Is it me or is Anguissa a whole heap better?

[Dawns scones]

Scott Parker thinks there are reasons for AFA's turnaround.

Andre-Frank Anguissa had a difficult time when he first arrived at Fulham in 2018 – but his manager thinks the midfielder is going to be "pivotal" this time around.

Anybody who has watched the Cameroon international this season is aware his performances have been radically different compared to that relegation campaign.

He made only 16 Premier League starts with the Whites before a loan to Villarreal last season.

In the summer, the 24-year-old was linked with a permanent switch to the Spanish side as well as AC Milan.

But Parker reckons Anguissa is here to stay

"In 2018, he came in on the last day of the transfer window from Marseille and had only played a couple of games at that point," the head coach said.

"He had a week's training before our first game against Tottenham at Wembley (a 3-1 defeat), and we had our struggles having just come up from the Championship.

"The combination of factors; coming from abroad, a struggling team, not a lot of training, and he got injured – it was up and down.

"He didn't know exactly where he was in the team and he probably lost a bit of confidence. People lose sight of those obstacles".

"You're seeing a player who is now a bit more familiar with me, his surroundings, and has not had any obstacles outside of football.

"He knows his stature in the side, and with his quality he's going to be pivotal for us."

https://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/parker-explains-what-has-changed-for-anguissa-at-fulham?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork

[SP]

I think SP has captured the situation he faced pretty well.  Add on the revolving management door & the frankly ridiculous sending off at Old Trafford & he must've found life difficult.  Older, wiser in a settled environment hopefully.

[S.F.Sorrow]

Yes he is much better now. Part of the reason is that we no longer play him as a lone DM. We signed him more or less to be an upgrade on KMac, didn't we?  Anguissa isn't that type of player. It was a very, very poor signing considering what we needed at the time and how much we paid for him. Hopefully we will see a better version of Anguissa in a different role this season. He is a top quality player when he is played in his best position (but he still seems to go missing a bit after 60-70mins or so...).

[filham]

Yes Anguissa is looking good and with Loftus Cheek and Cairney  last week our midfield looked very good. then with Lemina and Reed waiting in the wings we should have no problem fielding a strong midfield in every game.

[bencher]

I may get slated for saying this, but when I watch AFZA, he does not strike me as a natural athlete. He has excellent qualities, and I've enjoyed watching him this season so far, but the comments you read about him switching off defensively or running out of gas, seem to be to be a reflection that he is not not a natural athlete, or perhaps better expressed, a long distance athlete. His build is quite heavy, and the up side is he has the power to protect the ball well. But I think he also tires more quickly than a skinny run all day kind of midfielder like N'golo Kante. It's why he's not really a natural for the anchor man role.

[Bronaldinho]

Give someone a consistent environment to learn in and they will succeed - keep changing it, and it's hard for anyone to flourish.

Parker was a huge fan of him, he played in a similar role last year for Villareal.

He's had time at the club this time around, rather than being a deadline day signing.

Means he would have a home settled, and a routine established.

Those sort of changes have a big impact on someone. Allows them to focus on their football and improve. We are seeing the benefits of that.

[Finnans Right Peg]

I think credit has to go to scott and of course the player

[rebel]

His best performances for us in the Prem came against Man City, league and cup. He has quality, I honestly think if Parker gets a settled side, he will actually show more of the qualities he has, I don't think he has actually fully tapped into 'what he's all about'.

[cmg]

I'm sure you get better and better everyday.

As far as Anguissa is concerned, I think it's a matter of perspective.
He was, undoubtedly, disappointing when he first arrived, possibly due to being uncomfortable with the situation and uncertain of his role. There were still, however, many positive indicators.
At Villareal he established himself as one of the best players of his type in La Liga.
We, of course, saw little or nothing of this. So when he reappeared playing at the same level it looked like we had a new (or improved) player on our hands.

Whatever it is let's hope it continues as, thus far, he has been a very big player indeed.

[Radiowhite]

How are people still criticising him? Started to show his class towards the end of the relegation season, had a great season at Villarreal by all accounts and this season he has been our stand out player so far. He has qualities far beyond Fulham, unfortunately

[Statto]

I may get slated for saying this, but when I watch AFZA, he does not strike me as a natural athlete.

Are you sure?

[bencher]

I may get slated for saying this, but when I watch AFZA, he does not strike me as a natural athlete.

Are you sure?

I didn't say he is unfit or not an athlete. I think he is one of those players who plays in bursts rather than being able to play the high energy press for 90 minutes. Sprinters look good with their top off but that doesn't make them good at running a marathon. I could be wrong (and my wife says I usually am). I am addressing some of the criticisms of him (not from me) that he doesn't always track his runner. If you read my whole comment rather than picking out one part you'd see I explained it to mean not a natural long distance runner. Anyway, I like him a lot but I think you have to play the right guy with him to get the best out of him. I would like to see him with Lemina behind him mopping up.

[sunburywhite]

Its you who is a whole heap better

[Jim©]

I am addressing some of the criticisms of him (not from me) that he doesn't always track his runner. If you read my whole comment rather than picking out one part you'd see I explained it to mean not a natural long distance runner.

Runner tracking from my experience is more about concentration and willingness than fitness. I haven't seen anything fitness wise that prevents him from picking up those runners, but sometimes he just doesn't check the space around him when without the ball to pick them up.

[Statto]

I didn't say he is unfit or not an athlete. I think he is one of those players who plays in bursts rather than being able to play the high energy press for 90 minutes. Sprinters look good with their top off but that doesn't make them good at running a marathon. I could be wrong (and my wife says I usually am). I am addressing some of the criticisms of him (not from me) that he doesn't always track his runner. If you read my whole comment rather than picking out one part you'd see I explained it to mean not a natural long distance runner. Anyway, I like him a lot but I think you have to play the right guy with him to get the best out of him. I would like to see him with Lemina behind him mopping up.

I read the whole post and you can treat that image as a reply to all of it. He's clearly not top heavy or bulky, just in incredibly good condition. You cannot get conditioning like that without being "fit" in the normal, healthy-cardio-vascular-system sense of that term, just like you cannot run the 100m at elite level without being fit in that way (just because 100m sprinters don't also compete at long distance, doesn't mean that, relatively speaking, they wouldn't be reasonably good at it with some adjusted training).

I agree with JimC (shocking I know) about tracking runners being more down to mental factors such as concentration, awareness and desire.

[ALG01]

I think there are two frank anguissas. this time we have trhe good one.
Whilst he still has a few shortcomings (who doesn't), he is a different class this time and looks totally dedicated to the task. It is a pleasure for me to say that he has won me round because i really didn;'t want him back!

[cmg]

Looking at the photo I would say, borrowing from the Coen Brothers,

"If he ain't a natural athlete, he'll sure do until the natural athlete gets here."

[cmg]

Also: impressively patriotic, Les Lions Indomptables on his string vest.

[WolverineFFC]

He was much better after SP took over in 2018. It was the one thing which impressed me about SP at the time, how TC and Frank improved after he took over as caretaker.

I think many had already written him off by then though.

[AnOldBrownie]

I may get slated for saying this, but when I watch AFZA, he does not strike me as a natural athlete.

Are you sure?

I didn't say he is unfit or not an athlete. I think he is one of those players who plays in bursts rather than being able to play the high energy press for 90 minutes. Sprinters look good with their top off but that doesn't make them good at running a marathon. I could be wrong (and my wife says I usually am). I am addressing some of the criticisms of him (not from me) that he doesn't always track his runner. If you read my whole comment rather than picking out one part you'd see I explained it to mean not a natural long distance runner. Anyway, I like him a lot but I think you have to play the right guy with him to get the best out of him. I would like to see him with Lemina behind him mopping up.

I get your meaning. (think you may have phrased it incorrectly).  Conditioning can be improved upon, as can adjusting to the speed/physicality of the EPL.

You aren't necessarily wrong though.     My daughter is the same type of athlete (she also runs track...sprints) and the worst part of her game...even though she's great on the ball...great at getting to 50/50s... is consistency due to her lack of "conditioning".  At times, to my eye, it looks like she's taking time off but I know she's not.  She's tired.    I'm trying to work it out of her...but you know...Covid and all.   082.gif