Zubimendi is one of the signings of the season across the entire league.
Been played almost every important minute, in a new league, under huge expectations, under stress and for one of the most tactically and physically demanding managers in the world.
With all that in mind, he’s taken like a duck to water as far as I’m concerned. He has adapted so quickly. feel like it’s forgotten how much expectation he just absorbed, and how quickly he started performing.
He’s made mistakes, granted, but at the peak of controlball earlier in the season, he would help us utterly suffocate the living shit out of everybody. He also chips in with important goals.
He’s entering his prime years now. I think next season he’ll be even better and by the time he is 30 or 31, he will be recognised as one of the best DMs we’ve ever had. I think he’s that good. We’ll be speaking about him like Gilberto and Petit, I really believe it. Crucial cog in a title winning side.
I think everyone in our team has 5% doubt in their mind right now which is causing us to play below our level. To play with more caution. That is what pressure does. Once we get over the line, seal that first league title - then I believe the burden of pressure will be lifted and we’ll see these players more consistently reach their best.
I just genuinely can’t understand this point of view. There hasn’t been anything particularly outstanding about the way he’s gone about his business. He’s a passive passer, prone to brain farts and hasn’t been particularly good at covering the defensive areas of the pitch.
I think what impresses me most about him is his work in the final third of the pitch but I was expecting a lot more from him based on what people were saying about him. His passing has been tremendously disappointing so far he just never seems to want to put the ball into dangerous areas or try to break the lines with his passing. It’s just an endless cycle of safe passes.
I think there is way more to come from him and think he is playing a bit scared and you could be right that could be because he’s still taking to the league. But right now he’s just been a pretty good signing but hasn’t taken us up a level by any stretch of the imagination.
I imagine there’s a much higher ceiling for him because the clips I’ve watched of him on YouTube seem to suggest he’s an excellent passer but we have only seen glimpses of that here and he is nowhere near as press resistant as I hoped he’d be as well.
