Dennis Praet

[Guest SO1]

16 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Posted this in another thread, but this explains Praet's role in our side:
 

Zone 3 has arguably the most important role to play in keeping possession. This player must be particularly good at keeping possession under pressure from opponents and will often see their passes also being played short for the duration of the game.

 

Leon Britton, Pirlo and Xavi are examples of players who act as the deep lying play makers, the water carriers, the short playing quarterback or the ‘volante de salida’ which simply translates in football terms as the outlet for under-pressure team mates.

“I get the ball, I pass, I get the ball, I pass, I get the ball, I pass.” (Xavier Hernandez 2011)
 

The above highlights Xavi’s hypnotic approach to the game in a simplified view. Key abilities are not to play the ball out of pressure but to play the ball within high pressure.

 

What Dennis Praet brings to the team is not specifically a killer through ball or pass (though he can play them), but it's to keep the team playing football. To be our metronome. And he's bloody good at it!

You are an Oasis in the desert. Jed Davies ?

 

[Gamble92]

18 hours ago, escape2victory said:

For those saying his appearances coincide with us playing poorly and losing, he started our game vs Villa away which we won 4-1 and which I think was our most complete performance of the season. 
 

Recently he has been much better than Tielemans and deserves to keep his place

I read this like my wife was telling me loads of points i didnt want to hear but were all factually correct.

[Gordon the Great]

23 hours ago, fox_favourite said:

Praet has impressed me recently. You need a player like him in s squad. You have flair players, that can't tackle. You have defending midfielders who can't pass consistently accurately. Praet does both well, but is not outstanding. What he is good at is close control and keeping the ball ticking over. He also makes good decisions on passes.

 

Don't forget, against Man City, he was the one keeping KDB quiet for most of he game. 

 

Personally, I've been impressed with him and there is definitely space for him alongside Maddison and Ndidi. He's performing better than tielemans at the moment. 

At this moment I believe he is the best midfielder we have, think he may progress to be a long remembered player for us.Hope so, he is class.

[lcfc sheff]

What a brilliant signing, next year hopefully in Europe he can shine further. For me he must start.

[Claridge]

Tidy player, but doesn’t seem to have the vision of youri orMaddison. If they are on top of their games they are miles better. Trouble is they haven’t been lately, making Praet look better than he is. Good squad player

[Guest An Sionnach]

22 minutes ago, lcfc sheff said:

5 minutes ago, Claridge said:

Tidy player, but doesn’t seem to have the vision of youri orMaddison. If they are on top of their games they are miles better. Trouble is they haven’t been lately, making Praet look better than he is. Good squad player

 

Martinez seems to prefer him to Tielemans at the moment.

[Fox92]

12 minutes ago, Claridge said:

Tidy player, but doesn’t seem to have the vision of youri orMaddison. If they are on top of their games they are miles better. Trouble is they haven’t been lately, making Praet look better than he is. Good squad player

He's better than a squad player.

 

Youri and Maddison have better vision because they're more attacking. I was under the impression Praet is a defensive midfielder.

[Deeg67]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

He's better than a squad player.

 

Youri and Maddison have better vision because they're more attacking. I was under the impression Praet is a defensive midfielder.

Box to box, if anything.

[Claridge]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

He's better than a squad player.

 

Youri and Maddison have better vision because they're more attacking. I was under the impression Praet is a defensive midfielder.

Yes and we have Wilf their for that. Makes him a good squad player

[UHDrive]

21 minutes ago, Claridge said:

Yes and we have Wilf their for that. Makes him a good squad player

Praet is not a squad player. People on ft who consistently talk of him as such much be taking mushrooms. We bought Praet as a box to box midfielder. My assumption is BR had Praet as the central player for the diamond team shape but when we started the season BR clearly didn't want to tinker with the shape of the squad and results we were getting. However, now he has had to, and its paying dividends. 

[Claridge]

2 hours ago, UHDrive said:

Praet is not a squad player. People on ft who consistently talk of him as such much be taking mushrooms. We bought Praet as a box to box midfielder. My assumption is BR had Praet as the central player for the diamond team shape but when we started the season BR clearly didn't want to tinker with the shape of the squad and results we were getting. However, now he has had to, and its paying dividends. 

How is it paying dividends? The team has been very poor lately. Not saying it’s praets fault, but never in a million years can you say paying dividends 

Edited 8 March 2020 by Claridge

[UHDrive]

1 hour ago, Claridge said:

How is it paying dividends? The team has been very poor lately. Not saying it’s praets fault, but never in a million years can you say paying dividends 

Dividends because since xmas our teams looked shaky, vulnerable and weak. Since Praet has been playing the team looks more settled, but most importantly has been conceding less goals than in recent times. So yes, in the bigger scheme of things and particularly the last few months I'd say hes paying dividends. With the DM issues we've had of late and lack of strikers/wingers scoring goals then this lcfc team needed stabilising, and for me this guy has bought that to the team.

[Claridge]

Need convincing, hope it’s back to the tried and tested if Wilfs fit tomorrow

[StriderHiryu]

Wow, just wow! Maybe it’s because I play central midfield myself, but I was thoroughly impressed by Dennis tonight. He was the complete player; pressing the game, passing beautifully, creating chances and getting stuck in with some terrific challenges. Youri Tielemans is one of my favourite players and an absolute Rolls Royce on his day, but Praet is for me our best player at the moment and complimented Ndidi superbly. 
 

The scary thing is he can even better! I’ve said a few times before that I think he should play with more arrogance and demand the ball a lot more. This guy has the all round game to run the match to his tune. I look at players like KDB and Bruno Fernandes and that’s what they have to elevate them to a higher level. 
 

For me he’s now playing somewhere near his best and has proven to be a superb signing. 

[Shane]

He's class

[Hales]

He was great tonight and does not stop! Love him! 👏👏👏👏 

[Ric Flair]

Just looks the bollocks in that checkerboard royal blue with them piercing eyes. DENNIS

[Mark]

He was much better today but I think he could speed it up a bit sometimes when we’re looking for a breakthrough, look at our 4th goal today I know the game was done but that fast passing move was like us of old, would have never happened before Praet went off.

[Tanya]

10 minutes ago, Mark said:

He was much better today but I think he could speed it up a bit sometimes when we’re looking for a breakthrough, look at our 4th goal today I know the game was done but that fast passing move was like us of old, would have never happened before Praet went off.

I agree @Mark. I know @StriderHiryu loves Praet and he is very good but Youri passing is just that little bit quicker. Praet slows it down ever so slightly.  Again since it's Watford I'd probably play Praet but Youri deserves 30 minutes against a tiring defence - he has stardust that Praet, God love him, does not. 

Edited 9 March 2020 by Tanya

[Bezzanator89]

Understated and quite frankly, undroppable. Him and N'didi combined are sign-on impenetrable.

 

One of the few players to come out of the slump with credit, and rightly so. Looks to be another solid tick for the recruitment team.

[Guest Fktf]

5 minutes ago, Tanya said:

I agree @Mark. I know @StriderHiryu loves Praet and he is very good but Youri passing is just that little bit quicker. Praet slows it down, and ever so slightly.  Again since it's Watford I'd probably play Praet but Youri deserves 30 minutes against a tiring defence - he has stardust that Praet, God love him, does not. 

Feels like comparing apples and oranges

 

You could equally wax lyrical about how praet is better in the tackle, closing off the passing lanes, getting between man and ball when faced with a dribbler. This is the less sexy side of the game, so gets mentioned less. 

 

Playing praet and maddison with ndidi gives us a better defensive footing than tielemanns and maddison with ndidi. Like you say with reference to Watford, we need to pick and choose the right combination at the right time.

 

By the by, isn't it great we have the luxury of choosing between 2 Belgium Internationals and (you would think) a soon to be England regular to partner ndidi in the middle. 

 

 

 

 

[Tanya]

2 minutes ago, Fktf said:

Feels like comparing apples and oranges

 

You could equally wax lyrical about how praet is better in the tackle, closing off the passing lanes, getting between man and ball when faced with a dribbler. This is the less sexy side of the game, so gets mentioned less. 

 

Playing praet and maddison with ndidi gives us a better defensive footing than tielemanns and maddison with ndidi. Like you say with reference to Watford, we need to pick and choose the right combination at the right time.

 

By the by, isn't it great we have the luxury of choosing between 2 Belgium Internationals and (you would think) a soon to be England regular to partner ndidi in the middle. 

 

 

 

 

I agree which is why I'd love to see Youri for the last 30 Minutes against a tiring defence.

 

We are lucky to have both players to choose from.  

[sm1]

Praet is our most in form midfielder and had another good game. I'd actually leave out Maddison and play Youri and Praet together along with Ndidi. 

[dylanlegend]

He’s a quality box t box midfielder who runs his socks off.

YT is better and more clinical in the final third though.

[StriderHiryu]

25 minutes ago, Tanya said:

I agree @Mark. I know @StriderHiryu loves Praet and he is very good but Youri passing is just that little bit quicker. Praet slows it down ever so slightly.  Again since it's Watford I'd probably play Praet but Youri deserves 30 minutes against a tiring defence - he has stardust that Praet, God love him, does not. 

 

22 minutes ago, Bezzanator89 said:

Understated and quite frankly, undroppable. Him and N'didi combined are sign-on impenetrable.

 

One of the few players to come out of the slump with credit, and rightly so. Looks to be another solid tick for the recruitment team.

Think these two quotes sum up the situation very well. When Tielemans came on, you could see the x-factor he brings, but Praet is in better form at the moment and makes more of an all round difference to the team. Praet does the ugly things well and is hardly a slouch in terms of creativity. He doesn't give it away as much as Tielemans does either, though this is because Youri is more of a risk taker.

 

Actually my suggestion would be to drop Maddison for TIelemans and keep Praet, because Madders is off form at the moment. Praet is bang in form right now and I think will turn out to be a big player for us over the next few season. Maddison and TIelemans probably end up leaving us at some point, but Praet is likely to end up remaining a good servant for us.