Amadou Onana

[Romey 1878]

5 minutes ago, RuffRob said:

Just watched a you tube video 'Amadou Onana - the game changer' not your usual you tube highlights real. 

A very mature young fella, full of self confidence, hunger and humility. He even sings!

Please tell me he sang Rihanna?!

[Bailey]

5 hours ago, Matt Tiger said:

There will be plenty of moments over the course of the season where we'll have to remind ourselves of his age. He's fouled at too high a clip thus far in his career and I imagine it'll take some time for him to polish that area of his game. Nonetheless he looks like a hell of a player and you'll take the fouls at a young age given everything else he has to offer.

Thats it. Going to ground too much is something that can be easily trained out of him and by making the most of his size. 

[SpartyBlue]

38 minutes ago, Bailey said:

Thats it. Going to ground too much is something that can be easily trained out of him and by making the most of his size. 

I wouldn’t want to train it out of him completely. He needs to exercise judgement but that length is an attribute in his tackling 

[StevO]

59 minutes ago, SpartyBlue said:

I wouldn’t want to train it out of him completely. He needs to exercise judgement but that length is an attribute in his tackling 

Can’t read that without giggling to myself.

[Btay]

4 hours ago, Billwelshblue said:

Looks raw but has frightening potential the fact we are bringing in Gana to bridge the gap while he beds into the league is very clever. Now we need a forward

 

I’d have no issue putting him in straight away. Over the last 4/5 seasons we’ve seen seasoned pro’s making the same mistakes over and over again. I’d rather see young lads like Myko, Patterson, Gordon & this fella make a few mistakes but hopefully learn from them and become better.

[Shukes]

Amadou Amadou! Amadou! Amadou Amadou! Amadou! Amadou Amadou!  Oh oh oh Amadou! 
Oh come and smash it Amadou!

[Bailey]

9 hours ago, SpartyBlue said:

I wouldn’t want to train it out of him completely. He needs to exercise judgement but that length is an attribute in his tackling 

No of course, but when you watch the likes of Fabinho or Rodri, they very rarely go to ground and they are always just nudging the other player off the ball and starting attacks. 

When you slide in, you lose that bit of control so if you can win the ball whilst staying on your feet its much better in my opinion.

[RuffRob]

1 minute ago, Bailey said:

No of course, but when you watch the likes of Fabinho or Rodri, they very rarely go to ground and they are always just nudging the other player off the ball and starting attacks. 

When you slide in, you lose that bit of control so if you can win the ball whilst staying on your feet its much better in my opinion.

Need to remember it's also a highlights real, so difficult to judge to much, as this sort of tackle is going to be prominent in them. Make him look like he slides in here there and everywhere. Seems to have good timing though.

Always going to better saying on your feet than going to ground if you can.

[Bailey]

9 minutes ago, RuffRob said:

Need to remember it's also a highlights real, so difficult to judge to much, as this sort of tackle is going to be prominent in them. Make him look like he slides in here there and everywhere. Seems to have good timing though.

Always going to better saying on your feet than going to ground if you can.

Yeh I get the point about them being highlight but even in them you can see he is diving in when he doesnt need to. 

[SpartyBlue]

17 minutes ago, Bailey said:

No of course, but when you watch the likes of Fabinho or Rodri, they very rarely go to ground and they are always just nudging the other player off the ball and starting attacks. 

When you slide in, you lose that bit of control so if you can win the ball whilst staying on your feet its much better in my opinion.

Point taken but they also aren’t so tall. He can get away with some tackles others can’t. I agree with the above that bringing Gana in to bridge the gap and help teach this kid is very clever. Between him and Frank he should get quite the education. 

[Romey 1878]

 

[Goodison Glory]

https://theathletic.com/3480590/2022/08/06/amadou-onana-transfer-everton-west-ham-analysis/?source=user_shared_article

[Bailey]

I have been watching through some of Lille's highlights to see if I can find a bit more about him without it being a "best of" compilation.

You don't really see a lot of him is the first thing to note. In two Chelsea games, it was a bit of a strange one, playing as a 10 in the first game and looking a bit lost (unsurprisingly) before being subbed off and then coming off the bench late in the second game and playing as more of a CB.

I hadn't realised that he had only started around 15 games in all comps for Lille last season, for the price being paid I thought he was going to be a regular. 

Going back through the Ligue Un games, again you don't see a lot of him. The little you can see makes him look a responsible player. Even at his age you see him directing teammates and leading in the situations. However at other times, you see a bit of laziness, or maybe a lack of intensity would be a better description. I am watching him thinking, go on, win that and he just jogs alongside them. 

Physically he looks like he has everything, technically from the highlights videos he looks like he has a lot in his locker but he is very much a rough diamond that needs to be brought along gradually.

[SpartyBlue]

36 minutes ago, Bailey said:

I have been watching through some of Lille's highlights to see if I can find a bit more about him without it being a "best of" compilation.

You don't really see a lot of him is the first thing to note. In two Chelsea games, it was a bit of a strange one, playing as a 10 in the first game and looking a bit lost (unsurprisingly) before being subbed off and then coming off the bench late in the second game and playing as more of a CB.

I hadn't realised that he had only started around 15 games in all comps for Lille last season, for the price being paid I thought he was going to be a regular. 

Going back through the Ligue Un games, again you don't see a lot of him. The little you can see makes him look a responsible player. Even at his age you see him directing teammates and leading in the situations. However at other times, you see a bit of laziness, or maybe a lack of intensity would be a better description. I am watching him thinking, go on, win that and he just jogs alongside them. 

Physically he looks like he has everything, technically from the highlights videos he looks like he has a lot in his locker but he is very much a rough diamond that needs to be brought along gradually.

Yep. This is a gamble. Extremely high upside but for the price, considerable downside. I think if he just OK he’s Doucoure. If he really develops, he’s at Real Madrid

[Shukes]

We have to make sure this goes through. 
Just been reading up about him and his age, he is known as a leader already. His personality and motivation at his age is worth more than his ability.

This lad apparently just needs to find the right place to be nurtured and he has the chance of becoming a special talent.

This is exactly the type of player we need to be building around.

[Goodison Glory]

It's a long article but lots of good analysis, too much to copy. It's a paid site but you can trial for free. Here's an extract.

Which midfield ‘personality’

The energiser: the heartbeat of the team; a box-to-box player and ball carrier

The passer: plays line-breaking balls

The magician: creative, and can operate in tight spaces between the lines

The spider: positionally deeper, connects defence to attack (imagine passing lines from them being like a spider’s legs)

The destroyer: primarily defensive contributors who prevent and stop attacks

Positionally, Onana looks like a ‘spider’ due to the high volume of minutes he’s played as a deep-lying midfielder, but in his 13 starts across Ligue 1 and the Champions League, he primarily lined up as a left or right central midfielder in a 4-4-2.

Everton are understood to admire his midfield versatility and box-to-box ability — an example of that is that he played as a No 10 away to Chelsea in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie in February.

Playing as ‘the destroyer’

Of the five personalities listed above, Onana is mostly a ‘destroyer’.

Using smarterscout data — which gives players a rating from zero to 99, relating to either how often they perform a given action compared with others playing in their position (such as ball recoveries and interceptions) or how effective they are at it (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield) — we can take a closer look at his profile.

His resulting pizza chart below indicates Onana — who was still 19 when last season began — competes frequently in aerial duels (94 out of 99), which is unsurprising given he is 6ft 5in (195cm). He also ranks highly for defending intensity (69 out of 99) — which points to an active style of defending through pressure and tackles — but even better for his defensive impact (89 out of 99), which highlights how his actions are effective in preventing the opposition from progressing further.

Underpinning these impressive numbers is his tackling technique.

Onana frequently makes clean sliding tackles but in a slightly unorthodox manner — most players would use their foot farthest from the ball and try to sweep that leg across, he uses the foot closest to it and tackles with the toes.

He also ranked in the top six per cent of Ligue 1 central midfielders last season for the fewest times he got dribbled past (0.66 per 90 minutes).

Everton like Onana’s dynamism, intensity and physicality and believe he would offer something different to the current options in their squad.

Playing as ‘the spider’ and ‘the passer’

Onana’s attacking profile is interesting.

His pizza chart shows impressive rankings for key attacking metrics (the blue parts) but paints him as a below-average player in possession (the green ones) — aside from ball carrying (carry & dribble volume: 67 out of 100).

His current limitations lie in his team’s organised build-up. Onana does not always take up quality positions and is often easily marked out of the game — although this could also have been a Lille tactic to build attacks through different players and areas.

There is work to be done on his body shape as he receives passes and his spatial awareness to recognise pressure.

A statistical comparison to last season’s central midfield partner Renato Sanches illustrates where Onana has room to develop. Though — as recommended by Beale — clubs will naturally use a variety of playing profiles to structure a midfield, so style as well as ability shapes these numbers.

 

[Goodison Glory]

One the least "dribbled past" midfielders. That's a good start. 

[Bailey]

2 minutes ago, SpartyBlue said:

Yep. This is a gamble. Extremely high upside but for the price, considerable downside. I think if he just OK he’s Doucoure. If he really develops, he’s at Real Madrid

I'm not sure the downside will be that considerable. Even if it doesn't work out and he stays at the level he is now, we are probably getting at least half our money back (subject the wages we give him). 

I think the issue for us at the moment is that we are desperate to improve our midfield significantly in this window. We have improved, but there is an element of us now having 3 Doucoure style players on the books whereas I think we need someone to dictate that area and have a bit of quality on the ball. If we can get a player like that in as well, we would go from having one of the weakest midfields in the league to having a really solid one with options/replacements as well.

[Goodison Glory]

Once we get a striker in....delle is going to have to be that "get your foot on the ball player". Gana and Onana disrupt the opposition and keep the ball moving.

[Goodison Glory]

Anyone else getting nervous...I don't follow other clubs but does it take them this long - from when terms are agreed. 

[Shukes]

25 minutes ago, Goodison Glory said:

Anyone else getting nervous...I don't follow other clubs but does it take them this long - from when terms are agreed. 

I’m the same, thinking has there been a hitch or something.

[Goodison Glory]

I thought he was going to be at the game (regardless)...I've not seen any pictures of him. Def getting nervous now. 

[MikeO]

14 minutes ago, Goodison Glory said:

I thought he was going to be at the game (regardless)...I've not seen any pictures of him. Def getting nervous now. 

Phil McNulty said he just walked into the director's box.

[Cornish Steve]

4 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Phil McNulty said he just walked into the director's box.

Nice to know, but what about Onana?

[MikeO]

1 minute ago, Cornish Steve said:

Nice to know, but what about Onana?

[msloan78]

16 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Phil McNulty said he just walked into the director's box.

 

[Romey 1878]

https://www.teamtalk.com/everton/pundit-reveals-toffees-making-one-signings-summer-amadou-onana-capture

[footywithuti]

Hi everyone, hope you're doing well. I've just done a short video breaking down everything you need to know about Amadou Onana and how he'll fit into Everton in 4 minutes. If the other signings thus far in the summer haven't got you buzzing, then this one most certainly should. Make no mistake about it, the kids dynamite and will take to the Prem like a duck to water. I'd love to hear your thoughts and am happy to answer any questions you may have in mind, cheers and have a good one! 

 

 

[Goodison Glory]

Let's get it done then

[Romey 1878]

5 minutes ago, Goodison Glory said:

Let's get it done then

It's not us holding it up, everything has been done our end.