Thread by @__TheNearPost_

Morgan Gibbs White— Nottingham Forest's #10.

Some personal observations.

THREAD.

Ever since I saw the links to Manchester City, it feels like I've mostly seen discourse range from 'He's great' to 'he's too expensive' to 'he's shit'.

I think Gibbs White does a lot of things that don't necessarily create a pretty FBREF Data sheet.

Why I like Gibbs White:
- Powerful ball carrier that wins duels.
- Runs all game.
- Can pick out a pass in transition + inventive.
- Potential to press high + defend in the middle of he park.
- Second ball/loose ball winner.

That's a good player right there.

The biggest thing about Gibbs White is how active he is in the pockets. He has two Arsenal players on him, bides his time, and immediately jumps to open up a pass lane to receive the ball in.

This allows him to pick out a pass or carry the ball into open space. It leads me to one of MGW's best qualities, which is his first touch. Albeit somewhat inconsistent at times, MGW uses it to either trap the ball or produce a heavy touch to misguide opps.

This heavy touch helps him move the ball into open space, and with his burst and physicality, MGW can carry the ball in large spaces. This is a tool that I've seen Cole Palmer use as well.

- Receives the ball.
- Heavy touch to guide it into space.
- Beats Rice.

'But Pep ruined Grealish'

The biggest praise I can give MGW is his ability to run all game, unlike the latter, especially in terms of providing value to the attack. MGW loves one-touch passes + runs to provide an underlapping option.

As far as retention goes, I like Gibbs-White. Uses the ‘stiff arm’ very well to disbalance opponents and keep possession of the ball.

Does this, shields the ball well, spins his man, and drives the ball towards goal.

The most I've seen from Gibbs White in terms of deep midfield play is picking the ball in open spaces and turning to create an entirely different picture.

+ He's also drifting to the flanks to receive the ball and relieve his team of pressure.

Beyond that, don't expect him to be racking up 100+ passes with a 100% success rate. Gibbs White is still a player who does everything at a high rhythm, not necessarily bad given the level of his dynamism/ability to time through balls.

Gibbs White’s through balls usually feel like green flags in terms of:

- The lack of bobble.
- Passing the ball into space and not into the receiver’s feet.

Still, some refining is needed.

Here’s Gibbs White in the dying minutes of a game: running back, tracking his man, winning the ball and immediately playing a through ball.

As far as the rest of his passing game goes, I've liked what I've seen MGW do on the right when it comes to crosses— good amount of zip when there needs to be, can float it but not too long for opp. defences to regain shape.

I enjoyed his 23/24 season because of what I saw of his final ball— it contained plays that were pretty good at opening up a defence.

Did I also mention that Gibbs White is pretty good at getting on the end of them second/loose balls? He ends up losing the ball here, and that's something to take note of in terms of technical consistency.

Gibbs White doesn't have an impressive number of goals racked up.

But he's got a decent variety, including:
- Manipulating the ball through a crowded space.
- Give and go's: pass the ball, run into space.
- Ghost in the box.

He's not as lethal a shooter as KDB is, per se.

He's still shown a good amount of quality with shooting on both feet while also:

- Planting the non-shooting foot firmly on the ground.
- No flimsiness in strong foot.
- Short backlift (amount of time to retract the leg before shooting).

As far as his game goes, I'd imagine MGW to be a bit more self-sufficient creatively, owing to how good he is at finding space, and more importantly, running into space.

Opens up more areas/solutions for him in terms of cutback/cross areas.

MGW loses the ball quite a bit because of his risk-taking nature. He's brave, often trying unorthodox things to get his team to score a goal/progress up the pitch. Some #10s don't enjoy defensive work, but he's a true leader willing to do the dirty work.

As a City signing, I imagine he'd play in the left/right half-spaces either as the #10 pressing high/#10 defending in a block.

He provides what City wanted in Bellingham/Paqueta:
- Ball carrying.
- Duelling.
- Potential can opener.
- Shooting on both feet.

As a 60-70m signing, in this market, Gibbs White would be a good addition to the squad, *PROVIDED* we're able to sign Wirtz. Will he elevate this attack? I'm not quite sure, but I do know that he provides a good floor to build on.

Two other players of this mould that are potentially available include Xavi Simons and Morgan Rogers— the former being the best of the lot. Ideally, you'd want him, given his deep midfield education + the rest of his game, but that seems out of the question.

Besides the fee and the question around needing a Gundo-esque metronome as well, I have come away liking the idea of MGW here. The success of this signing also depends on:
- The fee.
- Selling players that specialise in ball-carrying: Kovacic, Nunes.

I don't guarantee I'm right— I write pieces like these to convey what I've observed, and to note my progress in terms of assessing/analysing things.

END OF THREAD. Likes and RTs appreciated.

Tagging those who may be interested:

@StevenMcinerney
@NoisyPod
@SamLee
@thegingerwig
@9320pod
@lloyd_scragg
@BlueCityBrain
@LNobbins
@ItsLB_City
@Bbebo_55
@shadesofbluenw
@mcfc_lads
@FPLMaineRoad
@sriniwrites_
@daudi10emmanuel

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