Danilo dos Santos de Oliveira

[YellowBelly Red]

Is he away end Jan with Brazil u23? They have 4 matches between 23rd Jan and 1st Feb.
Probably miss Brentford, Arsenal, Bournemouth and FA cup 4th round (if in it).

Think its something to do with qualifying for the Olympic games??

 

[MaxiRobriguez]

I struggle to see what Danilo's best role is.

He's not creative enough to play alongside or instead of MGW in the 10.
He's not quick/agile enough to be an winger or an inside forward.
Personally I think he lacks the discipline to play a holding role without someone very, very good next to him.

Which sort of leaves a box-to-box role by default, but if I was wanting a box-to-box player in my side I'd want Yates.

I'm not saying he's a bad player or we should get rid, I just think his attributes are quite mixed, he doesn't really excel at one or two things, he's just pretty good in everything. I think in the aforementioned five (Yates, Sangare, Mangala, Danilo and Dominguez) then unfortunately Danilo is at the bottom of that list. If we continue with a 4231 I'd be choosing Yates and one of Mangala or Sangare to hold.

 

[Deleted User]

I struggle to see what Danilo's best role is.

He's not creative enough to play alongside or instead of MGW in the 10.
He's not quick/agile enough to be an winger or an inside forward.
Personally I think he lacks the discipline to play a holding role without someone very, very good next to him.

Which sort of leaves a box-to-box role by default, but if I was wanting a box-to-box player in my side I'd want Yates.

I'm not saying he's a bad player or we should get rid, I just think his attributes are quite mixed, he doesn't really excel at one or two things, he's just pretty good in everything. I think in the aforementioned five (Yates, Sangare, Mangala, Danilo and Dominguez) then unfortunately Danilo is at the bottom of that list. If we continue with a 4231 I'd be choosing Yates and one of Mangala or Sangare to hold.

He’s a defensive midfielder who has a range of passing and the ability to get forward. I reckon it’ll be Mangala who’s bottom of the pecking order, most likely for the reasons I’ve stated previously; that he’s a tidy but static and relatively ineffective player.

 

[Gyros Peter]

Personally I think he lacks the discipline to play a holding role without someone very, very good next to him.

Funny that - I watched the United game (on replay) looking for positional issues since I read someone, quite probably you, alluding to that. I didn't spot anything major at all?

I do remember one match early days where he played left side (Leeds was it?) and appeared not to know his position, though I was one who didn't think he did terribly then given it was a new role and league for him.

Anyhow, CDM or box to box wise its about his passing range for me - he's levels above most in that regard I feel. Also closes space very well, though I was surprised to see someone refer to him as 'hard' earlier, since I haven't really seen that side of him since his arrival... I'd have him a notch above Barry McKay.

Oh, and he's also a liability in the air with long balls over the top - I might have mentioned that!

 

[Redemption]

I struggle to see what Danilo's best role is.

He's not creative enough to play alongside or instead of MGW in the 10.
He's not quick/agile enough to be an winger or an inside forward.
Personally I think he lacks the discipline to play a holding role without someone very, very good next to him.

Which sort of leaves a box-to-box role by default, but if I was wanting a box-to-box player in my side I'd want Yates.

I'm not saying he's a bad player or we should get rid, I just think his attributes are quite mixed, he doesn't really excel at one or two things, he's just pretty good in everything. I think in the aforementioned five (Yates, Sangare, Mangala, Danilo and Dominguez) then unfortunately Danilo is at the bottom of that list. If we continue with a 4231 I'd be choosing Yates and one of Mangala or Sangare to hold.

He's one of lots of peculiarities by profile.

When he was bought, he was a deep lying playmaker. But neither Cooper nor Santo use a playmaker - although someone was buying playmakers as we bought Shelvey circa the same time.

So he's been fitted in elsewhere Because he has good energy and can be dynamic with the ball at his feet.

I posted the other week that we seem to have players with distinct profiles but not enough complementary overlap. If you put 3 midfielders in, there's often still some attribute missing from the sum of the parts.

 

[king_congo_red]

I'm not saying he's a bad player or we should get rid, I just think his attributes are quite mixed, he doesn't really excel at one or two things, he's just pretty good in everything. I think in the aforementioned five (Yates, Sangare, Mangala, Danilo and Dominguez) then unfortunately Danilo is at the bottom of that list. If we continue with a 4231 I'd be choosing Yates and one of Mangala or Sangare to hold.

I think that flexibility will be useful for when any combination of the others are unavailable. It's also worth noting that he's by far the youngest member of that group and his game is still evolving.

 

[MaxiRobriguez]

Funny that - I watched the United game (on replay) looking for positional issues since I read someone, quite probably you, alluding to that. I didn't spot anything major at all?

Man Utd a difficult game to judge, few times he found himself directly in front of the holding Yates, although he was definitely given license to get forward and up alongside MGW in central areas as a tactical ploy to exploit Man Utd's lack of DM coverage (with Dominguez dropping back into his space if he went).

Pretty sure that's why Dominguez played wide left and not someone like CHO, someone a bit smarter and with more defensive nous to drop in when Danilo vacated his space.

 

[Gyros Peter]

Man Utd a difficult game to judge, few times he found himself directly in front of the holding Yates, although he was definitely given license to get forward and up alongside MGW in central areas as a tactical ploy to exploit Man Utd's lack of DM coverage (with Dominguez dropping back into his space if he went).

I'm not saying you're wrong btw, just wonder where you've seen it in his proper position, given he's so rarely played there for us?

I thought he did well v Everton (was it? May have been spurs) when he came on deeper, otherwise there was one of the Burnley games I think he played there that didn't go great, although he wasn't fully fit.

I think he nails down a two man CDM spot moving forward, and look forward to judging and seeing him develop in the role he made his name in, and attracted attention from the likes of Arsenal in.

 

[MaxiRobriguez]

I'm not saying you're wrong btw, just wonder where you've seen it in his proper position, given he's so rarely played there for us?

I guess that's half the point, he's played multiple different roles, and he does often end up playing in a role where someone else is anchoring him, whether it's part of a 3 or whether Dominguez drops back in.

Perhaps I need to give him a clean slate and reasses under Nuno.

 

[Gyros Peter]

I guess that's half the point, he's played multiple different roles, and he does often end up playing in a role where someone else is anchoring him, whether it's part of a 3 or whether Dominguez drops back in.

Perhaps I need to give him a clean slate and reasses under Nuno.

Maybe, my take is that it will be interesting to see him used in a role that is very much his own, rather than slotting in somewhere /anywhere to learn the league (like Sangare had been given too).

In Danilo's case I also think that he probably surprised staff with his attacking ability so that was less of a compromise than in Sangare's case.

Anyhow, I can see how a double anchor (pivot? I can't use these modern terms!) would work well between Sangare and Danilo, since both have good passing range, are proven able to work well going forward and could break when needed. (Mangala can probably do this too in fairness.)

 

[PlayedOnGrass]

I am really surprised to read all of this negativity on Danilo.
He is still a young player learning his trade. He has the capability to play anywhere across the midfield. If you look at Man City - all of their midfield is fluid and interchangeable, that is where we need to be and all of our players need to develop the ability to rotate during matches.

 

[Gyros Peter]

I am really surprised to read all of this negativity on Danilo.
He is still a young player learning his trade. He has the capability to play anywhere across the midfield. If you look at Man City - all of their midfield is fluid and interchangeable, that is where we need to be and all of our players need to develop the ability to rotate during matches.

In fairness I'm not sure there's that much negativity, as I'd asked the poster who wasn't sure about his positional discipline to expand on that aspect. Agree with your wider point though, and we seem to be doing well in that regard with Yates, Dom, Dani and Mangala all being able to slot in various positions. Sangare likely can too.

 

[valspoodle]

I know people enjoy sorting out the side, that's the function of a forum. All types of folk post, some, like me, content to let the coach sort out the playing side of things and others, quite happy to do the coach's job for him.

 

[Rzar]

I don't think he lacks discipline at all. Danilo is a holding midfielder by trade who is able to burst forward with his speed, the more we play him in that role the better he will get.

The box to box last season was a nice niche for him but his trade is a holding player.

 

[T Francis]

I’ve read on Wikipedia ( I know!) that he’s been replaced in the Brazil squad because we’ve refused to release him for the tournament. Even names his replacement!
Can’t find anything else about this though.

 

[IdiotTricky]

I don't think he lacks discipline at all. Danilo is a holding midfielder by trade who is able to burst forward with his speed, the more we play him in that role the better he will get.

The box to box last season was a nice niche for him but his trade is a holding player.

Imho, he's perhaps suffered somewhat in that he's been used in a variety of roles in a relatively low number of games, but his dynamism has meant that he often does a job even when it's outside his historical strengths. I don't know how many goals he scored in Brazil, but thought his early career was based around quick transitional play yet, as we saw last season, he showed some great finishing, which you wouldn't expect from a deeper lying midfielder, apart from the likes of a Rodri or a Gundogan (!)

I think, given his youth and obvious physical and technical attributes, he could, in time, become any sort of central midfielder.

I was listening to the Athletic Tactics podcast episode on Bernado Silva, earlier, and the key takeaway was his massive versatility: his workrate and technical ability (and obvious intelligence) allow him to play literally anywhere apart from central defence. And, yet, that wouldn't necessarily mark him out as a top player in any of those positions individually.

I'm not suggesting that Danilo will go on to match the likes of Silva, but maybe he could become the rich man's Ben Osborn?

 

[Rockabilly]

Hopefully he’ll get a goal or two and he’ll get his mojo back from last season.

 

[Monkman]

Sounds like he wasn't very good yesterday? I've only seen the highlights, it was an absolutely wicked whipped cross for Yates' header that he should have buried.

 

[Cortez the Killer]

Sounds like he wasn't very good yesterday? I've only seen the highlights, it was an absolutely wicked whipped cross for Yates' header that he should have buried.

His corners were better than MGW's, IMO.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

 

[SparrowsAnus]

There’s signs of last seasons Danilo coming back even if he’s still giving the ball away too often from basic passes. He grew into the game against Newcastle and was decent against United. He basically created the one on one for Wood with his pass to MGW which is the pass that opened Blackpool up. Worldy cross for Yates as well.

 

[Statto]

There’s signs of last seasons Danilo coming back even if he’s still giving the ball away too often from basic passes. He grew into the game against Newcastle and was decent against United. He basically created the one on one for Wood with his pass to MGW which is the pass that opened Blackpool up. Worldy cross for Yates as well.

He is generally more high risk with his passing than pushing a square or backward pass to a team mate 5 yards away though.

Statistically fewer of those will come off.

 

[Masuka]

He is generally more high risk with his passing than pushing a square or backward pass to a team mate 5 yards away though.

Statistically fewer of those will come off.

I think that’s what Nuno wants as well, players that play forward even if it doesn’t always come off and it’s probably why Mangala isn’t getting a look in at the moment as he tends to play the less risky option.

 

[thermopyl]

he's a headless chicken. gives the ball away far too much, doesn't make the tackles you need from a CM.
I do think it's form not talent that's holding him back, but struggle to put him ahead of Yates, Mangala or Dominguez currently

 

[Captain Sinister]

He is generally more high risk with his passing than pushing a square or backward pass to a team mate 5 yards away though.

Statistically fewer of those will come off.

That reasoning is fine, and is acceptable only if we have a solid defensive cover, and a decent keeper behind Danilo.
If he misplaces a pass in central midfield it does give the opposition the opportunity to counter attack from high up the pitch.

 

[MASE]

Havent rated him particularly highly from the outset, but Nunos liking for playing out from the back is compounding his problems. His passing becomes rushed & erratic.

Doesnt look a natural DM to me, play him alongside Yates & your neutralising Yates into the bargain.

Wouldnt consider that combo again unless its all we had,