23. Conor Gallagher

[DDA 9,570]

Reminds me of Owen Hargreaves and he was a class act.

[Magic Lamps 11,446]

15 minutes ago, DDA said:

Reminds me of Owen Hargreaves and he was a class act.

Harsh on Conor. He is way more powerful and has already scored more PL goals in his first 4 months than Hargreaves did in his entire career in all senior competitions.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Magic Lamps

[OneMoSalah 8,611]

13 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Harsh on Conor. He is way more powerful and has already scored more PL goals in his first 4 months than Hargreaves did in his entire career in all senior competitions.

I think your overlooking the point of the comparison and purely focusing on stats.

I’d agree with @DDA, he is maybe more offensive minded than Hargreaves but he has similar sort of traits. He’s got that same energy, drive, thrust in terms of being able to just open up and get away from people as well as the ability he had to get around the park and get the ball back be it pressing high or in deeper positions. He’s very rounded. So was Hargreaves.

 

[NikkiCFC 7,566]

Only MFs in PL recent history who had seasons with double digits in both goals and assists are Gerrard, Lampard, KDB, Bruno and Eriksen. Some come close like Dele, Yaya...

But many of these players are classic AM. Conor is CM which makes it even better. I really think he can be that new Lamps, Gerrard level of player. Maybe this season he wont reach that especially 10 assists but he is still 21yo it will come with time. So excited for his future here.

[Mário César 811]

maybe is better recall him? 

 

[Magic Lamps 11,446]

8 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

I think your overlooking the point of the comparison and purely focusing on stats.

I’d agree with @DDA, he is maybe more offensive minded than Hargreaves but he has similar sort of traits. He’s got that same energy, drive, thrust in terms of being able to just open up and get away from people as well as the ability he had to get around the park and get the ball back be it pressing high or in deeper positions. He’s very rounded. So was Hargreaves.

 

Nah I think it is doing a huge injustice to Conor's ceiling comparing him to a player who was neat and tidy but a squad player for his entire career. All in, he did not manage to start 100 senior games, was not even a consistent starter for the worst bayern team in decades. He was ravaged by injuries, I give you that. Maybe a bit like the trajectory RLC is on atm, quite comparable tbf. If Conor only gecomes a player like that it would be a disappointment.

[Stats 6,980]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

Mount is playing as an attacker, CG is MF. Cannot be compared really. 

Wasn't comparing. More I am gloating at the fact that we have two academy graduates who are lighting the PL up.

[MoroccanBlue 5,194]

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

👀 

[Strike 6,958]

Was playing a deeper role for few games before playing in advanced midfield role again vs Everton. I think he comes in at the end of the season for one of the AMs rather than to play in the pivot. Billy for pivot, Gallagher at AM. 

[Vesper 27,283]

Chelsea can recall Gallagher now but should stay calm with youngster flourishing at Palace

https://theathletic.com/3013054/2021/12/13/Chelsea-can-recall-gallagher-but-should-stay-calm-youngster-flourishing-palace/

The evidence for Chelsea to recall Conor Gallagher from his intended season-long loan in January seems overwhelming.

By smashing the ball with his right foot into the top corner of Everton’s net on Sunday, Gallagher took his goal tally for Crystal Palace to an impressive six in 15 Premier League appearances. He also has three assists in that time.

Understandably, Chelsea fans are getting excited, not only about what the long-term future might bring but how the 21-year-old midfielder could help his parent club in the short term.

Like the majority of their season-long loan deals, Chelsea do have an option to cut it short and bring Gallagher back to the mothership next month. Why spend millions in the January window when you have one of England’s finest emerging young talents, proven in the Premier League, to call upon to improve your squad?

The academy graduate is, no surprise, loving life at Selhurst Park. But nobody should be in any doubt, his ambition and desire are to break through into the Chelsea senior squad. Should the call come in January, he would answer it.

Cutting the loan short seems to be a no-brainer to many, not just because of his talent, but due to the various issues Chelsea’s midfielders are going through. All have been suffering from various ailments and are feeling the strain of the schedule. It is why coach Thomas Tuchel had to pair right wing-back Reece James with Ross Barkley there against Zenit Saint Petersburg in their Champions League group finale last week.

Due to his ability to find the net, there is an argument Gallagher is required anyway. Chelsea have had 16 different goalscorers across their 16 Premier League games so far, but nobody in the squad has more than his six. Mason Mount is also on six but the rest, including the £200 million-plus trio of Romelu Lukaku (three), Kai Havertz (two) and Timo Werner (one), have fewer.

However, it’s very easy to get carried away. Chelsea will not be making any rash decisions. The fact that Tuchel ruled out the possibility of recalling Gallagher only last month is a huge indication of the club’s thinking.

He said: “It is important for him to be happy where he is and not change things. It is important to be calm.

“It is too early to talk about recalling him in public before we talk with Conor himself and what his goals are. This will happen in the summer, as we all agreed to the decision that we wanted to send him to Palace.”

Minds can be changed, and it is concerning that Mateo Kovacic has now gone nearly two months without a league appearance, initially due to a hamstring problem and currently due to testing positive for COVID-19. N’Golo Kante has been in and out of the side all season because of niggling injuries. The most recent of his 13 games was three weeks ago, and ended with him limping off before half-time against Juventus with a knee problem.

Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been playing a lot in their absences, but Tuchel has revealed they’ve also been suffering from some discomfort. The former has had difficulties with his back and the latter had to pull out of that Zenit game last week after picking up an injury in the warm-up. Both started against Leeds United at the weekend, though.

Yes, Gallagher could come back in to help relieve the strain on this quartet. But the situation might look very different come January. For example, Kante and Kovacic are both resuming training this week.

If all four players are available for selection to play in the double No 6 roles in Tuchel’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system, who will Gallagher be picked instead of? As gifted as the youngster is, the Champions League-winning trio of Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic are going to be ahead of him in the pecking order if fit. Loftus-Cheek shouldn’t be underestimated either. He has made 98 appearances for the Chelsea senior side and has been enjoying a bit of a renaissance this season.

And although Saul Niguez has struggled since joining on loan from Atletico Madrid in the summer, it will be a big call by Tuchel to unsettle him further by recalling a youngster yet to make his official Chelsea debut from loan to go ahead of him in the queue.

There would be a bit of a debate whether playing that position would negate some of Gallagher’s attacking instincts. He describes himself as a box-to-box midfielder and he has been given licence to get into forward positions at Palace. But he plays on the right of a three-man midfield for Patrick Vieira, with the comfort of a bit more protection behind.

In saying that, Tuchel has opted for a three-man midfield a few times and also encouraged one of the “double six” to play higher up the pitch occasionally. Gallagher would still fit in if the opportunity arose.

The other option is to use Gallagher as one of the No 10s behind the centre-forward. But this is another area where Chelsea have lots of people to choose from — Havertz, Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mount and Barkley (if he doesn’t leave in January). Loftus-Cheek could also be pushed up there, should a few players go missing for one reason or another.

In other words, ending his loan early is a big call for Gallagher, let alone Chelsea, to make.

Right now, he is benefitting from featuring regularly, working on his game, earning Premier League experience and building that self-belief. Should that be jeopardised for what will surely be a bit-part role for the second half of the campaign back at Stamford Bridge?

Gallagher forced his way into the last England squad — albeit after some withdrawals — off the back of his Palace form. That will surely play a factor too, with the youngster wanting to play as much as possible to have a chance of making the World Cup squad next November.

It’s worth noting Nathan Ake was in the same boat as Gallagher in January 2017. The Dutch defender was recalled early by Chelsea from his Bournemouth loan after impressing — despite making just 12 appearances. Manager Antonio Conte wanted an extra body in for the title run-in, yet Ake ended up playing just five times in total in over four months after returning from the south coast. His only Premier League start — he made just two appearances in the league — was in the penultimate game, after the title had been won.

There is the argument Gallagher can start learning from Tuchel and catch his attention earlier, before he starts thinking about additions he would like to make in the summer transfer window. But the German admires him already, so there is no rush.

“I loved him from day one,” Tuchel added in November. “As a team-mate, I would have loved to play with him. It is a pleasure to know him, I am super happy that it has worked out so well. He needs to keep his feet on the ground.”

And where better to do that than under Vieira at Palace?

[ZAPHOD2319 3,870]

 

[NikkiCFC 7,566]

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.

[Pizy 17,860]

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 8,611]

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 1,805]

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 7,566]

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 27,283]

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 27,283]

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.