[LOANED OUT] Nordin Amrabat

Terrible source, probably completely made up, but it's got me excited.

http://www.90min.com/posts/5285261-...-ace-andre-carrillo-to-replace-nordin-amrabat

 

Morocco playmaker? Didn't make much play for Watford!

 

Crown jewels...

 

There really are some ****heads on here, the guy may not be brilliant, but only a few seasons back the whole squad was pretty crap, at least he tried. showed positive effort and didn't badmouth the club, which given some of the vitriol dished out on here, he would have every right to do.
Try not to be a bunch of bumholes just long enough to thank him for his efforts and wish him well, it's what decent people do.

I know I'm probably going to get slagged off by the keyboard warriors for this post, but that's a reflection on them using the anonimity of this forum to be rude and obnoxious, so I don't care.

 

They must have meant play breaker, due to his woeful crossing, passing, decision making and ability to score goals.

 

Even in his so called good spell at the start of the season there was no end product.

Am not a fan I'm afraid

 

I agree with you, he put plenty of effort in every game. If his ability was lacking, then that is the fault of the Club who brought him here, not his.

 

Hopefully not, talented and hard working player.

 

last piece of the jigsaw

 

I also find it quite amazing that someone who genuinely tries to give us attacking impetus gets quite so much hatred.

In both premier league seasons a key problem has been link up play and generating attacking momentum after turning over a ball. Why do the players who almost always go for safe, play slowing options not get abused this much?

Yes - the man is slightly out of his depth and doesn't give defences much to worry about, but at least he acknowledges the need to take the opposing defence on. Surely that earns him some credit?

 

Agree with you but you can't call people ****heads and bumholes and then post your final paragraph!

 

I'm not inclined to be rude about Amrabat and randomly insult him, and I fully recognise the effort and workrate he puts in. That being said, he doesn't do what you said at all: he offers zero attacking impetus. Any time he receives the ball and makes a run, ever, he immediately slows to a stop and stands still. He appears to be purposefully waiting for the defender to catch up with him, so that he can have a wrestling match, and then shock horror, he gets stupid fouls called against him a lot, rightly or wrongly.

That lack of impetus, where he kills the attack, allowing every opposition player to get back into a defensive position and players making runs to be wasted and in the wrong position by the time he gets in space to put the ball in, if he manages to do so, was one of the reasons our attack was so clueless and impotent and soon as we reached the final third last season.

 

Has this bald **** ****ed off yet?

 

The role of a winger has to be the one which is hardest to impress fans of any club. When a winger has the ball fans want him to take players on. If he gets tackled fans moan; however if he passes the ball fans also moan, even if his pass keeps possession. Coupled with that, it is also expected that the winger needs to have some sort of end product - beating a player isn't good enough - there needs to be a cross or shot as well.

The fact that Berghuis seems to be our most admired winger, from our own fanbase, in the last 3 years years says it all. We simply haven't seen enough of him to find stuff to moan about.

Personally I'd like us to have some wingers with a bit more pace than Amrabat, but I don't think he's as bad as some on here state.

 

Well if anybody thinks we will progress as a team with Amrabat involved, well sorry you have little to no football knowledge. He offers absolutely nothing. A championship player at his very best and I'm being extremely generous. Sooner he's gone the better.

 

To me the Bat' is a hard working honest player. In some games he was our best player or close to it. Some of the fans are being very harsh which can't be right. But in the cold light of day his stats are not good enough at EPL level. In some ways I will be sad to see him go. Did all he was asked of by the managers. This all leads to the conclusion we need an upgrade. If we get Ghezzal or Carrillo he will be off. I hope he gets snapped up by a decent club where he'll get fresh start but his lack of product over two seasons fully justifies letting him go. Don't think having a go at him is fair or will sway Silva or the Pozzos in any event. COYHS

 

Exactly this, although I don't think it's on purpose, it's just that his footballing brain is too slow. He'd regularly get the ball when we were attacking and there would be a simple pass along the floor into someone else's path that would have kept the momentum going but Amrabat would take too many touches and it would be too late. Then he'd wander aimlessly inside into traffic and a simple pass would still be on but now backwards to someone like Capoue or Cleverley but at least it would keep possession. He also wouldn't see/attempt this pass because by this stage he would have turned again and be surrounded by opposition players and probably lose the ball or at the best win a free kick.

He's earnest, puts a shift in and relishes physical battles so we can't fault his effort. The problem comes when he has possession of the ball.

 

I'm sorry but I just cannot fathom how or why some people still rate him or give him a free pass despite his complete and utter inability to produce any sort of end product. He may run around a lot and look interested but that simply is not anywhere near enough at this level and there is nothing wrong with expecting more than just a bit of work rate from our players.

The entire extent of his attacking play is based around knocking the ball past the player he's attacking and pulling his shirt to get by or holding the ball up in the final third and then turning his man by again holding his shirt. That worked to an extent early on in the season but referees soon started to cotton on to it and started pulling him up for it and he became even less effective than before, and even prior to that when he seemed ever so slightly more effective his final ball was still consistently poor.

He doesn't score goals, he doesn't create goals, he often gives the ball away very cheaply and causes attacks to break down and he'll be 31 before the end of the season. If we are going to carry on relying on such a player then we'll continue to be as painfully blunt as an attacking force as the past few seasons.

He. Is. Not. Good. Enough.

 

You all act like we have loads of players who are good on the ball, truth is we dont and amrabaat is decent. I hope we keep him, he causes troubles for defenders and under silva he may be utilized better. He is alot better than what people take him for, and i personally feel he is used as a scapegoat.

 

Who is acting like that? Where is it being said we have loads of players better? That's not the debate being had here, although it's also fair to say we do have better players, and in terms of "good on the ball", every signing we've made this summer is better, partially because they are good and partially because the bat is not good on the ball. Him being decent is purely your opinion, and you haven't really given much reasoning to back that opinion up. That's fine, but plenty here who hold the opposite opinion have done so, so claiming he's only being criticised as a scapegoat is a bit weak.

You say he's a lot better than people take him for, but in what way? What is your response to the detailed criticisms those who are not fans of him have made? What would "utilising him better" mean?

 

Spot on. Almost exactly what I posted a few weeks ago.

He shows willing and has energy but has no end product. It is time to move on. As Nath indicated he is getting on for a winger at this level.

 

He's clearly a "marmite" player, and no matter what, some people will not change their opinion/view of him - of which they're perfectly entitled to.

However - I just can't understand how people can ignore the fact that - prior to his injury - he was comfortably the most in-form player at the club.

We all know stats can be bent to favour our own argument, so his poor assist record hides his overall contribution to the team (again - prior to his injury).

I'm not alone in thinking this - a 2 minute google search brings up numerous media outlets praising his performances in some way during his decent spell:

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...olas-premier-league-team-of-the-season-so-far

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-nordin-amrabat-watford-v-arsenal-premier-le/

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp...d_in_Morocco_squad_for_Africa_Cup_of_Nations/

http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/watfor...the_players_that_gave_the_most_satisfaction_/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ord-takeover-involved-forged-bank-letter.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37459875

You can dispute the credibility of any of these sources - the point is that it's more than a handful of Watford fans that noticed how well he performed up until he got crocked.

There were also many tweets during this time praising him for his performances, and that he was on course to be player of the season. It's a game of opinions - but there's more credibility to your view when it's backed up by a number of other sources, and especially by those that don't carry any bias (i.e - no Watford affiliation).

Have a go at finding reports from the same period that accuse him of being rubbish/hopeless/liability etc.

I agree that after his injury, he was a shadow of the player before it. But are we really binning him off because of that? What about those that were poor all season? By the same criteria, half the squad needs to be sold.

Lets see what Silva thinks. If he can fit in his system, brilliant. If not, then time to say goodbye. But don't re-write history - he played very well up until the new year. Anybody at the Vic during this time will recall the standing ovations he got when substituted. Were they all wrong, or just patronising him because he "tried hard"?

 

I suppose it depends what you class as playing "very well", doesn't it? Even when he was "playing well" he was still almost entirely unproductive in terms of goals, assists and overall end product.

Beating your man and working hard but having absolutely zero at the end of it isn't "playing well" to me.

 

How are we going to progress without a squad? We saw what happened last year with injuries and had to play people out of position.

 

Okaka s flicked goal vs Everton. Created by Amrabat but also created by a centre forward making a run something our forwards do very little of. Not a wing back as much as Deeney is not a winger. Play to people's strengths and it's surprising what they can achieve. He's an attacking player who has played for two coaches who didn't seem that interested in that side of the game
Yes we can probably do better much like most of our squad but he is not anywhere near as bad as some make out

 

Quique was adamant he was a striker when he signed him, despite never playing him there and his goal record not remotely resembling a striker.

Therefore we never ever played him in his natural position which is why he's been rubbish.

Needs a run up front imo.

 

Cheers Chum.

I was going to write a ludicrous parody post but you beat me to it.

Brilliant. I could really believe you never saw him play.

 

That was often because Deeney had trotted in to the penalty area (waving his arm in the air), marked by two taller and more mobile defenders. Amrabat so rarely had anyone near him creating space to receive the ball, that if it actually happened he thought it must be a mirage, and panicked.

 

I'm sorry but this simply isn't true. It's an excuse for Amrabat's poor final ball. He repeatedly hits the first man, over hits or cuts back to precisely no one because he A. doesn't get his head up and B. doesn't have the ability to consistently put in good crosses/play decent passes. This has instantly been demonstrated again during the time he's played in pre-season thus far. When he manages to get himself into a decent position the final ball is all too often absolutely woeful.

Why is it so hard for some to accept that he just clearly isn't good enough for this level? He has done absolutely nothing to show that he can produce the goods in 18 months of being here. There comes a point where you have to stop making excuses and realise that he just isn't very good.

 

I've been consistent in my thoughts on him. He does lack some quality, but WFC paid millions to bring him here. All Amrabat did was try what seemed to be his best. Others are to blame, like the club recruiters and his more gifted colleagues who rarely put in as much effort on the pitch as he did. In my view Amrabat deserves sympathy rather than the personal abuse he has been getting.

 

The end result is the same, regardless of who is to blame for him actually being here in the first place, in that he has proven himself to not be good enough and needs to be moved on and replaced with someone that will offer at least some sort of consistent threat in terms of attacking productivity.

He's hardly receiving any genuine "abuse", but a lot of people, including myself, have lost patience with him in a purely footballing sense and don't want to watch any more of his ineffective displays.

 

Florrie played him as a central striker at Palace. He was crap

 

Well it's cause for celebration any time my actions can lead to us not being subjected to another outburst of ludicrous and unadulterated pomposity from you, so thanks, chum.

 

No, you have been consistent in your attacks on Deeney.