
Obviously their coach is average at best but their roster is no way is worse than Leicester.

 

[YNWA14]

Chelsea no but LFC (as it stands) and Spurs. Yes!
I think LFC are in downward spiral and will get worse. The form of Mane/Firmino this year is shocking and quite concerning.

Spurs are horrible too. Other than the obvious names they have been awful too.

I rate Leicester players very high obviously.

I guess we can agree to disagree. Leicester have some nice players but in no way are their players more talented, and more importantly, in no way do they have more depth than at the very least Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs with whom they're competing for the top 4. I think you'll have a hard time convincing anyone of that stance. Rodgers has done fantastically to have Leicester where they are and to have them perform as they have over his tenure considering what they're up against, IMO.

 

[robertmac43]

You can rate Leicester players very high (many of us do), but the depth is the big issue here. The Covid football schedule is a tough one to navigate, especially when there is such a dip between starting X1 and bench.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I don't understand how Spurs are rated this low.
They have a great goalie some decent defensemen, some quality midfielders and the best attacking duo in the PL.
Obviously their coach is average at best but their roster is no way is worse than Leicester.

I take all 3 of Leicester midfield (Maddison, Ndidi, Tielemans) above any of Spurs mid.

Goalkeeper is a wash might give a nod to Llloris but not that important. And Lloris form has been very bad this year.

The wingback of Leicester Justin, Pereira, Castagne are BY FAR the most under appreciated unit the premier league. They don't have any hype but they are amazing. I take them above LFC as comparison.

Offensively Harvey Barnes is a world class talent and if he was playing at any other club he would be considered a top star. I would switch him anyday of the week for Mane or Firmino. Vardy is a lethal finisher another under appreciated forward.

Anyway overall they are very under appreciated in world football.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

You can rate Leicester players very high (many of us do), but the depth is the big issue here. The Covid football schedule is a tough one to navigate, especially when there is such a dip between starting X1 and bench.

Yes their depth is bad. That I agree

 

[Evilo]

I take all 3 of Leicester midfield (Maddison, Ndidi, Tielemans) above any of Spurs mid.

Goalkeeper is a wash might give a nod to Llloris but not that important. And Lloris form has been very bad this year.

The wingback of Leicester Justin, Pereira, Castagne are BY FAR the most under appreciated unit the premier league. They don't have any hype but they are amazing. I take them above LFC as comparison.

Offensively Harvey Barnes is a world class talent and if he was playing at any other club he would be considered a top star. I would switch him anyday of the week for Mane or Firmino. Vardy is a lethal finisher another under appreciated forward.

Anyway overall they are very under appreciated in world football.

Yeah no. Ndombele is better than any Leicester midfielder, by a good margin. Can't believe you rate those 3 above him. Hojbjerg is also doing very fine.
GK is not a wash. Lloris is easily better. And it IS important, weird to say from a Pool fan really
Wingback? OK fine, but there's a reason why it's the least important positions in football.
As for offense, it's Spurs by a mile. Barnes is not WC, come on

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Yeah no. Ndombele is better than any Leicester midfielder, by a good margin. Can't believe you rate those 3 above him. Hojbjerg is also doing very fine.
GK is not a wash. Lloris is easily better. And it IS important, weird to say from a Pool fan really
Wingback? OK fine, but there's a reason why it's the least important positions in football.
As for offense, it's Spurs by a mile. Barnes is not WC, come on

Sure it's all because of coaching that Spurs are so bad!

Again I knew you would comeback with a ridiculous take on Ndombele based on his league 1 hype and price tag. Only that could make you believe Ndomble is better by a "good margin".

Barnes is a top talent and if you watched him play you would recognize it.

As for Lloris my point was both Goalkeeper had no advantage to each other this year. Both have struggled. I am not evaluating them based on previous achievements or career.

 

[robertmac43]

Barnes is a top talent and if you watched him play you would recognize it.

Great player, he is not world-class though.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Great player, he is not world-class though.

If he ever get a transfer to a bigger club people will notice it.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Yeah no. Ndombele is better than any Leicester midfielder, by a good margin. Can't believe you rate those 3 above him. Hojbjerg is also doing very fine.
GK is not a wash. Lloris is easily better. And it IS important, weird to say from a Pool fan really
Wingback? OK fine, but there's a reason why it's the least important positions in football.
As for offense, it's Spurs by a mile. Barnes is not WC, come on

What has Ndombele done, in the premier league, to be considered be better than those 3 and by a wide margin? Hojberg is doing fine but Ndidi is a much better defensive mid. Lloris is not easily better, he's been very average in the premier league the past couple of seasons. If you use your wingbacks properly they aren’t the least important position, Leicester does a great job utilizing there's, Spurs not so much. I'll give you Kane and Son are a better duo but Vardy and Barnes are a top 5 duo maybe top 3. Leicester is in a better spot because they have one of the best back 4's in the league, Spurs back 4 has been very inconsistent all season.

 

[Evilo]

Ndombele is miles better than all of those. No idea why anyone watching football can deny that. Talk about amazing takes. And the worse is, you guys act as if I am the one with the hot take here

 

[Savant]

Ndombele is miles better than all of those. No idea why anyone watching football can deny that. Talk about amazing takes. And the worse is, you guys act as if I am the one with the hot take here

Ndombele is more talented but he is very very very inconsistent.

 

[Evilo]

Also because he's inconsistently played by idiot Mourinho.
Let's not forget that we're somehow saying TIELEMANS is better
Who's more inconsistant than Tielemans anyway?
LOL.

 

[HoseEmDown]

I never watched Tielemans or Ndombele in Ligue 1 but since he came to the premier league Tielemans has been one of the most consistent players and Ndombele has been very inconsistent. I looked at the league stats for the season and there's not a single one that Ndombele is better than Tielemans in. Goals, assists, touches, passes, through balls, blocks, interceptions, tackles, aerial duels won all of those favor Tielemans. Ndombele may be more physical gifted and can do some incredible things with the ball but he doesn't do those nearly enough to even be considered better than Tielemans especially not miles better. He's also a year and a half younger and only getting better. I would take Tielemans over him if picking a team.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Schmeichel has comfortably been better than Lloris this year, IMO, and was last year as well. He's one of the more underrated keepers around.

It's hard to assess Ndombele properly because he's so clearly being misused by Mourinho, and he's definitely had moments of really really high level play for Spurs. Tielemans and Maddison have both been consistently very good over the past year or two. That to me is a wash, but then both are significantly better than Spurs's other midfielders. Ndidi and Hojbjerg is a wash for me also - they're probably the two best technically limited DMs in the league.

Kane and Son are significantly better than Vardy and Barnes, respectively.

Centre back is where the difference to me seems most pronounced. Fofana, Soyuncu, and Evans are A LOT better than Alderweireld (still a solid CB, but has declined quite a bit), Sanchez (bad), Dier (inconsistent), and Rodon (unproven).

 

[Evilo]

Wow. There's not a single thing that Tielemans is better at than Ndombele. Not a single one.

 

[robertmac43]

Dier (inconsistent)

You are being too nice here....
Dier = really bad.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Wow. There's not a single thing that Tielemans is better at than Ndombele. Not a single one.

If Ndombele could show it for more than 5 games in a row in the last two seasons, then maybe that'd be clearer!

 

[Evilo]

Ask his coach.
But I guess destroying City's midfield with Lyon doesn't count anyway, right?

 

[Evilo]

And Tielemans sucked in L1 BTW

 

[JeffreyLFC]

And Tielemans sucked in L1 BTW

So what? Salah was a Chelsea reject and he became a star in Liverpool.

Tielemans has evolved as a player. Not everything is stagnant. He is very smart and his long passes are amazing. He has got more confidence and he looks more and more like the wonderkid reputation he had at Anderlecht and not the shitty version he was at Monaco.

 

[Evilo]

Read the thread. People said Ndombele wasn't as good as he is supposed to be because of his Spurs performances, which are greatly impacted by his shitty coach. Hence my Tielemans post.

 

[HoseEmDown]

The only thing Ndombele has on Tielemans is being born in France. Week in and week out Tielemans outperforms him, there is no argument when you compare them statistically.

 

[Blender]

So what? Salah was a Chelsea reject and he became a star in Liverpool.

Tielemans has evolved as a player. Not everything is stagnant. He is very smart and his long passes are amazing. He has got more confidence and he looks more and more like the wonderkid reputation he had at Anderlecht and not the shitty version he was at Monaco.

Tielemans is absolutely the player he was hyped to be at Anderlecht, and he's still only 23 so lots of room to grow still.

I literally don't care how he performed at Monaco, that he didn't work out there is exactly why Leicester managed to get a player normally above their stature.