Juninho Bacuna has finally laid to rest the ‘debate’ about his position by confirming his preferred role. Sort of.
When Steven Gerrard signed the Dutch-born midfielder, he specifically named him as an attacking midfielder, a 10, but the statistics at hand didn’t entirely agree with that and nor did scouting reports from his time with Groningen which quoted him as a defensive midfielder.
When Gerrard then put him in the 6 role v Prague, he seemed to be playing the ex-Huddersfield man as a deep-lying playmaker but Bacuna looked deeply lost in his role and was withdrawn apparently injured before half time.
He’s had a bit of a cooling off period since then, but began Sunday’s win over Ross County on the left of midfield, and post-match finally sort of put to rest where he prefers himself:
“Yeah for me I can play on [at] 10, I can play on 8 position, more in control, I like to have the ball, to build up our attack and then to join that attack and they can see what I did today.”
In other words, Bacuna confirms himself as a hybrid of Gazza and an attacking midfielder, but a more dynamic one with a hint of Gerrard/Lampard whereby he dictates the play deeper in midfield but then makes runs into the attacking third as well.
Defensive midfielder? No.
Attacking midfielder? A little.
Central midfielder? Partially.
All-round versatile midfielder? For sure.
Either way, he’s finding his game now and we can expect to see a lot more of him in the coming months.
“A hybrid of Gazza & Gerrard/Lampard”
Seriously?
Could barely score a goal or get an assist in the Dutch league and let go by Championship Huddersfield for a few hundred thousand quid.
I barely visit this place anymore, ridiculous statements like that and the censoring of valid comments are the 2 main reasons why.
Peace out and much love.
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