🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Conor Gallagher

[Pizy 18,942]

29 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Carragher also put him in team of the season so far.

Team of the season (4-3-3): Aaron Ramsdale; Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Rudiger, Cancelo; Conor Gallagher, Rice, Bernardo Silva; Salah, Jota, Foden.

Neville team:

Team of the season (3-4-3): Alisson; Virgil van Dijk, Ruben Dias, Antonio Rudiger; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Rodri, Declan Rice, Joao Cancelo; Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Phil Foden.

Don’t think Dias has been nearly as good as he was last season. And even Liverpool fans have been slating TAA a bunch this year.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

4 hours ago, Pizy said:

Don’t think Dias has been nearly as good as he was last season. And even Liverpool fans have been slating TAA a bunch this year.

Have to disagree.

Dias and particularly Rodri also, have been excellent for City this season. Would go as far as saying the two of them are a big reason as to why City have the lowest goals against this season as well as 11 PL clean sheets, although the way they work to get the ball back as a team is incredible.

What I don’t get is why Neville and Carragher have put VVD in their teams, if anything he has been very average for them this year I feel. 

[bigbluewillie 1,930]

On 12/12/2021 at 23:34, MoroccanBlue said:

I see him wasted in a midfield two and more disciplinary responsibilities. Would love to see him in a midfield three alongside Mount and a proper DM. 
 

Mount Gallagher

         Rice

👀 

Mount Gallagher

Phillips

[NikkiCFC 8,334]

Looking back what I was saying about Gallagher 2 and a half years ago it is mental that no top club (or any) offered me millions worth scouting job...

[Vesper 30,213]

Conor Gallagher is a throwback to old-fashioned No 8s – and that could be what England are missing

https://theathletic.com/3056838/2022/01/10/conor-gallagher-is-a-throwback-to-old-fashioned-no-8s-and-that-could-be-what-england-need/

At a time when the England national side is blessed with several quality attacking midfielders excelling for clubs in the Champions League, Conor Gallagher probably isn’t the best of the bunch. He is, however, surely the most typically English.

Gallagher has been the standout player for a rejuvenated Crystal Palace side, featured in many people’s select XI from the first half of the Premier League season, and has been one of the revelations of the season for Fantasy Football players. Palace fans want him to stay, Chelsea fans would like him to return from his loan, and England supporters were delighted to see him make his international debut in November against San Marino.

One of the likeable things about Gallagher is that he feels so familiar, so refreshingly simple, so typical of English football. It’s his his boundless running style, his box-to-box nature, his determination to get into goalscoring positions. Gallagher is essentially an elite version of No 8s you can watch up and down the country every Saturday at lower levels of the game, the bloke who was your school’s best player, the type of footballer who has outplayed you at Sunday League.

His contemporaries all feel like entirely different beasts.

Mason Mount, for example, is thoroughly continental in style. He excels because of his tactical understanding, his appreciation of space and his ability to receive the ball. He is technically excellent, of course — see his crisp volley in a recent defeat at West Ham. But Mount is about subtle, intelligent, understated contributions. And though he’s very diligent without the ball, it’s not because he runs and runs to show everyone he’s running — the stereotypical English approach — more because he runs intelligently.

Phil Foden, with his low centre of gravity and technical completeness, feels very Spanish; his nickname of “the Stockport Iniesta” is tongue-in-cheek, but only slightly. Foden can play from the left or the right, as a No 8 or a No 10, and has adapted well when fielded as City’s false forward, too. This type of versatility was not, traditionally, a strength of English players.

Jack Grealish, predominantly a purposeful dribbler, feels more South American than European, like one of those prodigiously gifted Argentine players who prefers having everything based around him, but has been forced out wide at the highest level. He’s more individualistic than Mount or Foden, and has been open about the difficulties of adapting his natural game to suit Pep Guardiola’s approach.

But Gallagher is pure English. His manager, Patrick Vieira, says he “has this passion for the game on the field like a Ray Parlour, but I would say he has the quality finishing of a Frank Lampard”.

Parlour is a former team-mate of Vieira’s, of course, and feels like a good comparison. There’s an exuberance, an enthusiasm and a directness about Gallagher’s play which brings to mind Parlour, but it might also bring to mind someone slightly more recent like Jimmy Bullard. Like Parlour, Bullard is now a little underrated because of his post-playing career as a banter merchant but, when injury-free, he could truly light up a Premier League game and score brilliant goals.

Comparisons will inevitably be to players who peaked a decade or longer ago, because top Premier League sides don’t really do players like Gallagher any more. Tactical evolution means there’s more of a split in midfield responsibilities: Mount, Foden and Grealish have all played in a front three, in various roles, and look comfortable there.

Others suit deeper positions, and while Declan Rice is excellent at carrying the ball forward, and Kalvin Phillips has played a more advanced role for England than he does for Leeds, they aren’t regular goalscoring threats like Gallagher.

Gallagher has managed six goals this season — of other midfielders in the Premier League, and excluding penalties, only Bernardo Silva and Emile Smith-Rowe have more. Gallagher is outperforming his xG, which stands at only 3.6, but perhaps more significant is that, of the 20 players to have scored six or more goals this season, only Leeds United’s Raphinha is lower in terms of xG per shot, according to Fbref.com.

In other words, Gallagher is attempting lots of shots, but not always from very promising positions. After his two goals against West Ham, Vieira specifically mentioned his determination to run in behind, but the following weekend against Tottenham he repeatedly shot waywardly from long range, trying to do too much.

His goals from close-range positions are more repeatable — his close-range first goal against Everton, rather than his spectacular second, might actually be more promising.

Scoring goals, of course, is a fundamental part of being a classic English No 8. Although both Lampard and Steven Gerrard developed as broadly box-to-box midfielders in a 4-4-2, both became defined by their goals; Lampard becoming Chelsea’s all-time record goalscorer and Gerrard, at his best, almost playing as a support striker off Fernando Torres.

They didn’t work together for England, of course, because they were both accustomed to being the most attack-minded player in a three-man midfield, which is Gallagher’s role now. You sense that Gallagher, for all his talent, might have been less celebrated had he emerged a decade ago, when English football had more players in that mould, and when the national team’s failure was partly because they had two of them to accommodate.

The last thing England needed was another goalscoring No 8, but now Gallagher doesn’t feel like another version of a player England already have, he feels like a refreshing throwback.

In terms of actual midfield play, Gallagher isn’t overwhelmingly involved. In fact, when The Athletic’s John Muller highlighted the Premier League’s “no-touch all-stars”, Gallagher was his choice for the midfield slot. “He averages 52.8 touches per 90 minutes, more than half the Premier League,” Muller explained. “But when you look at that number in the context of his position and team, the Chelsea loanee sinks to the 11th percentile for adjusted touch share… he doesn’t do the one thing midfielders do most — complete passes in midfield.”

Gallagher concentrates his work in the attacking phase — even in terms of ball-winning. Twice this season, for Odsonne Edouard’s goal against Arsenal, and for Wilfried Zaha’s opener in the shock win at Manchester City, Gallagher has been the man responsible for closing down an opponent — Albert Lokonga and Aymeric Laporte respectively — and creating a high turnover that directly led to a goal. It’s good pressing. It’s also good old-fashioned work rate.

When discussing Gallagher’s future during a recent punditry appearance, former Palace player and manager Alan Pardew jokingly suggested that Gallagher should stick around at Selhurst Park because “he has a south London accent”, but is that really true? Gallagher actually grew up in Bookham, a village at the foot of the Surrey Hills, and his voice sounds less influenced by geography and more by his profession — he talks in a manner more similar to Bullard or Parlour, from the London/Essex borders, than he does most youngsters you’ll meet in Surrey. Gallagher represents all of English football, rather than a specific part of it.

A more pertinent question is what role Gallagher might play if he did return to Chelsea. At present it’s not clear whether he’d be more suited to one of the deeper midfield roles in Chelsea’s 3-4-2-1, or a more advanced position.

Gallagher probably needs freedom, and while he’s good enough to merit that luxury at Palace, and good enough to play a supporting role at Chelsea, he might not end up good enough to merit that luxury at Chelsea. He may be suited to being a big fish in a medium-sized pond; Ross Barkley, Danny Drinkwater and Steve Sidwell were excellent in the Premier League for Everton, Leicester and Reading respectively but were never likely to be as pivotal at Chelsea.

Of course, if Gallagher continues his upward trajectory, there’s no reason Thomas Tuchel — or his successors — wouldn’t devise a role that got the best from Gallagher. He’s currently a better player now than Lampard was at West Ham at the same age. But if he doesn’t quite reach Lampard’s level, it would be a shame to see him shackled in a more reserved role — he feels like the kind of player that should dominate a midfield, regardless of the level he finds himself playing at.

When trying to think of a comparable player I’ve seen at lower levels, I remembered that, coincidentally, Gallagher’s brother Dan used to play for the team I support, seventh-tier Kingstonian. My only memory of his two-month loan spell is him tripping over the ball in a 5-0 loss away at Staines Town four years ago, although he’s currently playing in the division above, with Dorking Wanderers, so he’s clearly better than that incident would suggest.

Gallagher has two other older brothers involved in non-League football. Josh has spent much of his career in the Isthmian Premier League before being appointed coach of ninth-tier Raynes Park Vale last summer at the age of just 28, while Jake plays in the National League South for Maidstone United. All four Gallagher brothers are central midfielders.

My initial theory was that players reminiscent of Conor Gallagher are everywhere across English football. I hadn’t realised it was true in such a literal sense.

[Vesper 30,213]

Meet the stunning Irish girlfriend of soccer star Conor Gallagher who has everybody talking

Aine was born and raised in Cork but moved to London to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional dancer

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/meet-aine-kennedy-irish-girlfriend-26292628

The 23-year-old blonde bombshell was soon signed by a modelling agency after arriving in the fashion capital and has been dating the soccer star for three years. 

The Irish girlfriend of soccer star Conor Gallagher has got tongues wagging after the player gathered more attention for his stand out performances for Crystal Palace this season.

The 22-year-old midfielder has impressed fans and managers alike after scoring a total of seven goals in competitions for the Eagles so far.

 

Gallagher was called up to play for his country in November, making his debut for England against San Marino.

However, it is his stunning girlfriend, Aine May Kennedy, who has caught the eye of many fans of the young player.

Aine was born and raised in Cork but moved to London to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional dancer.

The 23-year-old blonde bombshell was soon signed by a modelling agency after arriving in the fashion capital and has been dating the soccer star for three years.

The model and dancer was signed by the respected Pulse Model Agency and has featured in a number of fashion shoots.

Aine has been living it up since moving away from Ireland as she often shares snaps of the pair out and about hitting up luxury boutiques such as Dior.

The couple appear to be going strong, enjoying each other's company whilst out on romantic dates in some of the country's most prestigious restaurants.

The two have posted photos enjoying meals in hotspots like Harry's Dolce Vita in Knightsbridge, but it is travelling the world that seems to be the pair's favourite pastime.

Conor, who also has Irish links, and Aine recently took a trip to Paris where they saw all that the city of love has to offer, including the Louvre Museum and posh eaterie Cafe de Flore.

 

During the summer, they travelled to The Algarve, Portugal, to top up their tans and take a break from their hectic schedules.

Aine looked effortlessly incredible as she showed off her bikini body in several Insta posts sending fans pulses racing.

The long-term girlfriend is her beau's number one supporter and is often spotted in the stands at Selhurst Park cheering Conor on.

[NikkiCFC 8,334]

Another one. 

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

Not sure why no one is mentioning it but his goal against Watford was class. The control and composure in the box. 

[Milan 17,959]

Miles ahead of Mount you cannot even compare them. 

[Vesper 30,213]

48 minutes ago, Milan said:

Miles ahead of Mount you cannot even compare them. 

show us on the doll where the bad man Mason touched you

 

[Milan 17,959]

Like I bloody cared.

[OhForAGreavsie 6,077]

Viera is bound to request that Chelsea clear Connor to play in the semi-final. What do people think, should we?

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

29 minutes ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Viera is bound to request that Chelsea clear Connor to play in the semi-final. What do people think, should we?

Yes. We'd look like mugs to deny this kind of opportunity for him. 

This will also give us evidence on how he performs in big stages. 

[King Kante 1,643]

I thought the FA had introduced some rule banning this like they do with the league.

 

EDIT

Best source I could find without having to do much digging:

https://investenrich.com/2022/03/20/can-crystal-palace-on-loan-ace-conor-gallagher-play-against-Chelsea-in-fa-cup-semifinal/

Looks like he cannot even if the club gives permission.

Edited March 21, 2022 by King Kante

[OhForAGreavsie 6,077]

16 minutes ago, King Kante said:

I thought the FA had introduced some rule banning this like they do with the league.

 

EDIT

Best source I could find without having to do much digging:

https://investenrich.com/2022/03/20/can-crystal-palace-on-loan-ace-conor-gallagher-play-against-Chelsea-in-fa-cup-semifinal/

Looks like he cannot even if the club gives permission.

Thanks.

The linked article sounds authoritative. Assuming it is correct then that is that.

[Vesper 30,213]

3 hours ago, OhForAGreavsie said:

Viera is bound to request that Chelsea clear Connor to play in the semi-final. What do people think, should we?

sure, I say give him a chance to prove he is a big stage player

there are only 2 players on the planet I would love to dodge if/when we play their teams

because they are the two most single important players (to their teams) on the planet and I HATE one team, and dislike the other

Benz

Lewa

they are also the 2 best CF's on the planet atm as well

De Bruyne is damn close to me saying him as well, BUT his loss is not as vital to Citeh as those 2 would be to Real and Barca, especially Benz for Real

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

 

[Johnnyeye 7,510]

On 21/03/2022 at 23:13, MoroccanBlue said:

Yes. We'd look like mugs to deny this kind of opportunity for him. 

This will also give us evidence on how he performs in big stages. 

on the other hand we will also look like mugs if Conor scores the winner against us. I still remember Morientes while on loan at Monaco, scoring against Real in 2004 and knocking them out of CL, and may i remind you of a certain snake who was on loan at Atletico and helped knock us out in 2014.

Edited April 5, 2022 by Johnnyeye

[MoroccanBlue 5,383]

I reiterate what i've been saying for months, Gallagher is Kante's successor. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

Starting next season we go from three substitutions to five. It will allow midfielders to go all out pressing knowing if they get gassed there is a substitute coming. Also will allow more minutes for younger players. That rule change will help Conor get minutes and allow him to all out press when on the pitch.