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Nathan Saliba


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32 minutes ago, costarg said:

I'm confused, the graphic says "Top U21 centre backs distribution".  But the list doesn't seem like CB's. 

What does "best distributors" mean exactly?  Successful pass rate?  Cause the 71.7 does not seem accurate for Saliba, he's actually higher than that.

I mean, I wanna be happy and get excited, but I'd rather understand than just start pumping the hype.

I assume the title is a typo since all those guys are midfielders.

CIES is one of those analytics sites that makes up performance metrics and tries to normalize them across teams and leagues to get overall rankings for players.  Their "distribution index" is not about pass completion rate, but about passes into the opponent's third, normalized using the team average as well as global success rate into the opponent's third, and some other statistical hocus pocus.  This is of course the problem with certain of these analytics - in the end you're not sure exactly how/if the metric actually correlates to real life performance.  I will say though that the top performers in this category for 2023-24 were Toni Kroos, Granit Xhaka and Frenkie De Jong - all top notch distributors - so it probably means something? 

 

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1 hour ago, costarg said:

I'm confused, the graphic says "Top U21 centre backs distribution".  But the list doesn't seem like CB's. 

What does "best distributors" mean exactly?  Successful pass rate?  Cause the 71.7 does not seem accurate for Saliba, he's actually higher than that.

I mean, I wanna be happy and get excited, but I'd rather understand than just start pumping the hype.

Stats be statting🤷‍♂️

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50 minutes ago, GasPed said:

Their "distribution index" is not about pass completion rate, but about passes into the opponent's third, normalized using the team average as well as global success rate into the opponent's third, and some other statistical hocus pocus.  

This is exactly what I was getting at.  I've always felt successful pass % is quite vague and misleading and hoped to see something like progressive pass rate, to show movements going forward as opposed to a Teibert Special 100% backwards momentum on passes (no offence Rusty, you're just the first to pop into mind, I could've mentioned many others!).

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14 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

He played again tonight, anyone know how it went ?

Watched until just after the goal. Made the "attacking" pass into the final third which eventually ended in the goal 4 passes later. From what I observed he's a machine. Covers a ton of space but looks very relaxed and confident on and off the ball. Nothing spectacular, a few misplaced passes, but positive for sure.

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1 hour ago, PegCityCam said:

Watched until just after the goal. Made the "attacking" pass into the final third which eventually ended in the goal 4 passes later. From what I observed he's a machine. Covers a ton of space but looks very relaxed and confident on and off the ball. Nothing spectacular, a few misplaced passes, but positive for sure.

Happy to hear, I have high hopes for him and really hope he can be a key player for us.

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He still doesn't have consistency. He has to work on being a dominant player every half  every game.

He has talent.

 

Still believe a Choiniere will be our third midfield in a 4-5-1 with Kone & Eustachio.

Piette will be phased out & there might be a bench opportunity.

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18 minutes ago, P-O said:

He still doesn't have consistency. He has to work on being a dominant player every half  every game.

He has talent.

 

Still believe a Choiniere will be our third midfield in a 4-5-1 with Kone & Eustachio.

Piette will be phased out & there might be a bench opportunity.

Maybe right now he won’t be, but it could go very fast.

Piette is already done, let’s not forget that one of Badwal and Biello likely ends up being something good and there’s still hope for Schiavoni and Zouhir.

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3 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Maybe right now he won’t be, but it could go very fast.

Piette is already done, let’s not forget that one of Badwal and Biello likely ends up being something good and there’s still hope for Schiavoni and Zouhir.

Given the minutes that all midfielders played throughout the tournament, I’d say Piette is already being phased out.  Have to think Marsch just doesn’t rate him.  Not a minute in 6 games.  Having Saliba there in his place would have been no different (other than the obvious fact Piette deserves to be at the Copa America for all his years service).  

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  • 1 month later...
2 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Thought he looked good but Montreal aren’t good

It's the first time I thoroughly watched him play and he seems like a promising deep lying, holding midfielder that's composed, makes quick decisions and distributes the ball well. He definitely needs to be called up this upcoming cycle. My only gripe was there was one moment where he had acres of space and instead of going off to the races, he opted to take a couple steps and make an easy short pass to a teammate. I was like, "push the play bro..." 

Anyhow, I think the scoreline flattered New England as Montreal didn't look too bad but they need a striker badly. Joey better not hit the panic button though, they have a young squad that I think will come into their own next season with a few minor adjustments.

Edited by Macksam
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7 hours ago, Macksam said:

It's the first time I thoroughly watched him play and he seems like a promising deep lying, holding midfielder that's composed, makes quick decisions and distributes the ball well. He definitely needs to be called up this upcoming cycle. My only gripe was there was one moment where he had acres of space and instead of going off to the races, he opted to take a couple steps and make an easy short pass to a teammate. I was like, "push the play bro..." 

Anyhow, I think the scoreline flattered New England as Montreal didn't look too bad but they need a striker badly. Joey better not hit the panic button though, they have a young squad that I think will come into their own next season with a few minor adjustments.

Yeah he had some really nice plays and good movements, he seems to maybe not have or lack that confidence and willingness to drive the play forward but I’m not too worried because it seems like the abilities required to do so are present. I don’t think he has much longer left to play in MLS.

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38 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

Yeah he had some really nice plays and good movements, he seems to maybe not have or lack that confidence and willingness to drive the play forward but I’m not too worried because it seems like the abilities required to do so are present. I don’t think he has much longer left to play in MLS.

I think it is premature to think he has in any way outgrown the league.   He may be snapped up because of potential but he still has a lot to prove at the MLS level before we can conclude that he is better than that. 

Edited by dyslexic nam
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1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

I think it is premature to think he has in any way outgrown the league.   He may be snapped up because of potential but he still has a lot to prove at the MLS level before we can conclude that he is better than that. 

I think he’s shown enough to get the move, he almost got one last year. Is he dominant no, but he’s good and looks to be above the level more often than not.

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I like the cut of his jib in the offensive side of the game.  He needs to continue to grow in his defensive responsibilites, such as the awareness and tracking of late runs by opponents.  I hope he has a strong conclusion to the season:  with the current state of his club, a negative to avoid is trying to do too much himself offensively (the hero ball side of Kone's game we could see on occasion).  However, I like his potential.

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3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I think it is premature to think he has in any way outgrown the league.   He may be snapped up because of potential but he still has a lot to prove at the MLS level before we can conclude that he is better than that. 

Most young players with high potential transfer out before they outgrow the league they are playing in. Clubs buy early and bet they can continue to develop the player. Kone & AJ from CFM for example.

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4 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Most young players with high potential transfer out before they outgrow the league they are playing in. Clubs buy early and bet they can continue to develop the player. Kone & AJ from CFM for example.

But I think both of those guys had showed more in MLS than Saliba had.  Not saying he isn’t capable or won’t make big steps, but both of those guys had demonstrated excellence in their positions by the time they transferred out.  Kone may have not been fully consistent but there were games where he basically controlled the play in the middle.  Plus he pitched in with key goals and assists.  And AJ was an extremely effective RB when Celtic came calling.  And both of them backed up their league play with quality international appearances prior to their loves.  Putting Saliba in that conversation is quite premature IMO.  

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4 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Yeah he had some really nice plays and good movements, he seems to maybe not have or lack that confidence and willingness to drive the play forward but I’m not too worried because it seems like the abilities required to do so are present. I don’t think he has much longer left to play in MLS.

This is a trait amongst many young Canadian or American players, probably stemming from PTSD from their youth coaches constantly barking orders from the sidelines, rendering them incapable of holding onto the ball for more than three seconds. 

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1 minute ago, dyslexic nam said:

But I think both of those guys had showed more in MLS than Saliba had.  Not saying he isn’t capable or won’t make big steps, but both of those guys had demonstrated excellence in their positions by the time they transferred out.  Kone may have not been fully consistent but there were games where he basically controlled the play in the middle.  Plus he pitched in with key goals and assists.  And AJ was an extremely effective RB when Celtic came calling.  And both of them backed up their league play with quality international appearances prior to their loves.  Putting Saliba in that conversation is quite premature IMO.  

Haven't watched Saliba much this year, but did so last season and in most of those games, he and Choiniere were the 2 best players on CFM.  Doesn't have Kone's flash and ability on the ball but is no slouch either. He's a defensive mid, so he may not have the highlight plays like Kone but again based on last season he is solid on both sides of the ball for a young player. 

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