Mateo Kovacic

[kev61]

8 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

Not sad to see him go. I am unreservedly in the "technically gifted player who rarely does anything of consequence" camp. He's 29, contract coming to an end, and I think he stood out as pathetic last year. He seemed to give up very early on, and that is just unforgivable given his role and experience compared to much of the squad.

I really don't care how good he might, probably will, look at City. They have far better players and a brilliant manager, anyone is going to look better there. It will say nothing about the rights and wrongs of selling him.

Interesting that he seems to be going back to the sort of role (back up at the biggest fish) that he came here to get out of in the first place.

Not fair.He worked his bollocks off in a dysfunctional  team.

 

[Sciatika]

I really liked him despite not being great in front of the goal though there was a memorable one against Liverpool. I liked his driving runs with the ball. He was voted Player of the Season, so presumably, people liked him then. He has struggled with injury this season. I wish him well, except when playing us.

[Ham]

30 minutes ago, Sciatika said:

I really liked him despite not being great in front of the goal though there was a memorable one against Liverpool. I liked his driving runs with the ball. He was voted Player of the Season, so presumably, people liked him then. He has struggled with injury this season. I wish him well, except when playing us.

They don't need luck when playing us. 

[thevelourfog]

5 hours ago, kev61 said:

Not fair.He worked his bollocks off in a dysfunctional  team.

 

My opinion, but that isn't what I saw and I don't think any statistical analysis would back it up, either. I generally have a lot of sympathy for the notion that you'd be defeated by how much of a mess we were last season, but there are one or two I expected more from based on where they are in their careers and Kovacic was one of them. I don't have any real ill feeling towards him but I just don't see he was giving it his all last year.

[Bones]

Kovacic added: "Anyone who has watched this team under [manager] Pep [Guardiola] knows how good they are - for me, they are the best in the world. The trophies they have won are clear for all to see, but they are also the best footballing side out there.

"To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I still have plenty of learning and developing to do, and I know under Pep's management I can become a better player, which is really exciting for me.

"My plan now is to rest for a few weeks before coming back to Manchester to prepare for the new season. I want to help this club stay at the top and win more trophies."

 

 🤮🤮🤮🤮

[asvaberg]

6 minutes ago, Bones said:

Kovacic added: "Anyone who has watched this team under [manager] Pep [Guardiola] knows how good they are - for me, they are the best in the world. The trophies they have won are clear for all to see, but they are also the best footballing side out there.

"To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I still have plenty of learning and developing to do, and I know under Pep's management I can become a better player, which is really exciting for me.

"My plan now is to rest for a few weeks before coming back to Manchester to prepare for the new season. I want to help this club stay at the top and win more trophies."

 

 🤮🤮🤮🤮

And in fairness:

[Mark Kelly]

45 minutes ago, Bones said:

Kovacic added: "Anyone who has watched this team under [manager] Pep [Guardiola] knows how good they are - for me, they are the best in the world. The trophies they have won are clear for all to see, but they are also the best footballing side out there.

"To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I still have plenty of learning and developing to do, and I know under Pep's management I can become a better player, which is really exciting for me.

"My plan now is to rest for a few weeks before coming back to Manchester to prepare for the new season. I want to help this club stay at the top and win more trophies."

 

 🤮🤮🤮🤮

NO mention of having an operation as he has been carrying an injury whenever he played like a lemon for Chelsea , how odd. 

[ROTG]

3 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

My opinion, but that isn't what I saw and I don't think any statistical analysis would back it up, either. I generally have a lot of sympathy for the notion that you'd be defeated by how much of a mess we were last season, but there are one or two I expected more from based on where they are in their careers and Kovacic was one of them. I don't have any real ill feeling towards him but I just don't see he was giving it his all last year.

Can see your point of view, however in the whole teams defence, replacing a quality coach and his staff, with a nobody and his coaching staff, probably disheartened the most loyal and die hard players, with the icing on the cake being the January debacle.

Also i would suspect the contracts given out in January were the polar opposite to what the senior players were use too and at 29 one can assume Kovic decided that he was not prepared to take a pay cut to appease the new owners philosophy.

Got a feeling the remaining players earning +£200k per week will be  moved on probably at the end of next season to maybe January, in the name of sustainability 🤔

[Mark Kelly]

17 minutes ago, ROTG said:

 

Also i would suspect the contracts given out in January were the polar opposite to what the senior players were use too and at 29 one can assume Kovic decided that he was not prepared to take a pay cut to appease the new owners philosophy.

 

I think you may well be right , at that age Kova was looking forward to his "last big move" and he got it . 

[JaneB]

14 hours ago, Sciatika said:

I really liked him despite not being great in front of the goal though there was a memorable one against Liverpool. I liked his driving runs with the ball. He was voted Player of the Season, so presumably, people liked him then. He has struggled with injury this season. I wish him well, except when playing us.

By default

[paulw66]

Been meaning to post this for a few days. Had a whatsapp chat with a couple of mates and I was trying to describe my feelings with regard to Kova. I summarised it something like this:

He's good at lost of things, but not exceptional at (m)any. 

Good passer, but doesn't get a lot of assists.

Good dribbler, but doesn't hurt teams.

Can tackle, but isn't a defensive midfielder. 

When Jorginho and Kante were fully fit, he was on the bench, as their strengths (and weaknesses) were / are more extreme. Jorginho a better passer, and tactically more astute defensively. Kante's speed, stamina, tackling, intercepting etc were superhuman.

I think Kovacic's career can be summarised  a bit like this; he has played for Inter, Real, Chelsea and now City, which means 4 big European teams have decided to buy him. It also means three, so far, were happy to sell him. He has won 4 CL winners medals, but was a substitute in every one. So good enough to be part of CL winning squads, but never good enough to command a starting role in those teams.