Dwight McNeil

[Babylon]

7 minutes ago, Abrasive fox said:

Keep calm babs - it doesn't sound like we're signing him.

I've not really watched the bloke and I'm just going off what the resident Burnley fans have said about him, just don't see how that style would fit if what they said is correct. IF we went for him, then we've seen something, but they were pretty firm in their opinions of his strengths the weaknesses. 

[Babylon]

2 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Liverpool and Man City don't have target men yet create most of their chances from crosses.

With all due respect, we aren't those teams and we haven't looked capable of pulling teams apart to the point of getting in behind them and being able to ping a ball across a loaded box to 3/4/5 players in there. 

[Jobyfox]

If you play with strikers whose strengths are heading the ball, as Burnley do, you'd ask your winger to pump balls into the box. 

 

That doesn’t, necessarily, mean that he can’t play any other way.

 

The question is whether his all round ability makes him flexible enough to slot into different systems. 

Edited 7 September 2020 by Jobyfox

[Babylon]

55 minutes ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Crossing can be on the floor or mid height, it doesn't have to be specifically for tall strikers

There was me thinking you can only cross high...

 

We don't load the box either Geoff, we don't rip teams apart with our passing either, to create loads of space for a ball across the back like a Man Cty. Pretty much all of our crossing was to a lone man stood in the box, which generally means it's a lofted ball to get beyond the first defender. 

 

If we were drawing up a list of what we needed, would "someone who can cross" be top of that list, having seen how we played last year?

Edited 7 September 2020 by Babylon

[BKLFox]

6 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Liverpool and Man City don't have target men yet create most of their chances from crosses.

your right & in the case of Livrpool its VVD pinging it st8 over the midfield for front 3 to run onto

[Fox seen in Norwich]

 

[Guest]

I don't care that he plays for Burnley, I care that he's made his name swinging crosses in for Chris Wood and has almost exclusively played on the left, where our one semi-competent winger currently plays. I would be staggered if he's the solution we've come up with.

[st albans fox]

Just now, Guest said:

I don't care that he plays for Burnley, I care that he's made his name swinging crosses in for Chris Wood and has almost exclusively played on the left, where our one semi-competent winger currently plays. I would be staggered if he's the solution we've come up with.

or gobsmacked ???

[smudger63]

8 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Liverpool and Man City don't have target men yet create most of their chances from crosses.

They do, but look how many players they get into the box when they have a cross into the box.  We usually only have Vardy in the box with 4 defenders around him.

[lgfualol]

G e r r i m i n

[AKCJ]

10 minutes ago, Babylon said:

With all due respect, we aren't those teams and we haven't looked capable of pulling teams apart to the point of getting in behind them and being able to ping a ball across a loaded box to 3/4/5 players in there. 

Which would go some way into explaining why we're signing this type of player, surely? To improve?

[CosbehFox]

Thread gone nuts over three nobodies tweeting something. Turn FoxesTalk off 

[Samilktray]

All those sexy wingers from the continent that @Ric Flair has seduced us with and we might end up with a Dwight Mcneil from Burnley. Not for me no way 

[Guest Manini]

8 minutes ago, Guest said:

I don't care that he plays for Burnley, I care that he's made his name swinging crosses in for Chris Wood and has almost exclusively played on the left, where our one semi-competent winger currently plays. I would be staggered if he's the solution we've come up with.

Devils advocate: Could you not say he’s made his name doing that because Burnley have Chris Wood? It wouldn’t make much sense for him to slot balls through the channel when you’ve got a big 6ft plus bastard up front who’s good in the air. Just because he doesn’t have the option to do what we need now doesn’t mean he hasn’t got the ability to. 
 

I have no horse in this race either way by the way I’m pretty apathetic about this as a signing in general. I agree about the left sidedness bit too. 

Edited 7 September 2020 by Manini

[kingfox]

Said it before and I’ll say it again, he is just a more skilful version of Marc Albrighton, with his best attribute being his crossing.

 

@Babylon makes a fair point, the way we play and what we’ve seen over the past few season’s, when our players do cross the ball, 9 times out of 10 it ends up being a wasted cross, because hardly any of our players commit to getting on the end of them.

 

McNeil is perfect for Burnley because he has Wood, Barnes and Rodriguez to cross the ball into, three target men who love to head a ball, Wood and Barnes especially. If Chris Wood was still here with us, then McNeil would be a perfect signing.

 

He is a very talented player; however he is the type of winger that I’m surprised we would go for, plus he plays on the left when we need somebody who can play on the right.

Edited 7 September 2020 by kingfox

[Shane]

I wonder if Gray will be moved on if we bring in McNeil?

 

Makes financial sense to sell him before his contract expires but it might leave us with a lack of options in attack

[Dahnsouff]

9 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Thread gone nuts over three nobodies tweeting something. Turn FoxesTalk off 

Turn it off and on again. I agree.

[Dahnsouff]

This guy is not coming in, no chance. His profile is far too large to get him and Tarkowski from the same club. He also does not seem to fit a requirement.

[jeffschlupp]

6 minutes ago, kingfox said:

Said it before and I’ll say it again, he is just a more skilful version of Marc Albrighton, with his best attribute being his crossing.

 

@Babylon makes a fair point, the way we play and what we’ve seen over the past few season’s, when our players do cross the ball, 9 times out of 10 it ends up being a wasted cross, because hardly any of our players commit to getting on the end of them.

 

McNeil is perfect for Burnley because he has Wood, Barnes and Rodriguez to cross the ball into, three target men who love to head a ball, Wood and Barnes especially. If Chris Wood was still here with us, then McNeil would be a perfect signing.

 

He is a very talented player; however he is the type of winger that I’m surprised we would go for, plus he plays on the left when we need somebody who can play on the right.

If you watch him play, even on a YouTube compilation you'll see a lot of his assists and useful passes have come from balls along the ground, not lofted crosses. Without Ricardo we have nobody who can cut the ball back accurately into the middle where players like Maddison and Vardy can finish.

 

I agree it would be a waste to a sign a player more comfortable on the left but he is left footed and assisted Wood from the right against us last season, I believe.

[Billy Big Balls]

The guy is 20 years old and is already not only a first team regular but a star player for a top 10 Premier league side. How many 20 year old first team regulars are there in the Premier league? Greenwood, Saka, Aarons, Foden off the top of my head. 

 

He's got 2 or 3 years of development before he hits the age of the players in our current starting 11 (Barnes, Maddison, Tielemans etc.) that we still consider young. Where were those guys at McNeil's age? Not playing regular Premier league football. 

 

The way I see it, McNeil would already starts for us and has the potential to be an absolute star. He's a better dribbler than people give him credit for and has an absolute pinger of a left foot. In the 2 minute twitter video above there are 2 examples of him cutting in from the right and shooting with his left better than any of our current players are capable of and a nice freekick that flicks the top of the crossbar. He's got fantastic technique and can hit the ball however he wants (power, curve, dip) which means, as others have said, he can float a cross, curl a cross, drill a cross and if played on the right can hit shots with power and accuracy. 

 

If you can't tell I'd be well up for this!

[SmuelMartin]

Was speaking to a Burnley fan last night about him playing CAM, as that's where he started as a youth player. He just said he was too one-footed. 

 

I like him out wide but not sure he fits our system, takes me back to Everton away, Albrighton completing 1 out of 10 cross attempts.

[Babylon]

14 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Which would go some way into explaining why we're signing this type of player, surely? To improve?

It’s getting to the point of being able to make those crosses and having enough people in the box, which is the major issue. 
 

Our wide players come inside also, presumably on instruction. Perez and Barnes seem to be inside more than they are out. So it would mean a new set up and new instruction. 
 

 

[Marshall Cockney Fox]

That video montage elevates him above the plethora of random continental names touted. He's showing his tricks already in the Prem. So he is not a risk really. As you know he can do it at the top level. The question is, how will that be reflected in Burnley's asking price? I expect they would want big bucks unless he's on a short contract. 

[Babylon]

Just now, SmuelMartin said:

Was speaking to a Burnley fan last night about him playing CAM, as that's where he started as a youth player. He just said he was too one-footed. 

 

I like him out wide but not sure he fits our system, takes me back to Everton away, Albrighton completing 1 out of 10 cross attempts.

Unless you flood the box or are making short sharp “crosses” or passes back across the box like a Man City, a cross very often ends up with the ball being given away.

[Grebfromgrebland]

This guy is the best winger we've been linked with so far I think we should make this a priority signing. If Burnley don't want to lose 2 players then they can keep tarkowski and we'll have McNeil.

 

Give them Gray as part of the deal!