Both players need to join the modern era and invest their energy in defending more and attacking/scoring less.
It's more a case of when you come up against good defenders, and you can't score, what else are you bringing to the table? He's still working on his plan B. He's proven plan A at this level
Yes and in a better league. I'd be interested in Haaland's stats when he was younger in lesser leagues to see if he was way ahead of Pepi then too.
We could use the stats from his time at RB Salzburg but the problem is that even then the Austrian Bundesliga was way, way weaker than the Eredivisie and it's even weaker now. Salzburg would have been very competitive against Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord but not even Rapid or Austria Vienna would have been on the same level as AZ or Twente. As for Austria's bottom 3-4 . . .
Yes combine his Dortmund and RBS stats to get a feel. It's somewhat similar in that both were two of the best teams like Pepi at PSV is. One obvious difference is Haaland is faster.
Because the idea was to compare Haaland's stats in "lesser leagues", which the Bundesliga isn't. It's a Top 5 league, as far ahead of the Eredivisie as the Eredivisie is ahead of the Austrian league
Ricardo Pepi on World Cup call-up: ‘All the work I’ve put in makes it a little more special’ - Yahoo Sports
I can't be arsed to find his national team thread and only saw the highlights, but damn he linked up well. Played at speed, made some killer runs, and made the right pass at the right moment. Interesting he was given the 9 shirt...very much looking forward to his tournament. Will hopefully be eating crow from my previous comments here.
I think Fulham will be back. He looked good. A little different type forward than Raul, but I think he would be fine.
Based on what Ernie said about the failed transfer, it feels like Fulham are waiting until after the World Cup to ensure that they get a healthy Pepi out of the deal, which makes sense to me.
Fulham may be waiting until after the WC but it's a double-edged sword, in two ways: 1) better offers from better clubs than Fulham could come and 2) Silva is leaving for Benfica, which changes their offer somewhat. Fulham will remain an attractive destination, but new coaches have their own styles, formations, preferred player qualities and preferred transfer targets. Pepi may not suit him as much and vice versa
I think the Senegal game should disprove your doubts because Pepi was visible and effective throughout his time on the pitch, especially in providing assists. It's only a friendly of course, so the usual caveats apply, but isn't it possible that Pepi is sometimes invisible in matches because that's the way Bosz wants him to be? If so (and it may not be) it's not too hard to see Pepi's injuries playing a part in that with Bosz choosing a lighter physical load to get him back on the pitch a bit earlier Even if you are 100% correct, I don't see how that means a team plays with only 10 men or how that's a problem. Wouldn't it mean the opposition has to man-mark him (making it a 10-v-10 game) or paly 2 at the back throughout, giving PSV a 10-v-9 overload on the rest of the pitch?
Naah. Benfica are a great club with a storied history and all that but they'd also little more than a lateral move for him while he's already a highly valued player at a club with a lot more stability on the bench than Benfica have, wins more silverware than Benfica these days and is in the CL just as frequently. In addition, as a selling club in a selling league, they don't pay the kind of money that Fulham have been offering 's very often. I didn't intend my post to be read as a Pepi-to-Benfica idea because IMO it'd be a real "so why bother?" move. If anything, what I wanted to say was he should rethink Fulham and maybe look to stay at PSV for another season.
Well, you could be right and as I posted I could be wrong. The good thing is most of the WC coaches/players/defenders don't know him as well as the Eredivisie ones.
From World Cup snub to World Cup weapon: Ricardo Pepi's playmaking gives the U.S. another option up front - Yahoo Sports
As I remember you did quote the coach who was somewhat critical. I have to admit I was a little bit puzzled as I've watched since he was 16 and he isn't just a poacher as we saw in the USA game. He did little flicks and holdups all the time at FCD and puts in energy pressing although I do agree with you that he needs to work on his angles at times. Perhaps he just hasn't had a lot of time staring with the other starters on PSG due to being a backup before and being injured this year? I guess we'll find out in the future.