I remember a Middlesbrough supporting friend of mine raving about Besic when he was on loan there. Was a creative attacking midfielder who linked up with the forwards really well and created a lot of chances for himself as well.
Yeah he did do well at Boro I think he has been used more as a defensive midfielder in recent times, I reckon he would be a good addition in The Championship.
Harsh on Watson I feel. He made a huge impact when he arrived. Didn't we score 7 in his first 45 minutes of football for us.
Yep, it's not about talent, it's about how effective they are. Chalobah might be more talented but that's not the same as providing grit, experience and know-how. Similar with Quina and Guedioura, no-one would doubt Quina has more tricks and flicks but Gueds grabbed some key games by the scruff of the neck and drove us forward. It remains to be seen whether Quina can do that.
I think Chalobah is way too chilled to be a captain. He doesn’t strike me a leader type (which is not a criticism).
Your thoughtful and considered post is ruined by saying Will Hughes is the best midfielder we've had in the championship. You must have forgotten Almen Abdi for a moment - I'll put it down to alcoholism or dementia.
Hughes has played precisely zero games for us in the Championship, so he'd rate pretty low against well, anyone who has had that honour.
I totally agree with you. Lots will disagree and call you a dinosaur but effectiveness is far more important than flicks and tricks. Watson was the absolute epitome of that and was a critical part of that promotion squad. Chalobah has far more talent than Watson yet Chalobah has had much less effect during this spell with Watford to date.
I love Abdi but I I have to be honest I feel that Hughes is a better player than him. In fairness Will is a Premier League quality player and we will hopefully be lucky to have him in the Championship.
I'd pick Watson Abdi and Nielsen as our best 3 champo midfielders. Watson was the missing piece in tbe jigsaw the year we went up. Once he joined we never looked back.
Abdi's my favourite ever player, but agreed. I know we didn't play to Abdi's strengths in the Prem, but I think the fact we were willing to let him go tells a story. Hughes is also very versatile, he's played a lot of different roles throughout his career and has done a job in all of them. If we keep him, I'm expecting him to absolutely dominate the Championship
When Will Hughes casually starts knocking in goals from 30 yards like it's no effort at all, we can start talking about him and Almen.
In fairness Abdi may have played out of position at times when he was in The Premier League and he did have some injury problems but in all honesty and I say this with regret he did not make the step from a good championship player to a good Premier League player. Like Almen, Will Hughes was a very good championship player at Derby and looked better in the top flight.
I'm usually very old school when I look at favourite players. But Almen was an absolute joy to watch. He just made things look so easy the mark of absolute class.
Hughes is a better all round footballer, and their respective careers 10 years from now will attest to that. In terms of contribution and performances for the club, Abdi is still ahead.
Hughes is better and may yet overtake Abdi in the contributions stakes if he can help fire us to promotion, but when all is said and done, I think everyone here will rather look at Abdi's highlights than Hughes
Abdi may be the slowest player I've ever seen live, although that might be because he was too good for the league so didn't need to do any more than a gentle jog
Abdi was like a chess grand master playing draughts. He was too good for us, he was too good for the championship, he was too good for football tbh.
Just seen him doing laps of the pitch in the background of the Glen Murray video the club tweeted out
Yes...definitely Capoue. Not sure who the guy is behind him is though, but probably Sema. Still no sign of Sarr from what I can see.
