2018/19 Bernard

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...many, many years ago I was standing in the old Paddock and saw a very young Liam Brady do a Puskas drag back near the Gwladys St corner flag and knew he could play. It doesn’t take long to realise.
You can stick this pace,power and athleticism,
Genuine footballers like Brady etc... oozed class,always be proper footballers in my eyes and hopefully little bandy Bernard comes into this category.
 
I’ve now seen 3 or 4 of his YouTube videos so I know what I’m on about. He could be our Coutinho, exceptionally talented young gentleman.

I saw some comments from Brazilian fans saying his style was similar to Coutinho. In my head I always thought Peinaar or maybe a bit Limpar.

He's a little younger than Coutinho so that should give us optimism. I think Coutinho is one of the best players in the world so he certainly won't be a like for like in terms of ability but it would be great to have someone of that style. We have lacked a lad who can dictate play since Arteta. We've lacked someone who can unlock defences since Osman/Peinaar.

While we want him to be I'm not sure Gylfi will ever be that player. Thats not to say he won't be an effective and good player for us but I don't think he will be that player and I'm not sure he's ever really been that player at any other team.

So lots to be excited about with this lad. He's very much the wildcard signing. The rest have a similar background in that they are all big, strong physical players who can help us compete. This guy will hopefully be the lad who knits it together and makes chances for Walcott/Tosun.
 
..already seen a ‘that’ll do me’ moment when he skipped passed a player in training.

The lad looks very comfortable in possession.

It's funny how little things are very telling. I used to manage one of the university teams and a big part of the role was watching first years who'd come to trial. I remember seeing a lad who was a forward have a ball knocked into him and he took it down and held the defender off from behind him. I picked him on that alone. I knew as a defender I would have pushed weaker players off and that he knew to hold the defender off and had the strength to do it showed he had played at a decent standard. He went on to play for a higher team.

The moment with Bernard was similar really. He did it without thinking.
 
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