Murphy

[Nufcian]

Started seeing it in the Arsenal game

Watched him in the Wolves game

Watched him today

He does NOT tackle and he does NOT take a player on.

He?s had a brilliant purple patch recently, like Miggy did, and like Miggy his year in/year out stats do not show this level of end product? so it?s probably safe to say, at his age, that we?re gonna see him return to usual service at somepoint (like Miggy)? and then what?

We need someone who is defending from the front, and taking his man on and not just putting a ball into a ?danger zone? regardless if anyone is there or not because he?s too afraid of taking someone on.

Dunno if the Leicester game is still available to watch all of it anywhere, but if you can watch that and watch the couple of badly missed chances he had before he scored the brace? as I remember it he looked terrified and broken? and my take is deep down he?s still that player? that?s why we don?t see any tackles or attempts to take a man on? there?s a brittleness about him on the pitch against an opposition.

So if we are going to spend anywhere, spend it on a RW (and also a RCB if possible &#128521 but Kerkez had a field day because all he had to do was put Murphy under any kind of pressure, or implied pressure.

[Zippity]

Aye, sadly Murphy is holding us back.

His commitment, workrate, etc are all fantastic and, for the few quid we paid for him, his numbers stack up against vastly more expensive wingers in the league such as Antony, for example. He's a valuable squad member and has made good progress from when he first came. Plus, he's been part of our fantastic recent run.

However....

He's the Longstaff of the wing. Does a job but isn't going to take us to the next level. Look how well we're playing with Tonali. I think we'd see a similar upturn if we invested in a RW.

[Jammy89]

Agree with both of you.

He's done brilliantly and he may well have another purple patch but he is an upgrade we need to happen.