Naby Keita

[RedReet]

Thought he improved as the game wore on, certainly more than Milner and AOC did, but he was better in a pressing sense than directly on the ball for me. As was his role I might add, don't recall him attempting to dribble past anyone but open to correction.
Done a reserved job effectively as the midfield gained better control. Not a performance for the ages, but it was hardly a first choice midfield.

BUT this has never been the root of Naby's problems. Its a question of whether he's available to do it again next week as opposed to anything he done on the pitch.

I thought the opposite.

All his best work for me came in 1st half and he was a lot quieter 2nd. It was as if when Fab came on, he just thought "f*ck it, that's my job done, I'll save myself for Burnley".

Agree with the rest.

[Fosterbloke]

Thought he was bang average myself. Some decent tackles though.

Much like your observations. He kept things ticking over nicely, rarely lost the ball and even put players through.

He was tenacious today, far more than previous seasons - maybe his training regime has paid off and he trusts his body more?

[Venton]

Thought he was bang average myself. Some decent tackles though.

He was pretty average but that is an improvement, and he did put one decent ball in. Not good enough for a permanent place in our midfield, but heading in the right direction.

[RedReet]

He was pretty average but that is an improvement, and he did put one decent ball in. Not good enough for a permanent place in our midfield, but heading in the right direction.

Harsh. He played the Gini role perfectly IMO, and much like Gini, a lot of the criticism seems to be focused on what he didn't do, rather than what he did.

[Venton]

Harsh. He played the Gini role perfectly IMO, and much like Gini, a lot of the criticism seems to be focused on what he didn't do, rather than what he did.

He's miles behind what Gini did for us in my opinion. And in general the criticism aimed at Keita is both about what he did and what he didn't do. We praise him at the moment when he's adequate, which shows where our expectations of him are.

[Exiled_red]

For all the comment about him on here he is still a fairly talented player. The issue isn't about what he does or doesn't do in a single game. It's about being able to string a run of games together and show what he can do when he is settled in the side. One good/decent performance (delete as appropriate) tells us nothing we didn't already know. To prove himself (to me at least) he needs to get long run if games and show what he can do, the odd performance here or there proves nothing.

[RichC]

Decent start from him, the question with Naby is can he be available next week and the week after etc.. if he can do that then he’ll be a real asset but he’s got to prove he can do that.

[RedReet]

He's miles behind what Gini did for us in my opinion. And in general the criticism aimed at Keita is both about what he did and what he didn't do. We praise him at the moment when he's adequate, which shows where our expectations of him are.

What did he do wrong that warranted criticism?

Edit: I'm not saying he was excellent by any means, a solid 6.5 and didn't put a foot wrong imo.

[Norbs]

Rated at a 6.5 he could've been our worst performer, yet he's dominating the conversation. Did anyone else score lower than 6.5?

[Paul12]

Did ok. No one shown in midfield.

[rudedog]

Rated at a 6.5 he could've been our worst performer, yet he's dominating the conversation. Did anyone else score lower than 6.5?

Ox surely

[RichC]

Ox surely

[Norbs]

Ox surely

Yep, and no ones talking about him

[Venton]

What did he do wrong that warranted criticism?

Edit: I'm not saying he was excellent by any means, a solid 6.5 and didn't put a foot wrong imo.

I'd agree with the rating 6 to 6.5 (tops). Which, I'll say again, is an improvement for him so he's heading in the right direction. I just don't think that's good enough for our midfield.

I do generally have a problem with the narrative that "there's clearly a talented player in there somewhere". I genuinely don't see how that assumption can be made given the performances he's given us so far. There MAY be a possibility that he'll come good with a decent run of games and luck with injuries, and you'd hope that he does for all our sakes, but there is no "clearly" about it - it can only be from youtube videos from when he was back in Germany, it certainly has been whilst he's been here with us.

[Venton]

Yep, and no ones talking about him

The expectations of Keita were different. People are still waiting for a worldie to burst out of him. Given the price we paid for him and the expectation around him he is a bit of a magnet for the yea- and nay-sayers. We don't expect much more of the Ox than what he's given so far.