I don't care about Can running his contract down, I just think he's leaving us.
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I don't care about Can running his contract down, I just think he's leaving us.
That's quite the menage a trois right there.
Me too. His Mrs fancies living in Italy. And he probably does too. And as they proved last week Juve are far from yesterday's news. Shame as he seems to be improving, but hey ho.
Max Meyer being linked today. Looks like a hardworking MF, very Milner-esk
Schalke's Max Meyer enjoying Andrea Pirlo-esque progression under Domenico Tedesco
[article]Where once his creative gaze was fixed on picking out the perfect killer pass high up the pitch, these days Schalke’s Max Meyer is digging deeper for an upwardly mobile Miners side that sit third in the Bundesliga standings.
The Domenico Tedesco revolution may still be in its early stages, but Die Knappen’s improvements on last season are already notable. As many as nine points better off now compared to a year ago and honing in on a return to European competition, the changes made under new coach Tedesco are reaping impressive rewards.
Now playing in a much deeper lying midfield role and carrying out a far different set of instructions to what he was previously used to, the 22-year-old Meyer is one of those to feel the tactical hand of wise overseer Tedesco.
Excelling in his new-found defensive duties, Meyer’s positional journey follows a similar path to one taken by recently retired Italy supremo, Andrea Pirlo. During his early years at Brescia, the former AC Milan, Juventus and New York City great was asked by coach Carlo Mazzone to revert to a spot just in front of the back four. It was the move that built a footballing legend and an example that Meyer can look to as he continues with his admirable progress in Germany's top division.
"I hadn’t played in [my current] position previously as I always had more of an offensive role," the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship winner with Germany said. "I’m playing more defensively now and have to win more tackles as a result, but that’s exactly what I’ve been working on [and] it’s been working out quite well."
Putting in an impressive 8.3 miles during the recent victory in Stuttgart, Meyer outran every player on the pitch at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. With just eight misplaced passes out of 41 made and 60 touches, it was the Oberhausen native’s 11 winning tackles that will have impressed his coach all the more.
"We are strong at the back and clinical in front of goal lately [and] we are trying to take full advantage of that strong defence," Meyer told Schalke's official website. "We almost always score and with that in mind, if we don’t concede, we win!"
And with the four-time senior Germany international revelling in his position in front of a three-man central defence, flanked by roaming full-backs, Schalke appear to be clicking and in all the right places as they set their sights on a top-four finish.
"The league is very tight and things could all look differently in just a matter of weeks so we must continue in the same vein and push on," Meyer said. "If we do that, we could be in and around the top of the table come the end of the season."[/article]
Schalke's Max Meyer: Xabi Alonso's Royal Blue heir
[article]
If somebody had said at the start of the season that Schalke's Max Meyer would be the player to inherit recently retired Bayern Munich star Xabi Alonso’s title as the best deep-lying playmaker in the Bundesliga, they might have been laughed out of the room.
Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl was an obvious heir; the Schwarzgelbe midfield anchor who completed 90 percent of his passes as his side finished third behind Alonso’s Bayern and RB Leipzig. Back in Bavaria, Arturo Vidal and Thiago Alcantara were also accustomed to operating in a deeper role, and with some aplomb.
Across the Revierderby divide, meanwhile, Meyer had struggled to live up to his previous Wunderkind billing. First capped by Germany in 2014 at the age of 18 – as an attacking midfielder – recent seasons had been less kind to the Schalke academy graduate.
Meyer only completed 90 minutes nine times under Domenico Tedesco’s predecessor at the Veltins Arena, Markus Weinzierl, and he found himself frozen out of the new coach’s first two starting line-ups this term. When Meyer’s first start did roll around – a 3-1 win over VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 3 - it was as a false 9. The team thrived, but Meyer couldn’t claim a direct hand in any of Nabil Bentaleb’s, Naldo’s or Guido Burgstaller’s goals.
Meyer soon found himself missing out on matchday squads altogether, but Tedesco had a change of heart at the end of September. “When the reaction is like Max's, you think as a coach and say to yourself, 'Man, I have to reward him,’” he said at the time. “‘It can’t be that he runs four or five miles in training and then misses the games.’ Then, as a coach, you’re forced to be creative.”
It’s not for nothing that Tedesco is regarded as one of the brightest young touchline prodigies in the game; and what seems so obvious now was evidently apparent only to the 32-year-old at the time: Meyer didn’t have the turn of pace to beat his marker one-on-one frequently enough in the final third; his diminutive 5’8” stature belied a grit worthy of the Ruhr Valley region in which it was honed; and Meyer might in fact be the man to play the “pass before the pass”.
That prescience has been richly rewarded. Meyer’s first assignment at No.6 – German footballing parlance for the deeper of three central midfielders – was a 2-0 loss at Hoffenheim, but he has gone on to start more games than any other Schalke midfielder bar Amine Harit.
Operating behind the Moroccan – or Leon Goretzka when he’s been fit – Meyer has completed 93 percent of his passes, a league high. Where Alonso might have had Vidal winning the ball back for him, Meyer wins it back all on his own. Now 22, he has covered almost eight miles per game, winning nearly half of his challenges despite his supposed physical disadvantages.
From forgotten prodigy to indispensable team member, Meyer now has in Tedesco one of his biggest fans. “It would be tough to swallow,” he said on the prospect of his rejuvenated player, out of contract in the summer, leaving. “I don’t believe he’s ever played as well as he currently is. He now has a position where he can play to his strengths.”
Meyer hasn’t pulled on the white of Germany since November 2016, but having been reinvented as the best deep-lying playmaker in the league, against all odds, there is set to be a clamour for Meyer’s services from all corners given his ability to start play when seemingly boxed into one.
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Young german international. Get him if possible.
Yeah, he'll do nicely thank you please.
A ball winning DM that's comfortable on the ball & with an astonishingly high pass ratio behind Keita rampaging forwards with Lallana in front of them would mean we'd actually look like we had a spine to the side for the first time in a long time.
Of course you could drop Lallana for Hendo & have Keita as the furthest forwards against some opposition as well, which would be balanced as well.
A ball winning DM that's comfortable on the ball & with an astonishingly high pass ratio behind Keita rampaging forwards with Lallana in front of them would mean we'd actually look like we had a spine to the side for the first time in a long time.
Of course you could drop Lallana for Hendo & have Keita as the furthest forwards against some opposition as well, which would be balanced as well.
After the huge success we had with the Welsh Xavi, I look forward to the German Pirlo with equal relish.
To be fair now, Germans tend to be better than the Welsh
I’d like both of them in front of Jorginho or Neves tkvm
As much as I like lallana, I honestly don't know if he's done at this level
Eh?
Disregarding what "level" you think he's at, or ever been at, he's hardly played, so unless you're talking about his injuries, it's impossible to make a call about what level he'll come back at, without watching him play.
He'll be getting 30 odd, and struggling to get back to fitness now.
The team can't afford to wait for him to possibly be the answer, nor has his stats ever given the idea that he's going to be the answer.
I really like him, and this is Probably me overthinking; but we're at such a crucial stage, it's important we keep going.
I'm not sure I've ever thought Lallana was the answer to anything really, so I'm not arsed
Ox has a good energy Level as well, and will probably use the full summer pre-season taking another step forward. We need a Meyer-type (haven't seen him enough so basing it on those articles) in the team.
The question for me is can we find someone better?
At the same time we see the likes of Wilson, Woodburn, Grujic etc looking to stake a claim.
Watch his comp on youtube, they'll give you an idea. Like Milner he is very versatile
Oh don't get me wrong, ideal world we fuck off Can, & Hendo, Chamberlain & Lallana are squad players, with Keita, this lad coming in & a boss CM/AM as well.
I can't see us spending that much though, so Keita & a boss 6 will give us balance with a creative attacking mid in front of them.
Chamberlain & Lallana are the two we have, & Lallana has the best track record with us of the two, so in this game of fantasy but realisticish midfield I'd choose Lallana.
I can't see us spending that much though, so Keita & a boss 6 will give us balance with a creative attacking mid in front of them.
Chamberlain & Lallana are the two we have, & Lallana has the best track record with us of the two, so in this game of fantasy but realisticish midfield I'd choose Lallana.
Problem is though you would have a midget midfield. Both Meyer and Keita are 5'6". We're lacking in height as it is.
Yeah, no thanks.
Another tall CB should solve that problem
Matip and Van dijk are both very tall so i don't see how another tall CB would fix our overall lack of height in the team.
play 3 CBs
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