Fantastic play by Yedlin on that assist. I'm telling y'all, he's improved by leaps and bounds. His passing is much better, his touch has substantially improved, and his final ball is getting better and better.
Maybe (probably) I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'll float out the question.. Is this Yedlin's level, or could he go one step higher? "One step higher" meaning consistent Champions/Europa League team. Honestly, I'd be content for him to play at this level for years, but if he can keep impressing.... he's only 24.
He had a bit of an off day in the friendly, but he's always an asset in attack for his club. He has his share of assists, and he's capable of taking on a winger and leaving him in the dust. Having said that, defensively he's not there yet, and allows clean crosses a bit too often for my liking, so I'd say no, not right now, but he may keep improving. The defensive side of the game is the one that takes longest to mature, and a proper fullback doesn't reach his peak until around 27.
Wasted years of youth? Essentially your question is, "Is he world class?" We are not likely to know, he is improving every season, kind of like Geoff but at a higher level. The problem is that for the big transfers, the big clubs look for guys like Yedlin now, two or three years younger. Yanks that follow the Yedlin path tend to be a contract behind. If he was exactly where he is now on the terms he is on and 21 years old my answer is he would probably get a shot at a higher rated club. At 24 it is a coin flip in my opinion.
He could have done better on the Martial goal. The commentators are raving about him. He just had a world class clearing header from a cross.
The first 20 minutes of this were awesome. Though, truth be told, ManU was kinda playing out of their minds, but Newcastle reverted to kick ball too quickly after going down. DY was mixed, great assist, recovered a few times well, but not awesome positioning on the goal. In general Newcastle was out of sync despite the early lead.
That isn't going to be the last centerback pairing this season that is going to look wank against this lot.
Great 1st 30 minutes, and that assist was a beauty. He got forward with the ball a bit more and was making some nice runs. Solid defensively, no complaints and had that great recovery play beating his man in a 40 yard sprint, slid to knock the ball out, That was cool. Really does get sucked into the middle with the ball on the other side and these great strikers/wingers just peel off his back shoulder. Can’t fully blame him for those 2 goals, but definitely responsible. First goal just let his guy leap over him, maybe if he’s tighter he gets a body on him before the leap. The 2nd, well...just lost his man plain and simple. Last 30 min he was bombing down the ride side. Love to see it and his team needs him to draw those defenders and keep the outside middies honest. Good game overall from him.
First goal he was flat footed and Martial was coming in with speed so was easily able to elevate over him. Second goal yeah he just lost Rashford for a second. Although Rashford would probably beat him anyway. Yedlin shouldn't be responsible for winning headers in the six yard box anyway.
I wasn't picking a battle with anyone. Just giving some credit to Yedlin for locking it up. I even repped your post.
Martial also gained leverage by pushing off of Yedlin's shoulder with his forearm. In terms of crosses blocked by players with 500 minutes in the EPL Yedlin is 12th with .9 per 90.
That would've been a foul at midfield. And Yedlin was in a tough spot, to begin with. Had two guys to mark and you can see him screaming for help. He kind of had to float between them, and as a result wasn't in great position when the cross finally came in.
On the Martial goal, Yedlin either did not jump or tried jumping too late. An earlier jump might or might not have stopped Martial, but it would make it harder for him to score.
DeAndre is never going to be Cafú but he's one of the best young players we got and quite good in his own right. Good enough to aspire to a club significantly better than the Mags? No, not really. But I may be wrong.
Depends I suppose on if Newcastle stabilize or keep yo yo ing between the championship and premier league.