2020/21 Abdoulaye Doucouré

[carolinablue232]

Full of energy again but his passing looked like tired legs, needs a rest but we struggle without his presence in the middle. Not his best game but the man doesn't stop running.

I reckon Davies and Allan can do the job against West Brom, though I’d be surprised if Allan didn’t get the rest having just returned. Be nice if we could give Duke a rest but as you say, we struggle without him in there.

 

[d34noj]

Just don't see the adulation.

Whats the point in all of the running around, winning the ball back and closing down if all you do is give them them the ball back. The last 3 games I've seen him I've hardly seen him past to one of our players, then the skipping past him and not getting a shot off when he's clean through yesterday?

Good runner, average footballer.

 

[BlueToff]

His sloppiness on the ball comes from a tendency to play too quickly.

I think it's a tactical thing. Doucoure knows that Ancelotti wants the ball moved quickly to transition us upfield.

Issue is, he's costing us atm with silly passes that don't need to be done.

There were three examples yesterday

1. Early on, DCL got onto a long ball and flicked it to him. DCL was then offside, but had Doucoure just run 5 yards with the ball, he would have been on. Instead he tried a pass which, while it got DCL through, was never on as DCL was offside.

2. Where he got through on goal. Has to have a bit more belief in himself there and shoot. He was off balance slightly but still, the option was a shot.

3. At the end, when he had 40 yards of space to run into or hoof it forward and chase it with 10 seconds left, yet tries a mad reverse pass into King (like he did in the same position v Leeds away).

He's vitally important to us though. His energy is great and exactly what we've lacked. He just needs to realise that he doesn't always have to find another player to get us up the pitch. It's like a confidence thing. He assumes that he has to get it to players who are better than him on the ball.

But, we saw in the derby just how effective it can be.

 

[BlueToff]

Full of energy again but his passing looked like tired legs, needs a rest but we struggle without his presence in the middle. Not his best game but the man doesn't stop running.

I don't think it's tiredness.

He's been the same all season. It's more of a rush to get it to players who are better on the ball than him. I genuinely think it's an instruction, but he's taking it too literally at times.

 

[Terrarian]

I don't think it's tiredness.

He's been the same all season. It's more of a rush to get it to players who are better on the ball than him. I genuinely think it's an instruction, but he's taking it too literally at times.

Yeah he rushes his passes but we get a lot from him defensively and energetically, it can be worked on

 

[MACCA75]

Yeah he’s at his best when running forward with the ball, and we are desperate for someone to do that - Gomes can’t, Allan did against Leeds but haven’t seen much of it, Gylfi can’t and James can’t.

 

[Jim Hopper]

Just don't see the adulation.

Whats the point in all of the running around, winning the ball back and closing down if all you do is give them them the ball back. The last 3 games I've seen him I've hardly seen him past to one of our players, then the skipping past him and not getting a shot off when he's clean through yesterday?

Good runner, average footballer.

He’s never been a top footballer if he was a big club would snapped him years ago. Most clubs these days don’t have brilliant footballers, other than the usual bigger clubs, at lot of footballers these days are all about pace, physicality and energy and although we don’t depend on that I think it’s important we have a player like this within the team. His tenacity and energy alone has contributed to plenty of goals this season. As an example without him we wouldn’t have scored that first goal in the derby last weekend. Him winning that aerial dual for James is all that was needed. I get he can be frustrating with the ball but he brings us something that others in this squad don’t and something that’s been a huge benefit for us.

 

[RomanReigns]

the passing isn't really a big issue for me

what is worrying is when he got skinned by djenepo on the byeline in the first half that almost led to a goal

fulham did something similar for their first goal with lookman

 

[Lanolin]

I don't think it's tiredness.

He's been the same all season. It's more of a rush to get it to players who are better on the ball than him. I genuinely think it's an instruction, but he's taking it too literally at times.

I think it's just a talent thing personally. He just isn't very good on the ball, never has been. He's very important to us because of his ability and willingness to cover ground and get stuck in, but he's a very limited footballer. It's ok, because he has a role to play in the team and we're not setting up with a view to him being a playmaker, but I don't think there's too much more to it than him just not being particularly good with the ball at his feet.

 

[Jim Hopper]

People were literally crying out for a player with a bit of drive and energy in midfield last summer because none of our midfielders contributed to anything... we get one who offers us that, who’s also got himself 3 goals, one a winner in an FA Cup game, other two contributing to 6 points, 3 assists contributing to 7 points, making that a total 13 points contribution this season. Played every minute of every game (bar 1 where he was suspended) and covered more ground than any other player. People don’t see what he brings? I think some perspective is needed.

 

[TheBigIguana]

He's a box AND box midfielder. He's great at getting into the attacking box and making things happen for someone in his position and he's decent enough around our defensive box as well. He's pretty bad at everything you'd want a midfielder to do in the middle of the field though aside from running really hard.

 

[BlueToff]

I think it's just a talent thing personally. He just isn't very good on the ball, never has been. He's very important to us because of his ability and willingness to cover ground and get stuck in, but he's a very limited footballer. It's ok, because he has a role to play in the team and we're not setting up with a view to him being a playmaker, but I don't think there's too much more to it than him just not being particularly good with the ball at his feet.

Yeah but there are times where he clearly is trying to get it to the likes of James etc over backing himself.

That's not saying he should try and be a playmaker at all. There's just situations where we'd be better served by him taking that extra bit of care.

These are usually the right passes, he just plays them too quickly.

 

[nsno-chris]

He’s the type of player we need, but not the player we need. Brilliant energy, no doubt; but he’s a really average footballer

 

[Lanolin]

Yeah but there are times where he clearly is trying to get it to the likes of James etc over backing himself.

That's not saying he should try and be a playmaker at all. There's just situations where we'd be better served by him taking that extra bit of care.

These are usually the right passes, he just plays them too quickly.

No I get that, but I just think that's him. Decision making and timing are every bit as important as any other skills in football, and I just think his aren't great. I'm not criticising him, he is what he is, and we knew that before we signed him. He does a good job for us, but I don't see these things as kinks that he can iron out, they're just well established weaknesses in his game.

 

[Carlito]

He's nowhere near as bad as I thought he'd be after the games I saw him play for Watford towards the end of last season.

Hopefully, next season will be a long one, and there'll be times where his energy will come in useful.