Does anyone actively moderate this forum?  Some of the antagonistic posting on here reminds me of eg RAWK at its worst.  Embarrassing. 

2 minutes ago, IliyaKrostin said:

He must work on his passing ability, sometimes he moves the ball without seeing his teammate. Can't really blame him after our loss to Roma, the team has looked poor in the second half and he's got the wrong partner in the central. He can't take the risk and dribble forward because he doesn't have the player that will cover his area. With Kante, we're going to see a much better Bakayoko.

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I'm not sure if I can agree with that bit, for me he can be reckless, severely lacks the intelligence Kante has. You can't blame Fabregas for him taking big touches in our half (he needs to stop doing that!) & he lacks defensive consideration in our defensive areas, you can't just tackle someone around or inside our box like you would at the halfway line. He's certainly a player with potential but I think he'll always have those limitations. But I'm bound to be negative because I never wanted us to sign him in the first place quite honestly. 

I wasn't keen on bakakoyo in the summer, but Its too early to jump on him at the moment. What I will say though, is bakayoko doesn't really fit the type of midfielder we needed in my opinion. We needed some mobile midfielders, that are good with and without the ball. 

Bakayoko will probably be decent in front of the defence, but in all honesty, I think fabinho should've been the player we bought. 

Midfield is a real mess at the moment, I still think we need another quality player to come in and be a regular partner for kante, and then use bakayoko fabregas and drinkwater, as cover or for changing shape. 

 

I have to say I don't rate Bakayoko. The board thinks it can get away with buying sh*t players noone else wants and still compete for trophies.

13 minutes ago, ivorycoast said:

I have to say I don't rate Bakayoko. The board thinks it can get away with buying sh*t players noone else wants and still compete for trophies.

 

I'll grant you he has blown hot & cold but blimey, that's a bit OTT!!

 

He's still young and will improve, but you can see why Conte wanted to keep Matic and gradually introduce Bakayoko.

according to matt law's recent article on the aftermath of roma, it says bakayoko is still feeling pain in his knee. if so, understandable while he's not as mobile. i keep thinking the last few games he's looked a bit laboured. problem is, we have had no choice while drinkwater was out with injury so doesn't help if he's playing through pain every game. 

41 minutes ago, Zeta said:

He's still young and will improve, but you can see why Conte wanted to keep Matic and gradually introduce Bakayoko.

Where is the proof that Conte wanted to keep Matic? I have heard differing reports

 

The thing is I don't know what Bakayoko is good at. He's poor going forward, average at keeping possesion, and average at defending. I still remember him giving away stupid and needless fouls outside the box.

 

48 minutes ago, Nibs said:

 

I'll grant you he has blown hot & cold but blimey, that's a bit OTT!!

You are probably right, but this season the market was insanely competitive and we ended up getting rudiger and bakayoko, players who no other top clubs seemed to be interested in.

16 hours ago, enigma said:

according to matt law's recent article on the aftermath of roma, it says bakayoko is still feeling pain in his knee. if so, understandable while he's not as mobile. i keep thinking the last few games he's looked a bit laboured. problem is, we have had no choice while drinkwater was out with injury so doesn't help if he's playing through pain every game. 

He just came back from surgery and playing in a new system under a demanding coach, in a tough league. He deserves some slack.

I don’t even want to mention how hard he has to work when he’s alongside Cesc, basically has to be 2 players. Baka needs a long rest before we destroy his body too young, like too many guys that lost their athleticism early.

22 hours ago, Zeta said:

He's still young and will improve, but you can see why Conte wanted to keep Matic and gradually introduce Bakayoko.

Yep, and the board went over his head and sold Matic anyway. Bakayoko is young, just recovered from an injury ( more like rushed at this point ) had no pre season and was thrown straight into the team as soon as he could play. The guy has had no time to settle.

From some of the things I've read this week, I don't think matic was ever going stay. There's reports he refused to go on the preseason tour, and was pretty adamant he wanted to go to united. 

We still should have dug our heels in and made him go abroard, but I don't think we could've kept him here against his will. 

I think conte will hold more negativity towards matic, than the board. Its been the injuries to kante and drinkwater that have left bakayoko and fabregas struggling. We should've bought another midfielder, or even just held onto van ginkel, who is gaining nothing by going to psv this season. 

Must admit Bakayoko was the player i was most looking forward to seeing play and had great hope for. Not saying there isn't hope but man have I been dissapointed in his performances so far. Poor distribution, elementary passing seems to be a big ask. Heavy first touch, he's usually in our half of the pitch which puts us under immediate pressure. Constant silly fouls, maybe needs to get used to the league and reffing but you'd think he would be told. Defensive and offensive play just seem to be lacking in general and I'm not sure exactly what he's providing most games. 

I get he has to settle and didn't have pre-season but some of this stuff is basic and is killing us in the middle of the park. I really hope he grows and becomes the player I thought he was going to be. Was sold to me as a more mobile younger Matic which is a lot to live up to. 

 

He has shown flashes of his quality but there are certainly some big areas of development. There is a real lack of intelligence in his play.  He chooses poor passing options and fouls in the wrong areas. There have also been a number of examples of poor positioning. That will improve in time as it did with Mikel who was similarly raw when he first signed at a similar age. 

For Mikel though he wasn't being relied on immediately. Sadly Bakayoko is. He is learning in the full spotlight and carrying a niggle to boot.

It's been said ad nauseam but regardless of your view on Matic he should at least have been kept to allow the young man to adjust. If you're going to sell a starter you have to replace them with a starter not a prospect who will need time.

Even Kante looks poor at times next to Cesc in the pivot, it just simply doesn't work with him in there.

Not everyone has N'golo's tenacity.

Don't think it's fair to put him down after about 10 games. Of course he's not the finished product, we were buying a player with potential. Matic had his limitations too, we all seen it in the last couple of seasons. He didn't become the greatest midfielder in the league after a dozen game with United.

1 hour ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Don't think it's fair to put him down after about 10 games. Of course he's not the finished product, we were buying a player with potential. Matic had his limitations too, we all seen it in the last couple of seasons. He didn't become the greatest midfielder in the league after a dozen game with United.

Agree. The mistake I think on out part has been throwing him in the deep end straight away. Keeping Matic even for six months. Would have given him a chance to at least settle in.

Excellent performance by him against United. Showed his class and had United's midfield in their pocket. Never was known as a big finisher in his career, but his drives forward and his movement when we crossing the ball is just fantastic! Keep it up, Baka!

Was great today when given the freedom to bomb on just needs to work on his end product.

Yep, did well today and got stronger as the game went on. If only he could finish!!

I think we saw his real game today as he was freed up by kantes return, when he drives forward with the ball he is a handful and causes the opposition a lot of trouble. He isn't a defensive midfielder though, so playing that way alongside fabregas has expired him the last few games.

Bakayoko - Kante - Cesc works! Baka was pretty good. Scoring boots on and he will excell.

42 minutes ago, dkw said:

I think we saw his real game today as he was freed up by kantes return, when he drives forward with the ball he is a handful and causes the opposition a lot of trouble. He isn't a defensive midfielder though, so playing that way alongside fabregas has expired him the last few games.

I thought he was a DM? Was going to say he has the typical finishing ability of a DM. He certainly can use his physicality to win balls

Very good today, completely outshone matic.  He is a box to box midfielder, he can win the ball back but also drive forward.  He had two very good goal scoring opportunities today.  If he can refine that he's a very good player! 

I was big on Bakayoko earlier in the season...but he definitely hit a wall.

No surprise to see him play better with Kante beside him again. It turns out Kante is the one holding it all together...who knew? (most of us I suspect)

He's definitely more mobile than Matic is/was.

He's really giving it his all, which always goes down well with me.

One minute he can look really clumsy on the ball and you think wtf. But the the next minute he does something else and you think, can we see some more of that please.