A thread complimenting one of our better players this season, for a change. What looked like a strange loan arrangement in the off-season has so far proved to be an inspired idea. With Flanagan out till December and Johnson having missed several games already, Manquillo has not only stepped in to fill the void, but also done it pretty impressively.
Although he won't get credited with the assists, he's already contributed to at least two crucial game-winning goals so far, earning the face-saving penalty deep into injury time against Ludogorets in the CL, and it was his surging run which created the space for Sterling to set up Henderson for the winning goal against West Brom (though with a bit of luck, I might add, as the Spaniard's pass was deflected to Sterling).
I think Montero got around him once after beating him for pace today, but otherwise, they battled to a standstill, and I'd say he even seemed to frustrate Montero. On the other end, he pressed very high up and made some good cuts inside. He's also often showing up for the ball and not afraid to receive it and attack with it. His crossing from wide still needs better accuracy, but otherwise, he's looking pretty polished.
For our equalizer, he played his part again with a nice curling run on the outside of Borini. The Swansea fullback had to sink back to defend the run in case Borini chose to slide in a pass, and so couldn't get aggressive on Borini. This gave Borini a 1-v-1 matchup against Shelvey, whose slack work then allowed Borini the space and time to put in the excellent cross for Balotelli to finish. Clip of the goal here:
http://www.tvgolo.com/en/page-start_from_0_archive_.html
Good spirit by the lad too. Late in the game against Hull, he made an attacking run and his ankle got bitten, earning us a free kick. He seemed to be in a bit of pain after that, but instead of lying on the ground waiting for the physio to come provide pain relief (see: Borini), he simply got up, limped around, and then winced and waved to signal to the referee that he was all right and there was no need for the physio to come on. He then trotted back to take up position in case Hull counter-attacked off our free kick. Had he required treatment, he'd have had to come off the pitch while the kick was being taken, which would have left us a man light in attack for the setpiece or in defence against a counter.
The loan arrangement is confusing to me, but if he keeps putting in performances like he's done so far, we really should talk to Atletico about making his move permanent before they decide they want to keep him.
Although he won't get credited with the assists, he's already contributed to at least two crucial game-winning goals so far, earning the face-saving penalty deep into injury time against Ludogorets in the CL, and it was his surging run which created the space for Sterling to set up Henderson for the winning goal against West Brom (though with a bit of luck, I might add, as the Spaniard's pass was deflected to Sterling).
I think Montero got around him once after beating him for pace today, but otherwise, they battled to a standstill, and I'd say he even seemed to frustrate Montero. On the other end, he pressed very high up and made some good cuts inside. He's also often showing up for the ball and not afraid to receive it and attack with it. His crossing from wide still needs better accuracy, but otherwise, he's looking pretty polished.
For our equalizer, he played his part again with a nice curling run on the outside of Borini. The Swansea fullback had to sink back to defend the run in case Borini chose to slide in a pass, and so couldn't get aggressive on Borini. This gave Borini a 1-v-1 matchup against Shelvey, whose slack work then allowed Borini the space and time to put in the excellent cross for Balotelli to finish. Clip of the goal here:
http://www.tvgolo.com/en/page-start_from_0_archive_.html
Good spirit by the lad too. Late in the game against Hull, he made an attacking run and his ankle got bitten, earning us a free kick. He seemed to be in a bit of pain after that, but instead of lying on the ground waiting for the physio to come provide pain relief (see: Borini), he simply got up, limped around, and then winced and waved to signal to the referee that he was all right and there was no need for the physio to come on. He then trotted back to take up position in case Hull counter-attacked off our free kick. Had he required treatment, he'd have had to come off the pitch while the kick was being taken, which would have left us a man light in attack for the setpiece or in defence against a counter.
The loan arrangement is confusing to me, but if he keeps putting in performances like he's done so far, we really should talk to Atletico about making his move permanent before they decide they want to keep him.
