3 hours ago, cRyptic said:

Finally this thing is resolved. Has any of you guys actually followed Kovacic, what does he bring to the table as a player? What can we expect?

He is potentially a top level player but his career stagnated at Madrid because of Isco's renaissance. 

Kovacic is often unfairly compared to Modric because they share the same nationality but he is more akin to Ivan Rakitic of anything. He's tall, strong, quick and has very good dribbling skills that allow him to carry the ball on the counter-attack. I think he will suit Sarri's style more than most, as his skillset is very similar to Marek Hamsik (though not a proven goalscorer).

 

 

 

Not sure this is 100% right but I read he signed a 6 year deal with real in 2015. That would give him 2 years left there at the end of this season. If he really wants to leave he wont sign a new deal there, like tibo did with us, and Madrid can either cash in or lose him on the cheap a year later, like we did with tibo.

1 minute ago, axman2526 said:

Not sure this is 100% right but I read he signed a 6 year deal with real in 2015. That would give him 2 years left there at the end of this season. If he really wants to leave he wont sign a new deal there, like tibo did with us, and Madrid can either cash in or lose him on the cheap a year later, like we did with tibo.

He's not happy at Madrid a lot of reports say, he wanted a permanent transfer away. 

This could have a buy out clause, I really hope so, otherwise I think this was a pointless loan deal. 

17 minutes ago, Slojo said:

He's not happy at Madrid a lot of reports say, he wanted a permanent transfer away. 

This could have a buy out clause, I really hope so, otherwise I think this was a pointless loan deal. 

Perhaps. Or perhaps if he likes it enough here he will push to stay.

41 minutes ago, Sparkz said:

He's only been on the bench due to the fact he had Kroos and Modric ahead of him and let's be honest not many players would start ahead of them

 

That is true. 

47 minutes ago, Sparkz said:

He's only been on the bench due to the fact he had Kroos and Modric ahead of him and let's be honest not many players would start ahead of them

 

Morata had Benzema and Ronaldo ahead of him.

Some reports that the deal has a buy out clause, some that it hasn’t, basically ‘in the know’ idiots playing a guessing game. 

Edited August 8, 20187 yr by Floyd25

www.goal.com/en-au/amp/news/the-mateo-kovacic-mystery-why-croatia-ace-has-struggled-so/28linowbbawn1fbw3fswesbxn

Interesting, if somewhat sobering article on Kovacic. 24 and he struggles to identify his best position at the top level of football. He's clearly a player with a lot of natural talent but his circumstances are limiting. 

2 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

www.goal.com/en-au/amp/news/the-mateo-kovacic-mystery-why-croatia-ace-has-struggled-so/28linowbbawn1fbw3fswesbxn

Interesting, if somewhat sobering article on Kovacic. 24 and he struggles to identify his best position at the top level of football. He's clearly a player with a lot of natural talent but his circumstances are limiting. 

It's a type of player that managers don't prefer in the starting lineup because he doesn't do the defensive part of the job as a classic central midfielder, but he could be the player we really need, to help us with creating chances for goals should be his job because our strikers and most wingers are not consistent enough.
Sarri probably knows how to play him and this type of player that has a bit better acceleration and dribbling is what he most likely wanted as the final signing.

Barkley will have a new role with Sarri he wants to make him a more of a complete central midfielder so I can see Kovacic being that more offensive midfielder that has the ball in counter attacks but that shouldn't build up the play.

The key of this signing is that we have a squad capable of getting the best out of a type of player like Kovacic.
Having Kante should help him to focus on his offensive qualities, which is a big deal because if this works out we can get an easy top 4 finish at the end of the season.

Maybe I'm wrong when I said that he shouldn't be the one to build up the play because I found this:
 

Basically we got the midfield for a top 4 finish now on paper. Hopefully Sarri makes it work.

Edited August 9, 20187 yr by Gol15
cool stat about Mateo

26 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

It's a type of player that managers don't prefer in the starting lineup because he doesn't do the defensive part of the job as a classic central midfielder, but he could be the player we really need, to help us with creating chances for goals should be his job because our strikers and most wingers are not consistent enough.
Sarri probably knows how to play him and this type of player that has a bit better acceleration and dribbling is what he most likely wanted as the final signing.

Barkley will have a new role with Sarri he wants to make him a more of a complete central midfielder so I can see Kovacic being that more offensive midfielder that has the ball in counter attacks but that shouldn't build up the play.

The key of this signing is that we have a squad capable of getting the best out of a type of player like Kovacic.
Having Kante should help him to focus on his offensive qualities, which is a big deal because if this works out we can get an easy top 4 finish at the end of the season.

Maybe I'm wrong when I said that he shouldn't be the one to build up the play because I found this:
 

Basically we got the midfield for a top 4 finish now on paper. Hopefully Sarri makes it work.

I agree that we have a midfield that has the potential to get the best out of him. With Jorginho creating from deep and Kante working defensively, it immediately eliminates two of the problem jobs for Kovacic.

I reckon the key is to keep it simple for him, either carrying the ball in transition or running hard off the ball to make opportunities for Jorginho/Kante/Hazard. The problem so often with players who are talented at everything is that coaches are reluctant to let them specialise and I think Kovacic has been a victim of this.

No option to buy I hear. Sad.

8 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

He is potentially a top level player but his career stagnated at Madrid because of Isco's renaissance. 

Kovacic is often unfairly compared to Modric because they share the same nationality but he is more akin to Ivan Rakitic of anything. He's tall, strong, quick and has very good dribbling skills that allow him to carry the ball on the counter-attack. I think he will suit Sarri's style more than most, as his skillset is very similar to Marek Hamsik (though not a proven goalscorer).

 

 

 

5ft 8in isn't particularly tall, infact i'd say he is quite short. 

20 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

5ft 8in isn't particularly tall, infact i'd say he is quite short. 

He's 5 foot 10. Not tall, but not small like some of our players.

Edited August 9, 20187 yr by AlwaysRight

Thanks for the insight @Gol15 and @SydneyChelsea, much appreciated.

16 minutes ago, AlwaysRight said:

He's 5 foot 10. Not tall, but not small like some of our players.

I'm just going off what google said. 

0.84 of a foot is 10 inches

9 hours ago, Sparkz said:

He's only been on the bench due to the fact he had Kroos and Modric ahead of him and let's be honest not many players would start ahead of them

 

just playing devils advocate you could have said the same about Morata as well though, he was only on the bench as RM had Ronaldo and Bale ahead of him...

He is a good player but I wonder what will be his position for Sarri, I just think it's a bit looking like Morata signing because Kovacic has been mostly on the bench for years...

I don't rate him highly, but am happy for the first time since we sold Chalobah, we have an alternative option if we chose to rest Kante.
Don't expect him to play alongside Kante except Sarri unusually wants to be defensive in a game.

23 minutes ago, PedroMendez said:

0.84 of a foot is 10 inches

5ft10in = 70in x 25.4cm = 1778cm

4 minutes ago, coco said:

5ft10in = 70in x 2.54cm = 177.8cm

Sorry I had to fix it, it was bugging me

It was correct first time round. He's a tall lad.

Just now, Ilya said:

It was correct first time round. He's a tall lad.

5 ft 10 isn't tall. Same height as Cesc.

3 minutes ago, PedroMendez said:

Sorry I had to fix it, it was bugging me

1778cm = 58 ft tall 

1 minute ago, RIP Mourinho said:

5 ft 10 isn't tall. Same height as Cesc.

It doesn't matter, Zola - Crouch

1 minute ago, RIP Mourinho said:

5 ft 10 isn't tall. Same height as Cesc.

I'm joking. coco had him at 17 meters tall, got corrected, I made a silly joke. Ignore me.