Ibrahima Diallo - Official: Signs for Al Duhail

[Avenue_Saint]

Absolute class. Lovely passer of the ball.

[Lighthouse]

On tonight's showing, he looks like the player Lemina thinks he is.

[Jack]

Very assured performance. Passed well, some neat turns and got us moving forward through the lines. Look forward to seeing more. 

[davefizzy14]

Diallo was ridiculousy good tonight. Looks top notch

[John Boy Saint]

I have to say it took until the second half for the penny to drop. The lad is a ghost, quiet smooth invisible just gets the ball and moves it on effortlessly, an absolute joy on the eye. When you think that Romeu has been bloody good for us this season this boy is so subtle by comparison. JWP if you watch him sets a good tempo, Diallo tonight added rhythm.

He certain is a fast learner, against Fulham he looked a bit powder puff getting easily nudged off the ball, this game he knew when the hit might come and stepped away from it with the ball at his feet.

[djharvey]

33 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

I have to say it took until the second half for the penny to drop. The lad is a ghost, quiet smooth invisible just gets the ball and moves it on effortlessly, an absolute joy on the eye. When you think that Romeu has been bloody good for us this season this boy is so subtle by comparison. JWP if you watch him sets a good tempo, Diallo tonight added rhythm.

He certain is a fast learner, against Fulham he looked a bit powder puff getting easily nudged off the ball, this game he knew when the hit might come and stepped away from it with the ball at his feet.

This!

[Saint_clark]

Only 21 and barely any appearances under his belt. Promising signs so far, hope he doesn't fade away - chances will be few and far between for him. 

[Scallysaint]

I was really impressed by him in that performance. Fits the system really well, wins and carries the ball well.

 

[The Curse of St Mary's]

It's great to have him and Romeu vying for that cm spot. Very different styles. Diallo more mobile so arguably gives us extra dimension and maybe he better equipped to track midfield runners. They could play together as well as both good passers of the ball.  

[Super_Uwe]

Absolutely delighted for him. Let's hope he can keep it going.

Also encouraging to see another new signing doing so well. Makes a massive difference for clubs like ours, especially given the relatively eye-watering fees we've paid out over the past 4-5 years.

[Teddeer]

4 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Only 21 and barely any appearances under his belt. Promising signs so far, hope he doesn't fade away - chances will be few and far between for him. 

AS good as Oriel is don't be surprised if he struggles to regain his place. This kid Diallo is the real deal and will just get better. He'll soon be one of the first names on the team sheet.

[Saint_clark]

48 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

AS good as Oriel is don't be surprised if he struggles to regain his place. This kid Diallo is the real deal and will just get better. He'll soon be one of the first names on the team sheet.

Oriol will be straight back into the team, he's made more tackles than any other midfielder (player possibly) in the Prem and has been a vital part of our play both going forwards and defending. Diallo has a long way to go.

[igsey]

He's younger than both Yan Valery and Dan N'Lundulu and didn't look out of place at all today. Fantastic performance, did his job quietly and very well, and his quick movement of the ball was great too.

I think Romeu will come back in when he's fit and play most of this season, but I won't be surprised if he finds himself on the bench much more next year...

[saintwbu]

I love Romeu to bits, what I liked about Diallo last night was that he’s not the same as Romeu. That means we have 3 quality CM’s that all play differently from each other, finally giving us genuine options in that position. Really exciting.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

1 hour ago, saintwbu said:

I love Romeu to bits, what I liked about Diallo last night was that he’s not the same as Romeu. That means we have 3 quality CM’s that all play differently from each other, finally giving us genuine options in that position. Really exciting.

It also gives us the option to change to a midfield 3 and push the remaining 3 forward if the 4-2-2-2 isn't working.  I think those 3 are mobile enough to make that work.  We've clearly got a very good plan A, would be good to have a plan B we can easily pivot to.

[Whitey Grandad]

Romeu has a tendency to pick up yellow cards, usually when he is overstretching to win back the ball. From what little I has seen so far I have high hopes for Diallo.

[WALK DMC]

4 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Oriol will be straight back into the team, he's made more tackles than any other midfielder (player possibly) in the Prem and has been a vital part of our play both going forwards and defending. Diallo has a long way to go.

I agree, but still feel that we will get to a point when Romeu, Diallo & JWP are three of our best players, so maybe we should try to play all three. With Redmond & Djenepo out for a little while yet, the option of starting Romeu & Diallo as the defensive midfielders and stick JWP further forward. Shouldn't be necessary for Shrewsbury, but worth a consideration for Leicester if we still have a few injuries with our attacking midfielders. 

[TWar]

May come across as controversial as he is such a loyal servant to the club but I think Romeu benefits from the system. Hojbjerg was near the top on a number of metrics last season and is no longer up there and now Romeu is instead. Romeu looks very tidy but I think playing next to Ward-Prowse has that effect on a player. Diallo for me adds something new in his ability to drive with the ball and his ability to pass so I would like to see him integrated more heavily now. He is also only 21 so is likely a way off his peak. He is the one we need to develop. Romeu is excellent back up however.

I absolutely don't agree on playing three midfielders. Playing two forwards and two creative forces behind them is key to how we play. Also we are not creating enough this season. Our xG is really low and we have been lucky that our finishing has been exceptional (especially JWP). We have seen a revert to sorts recently with one goal in our last four games. Getting rid of an attacker to play three center mids seems very counter intuitive. 

Edited 5 January, 2021 by TWar

[verlaine1979]

Based on his current form, I'd move JWP to Armstrong's place on the right and start Romeu and Diallo.

[Saint_clark]

6 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

Based on his current form, I'd move JWP to Armstrong's place on the right and start Romeu and Diallo.

Under no circumstances should JWPs position be dicked around with again. Centre midfield is his now.

[HarvSFC]

Appears we've found another gem from overseas. Unfortunately, with the new rules it looks like he will be the last, unless we can manipulate them with a feeder club abroad.

[austsaint]

16 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Under no circumstances should JWPs position be dicked around with again. Centre midfield is his now.

While I agree with this - two other things are obvious.   Diallo is too good a player not to be on the park regularly, and Romeu's form puts him in the "first picked" category.     It's a problem, but a good one for Ralph to sort out.

[stevy777_x]

40 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Appears we've found another gem from overseas. Unfortunately, with the new rules it looks like he will be the last, unless we can manipulate them with a feeder club abroad.

Brexit rules will be the killer for clubs like us as we don’t have the money to bring in established internationals.

[Matthew Le God]

 

[SuperSAINT]

 

[Toadhall Saint]

Like him a lot. Very assured for a young un 

[S-Clarke]

Big fan of Diallo, a really good example of how our scouting has improved in my opinion.

[davefizzy14]

Diallo is a gem of a player and a great interview too

[rooney]

Has a touch of class about his play.

[SuperSAINT]

**Honourable thread bump**

How did he get on today?

[lambtiss]

7 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

**Honourable thread bump**

How did he get on today?

I thought he had a very good game, assured and tidy.

[The Cat]

Played well. I like how his first thought when receiving possession is often to drive forward.

Won some good tackles and covered a lot of ground. Will be interesting to see how he plays against a more physical Burnley team next weekend.

[Manuel]

More positive and effective than JWP, and I like JWP.  An improvement.  

[Toadhall Saint]

Played well today. He seems to have filled out a bit. As said above wants and looks to get the ball forward.

[ErwinK1961]

Would like to see a Romeu, Diallo and JWP midfield three in certain games.

[TWar]

Liked him a lot. I think Romeu is a lot better at winning the ball still but Diallo is improving there and doesn't give it away nearly as much with sloppy passing. The future of our midfield is Diallo and JWP imo. 

[niceandfriendly]

Thought he had a really good game. Needs to have more of them.

[Whitey Grandad]

I loved watching him yesterday. He was thinking one tackle ahead so when Djenepo, for example, went to tackle a player he was positioning himself to cover where that player turned to escape and then nicked the ball off him. Very intelligent play.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

14 hours ago, TWar said:

Liked him a lot. I think Romeu is a lot better at winning the ball still but Diallo is improving there and doesn't give it away nearly as much with sloppy passing. The future of our midfield is Diallo and JWP imo. 

Diallo isnt a defensive midfielder though. Hes a more dynamic, positive central midfielder than we otherwise have. He's competition to JWP in the current formation.

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Jeremy Corbyn said:

Diallo isnt a defensive midfielder though. Hes a more dynamic, positive central midfielder than we otherwise have. He's competition to JWP in the current formation.

I think to be honest we don't need one "Destroyer" type pure defensive midfielder. I think if both are hard working and good in the tackle (Which Diallo and JWP are) we can get away with having no pure DM and instead have two players who can also have a role in ball progression. Would be nice to not have a player who often misplaces very simple passes. Romeu can still be an option if we really need some steel.

[Rickman42]

Our scouts can’t half spot a hidden gem. Diallo was brilliant yesterday, winning everything and driving the ball forward. Diallo + Salisu both looking like the real deal. 
 

if we can start scoring consistently I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the future 

Edited 18 October, 2021 by Rickman42

[AlexLaw76]

10 minutes ago, Rickman42 said:

Our scouts can’t half stop a hidden gem. Diallo was brilliant yesterday, winning everything and driving the ball forward. Diallo + Salisu both looking like the real deal. 
 

if we can start scoring consistently I’m feeling pretty optimistic about the future 

well, lets see if our scouts have done their jobs on that front?

Broja looks decent 

[stevy777_x]

10 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

well, lets see if our scouts have done their jobs on that front?

Broja looks decent 

Armstrong doesn’t

[egg]

On 17/10/2021 at 05:55, niceandfriendly said:

Thought he had a really good game. Needs to have more of them.

Agreed, but he needs to play to do that.

For me we looked much better with him in the team. He has much better defensive positional play than JWP. Diallo can see where the ball is likely to break to and gets in position, JWP is more zonal and deals with what falls his way. It's going forward though where Diallo is better, not just running with the ball at feet, but the speed with which he moves the ball on. JWP slows our play down, and Diallo's performance on Saturday demonstrated that. 

[John Boy Saint]

One thing that was striking on Saturday was the amount of headers he won against bigger players than him. 
Very neat and tidy - certainly has got stronger.

[Convict Colony]

Wow no comments on him since Oct.

Thought he was awesome v Brentford, his quick passing and speed in middle of the park made a big difference and made our team more dynamic.

Complemented Romeu well and linked up with the forwards well.

Article from ProstInt after the game

https://www.prostinternational.com/2022/01/12/ibrahima-diallo-the-frenchman-continues-his-development-with-a-brilliant-performance-in-southamptons-4-1-win-over-brentford/

[S-Clarke]

He was epic against Brentford, his best performance for us in my opinion.

I know at the time we bought him he was the PEH replacement, but I don't think he was ever that really. I know when Romeu is out we put Diallo in there but they're totally different players. 

Diallo will thrive in a team with security behind him and where he has the freedom to burst forward. I don't think we'll see the best of him if we deploy him in a two alongside JWP where he is expected to be the deeper of the pivot. 

Very talented player though, lots of pace and really agile.

Edited 13 January, 2022 by S-Clarke

[Jeremy Corbyn]

He strikes me as a player who will improve a lot with game time too.  He's clearly very talented technically and quick.  As he plays more his game just seems to become more consistent and effective.

[Pwoite]

14 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

He was epic against Brentford, his best performance for us in my opinion.

I know at the time we bought him he was the PEH replacement, but I don't think he was ever that really. I know when Romeu is out we put Diallo in there but they're totally different players. 

Diallo will thrive in a team with security behind him and where he has the freedom to burst forward. I don't think we'll see the best of him if we deploy him in a two alongside JWP where he is expected to be the deeper of the pivot. 

Very talented player though, lots of pace and really agile.

One of the reasons Diallo shone on Tuesday was that we played five at the back, meaning he benefitted from Perraud overlapping, and playing one twos. The pair, in combination, were ripping Brentford's defence apart, and, unlike the Redmond/Bertrand partnership, were creating shooting opportunities Diallo is not a Romeu, so we need to play to his strengths. So, if that means a back three/five, three midfielders and two further forward, so be it, except it places rather a lot of the squad on the bench, particularly if Broja's name is automatically on the teamsheet.

[igsey]

Seems to me he's very similar to Tielemans at Leicester, though maybe without the long-range bangers quite figured out. Tielemens is being linked with all the big clubs for big money at the moment.