✍️ Welcome Lucas Paquetá - Our Brazilian Magnifico

[Dieter Eckstein]

Got to be honest, I was expecting a bit more flair and goals from him. I'm now unsure whether he's one of those players whose value goes unnoticed, or whether he just isn't actually doing very much.

[mumbles87]

Got to be honest, I was expecting a bit more flair and goals from him. I'm now unsure whether he's one of those players whose value goes unnoticed, or whether he just isn't actually doing very much.

I think people see the price and expect payet type

He's more a better version of fornals

[hammer1975]

I think people see the price and expect payet type

He's more a better version of fornals

Agree. Also think people are caught up in the £50m+ player. I doubt he’ll ever cost us anything like that transfer fee.

[mumbles87]

Agree. Also think people are caught up in the £50m+ player. I doubt he’ll ever cost us anything like that transfer fee.

People see fees and A get bogged down on them and B fail to adjust for inflation

Take Ashton, 7.5 million , English, premier league proven , young

I'd say you would need to spend about 30 now for that quality of player (small risk as wasn't fully established)

I mean Watkins never played premier league and sent for 28 million

People get on fornals and benny back for output but really inflation adjusted they are just those 7 million punts of the past

[Dieter Eckstein]

The reported fee did play a part, but so did the caps and goals for Brazil and his reputation as a creative player at Lyon. I really want him to be outstanding for us, and appreciate its his first season, but it’s still not clear to me what his role is and whether he’s doing it successfully or not.

[Tezza65]

If we kept the ball better we'd get more from him. Instead we tend to just give up possession to the opposition every game and have like 40% of the ball.

Not being funny,he probably gives the ball away the most.

[iLoveLasagne]

To my untrained eye, he appears to play intelligent balls into spaces but nobody is on his wavelength to show anticipation.

[The Green Man]

Ironically enough, although I think he's totally wrong for our our midfield 3 (Rice, Paqueta, Soucek) and gives it needlessly, if we had a Lanzini 2015-16 (pre-ACL) alongside him and Rice doing the same job he does for England we would be an absolute joy to watch.

Fornals for me struggles to hold onto the ball in the same way Lanzini can and him and Paqueta together just doesn't work. The little flicks and passes Paqueta is capable of are the exact sort of thing Lanzini can work with but you need someone Lanzini's ball control, as well as the extra yard of pace he lost to play through sides. Someones like McAllister for Brighton would get us ticking but way out of our league now.

Unfortunately the sort of players like that are £50-60m+ players. With what we've got I'd like to try Benrahma alongside Paqueta in a 3 with Cornet on the left, Bowen on the right and Scamacca up front to provide some additional height, but no way we risk being that open in our current dilemma.

[Colours never run]

Lanzini has't lost a yard, or different to how he was pre injury now he's long got over it. I've watched him very closely and after the initial time he came back from the injury, I would say he was hesitant for good reason when anticipating a challenge, but once he got past that, I've not seen much of a difference. Which is even more reason why it pisses me off he's been overlooked as much as he has been this season. Like so many of our attacking, ball playing forwards he just doesn't trust him.

Lanzini doesn't lose the ball, wins plenty of free kicks, travels with ease with the ball still, makes a high level of passes as good as anyone and still excites when given the rare chance too.

Play him, alongside Paqueta and Rice and we'll drive oppositions potty chasing their shadows all game...

[EastleighHammer16]

Not being funny,he probably gives the ball away the most.

Because he always wants to play forward. Always wants to make things happen. Players like this are always going to lose the ball.

Without looking at any stats, i would expect he also wins it back amongst the most in our team.

[The Straw]

I've never seen a player pass the ball straight out of play as much as Lucas. It's not even close. It's at least once a game.

I understand there will be reasons for that, like he expects different/better runs from team mates (most likely due to everyone being shackled by tactics), but at some point he needs to adapt to the way we play.

Not totally his fault, but for a player of his calibre he needs to keep the ball better. I'm assuming once (if) there is a change in tactics and we have more runners, he will look a much better player.

As it stands he's still just looking like our Veron (The one that was largely ineffective in England but class everywhere else).

[e20too]

I think people see the price and expect payet type

He's more a better version of fornals

I think much of the problem is that Talksport’s very own South American football expert Tim Vickery described him in glowing terms very much in favourable comparison to Payet We were all expecting a classy creative number ten (I fear Moyes was too considering he played him there early on) and instead we were getting a bit classier Fornals expecting to play in a far deeper role, where ironically (at least till Rice leaves) we are rather well equipped these days… which is more that you can for that number ten position. I can only put it down to the fact that all in the management figures, from Moyes through Brady to Sullivan were all too busy negotiating the Club’s role as the evil Machiavellian twin to Ted Lasso’s AFC Richmond that they didn’t notice their error in supplying the players to back up their new fictional media exposure where the team was tipped for top 4 to Richmonds relegation ironically.

On that note the worst thing is, being the perceived baddie in an attempt to raise our media profile across the pond and beyond, only really works positively if in real life you are (as portrayed in the series) at least a successful villain, whereas struggling against relegation in reality just makes you a laughing stock to be mocked and generally avoided even by those who loved the bit of rough, portrayed in Green Street. Looks like Sullivan is yet again failing where it counts and simply taking our fading legacy of the negative wide boy franchise global and shining a spotlight upon it. Let’s hope he doesn’t get to roll up at any awards ceremonies in a Soviet inspired Dinner Suit, that Ted Lasso may be award nominated at, they might just notice that the real and fictional owner of the Club are a little too close in their slimyness for comfort… well apart from in the height department anyway. And we thought things couldn’t get worse with Sullivan’s production of the Krays film.

[westham,eggyandchips]

To my untrained eye, he appears to play intelligent balls into spaces but nobody is on his wavelength to show anticipation.

I'm not having this old chestnut.

[Colours never run]

Regarding Paqueta, 1 thing I think needs taking into account when we bought him and that's his age. All his previous work he'd done back home and abroad was as a 24yo or under. He's still a young player and it shows at times. He's full of heart and giving his all yet he also comes across as lacking a bit of nous and know how. That'll come the more he plays of course and I have wondered whether he really starts coming into life say starting from scratch next season with a clean slate and now knowing what's required to be more successful. When we bought him, it was near the end of the window and a real baptism of fire with a lot of expectation and then as soon as he arrived, he had to leave again mid winter for the gruelling World Cup. What heartens me is I've seen flashes of quality to see a player in there, if only he was a bit more mature and ready for it then we'd see a confident player dictating the game better.

I think it was 28yo before Payet arrived here in the Premier League and suddenly lit the game up, but before then he seemed to flatter to deceive for all his potential ability and then bang, he exploded at just the right maturity and age to come to life. I wonder whether Paqueta may be the same? He gives me that impression after a 1st season of now knowing what to expect.

[Dieter Eckstein]

I'm not having this old chestnut.

I've been using this one for years!

[iLoveLasagne]

To expand on my view, he prefers to play the ball into spaces. The more basic approach would be to play it into feet. This is due to players not moving and makes us slow. Or maybe because we are slow, it needs to go to feet. I remember watching football under Sam Allardyce and the ball nearly always went to the feet. Downing did play it into space but we had the likes of Sakho. Maybe Cornet could replicate Sakho. His passes are high risk, high reward.

[Colours never run]

To expand on my view, he prefers to play the ball into spaces. The more basic approach would be to play it into feet. This is due to players not moving and makes us slow. Or maybe because we are slow, it needs to go to feet. I remember watching football under Sam Allardyce and the ball nearly always went to the feet. Downing did play it into space but we had the likes of Sakho. Maybe Cornet could replicate Sakho. His passes are high risk, high reward.

And the reason we're so static this season, is because we've gone back to basics and made sure of our defensive roles, rather than risk opening up more being expansive. And that'll grate with someone of the vision and imagination of Paqueta as his expertise is not playing it safe laying on easy paint by number passes, he wants to open teams up but our players look reluctant because of the game plan to stick rigidly to our shape as a Team. We're too scared to open up which then nullifies Paquetas game and we end up in the position we now find ourselves in. Scoring, creating very little and yet we boast a Squad full of goalscorers and creative talent. They can't all have gone to **** at the same time, it has to be tactical and its clearly stifling our attacking players like Paqueta.

It's hard to believe we've only scored 24 goals after 26 League games and 5 of those have been Penalties (3rd highest in the League). That's shocking by anyones standards but certainly by a Club that has the amount of goalscorers running through our Squad currently.

[ornchurch ammer]

He is ok in possession and has some nice touches although like others I was expecting more.

What doesn’t get talked about so much is what he offers when out of possession. People having been saying he is an 8 and not a 10 but he seems a bit one paced to me and other teams easily play around him. He does put a tackle in when in position to do so but is also a bit rash and liable to a card hence why he had to be substituted the other week against Villa.

[hammerman11]

Over priced at 50m
Passing not great
Doesn't score many
Not good at free kicks or corners
No pace

Does put a tackle in and occasional.good pass

Too little at the moment

[Gsbgsb]

Paqueta is not a 10, if he was brought to play 10 then that is someone else’s fault not his. He is an excellent 8 though.

People go on about us needing to be more progressive etc. When the players ahead of the passer move so little (Bowen and occasionally Antonio but his age is showing aside) how can he do anything other than pass to feet? It then breaks down as the defence snap into the tackle and it is all the passers fault?

Chicken and egg. You could put the best passers in the world in our midfield, when those in front offer so little the passer looks average.

The abject movement ahead of him, be that Soucek, Fornals, Scamacca or, often, Benrahma is what is limiting his passing as much as anything. Time will tell if Cornet and Ings offer alternatives or, as importantly, if their movement creates space others will be prepared to run into it.