Where does he fit in this team?

You can see why Parker likes him, he’s full of energy and his pressing really does help us get on the ball and break up play.

But then on the flip side he’s really poor on the ball. I lost count of how many times he chose the wrong pass today and lost duels.

Is this right sided/ central attacking midfielder the right role for him?

His passing is something we can't afford at this level, we saw today how United broke so quickly because he misplaced a simple pass. If he doesn't improve that quickly Parker will drop him because he won't have a choice. He's still only 22 so plenty of time for him to improve but I don't think Parker will let it be at the teams expense.

If we sign Luis, I think Hannibal will be the one for the chop from our starting 11. I love how he gets opponents backs up and that will come in useful over the season, but I expect we'll play Ugochuckwu further forward with Cullen and Luiz sitting.

He didn’t play well today - probably trying too hard against his old team. Mostly he is excellent but he’s not a no. 10 and needs to find a deeper role

He needs to become a box to box midfielder with end product. He has more ability than Brownhill had on the ball but his goal contribution numbers of really poor.

All huff and puff. Not much quality. He’s not an attacking midfielder.

claretlegend wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 30, 2025 9:51 pm

If we sign Luis, I think Hannibal will be the one for the chop from our starting 11. I love how he gets opponents backs up and that will come in useful over the season, but I expect we'll play Ugochuckwu further forward with Cullen and Luiz sitting.

As I’ve cited on another thread, they can all play as “number 8’s” - one doesn’t HAVE to play further forward. This would/should then allow the wide players to play higher up the pitch with slightly less defensive responsibilities.

Echo the comment that I expect him to get dropped if we sign Luis.

Think we will see Tchaona and Luis start after the international break. Then we will really have pace, power, and panache in our starting XI.

I thought he was superb against Southampton last season in the cup , where he played deeper alongside Shelvey.

He’s certainly not a number 10, his pressing is brilliant as we know but I think he needs to develop in a deeper role. There is certainly a player there .

He gets very easily exposed I think because of the physicality of the PL. Several times today it happened and it nearly led to goals

He gets very easily exposed I think because of the physicality of the PL. Several times today it happened and it nearly led to goals

Hannibal excelled last season on the left of a midfield 3, as a number 8 alongside Cullen (6) and Brownhill (8), or at times a second striker alongside Flemming (we never played with a traditional, between the lines, number 10). It was always on the left in those half spaces though. Now he’s floating round the right half space, and it’s affecting his dribbling technique and how he receives the ball. He finds it more natural on the other side with angles; recall he also did well on left midfield for a spell, Anthony on the right (Watford home Sheff Away). I thought he had a good game last week against Sunderland and his legs were helpful to get through a lot of work, which a midfield 2 need support with at times. When Tchaouna came on today, however, there was immediately a better balance with him being more natural on that side, as well as slightly more physicality.

I thought he was awful today but I wouldn’t write him off just yet.

I think he might drop out if the new signing comes in but I was impressed how he grew into the role last season.
I think he may have one to play this season as well.

Still don't get Hannibal. Dosen't link up well with Foster. Doesn't show for passes or throws, careless in possession, but Parker keeps picking him as his No 10. Time for a rethink after the international break? Foster needs more support, time for Ramsey or Flemming?

Newcastleclaret93 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 30, 2025 9:25 pm

Where does he fit in this team?

You can see why Parker likes him, he’s full of energy and his pressing really does help us get on the ball and break up play.

But then on the flip side he’s really poor on the ball. I lost count of how many times he chose the wrong pass today and lost duels.

Is this right sided/ central attacking midfielder the right role for him?

He doesn't. He's not good enough, technically. Give Brownhill his chance in the 1st half & Josh more than likely scores it.

Supersub

He's being played in a forward(ish) position mainly for his energy and pressing.
I don't think it's bringing out the best in him.

I like Hannibal but he’s not a 10, he was playing right wing today. The best thing about Hannibal is his work rate but today he wasn’t tracking back at all, just standing out wide.

He hasn’t got the cute pass or goalscoring instinct to play as a 10. We saw that in the Championship. For me he’s a runner, box to box getting stuck into tackles.

We were so structured and disciplined last season, at the minute we’re a bit all over the place. So many square pegs in round holes and it’s like nobody knows what they’re doing defensively. So much hesitation defensively in key areas.

I don’t think Parker likes our right sided centre half options enough to play a back four. Walker is arguably the best RB in PL history, he’s played CB for England a couple of times but he’s never a centre half especially in a side with 30% possession.

Ekdals a fish out of water, so much hesitation then doesn’t have the recovery speed. Like he doesn’t know who he’s supposed to close down. I think the back five is to help Ekdal but I think it’s having the opposite effect, too many cooks and all that.

Then we’ve got Brun Larsen playing wing back and Hannib right wing?

Hopefully Parker can get a few more in and settle on something the players are more familiar with.

For all is pressing he's not a premier league player just like Brownhill was , it's a massive step up to the premier league and you have it or haven't..

We are three games into a new season at the elite level, why don’t we let the lad find his feet before writing him off.

elwaclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 31, 2025 2:38 am

We are three games into a new season at the elite level, why don’t we let the lad find his feet before writing him off.

not seen anyone write him off, just comments on what he needs to do better.

If we sign Luis, I think he's probably dropped for a more attacking minded 10. For me we need to get back to a 4231/4411, and he unfortunately falls between two stools. Very good at pressing, excellent energy and a tidy player technically. But neither physical enough to warrant a place deeper nor does he have a killer pass or the instinct to score enough goals in and around the box. I'm not slating him here, I really like the guy but at this level you have to get it right and I think other players we have are perhaps better suited in the roles he'd take.

He’ll play a big part this season, but we’re yet to find our most effective starting XI and formation.

His quality on the ball is really poor, which was the same last season. Because he has a funny hair do and waives his arms at the crowd people like him. Number don’t lie and his goal contributions in the championship last season. One goal and zero assists from a player playing as a 10 show he is no where near good enough for the Prem. The biggest conundrum is he gets in that position ahead of Ramsey

I like him and there's absolutely no doubting he will always give you 110%. He never stops running, harassing and putting himself about and he's definitely got some genuine quality which made him an absolutely vital cog in our promotion push. However, he reminds me so much of Dean Marney who offered exactly the same yet imo lacked the real skills to be a consistent PL level player. I do agree he needs more opportunity as we're only 3 games in and he could yet prove me wrong.

He’s only 22 and this is his first real crack at the big league. I do think he’s under the correct coach to develop into a better player with Parker, and that he’s being utilised in a position solely for his pressing abilities.

He rarely gave the ball away last season and was always looking for the ball, I will point to the Southampton game again from last season where he was much deeper and was brilliant throughout .

Given some more time and possibly a slightly different role k think he will be vital once again.

I always thought Hannibal had decent vision for a pass, but his real strength was his work rate. However yesterday he was poor and he didn't seem to have that hunting instinct that he normally plays with. He was further out on the right, so not sure if that was part of SP's instructions for him or he was just having an off day, either way it wasn't the Hannibal we know.

I also agree with a number of posters on here who think he would be better deeper. Plenty of time for him to improve further, but when Luis comes in I think he starts instead, especially given how well Ugochukwu has started and the fact Cullen is playing well.

I’ve found him a bit Jekyll and Hyde over the last 12 months.

There’s clearly a good player in there and we’ve seen serval games when the football is doing the talking. Unfortunately he also seems to have games where’s he’s too wrapped up in the size or state of the game and he just gets lost.

I thought his position yesterday, further forward, prevented us from have another good out ball up front.

He hasn’t the pace to be a threat with Foster up front and his goal threat is shockingly poor for someone playing so far forward.

Our defence was too often caught out because there was only Foster to aim for when under pressure.

I thought Laurent was excellent when he came on, by the way.

He was shocking yesterday.

I think he tries too hard at times and yesterday was an example, probably because it was against his former employee. But he remains a different option for the manager deploy, as a starter. or off the bench thst I believe will be beneficial as the season gets underway.

After the window closes I would hope we more or less have a settled first XI.

Players like Hannibal, Brunn Larsen, Tchouna, Foster/Broja will be around the starting line up but will probably spend the majority of the time on the bench, they may even swap places on a week by week basis

Some weeks Hannibal will be brilliant, as the game will suit him, other weeks it won't.

One thing is, it we turnover possession on a regular basis at this level then we will get punished.

I thought he was trying too hard, possibly trying to show the United fans 'look what you're missing'.

Most won't remember him.

They seemed to remember him.as he got a deserved ovation from all 4 sides of the ground when he came off

Didn’t have a good game yesterday but I still think he will be a key player for us.

A centre mid role seems to be his most effective position. I feel he is learning quickly and will become a really special player for us.

He is full of trickery but that comes at a price when he is disposessed for trying the impossible as witnessed yesterday