Magassa

[9898]

Saw him yesterday, we've bought a plodding donkey. 

[Rossal]

Magassa certainly had his best showing so far last night.  Grew into the game, covers some ground.  Thought he was a little to cautious and safe on the ball but hoping he can grow into a Baleba type player. 

Potts i thought was very good when he came on, physical. Moves the ball quick and broke the lines quite a few times with his passing. 

 

[threesixty]

Oh, this fellas not for me.
People highlighting a period of play of  20 minutes before and after half time are missing out on the fact that was when Everton just set back and we had a lot of possession with no challenges, when it was a proper Premier League game in the first 25 minutes he was absolutely horrendous, expect to see him get ran past and demolished during the season and will never be a regular. 

 

 

1st start in this league against a tough and rugged Moyes side. I think that’s very harsh. even in the 1st half he wasn’t terrible. I don’t know what we expect. We have a struggling side low on form in general and a kid who’s never played in this league before in the centre of the park that we need to get up to speed very quickly to get the best out of him. This is just day 1 of that process. 

[easthammer]

Magassa showed some promise, Potts showed more. And I am not yet sure whether either is better than Soucek just yet. Certainly, Tommy still brings more goal threat, and neither Potts nor Magassa bring the real pace we lack in the middle, but both add more bite than JWP.

[9898]

Oh, this fellas not for me.
People highlighting a period of play of  20 minutes before and after half time are missing out on the fact that was when Everton just set back and we had a lot of possession with no challenges, when it was a proper Premier League game in the first 25 minutes he was absolutely horrendous, expect to see him get ran past and demolished during the season and will never be a regular. 

[threesixty]

He’s a good player. I don’t understand people who are saying he was crap last night. The biggest compliment I can say is that normally people just run through our midfield like it doesn’t exist. That never happened yesterday. So a pretty big upgrade on JWP. Even as he’s finding his feet he’s been better than a PL veteran who plays week in week out. 

He may have misplaced some passes etc. but the opposite was JWP who plays it’s so safe with less errors but means we can’t move the ball forward at any pace from the middle  

the midfield we had, esp in the second half were moving off the ball creating triangles to get us up the pitch. Always looking to play forward as a first resort not a last one. 

i think he will be a big player in this league eventually. 

[Russ of the BML]

Tried to put himself about, get forward when possible, and advance the ball quickly. I’d say very encouraging and surely will just improve as he gets the speed of the game. We’d have got absolutely bullied in there under Potters line up and although he made a few rash tackles which he needs to be wary of it was nice to see a midfielder trying to make those big tackles and be physical and unsettle the oppo. 

I think Potts also gets plenty of chances based on last night. 

This for me is why Potter had to go. Yes he had a bad hand with some positions which is Sullivan’s fault (as does Nuno) but where he DID have some options, for some reason he just didn’t use them or make the best of what he did have. After only one game his midfield choices now look really stupid when he had Magassa and Potts available. 

But well played young man. There’s a decent player there. 

 

Agreed. A rotation of midfielders from Fernandes, Magassa, Potts and Soucek should see us ok. 

[El Scorchio]

Tried to put himself about, get forward when possible, and advance the ball quickly. I’d say very encouraging and surely will just improve as he gets the speed of the game. We’d have got absolutely bullied in there under Potters line up and although he made a few rash tackles which he needs to be wary of it was nice to see a midfielder trying to make those big tackles and be physical and unsettle the oppo. 

I think Potts also gets plenty of chances based on last night. 

This for me is why Potter had to go. Yes he had a bad hand with some positions which is Sullivan’s fault (as does Nuno) but where he DID have some options, for some reason he just didn’t use them or make the best of what he did have. After only one game his midfield choices now look really stupid when he had Magassa and Potts available. 

But well played young man. There’s a decent player there. 
 

[Russ of the BML]

Some fans I know have written this kid off already. I am sure he is going to be excellent for us once he has worked out the pace and physicality required in the PL. 

[Lee Trundle]

I was happy with what I saw from him yesterday.

Didn't seem like a ponderous slug which is a huge improvement.

Good management to bring him off when he did also.

[Eerie Decent]

"Some very intelligent play rather than the usual sideways passing we see."


Yeah, completely agree, was some very clever intricate passing as he grew into it. Couple that with his physicality, we could have some player on our hands, but it is very early doors to be too confident.

[dealcanvey]

 Very shaky start but was impressed how he turned his performance around into a solid appearance for the club.

Some very intelligent play rather than the usual sideways passing we see.

Also thought Potts came on and done well!

Good to see. 

[Eerie Decent]

I completely agree Alf, early on clearly nervous, but really grew into the game, and his passing improved, and actually at times looked really crisp. We seem to have a manager who will help him build confidence as well.

The shame with it is it probably means Potts will struggle to get starts, because I though he was superb when he came on, and makes an absolute mockery of Potter playing JWP ahead of him, he done more in a half hour cameo than the free kick expert has done over the last year. What a hill to die on.

[Sir Alf]

Well some early doubts were answered last night for me.  Yes he is very young and inexperienced. That was seen with his decision making on when to jump into tackles or pressing.  He looked lost, as many have said, first 15 mins or so but 25 mins onwards, was starting wto catch the eye. Several strong runs with the ball, a lot of calm interceptions even in our own box a couple of times to clear danger.  He put one pass off the pitch yes but then I saw some excellent passing thru the lines. Moreover he  looks like ge can carry the ball and resist challenges.  For a while he, dare I say it, looked a bit like a young Patrick Vierra.  Will be interesting to see how he develops and Arsenal next will be a test for him and Potts but the pair of them can be rotated to hopefully plug the no 6 deep CM “hole” we’ve had since Rice left.  

I feel encouraged by Magassa last night ( hopefully not a “kiss of death” )

[Sir Alf]

Lets hope he gets to start alongside Paqueta, Fernandes and / or Potts , Earthy, Fearon or even Kante at done point and in a game where ee are doing better.  

He is not a player that covers the ground quickly from the little I’ve seen and that has been a desperate rewuirement since Rice left but equally he came on first with only 10 men and last Saturday into a midfield 3 ( or was it two) against Palace’s 4.   He was chasing shadows understandably.  

Lets see. Hooefully he proves to be a shrewd buy but warly signs suggest he is not going to be an instant success.  Not sure anyone coukd be mind

[El Scorchio]

Exactly- we don't even KNOW if he needs time or not, because he's just been chucked on twice while we're losing (once with only 10 men as well), FOR the bloke we assume he was brought in to partner while JWP stays on the field (of course) and presumably isn't playing the role he's actually accustomed to playing.

Bloke has had a grand total of 41 minutes on the pitch so far in shit and bizarre circumstances.
I'm going to wait for him to actually get a fair chance to prove himself before saying he's not ready.

[stubbo-admin]

Too early to right this lad off....his STATS are very good.  BUT....he wasn't playing week in, week out for Monaco.  He's one who is somewhat for now, but who is expecting to peak into the future.

Whether that's what we need right now...probably not...which is why when we were being linked to Sangare I was VERY keen on that.  But it's not the players fault and is very highly rated from a data analytics perspective.

On top of that, we're currently a very difficult, dysfunctional team for a 21 year old to step into, who is used to the pace of the French league.  Let's not write him off, but absolutely this deal may not be what we needed right now.

Gonna be sink of swim for Magassa it would seem.

[Lee Trundle]

I'm with Rossal.

If he needs time, then it's a huge waste of transfer funds and becomes a pointless transfer.

Not his fault, but I'd rather one of our own had that position in the squad instead.

[Russ of the BML]

No we don't have time for him to progress.  If he needs time to progress why not give that time to Potts or Fearon and spend the money on a Striker or a CB.  Team would be in better shape. 

That's not Magassa's fault. 

[Tomshardware]

The joke is that Potter didn't give any youngsters a chance in the league cup against Wolves.   Too early to write off Magassa.

[Sir Alf]

Earthy is ready, as is Potts to get minutes.  Fearon and Kante not far behind.  Fearon is a midfielder that has some speed and an engine. Isnt that big and that might be an issue but didnt bother Kante and players like Caicedo?  Kante has the physicality and size. Not sure he’s quick enough but again we wont know if they dont get a chance

[Rossal]

No we don't have time for him to progress.  If he needs time to progress why not give that time to Potts or Fearon and spend the money on a Striker or a CB.  Team would be in better shape. 

[Dick Shaftsbury]

Just remember how shit Paqueta was when he came to us from Ligue 1. Give the poor lad some time. 

[camel-with-3-humps]

He's barely played. We need to give him a chance.

It's going to take time - even if we don't have much of that, sadly. 

[Rossal]

The cսnt did get a chance. 2-1 down come on and show us what you have got......have an impact in your first game at home in the prem.  

But he was dogshit. No harm in saying that, but seen this enough times. We sign someone no one has ever heard of he gets rated by people who have never seen him. When you do a bit of research and dive into things you realise the signing is massively overated and its yet another £20m on a bang average bloke when we could have got someone better for free from the academy. 

He was miles off it on saturday and nothing will change that. 

[Russ of the BML]

What a ridiculous thread. Bloke has barely had an opportunity at a club in disarray under a lame duck manager obsessed with another player at his position which is a big part of the reason we are in this mess in the first place.

To add he obviously WASN'T first second or even third choice for his position given the other players we were linked with and the fact he ended up coming in right at the end of the window, He was the best available cheap(est) option.

But the cսnt needs and deserves a proper chance. Starting games, in a defined role. Not coming on for 20 mins alongside the bloke he's meant to be replacing while the bloke he's meant to be partnering has gone off.

It's an insane situation.

Insane post!