Issa Diop

Bassey the warrior · January 24, 2023, 02:36:42 PM

Just wanted to give him a shout out as I think he's been superb recently. He's so good at winning the ball with interceptions that he rarely need to slide tackle. His positioning and raw pace make him an excellent sweeper as well. He seems to have it all - pace, strength, aerial ability, positioning and the ability to play it out from the back, granted he's not on the same level as Ream or Tosin on that front.

Well done to Marco and the recruitment team for getting him in after a prolonged negotiation.

Craven Mad · January 24, 2023, 02:41:05 PM

Was a beast last night. Reads the game so well, and just seems to appear at full pace for the perfect tackle.

Great signing - good work ffc team

FFC1987 · January 24, 2023, 02:41:27 PM

Was my stand out MoTM last night. His aggressive press and attacking of the ball suits us down to the ground. Just need to get some attacking flow back and we'll pick up points again.

RaySmith · January 24, 2023, 02:43:01 PM

Agree!

Twig · January 24, 2023, 02:45:07 PM

I'm another who agrees.

Chi_FFC · January 24, 2023, 02:47:29 PM

He's our best CB and has been so since he started getting regular starts (around the Bournemouth match).

Finnans Right Peg · January 24, 2023, 03:30:29 PM

Thought he was fantastic all game

Milo · January 24, 2023, 03:31:48 PM

I thought he was excellent. Really been impressed so far.

filham · January 24, 2023, 04:33:07 PM

Our recent history of singing centre backs is not good, seems that we have changed that.

jayffc · January 24, 2023, 05:32:32 PM

Quote from: filham on January 24, 2023, 04:33:07 PM
Our recent history of singing centre backs is not good, seems that we have changed that.

Best crop of CB's since Hughes and Hangeland with Baird as back up

Reams been a major signing for us in his time here.
Anderson was brilliant last time out
Tosin has been pretty damn good value for money
Diop looked an absolute beast last night and has been all round pretty great since claiming the starting spot. Was gutted to miss out on Romagnoli at the time but Issa is younger and seems very commanding at the moment. Long may it continue.
Even Duffy is probably a decent enough back up from the bits we've seen.

If we lose Tosin this summer I hope we can find another top-quality CB to play alongside Diop for years to come with Ream another year older. A top 10 finish would put us in the window for a few quality additions this summer. Another top CB in the Romagnoli mold would be epic - Anderson would be the perfect partner for him but would probably cost 40m+ in today's market so out the question.

Loved what Andreas has been doing this season but I'd also like to see the CAM position strengthened with Cairney also turning 33 next year. Someone who can really battle it out for that spot.

Shopping list for the summer would be CB to pair with Diop long term, world-class CDM/CM alongside Palhinha (great as Harrison is), exciting CAM, and an upcoming CF option in a completely different mold to Mitro - someone pacey.

FishaPrice · January 24, 2023, 06:53:38 PM

Diop is really growing on me. He is getting more confident and appears to be a very proficient one on one defender. He has good speed and physicality and his range of passing keeps getting better. Hopefully he continues to improve, but he is already playing very well.

Benny · January 24, 2023, 06:56:58 PM

Agreed, he's been decent and seems to be growing with confidence, only issue he's got is to stop himself laughing at west ham

@jolslover · January 24, 2023, 08:07:36 PM

Yeah he looked quality again

Caedal · January 24, 2023, 09:18:58 PM

Totally agree. He's really good. He reads the game well, which is why he seems to intercept so many passes.

Mr White · January 25, 2023, 08:25:16 AM

It's amazing how confident and steady he is,the compleat opposite when playing for spam.must be that genius Silva.

Mr White · January 29, 2023, 05:36:33 AM

Looks like I got that wrong!

SP · January 29, 2023, 08:52:31 AM

Just demonstrates how far we've come from CBs making this type of error more frequently. Great signing.

alfie · January 29, 2023, 08:56:36 AM

Wasn't he candidate for man of the match last week?

hovewhite · January 29, 2023, 11:33:06 AM

Early minutes not switched on poor concentration that all comes into,he needs a rocket from Marco and boa.

I Ronic · January 29, 2023, 12:02:13 PM

Quote from: hovewhite on January 29, 2023, 11:33:06 AM
Early minutes not switched on poor concentration that all comes into,he needs a rocket from Marco and boa.

Who doesn't make mistakes. He looked pretty gutted. As we probably all did at that moment.
Sunderland are a point away from a playoff spot and they have a young team who, like us on a good day play a quick passing game and pressed really well.

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Issa Diop

Caedal