Matt O'Riley

He does the work off the ball and wins the ball back plenty but really need him to show his quality going forward. The consistency will come, just going to take time.

 

Honestly think he’s being played way too high up the pitch in these games to have any impact, one forward pass by their defence and he’s out the game and it’s 3v2 in midfield in their favour (awfully similar to how Bodo ripped us to shreds).

 

He's a class player but the worry is that he's a bit too one paced for this level..

Touch can be heavy. Doesn't get around quick enough. Wants more time than you'll get against good side's..

I still feel like we need more leg's and energy in the middle at the top table..

 

Honestly, what we need is another Christie like box to box midfielder. Somebody who is quick, excellent stamina and can bring the team further up the pitch.

Hatate isn't slow by any means, but he isn't that type of player.

 

He’s been poor for a while however, we all need to take into account his age and the level he has come from. I think he’s one of the players Ange alluded to when he said some need to believe they can play at this level (paraphrasing obviously).

 

He hasn't been heavily relied on since he signed. He was competing for his spot with an inform Tam Rogic (boy is our midfield missing his experience and composure atm) and was blessed with chances to stake his claim by Ange.

 

His pressing further forward in the CL games has been * brilliant, he makes space for others in these games, very unselfishly. I’d like to see the stats for pressing and ball winning from him in the 3 games so far.

it’s a very different role than we see him play in Scotland, but it’s one that’s made Hatate and McGregor shine because it earns them space further back. In a position further up, but it reminds me of Joe Ledley’s work off the ball.

 

Always think it's so difficult for players to make a sustained impact in the UCL in their first season in it. Especially when you only really have 6 opportunities at top-class opposition before you're left waiting until next year.

O'Riley hasn't been as impactful in Europe as I would've hoped so far. But that doesn't mean that he's a poor player, that he'll struggle to play at this level in the future, or that there's even anything wrong. It's a major adjustment for so many of these guys who have just been used to Scottish Premiership, lower league English, and Japanese football.

We'll see if lessons are learned and whether they'll develop well enough to make a better go of it in the future. But it's a massive step-up that many are struggling to make at the moment.

 

I like him but similar to Hatate he looks burst after an hour

 

This is what worries me, I think in the desperation of trying to win the ball high up we are pushing him up. Out of possession I think he should drop back in more and the same with Hatate. If you want a second person pressing pull one of the wingers in drop the other and have one of three centre mids shuffle across.

Maeda’s positioning for me off the ball last night was weird, he was slightly tucked in giving their full back the run of our right side. He wasn’t really near anyone. It was all the time so looked like something he was asked to do but he wasn’t then impacting the game out of possession in the way he did last year.

There definitely seems something off with the way we are setting up when out of possession. Jota is simply too lazy and slack, that third goal showed it and Taylor was just as bad as the long looping ball out there gave him time to see what was happening but he didn’t react at all despite him being pulled inside marking and area.

 

I appreciate the work he puts in but I think the set up leaves us way too exposed

 

Anyone else want to see him tried at DM? I know his playmaking abilities are important further forward but he's a decent tackler and seems to have good positional awareness.

O'Riley
Mooy Hatate

O'Riley
Haksabanovic Hatate
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I'm hoping Abildgaard is good enough to be our replacement for McGregor but I wouldn't mind experimenting with O'Riley there.

 

That’s what Fulham youth team started to do with him and try to deploy him as a deep lying playmaker. I do think he said it wasn’t his favoured position but he can play there.

Being honest for CL I wouldn’t be against

ORiley Abildgaard

Hatate

I think having a double pivot with a ball winner and deep lying playmaker might be not a bad option. Particularly with having the movement of Jota, Kyogo, Abada/Haksabanovic ahead of them and O’Riley to pick them out.

 

Needs to step up now that McGregor is out, I'd have actually dropped him for a few games if everyone is fit, but alas no way could we afford that now.

 

Aye..

Was just coming in to say I fancy him to fill in for game's.....as Abildgaard clearly won't be ready to play 90 minute's every few day's yet..

Played there before
Is good defensively at breaking up play/interceptions
Has an excellent range of passing and can break from deep..

No to shuffle the whole pack but i even fancy Jota could play alongside Hatate as one of the 8's as well as Haksabanovic for say your home game's against side's like Motherwell the other day..

We'd still have Maeda and Abada for the wing's on occasion...even Forrest..

Could Summers or Vata be called up to the first team squad soon for the bench as the game's start coming thick and fast..

 

If we had to chose between O'Riley and Hatate for the 6 it would be O'Riley for me. While it's not really his game, O'Riley is better defensively imo.

Would free up Hatate further forward which is where I like him anyway with his shooting, running in behind and link up play.

 

Is a league game really the best place to experiment? We lost 2-0 to St.Mirren the last time we tried to mix it up.