Boubakary Soumare

[Dan LCFC]

He's far more suited to playing in a two. Really good again.

[MalletFox]

Absolutely beast athleticism for the fourth goal!! Superb in the main again I thought 👍🏻

[FoxyLeon]

Ndidi is a world class CDM....Which is exactly the point I've been trying to make when we've been lining up with Tielemans-Ndidi in a double pivot.

A top class CDM doesn't need a player next to him, in fact, having a player next to him, actually weakens him drastically.

 

I've been sounding like a broken record for months, but we saw today and against Man United, exactly why Ndidi needs to hold the midfield on his own, or not play at all.

 

When Puel played Ndidi+Mendy in a double pivot, we as fans thought that the major issue was the fact that Mendy wasn't a good player.

However the reality is, Ndidi really weakens our side when he is asked to play any other role than being our most defensive midfielder at all times.

 

Ndidi needs to simplify his game, no matter how hard Rodgers tries, he's never going to improve his on the ball ability to the point he's better than a signing we can make, like a Soumare, or Tielemans, or Maddison etc.

The red card against Napoli, was because he was again over complicating his game, and was caught the wrong side of the ball....Which seems to be a very regular occurrence now. 

 

If Ndidi plays, and for me he's still the most important player of our team if we play a 4-3-3 variation, he has to simply sit in front of the two center halves, and pretty much hold their hands whilst the full backs get forward, and Tielemans/Maddison/Soumare infront of him rotate with the wide men to provide options.

 

Soumare tonight showed the complete range of what he offers, the breaking up play of Kante, the power and strides forward like Yaya Toure and the passing finesse and dribbling of Pogba.

It was obvious how talented he was when I saw him for the first time against QPR.

 

[Keiriel]

1 hour ago, StriderHiryu said:

 

Let's appreciate his work for Daka's 4th goal again. Shields the ball to help us defend, then carries the ball up the pitch before playing a simple pass to Maddison, for plays a peach of a pass to Daka.

 

Ndidi is a world class CDM, but he's not capable of play like this. In some ways this is Kante-esque because it turns defence into attack. Ndidi is brilliant at winning the ball back, but his weakness perhaps is that he isn't as technical as Tielemans and Maddison. Soumare is nowhere near as good defensively as Ndidi, but his ability on the ball is great.

 

Ndombele cost 60m, and for me I've already seen more from Soumare than him. He's still only played around 10 games for us too, wait till the end of the season, this guy will be considered a great signing.

That run was pure sauce and heck, the entire passage of play was beautiful. Just think, Soumare with the confidence to make more of these driving runs, to trust himself to be able to play it forward on a consistent basis; he's a monster in the making and he's yet to even peak. It's probably also worth mentioning that this happened after Youri was subbed, which goes to show, we're capable even without our maestro pulling the strings.

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, FoxyLeon said:

Ndidi is a world class CDM....Which is exactly the point I've been trying to make when we've been lining up with Tielemans-Ndidi in a double pivot.

A top class CDM doesn't need a player next to him, in fact, having a player next to him, actually weakens him drastically.

 

I've been sounding like a broken record for months, but we saw today and against Man United, exactly why Ndidi needs to hold the midfield on his own, or not play at all.

 

When Puel played Ndidi+Mendy in a double pivot, we as fans thought that the major issue was the fact that Mendy wasn't a good player.

However the reality is, Ndidi really weakens our side when he is asked to play any other role than being our most defensive midfielder at all times.

 

Ndidi needs to simplify his game, no matter how hard Rodgers tries, he's never going to improve his on the ball ability to the point he's better than a signing we can make, like a Soumare, or Tielemans, or Maddison etc.

The red card against Napoli, was because he was again over complicating his game, and was caught the wrong side of the ball....Which seems to be a very regular occurrence now. 

 

If Ndidi plays, and for me he's still the most important player of our team if we play a 4-3-3 variation, he has to simply sit in front of the two center halves, and pretty much hold their hands whilst the full backs get forward, and Tielemans/Maddison/Soumare infront of him rotate with the wide men to provide options.

 

Soumare tonight showed the complete range of what he offers, the breaking up play of Kante, the power and strides forward like Yaya Toure and the passing finesse and dribbling of Pogba.

It was obvious how talented he was when I saw him for the first time against QPR.

 

Great post this.

 

If you think about truly dominant teams in world football, they usually have just one destroyer, or often times have one player that is decent at destroying but positionally effective but most importantly quite decent on the ball. I'm thinking of players like Busquets, Casimeiro, Vieria, Keane, etc. Those teams were so good that they needed players who were good on the ball to break down low blocks through fast and accurate passing around the team.

 

Ndidi has been one our best players for many seasons now, but playing him as part of a 2 could be the reason why we are the 5th best team in the league rather than better than that. Because we sacrifice too much whereas Man City have Rodri, Liverpool have Fabinho, Chelsea have Kante, etc. These players aren't as good defensively as Ndidi (even Kante's defensive stats have dropped), but are much better on the ball. It's also why Man United aren't as good as those other teams - they have to play Fred and McTominay because they don't have a player good enough to do the dirty work on his own so Pogba and Bruno don't have so much defensive work to do. So they can't dominate game in the way the other teams do.

 

The thing is that those top teams have top class players in every single position, so they dominate games from start to finish. Because we don't quite have that level of player, it's very dangerous to play without an out and out destroyer like Ndidi and it's why 95% of the time we look better with him in the team. But having a player like Bouba in the team makes us a much better attacking force as we've seen over the last two games. And in both games though we've conceded a lot of goals, it's not been because Soumare hasn't cut the ball out, the goals have been individual errors or a top class strike from Greenwood.

 

433 would probably be the best system for Ndidi, and in that sort of system it would be similar to the Real Madrid galacticos with Makele. They could rely on just him because it turns out that having Zidane, Figo, Raul, etc makes you a pretty hard team to beat! We've tried 433 a number of times this season, but though it's provided good performances, we didn't win. Probably more down to problems at centre half and Harvey Barnes being off form than Ndidi or Soumare. at the moment the 3412 has given us our best performances so far, though it's still not solved our defensive problems.

[sacreblueits442]

On 20/10/2021 at 23:00, FoxyLeon said:

Ndidi needs to simplify his game, no matter how hard Rodgers tries, he's never going to improve his on the ball ability

.....that is very much Rodgers not reading him right!!!

This season Rodgers has got him involved more with us pushing up the pitch, that is not his game, and does not need to be.

[Tom12345]

On 21/10/2021 at 01:28, Le Renard said:

He has what we've been lacking for the last 2 seasons in the middle of the park, he can carry the ball with pace and power, he doesn't get knocked off the ball.  That is not to the detriment of Ndidi who brings other qualities to the pitch.

That. The way he can carry the ball as you say and brush aside tackles/players with his body strength: magnificent. Maybe the Spartak players are not as physical though but hope he can show us more of that in the Premier League. And if he can, I think he will give Ndidi a good run for his money. 

[Tom12345]

On 21/10/2021 at 05:32, StriderHiryu said:

It's very reminiscent of 15/16 counter attacks with the way Soumare drives forwards with the ball and the composure with which Daka finishes it.

 

These guys are the future of the club, along with Fofana. Those 3 could form a spine for 10 years for any team. No doubt they will all leave in due course, Fofana the most likely, but I think it's phenomenal planning from the club that not only do we currently have a great team, but it won't be one that deteriorates after a few years, like what happened to Spurs and Arsenal. Vardy retires - Daka is here to take over. Evans retires, Fofana is here. Can Soumare take over from Tielemans? Probably not by himself, but he will prove himself to be a top class Premier League midfielder. Players like Vieria and Toure have shown that physicality with good technique is a killer combination.

Yeah. I think though Soumare is more of a replacement / upgrade potentially on Ndidi. Tielemans is more of the conductor in midfield with his enormous passing range and eye for that killer pass. I hope Tielemans can stay at least for one more season.

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

On 16/09/2021 at 23:37, Ross 'LCFC' Turner said:

Really like the like look of him, just needs to back himself more! So many times he did the hard part by turning or bursting away from his man then turned back and played the safe pass. When he starts driving at defences he’ll be a major problem 

Said this early on in the thread so was delighted to see him driving forwards for Daka's 4th in the week! Hopefully the coaching staff are encouraging him to do this more because with his strength and power he will be unstoppable. 

[enmac]

On 20/10/2021 at 22:24, StriderHiryu said:

 

Let's appreciate his work for Daka's 4th goal again. Shields the ball to help us defend, then carries the ball up the pitch before playing a simple pass to Maddison, for plays a peach of a pass to Daka.

 

Ndidi is a world class CDM, but he's not capable of play like this. In some ways this is Kante-esque because it turns defence into attack. Ndidi is brilliant at winning the ball back, but his weakness perhaps is that he isn't as technical as Tielemans and Maddison. Soumare is nowhere near as good defensively as Ndidi, but his ability on the ball is great.

 

Ndombele cost 60m, and for me I've already seen more from Soumare than him. He's still only played around 10 games for us too, wait till the end of the season, this guy will be considered a great signing.

I agree. His driving runs are so reminiscent of Kante. Not such a good tackler, though. Also seems to be getting better every game so who knows where he'll end up. 

[Vlad the Fox]

On 20/10/2021 at 22:24, StriderHiryu said:

 

Let's appreciate his work for Daka's 4th goal again. Shields the ball to help us defend, then carries the ball up the pitch before playing a simple pass to Maddison, for plays a peach of a pass to Daka.

 

Ndidi is a world class CDM, but he's not capable of play like this. In some ways this is Kante-esque because it turns defence into attack. Ndidi is brilliant at winning the ball back, but his weakness perhaps is that he isn't as technical as Tielemans and Maddison. Soumare is nowhere near as good defensively as Ndidi, but his ability on the ball is great.

 

Ndombele cost 60m, and for me I've already seen more from Soumare than him. He's still only played around 10 games for us too, wait till the end of the season, this guy will be considered a great signing.

I just love this, there’s so much going on. I can’t stop watching it. 

Edited 22 October 2021 by Vlad the Fox

[StriderHiryu]

1 hour ago, enmac said:

I agree. His driving runs are so reminiscent of Kante. Not such a good tackler, though. Also seems to be getting better every game so who knows where he'll end up. 

He’ll never be as good a tackler as Kante or Ndidi - those two are freaks in that department. But he’s already got good interceptions. More important is his overall quality as Soumare is more like Yaya Toure in that offensively he contributes a lot. Against Moscow he might not have scored or assisted but still made plenty of things happen.
 

Looks like a great signing to me. 

[Tielemans63]

Great second half today. Thought he was average first half but really got stuck in second half and was much more effective. Sign of a good player, to be able to go up the gears when your team need it.

[Collymore]

I thought he might get a few goal scoring opportunities by now, even Wilf is known for the odd sidewinder here and there. Don't think he's had a shot yet? 

[foxer]

4 minutes ago, Collymore said:

I thought he might get a few goal scoring opportunities by now, even Wilf is known for the odd sidewinder here and there. Don't think he's had a shot yet? 

He had one in the 2nd but was straight down the middle. Won a corner from it 

[blaaklint]

 

On 22/10/2021 at 18:24, StriderHiryu said:

He’ll never be as good a tackler as Kante or Ndidi - those two are freaks in that department. But he’s already got good interceptions. More important is his overall quality as Soumare is more like Yaya Toure in that offensively he contributes a lot. Against Moscow he might not have scored or assisted but still made plenty of things happen.
 

Looks like a great signing to me. 

I think of him as closer to prime Moussa Dembele than Toure. In his career, Bouba has one goal and an assist, but where he excels is keeping the ball in tight spots, breaking through pressure and bringing the ball up the pitch. I think he has the ability to play like Toure but that just isn't quite his game yet.

Edited 25 October 2021 by blaaklint

[Collymore]

23 minutes ago, foxer said:

He had one in the 2nd but was straight down the middle. Won a corner from it 

Ahh must have been when my stream went off. 

[BKLFox]

11 hours ago, Tielemans63 said:

Great second half today. Thought he was average first half but really got stuck in second half and was much more effective. Sign of a good player, to be able to go up the gears when your team need it.

Average 1st half..great 2nd..sign of a good player you say sorry can’t pass this up without mentioning Rodgers just because there is a whole thread on knocking his ability to gee up the players or about his questionable tactics etc etc.

Soumare is a good player but could this also be down to instruction given to him by BR during that 15mins break between averageness and greatness?

Goes for all of the players really as in the main we play better 2nd half so obviously something must be said or tweaked by BR in that 15min break, unless of course we have Cambiasso on a retainer for match day HT briefs.

 

Disclaimer, this is a general observation not aimed specifically at you T63 or the player.

[Incognito]

Remembering a conversation I had my dad when we signed Bouba, I said to my dad that Bouba reminds me of Doucoure at Everton with regards his playing style. Only Bouba has a 1000x higher ceiling. Think we've got one hell of a player on our hands

[barock]

Poor game yesterday. Does anyone know if he was hampered by the early injury?

Half time subs were right but think it should've been Bouba not Madders that was subbed.

[inckley fox]

58 minutes ago, barock said:

Poor game yesterday. Does anyone know if he was hampered by the early injury?

Half time subs were right but think it should've been Bouba not Madders that was subbed.

He got off to a very slow start before even that (I was hollering at him!). There's huge, huge potential in Soumare, but he's got a lot of work to do off the ball - both in terms of offering himself when we're in possession, and covering ground / applying pressure to the ball when we're off it. Yesterday he wasn't particularly hot in possession either, but even in his better performances there's been a question as to whether or not he provides much of a screen for the defence. Arsenal were just strolling past our midfield and straight on to the back three again and again. It reminds me of when one of the old O'Neill-era players (Elliott, maybe?) said, with regard to Inler, that he's exactly the kind of player they used to lick their lips at - a stroller, who needs time and space, who doesn't graft as much as he should, and who can just vanish in games. He's not Inler, I'm sure(!) but I honestly thought that, yesterday, he even stood out in comparison to Maddison and Tielemans in how passive he was. I fully understand the limitations of Mendy and especially Choudhury (less so KDH), and it's clear why BR would be investing more time and patience in Bouba, but I've seen both of them do far more in that side of the game, and I daresay they may have at least covered that ground, applied that pressure and protected the back line more.

[reynard]

Not been consistent yet at all. Not good enough yesterday by a long way. Shows so good things but for the money I would expect more.

[Blue-fox]

From what I’ve seen of him so far, I don’t think he’s an upgrade on Mendy in my opinion. 

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

His ability will shine, but it's early days still.

[Fox92]

Looks like Gabriel was his man for their goal.

 

But, again, more disappointing in our defensive set up. Tall players like Evans zonally marking but the attacking player has a run on them. Gabriel loses Soumare then he's already our zonal players to score.