Ash Woods
Player Valuation: £6m
Mate he really is a fantastic player, he really came to prominence during his time at Porto as a real stand out and then his Columbia performances solidified his move...
He his high energy, never stops moving and never stops fixing his positioning ensuring that he is in space off the ball to receive, his awareness of space and positioning is through the charts... watch ‘that goal’ vs Uruguay again, he changes position maybe 6 or 7 times, then pre empts when the ball is finally coming towards him, looks over his shoulder picks his spot then absolutely nails the technique
He has great ball control, but his biggest skill is his passing, both accuracy and range... i would be willing to bet he will get double figures in assists purely off picking the ball up on the edge of the box on the right hand side and lobbing the defence to the far post and oncoming Richarlison.... it is his trademark and he is easily top 5 in the world at it....
He also pops up with Blammos when needed and the only reason for his lack of appearances last season (mainly copa del ray) is due to his relationship with Zidane.... he is honestly on par with De Bruyne, he has slightly better ability, slightly worse consistency but a comparison i am happy making
The problem is people lack the ability to be objective in their judgement of him, because he didn't light the world up and become Ronaldo mach 2 at Madrid as was expected then he must be trash, fact is he is an amazing footballer and i still cannot believe him coming here is a possibility
Side note: i’m not sure how many will remember, however, strong rumours came out of talks between Moyes and Porto in the weeks prior to the world cup for the signing of James Rodriguez... his subsequent performance deaded that in the water, i have been a fan ever since
