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Lucas Digne


villan-scott

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If we go from having Targett and Young / Ramsey / El Ghazi / whoever is fit to Digne and Coutinho down that left hand side of the pitch we've had an absolutely sublime window 

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6 hours ago, Zatman said:

on financial paper its an upgrade but not on the pitch. Digne is one of the highest paid players at Everton

They're very similar styles of full back. Their game is technique not athletism.

I'd have Targett ahead defensively, but neither is great.

The signing doesn't make sense to me.

6 hours ago, Zatman said:

I just feel its lazy recruitment

It's lazy and expensive, but can pay off if you get it right.

Digne was good as soon as he signed for Everton but has tailed off (perhaps related to injury to be fair). Bissouma was ordinary for two years before shining at Brighton.

If we were to sign those two this window, minimal adjustment period can be justified for the outlay IMO. That in itself is unfair because they're players not robots.

Gerrard is under a lot of pressure if we're going to be recruiting players like this. He has to be top 7 either this season or next.

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I can't remember Digne having great games against us and I've always seen him as a side to attack - with Cash did effectively this season, and others previously. It may work out and where Targett lets himself down is the final third which is what Gerrard is looking for. So, sacrificing Targett's better defending for Digne's better attacking. I can see why we'd go for him and let's just hope it works. 

Edited by peterw
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I'm very happy with this one. Digne hasn't had a great season due to falling out with Rafa but there's no question he's an upgrade on Targett and if Gerrard can get him back to his best he's up there as one of the best LBs in the league. 

 

I like Targett's attitude, he's a good professional and he did very well for us last season and always gives his best, but he has some major weaknesses which is why he'll never be a top FB. He's slow and not athletic enough, his crossing generally isn't good enough and rarely beats the first man, and his positioning when defending is questionable. 

 

When we signed Targett we were newly promoted out of the Championship, in fact when we signed all of our defenders except for Cash we were, it's now time we started aiming higher. LB is our most vulnerable position IMO, Targett was shown up by both Chelsea and Brentford in the last 2 games, and I think we have seen Digne's position at Everton as an opportunity we have to exploit. 

 

We've got to remember that Targett was 23/24 when we signed him and couldn't even get in Southampton's team. He was always a bit limited in quality. I think he has improved since he's been with us by playing regularly and learning but out of all our back 4 I think he's the weakest link (people go on about Mings but he's still a hugely important defender for us even if he does make some errors). I do think a CB will be on the radar too though. 

 

There's no doubt Digne is better going forward than defensively, but up until this season Digne's defensive stats were also very, very good. I think his defending can definitely be worked on. He's also a great free kick taker as is Coutinho which will finally give us some threat when we have a free kick just outside the box. 

 

If this gets done, I wonder what that will mean for Targett. I think he's a very useful squad player but 100% Digne will be ahead of him. Targett will play in the cups or in games when Digne is injured or suspended. I could see us moving him on in summer if he wants to play regularly and bringing in Hickey as understudy to Digne with a view to him being our LB in the long term. 

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10 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

I'm very happy with this one. Digne hasn't had a great season due to falling out with Rafa but there's no question he's an upgrade on Targett and if Gerrard can get him back to his best he's up there as one of the best LBs in the league. 

 

I like Targett's attitude, he's a good professional and he did very well for us last season and always gives his best, but he has some major weaknesses which is why he'll never be a top FB. He's slow and not athletic enough, his crossing generally isn't good enough and rarely beats the first man, and his positioning when defending is questionable. 

 

When we signed Targett we were newly promoted out of the Championship, in fact when we signed all of our defenders except for Cash we were, it's now time we started aiming higher. LB is our most vulnerable position IMO, Targett was shown up by both Chelsea and Brentford in the last 2 games, and I think we have seen Digne's position at Everton as an opportunity we have to exploit. 

 

We've got to remember that Targett was 23/24 when we signed him and couldn't even get in Southampton's team. He was always a bit limited in quality. I think he has improved since he's been with us by playing regularly and learning but out of all our back 4 I think he's the weakest link (people go on about Mings but he's still a hugely important defender for us even if he does make some errors). I do think a CB will be on the radar too though. 

 

There's no doubt Digne is better going forward than defensively, but up until this season Digne's defensive stats were also very, very good. I think his defending can definitely be worked on. He's also a great free kick taker as is Coutinho which will finally give us some threat when we have a free kick just outside the box. 

 

If this gets done, I wonder what that will mean for Targett. I think he's a very useful squad player but 100% Digne will be ahead of him. Targett will play in the cups or in games when Digne is injured or suspended. I could see us moving him on in summer if he wants to play regularly and bringing in Hickey as understudy to Digne with a view to him being our LB in the long term. 

Could see Targett wanting to leave if he doesn’t get first team football, which is a real shame. When you’re at our level it’s hard to have two good-enough players in one position. 

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Given that Digne is better going forward and Targett better defending, we might utilise them both throughout the season depending on the opposition or the need at a particular stage of the game. Like we have a squad that we can use tactically or something.

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1 hour ago, Mic09 said:

For those of you who think Digne isn't much better than Targett, how many French caps does Targett have??

This! Obviously you’re taking the piss a bit but France are better than England and let’s face it, Targett hasn’t even had a sniff at getting in the England squad. 
 

40 odd caps for France is very impressive.

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7 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

If you don’t think Digne is an upgrade on Targett then maybe football isn’t for you. 

Would be another excellent piece of business

Hes a decent player but I'm not so sure this is an excellent peice of business!

 

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He has been an assist machine the last two seasons before Rafa arrived and had him basically playing LCB.

I think the only full backs/wing backs with more offensive output than him over 19/20 and 20/21 were TAA and Robertson who were playing for a side scoring 100 goals and getting 90+ points while Digne was in a midtable team.

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4 minutes ago, Nigel said:

Hes a decent player but I'm not so sure this is an excellent peice of business!

 

Sometimes its not about resale value to be an excellent piece of business. 

Gerrards system requires full backs that can get up and down the pitch and can assist.  Targett is neither of those things. Digne is both. 

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