Nobody does. Most are basing their opinions off YT/Twitter compilations, WhoScored stats and of course, FIFA.
Personally, I do keep an eye on the Internet for players and may check them out if there’s a good match going. I did that for Pepe because everyone was raving hard for him in 18/19.
For Partey, I noticed him while catching random Atleti games. Always impressed me.
1 Like
I have a personal expert scouting network, known as youtube and data analytics, known as whoscored
Yes.
Based on the little I’ve seen from Aouar and of course, the stats too.
Does not quite look like a creative #10 or a calm, controlling midfielder.
Surely it was his dribbling that impressed people in these games?
2 Likes
Have too many reservations on Partey clicking in a non Cholo system to vote for him.
What stats suggest Partey is a passer? 0.5 key passes a game, less pass completion, barely more average passes a game.
Amazing to think that a club (hopefully Man City) will buy Messi instead of Aouar. Cheap talent with a very high ceiling or a £2m per month superstar who’ll wreck team spirit and mouth off about selections in the press. Hmmmm.
1 Like
I’ve been watching Partey vs clips on youtube. He reminds me of Edgar Davids with his dribbling, he’s so press resistant and physically it seems like he’s a man playing with boys. Defensively his positioning makes him magnetic to the ball and he wins pretty much every dual he comes into. He’d be absolutely huge signing if we get him.
If we get Partey and Gabriel I’m predicting around 30 PL goals conceeded next season.
3 Likes
Are you implying we’ll win the league?
I don’t have a strong position on Partey, having not seen him much, but I do think we need to be very confident in him to spend that much on a player in his age bracket.
If you spend 50m on a 22-year-old like Aouar and he disappoints, you still sell him for 45-55m two to three years later to a club convinced they can unlock his potential.
If you spend 50m on a 27-year-old like Partey and he disappoints, you end up with a 29-30 year old player that is hard to shift because of his age and high wages and you end up either taking a huge loss, giving him another contract he doesn’t deserve, or letting him leave on a free.
In the end, we probably need players of both profiles. I just hope we get at least one of them.
How many Brazilian Gabriels can one club want?
2 Likes
This is based on the eye test, since I’ve seen Partey play on many occasions.
But as for stats: Key passes are not a useful stat (even less so when it comes to midfielders).
You have to look at progressive passes, passes into final third and switches (of play) to get a somewhat decent idea of if a player does progress the ball or not.
Atlético’s style also means that the players won’t have the numbers they’d have at better, more attacking teams (see Rodri as an example) so I think Partey is much better than the stats suggest.
I think he’d be a top 3 midfielder in the PL
7 Likes
Interesting. Why is it do you think Knutson isn’t so keen on him then?
I know Aouar is flavor of the month at the moment and would be a fantastic signing but I think that Partey is the profile of midfielder that could completely change our fortunes. The man has it all.
We need immediate success to get back into the CL and I think Partey would do that.
6 Likes
Fair enough.
I’ve watched Aouar twice (last night and city game) and he was good.
But I’ve watched Partey about 3 times (Vs us and Vs Liverpool) and he was the standout. Numbers notwithstanding, he passes the eye test with flying colours.
So I’d be fine with either and can’t say much about one or the other.
For all the hype I expected him to be more imposing in those games, he was very tidy in the City game but obviously last night was just a difficult affair for the whole team. He looks a great player but the hype is completely off the charts for him, real games just aren’t the same as watching Welcome to Arsenal tricks and skillz vids.
Partey against Liverpool earlier in the season though was like a mad long ass youtube video, guy was absolutely elite.
1 Like
I think his comments mainly were because of his age, he doesn’t like to invest heavily in older guys with less upside. I think if we have Partey a 5 year deal he’d be 32 or 33 by the end of it? He doesn’t see value in that.
As far as stats go Partey’s passing looks good and he rarely gets dispossesed. Only question mark is the defensive side but yeh really hard to judge in the system he plays.
1 Like
Just for reference Guendo actually progresses the ball about 50 yards more per 90 than Partey currently, but that’s probably due to being a system thing. Guendo is one of the best in the PL in that aspect so under a manager who’s more expansive in attack I imagine Partey would increase that.
2 Likes
I see we’ve switched from offering an extra £1 to an extra €1. Times are tough
Yeah, but I also think we desperately lack some meat in midfield. By meat I mean true technical ability, flair, vision…
Partey has that to some extent, but Aouar is the man who really makes a difference in that segment and he’s also very very young, would be an immense long term solution to our lack of creativity.
Reminds me a bit of Iniesta. Not that good technically, but plays so simple and just logical… Just love the way he acts on the pitch.
Yeah I’d love to have Partey too… it’s been a while since we had a physically dominant player who’s also good on the ball and knows how to play. But if I had to choose between two of them I’d pick Aouar atm.
On the other hand… it would be absolutely MASSIVE to have both of them.