Hannibal

[RVclaret]

Brilliant first half and why we were able to dominate. One who tired second half with Luca which led to our press being worse and they were able to play out easier.

[fatboy47]

Excellent tonight.

[BurnleyFC]

Played well tonight, especially first half.

[KlyBfc]

He did alright and probably was one of the better performers overall.

My issue remains our tactical set up.

We play with two really wide midfielders and then seem to play Hannibal and Brownhill quite wide too. It creates overloads on that side when we have the ball…. But then the opposite side don’t come in meaning we have nothing centrally / in the box apart from Foster… and so our end product is woeful.

Under Vk Zarouury, Tella and Browny all were excellent at getting into the box from the opposte side to our attack, as were Maatsen and vitinhio when we went forward. Parker seems to have us so set in stone

[Bowclaret]

Getting better with every game. Class on the ball tonight.

Seems to have sorted his temper out also.

[Garnerssoap]

Loved him since he wound the leeds mongs up

[jlup1980]

He works hard but he's not a no.10, certainly not yet. I've put in my ratings that he reminds me of Jeff Hendrick playing there under Dyche. You can't fault his work rate, and he'll do the simple things well, but you can't see him playing defence splitting pass or suddenly taking a few men on and getting the crowd off their feet. He may well score the odd screamer as Jeff used to do (and I hope he does!), but he looks more like a no.8 to me - a box-to-box ball of energy, breaking up the play and disrupting the opposition. I'd just like us to swap him and Brownhill around to see if that works, as Josh clearly has more in his locker from an attacking sense.

[kentonclaret]

Getting better with every game. Class on the ball tonight.

Seems to have sorted his temper out also.

Checking out his stats over 38 games in the Championship with Birmingham he collected 10 yellow cards but never actually got himself sent off. That surprised me since many seem to view him as a red card waiting to happen. It could be that he was subbed to avoid a second yellow of course or maybe he controls himself to avoid a second booking.

[Poulton-le-Claret]

Checking out his stats over 38 games in the Championship with Birmingham he collected 10 yellow cards but never actually got himself sent off. That surprised me since many seem to view him as a red card waiting to happen. It could be that he was subbed to avoid a second yellow of course or maybe he controls himself to avoid a second booking.

Didn't he get sent off against us? Or were those last year's stats?

[Elizabeth]

I think he’s doing a good job while we work on getting our injured players back playing. His squad contribution over the season will be a strength that most of the other Championship squads won’t have.,

[CryerBFC]

This ‘he’s not a 10’ argument is getting a bit boring. I’m hardly a future Pep, but I do have 2 eyes and a bit of common sense.

He isn’t being asked to play as a 10. A typical ‘10’ are the likes of Maddison at Spurs, Foden when he plays centrally. Hannibal, when playing, is alongside Brownhill, slightly in front of Cullen. So it’s 2 slightly advanced CMs. His energy and work rate gets him into the final third a lot more, but that’s because he can. If we were to put Flemming in, the dynamic of midfield would change and he would more than likely be deployed as a ‘10’.

If we are playing a ‘10’ we can’t play Cullen and Brownhill, cause we’d essentially have a straight line down the middle, in the form of a 6, 8 and 10. It’s not a bad problem to have, meaning we can set up various ways. But right now Hannibal is doing a good job and last night was arguably his best performance for us so far.

[oswyclaret]

Cracking no nonsense player,just what we needed to be fair!Give the lad time.All you knockers out there,want to keep your mouths shut.Remember dean marney,when he first came to the club,he struggled!...Hannibal will come good!

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

Work rate, enterprise, energy, pace - terrific performance!

[Alan Young]

This ‘he’s not a 10’ argument is getting a bit boring. I’m hardly a future Pep, but I do have 2 eyes and a bit of common sense.

He isn’t being asked to play as a 10. A typical ‘10’ are the likes of Maddison at Spurs, Foden when he plays centrally. Hannibal, when playing, is alongside Brownhill, slightly in front of Cullen. So it’s 2 slightly advanced CMs. His energy and work rate gets him into the final third a lot more, but that’s because he can. If we were to put Flemming in, the dynamic of midfield would change and he would more than likely be deployed as a ‘10’.

If we are playing a ‘10’ we can’t play Cullen and Brownhill, cause we’d essentially have a straight line down the middle, in the form of a 6, 8 and 10. It’s not a bad problem to have, meaning we can set up various ways. But right now Hannibal is doing a good job and last night was arguably his best performance for us so far.

Maybe not a typical “10” but he’s definitely playing higher up the pitch than Brownhill. He’s the first to join Foster in a press. His lack of goal contributions probably wouldn’t be an issue if we were getting more from our wide men and Foster.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Hannibal is a player that would suit this system better playing against better sides.

Sounds crazy to say but I don’t think he’s very effective when we play teams with a low block as he’s not a creative type player. He will struggle against this type of side.

Against better sides (like we saw against Leeds) I think he will be much more effective, pressing and breaking up play.

I think his play time will be limited when everyone is fit though. Got to imagine Flemming comes into his role

[Newcastleclaret93]

This ‘he’s not a 10’ argument is getting a bit boring. I’m hardly a future Pep, but I do have 2 eyes and a bit of common sense.

He isn’t being asked to play as a 10. A typical ‘10’ are the likes of Maddison at Spurs, Foden when he plays centrally. Hannibal, when playing, is alongside Brownhill, slightly in front of Cullen. So it’s 2 slightly advanced CMs. His energy and work rate gets him into the final third a lot more, but that’s because he can. If we were to put Flemming in, the dynamic of midfield would change and he would more than likely be deployed as a ‘10’.

If we are playing a ‘10’ we can’t play Cullen and Brownhill, cause we’d essentially have a straight line down the middle, in the form of a 6, 8 and 10. It’s not a bad problem to have, meaning we can set up various ways. But right now Hannibal is doing a good job and last night was arguably his best performance for us so far.

He is 100% playing as a ten.

[Colburn_Claret]

Looked good last night, worked really hard, and had some great interplay with Koleosho.
My concern isn't with him, but the balance of the team. Cullen, Brownhill and Hannibal don't complement each other. I can't help feeling we'd be better off without Cullen, which is crazy because I really like the guy, but his sideways passing holds us back. At least Brownhill and Hannibal try to get the ball forward, are willing to run at the box.

[RVclaret]

He is 100% playing as a ten.

Had a lower average position than Brownhill last night

[ClaretAndBlue94]

Didn't he get sent off against us? Or were those last year's stats?

Has Hannibal ever been sent off in senior football ?

Stats seem to show one when playing in youth leagues for United (and I think that was for asking an opponent to be sent off which gave him the second yellow!)

[CryerBFC]

He is 100% playing as a ten.

I beg to differ but OK

[Stonehouse]

Surely is role is to win the ball and press their defenders higher up the pitch not to be the creator.

[ClaretTony]

He was pretty good tonight, didn't give them a second.

I thought he was a lot better than pretty good to be honest, our best player.

[brexit]

Hannibal is a player that would suit this system better playing against better sides.

Sounds crazy to say but I don’t think he’s very effective when we play teams with a low block as he’s not a creative type player. He will struggle against this type of side.

Against better sides (like we saw against Leeds) I think he will be much more effective, pressing and breaking up play.

I think his play time will be limited when everyone is fit though. Got to imagine Flemming comes into his role

Would drop Cullen and keep him in the side.
At present, both Laurent and Hannibal should be in front of Cullen on the team sheet.

[ChorltonCharlie]

Had a lower average position than Brownhill last night

Brownhill moved to the front of a triangle when Laurent came on, which would change his average position. Clearly they started the game as two central midfielders in advance of Cullen. I did notice that Hannibal was more advanced later, but even then it was on the right side of the field and not central.

A real bug bear that people use numbers to describe a players role. It's nowhere near that simplistic, and more so than ever these days. It also just leads to lazy criticisms from people who don't even try to understand the game.

[RVclaret]

Brownhill moved to the front of a triangle when Laurent came on, which would change his average position. Clearly they started the game as two central midfielders in advance of Cullen. I did notice that Hannibal was more advanced later, but even then it was on the right side of the field and not central.

A real bug bear that people use numbers to describe a players role. It's nowhere near that simplistic, and more so than ever these days. It also just leads to lazy criticisms from people who don't even try to understand the game.

Agree with all that

[Newcastleclaret93]

Had a lower average position than Brownhill last night

I don’t think that helps the argument, he’s playing as a ten but consistently dropping deep trying to get on the ball.

This is why our striker and wingers are so isolated in attacking positions.

For me as it stands right now, the Hannibal role is the biggest hinderance to our attacking play

[IanMcL]

Played well last night. Reminds me of Lenny Johnrose. Runs about and you wonder what he is doing, however. cuts out a lot and wins the ball often. Full of energy and commitment.

[NickBFC]

His best game for us so far, but where do you play him? Shouldn't be playing as advanced for me, but he is useful pressing/winning the ball higher up the pitch.

[Goliath]

He's playing as 10 but he definitely pops up on that inside right combining with Koleosho a lot more than he does on the left. I presume that's intentional.

[Dark Cloud]

Certainly his best game last night.

[ecc]

It seems to me SP has got the message over that he has to cut out the excess gobbing off and aggression. The last two matches he's seemed more focused on playing football. I think Flemming will come in behind Foster but Hannibal could play deeper.

[AfloatinClaret]

Had a lower average position than Brownhill last night

Maybe, but Josh Brownhill got to stand on/around their penalty spot for two or three minutes which likely helped his average

[dougcollins]

Maybe, but Josh Brownhill got to stand on/around their penalty spot for two or three minutes which likely helped his average

I know you weren't being serious, but it don't count when the ball is out of play.

[claretspice]

I thought he was a lot better than pretty good to be honest, our best player.

Not sure I agree with that - thought Pires and Esteve were our best players last night.

Hannibal ratted well and had a pretty effective first half but he'd faded out of the game well before be was substituted and he was sloppy in possession several times.

We did tweak the system last night - for long periods he and Brownhill played a long side each other ahead of Cullen but when we lost the initiative in the second half it reverted to Brownhill and Cullen with Hannibal ahead.

There's a good player in Hannibal but I think he's naturally the freer of two holding midfielders and even last night he looked more comfortable when the ball was there to be won than trying to unlock a defence.

[Longsidejono]

Seems okay, gets through a lot of work don’t know why but seems he scuffs the ball alot and has some really poor touches struggles to get it from under his feet at times similar to maessengo

Swap him and brownhill around could see a lot more from him in terms of breaking up play and setting up a few more attacks

[Elizabeth]

Seems okay, gets through a lot of work don’t know why but seems he scuffs the ball alot and has some really poor touches struggles to get it from under his feet at times similar to maessengo

Swap him and brownhill around could see a lot more from him in terms of breaking up play and setting up a few more attacks

I think he has a lot more to offer than Massengo.
It has happened on more than one occasion that he lets the ball get away from him but equally it’s been noticeable that he is so determined to keep possession that he has managed to toe poke the ball to a teammate. It’s his creativity that is always going to be highlighted in any discussion.
Fleming will solve this question of swopping him around with Brownhill. Neither will be needed as much to create. As it is Brownhill has far the better football brain to create and take advantage of space going forward.
Hannibal is definitely a match day squad player who can expect to play some part in each game in my opinion