Totally disagree. Hughes was the heartbeat of our side under Xisco last season in that holding role and dictated the pace of pretty much every game! He also allowed Cleverley & Chalobah to express themselves higher up the pitch (which they both came out and said in various interviews last season when we changed to 4-3-3). I would say his composure on the ball, his ability to pick out the right pass and his discipline to hold his position and come to take the ball off the centre-backs was the main reason we were able to control games under Xisco. Remember, before he went into that role it was very direct and predictable to defend against. The simplicity in Hughes' game was a massive part of why we improved.
You make a fair point about lack of assists not on its own being evidence of a lack of passing range, so how about this from last season - Accurate long passes per 90 minutes: Hughes: 1.4 Cleverley: 2.9 Capoue: 5.5 Also, to use your other reference, Jorginho last season: 3.4 The claim @simpleMASH made of Hughes playing "like the quarterback" is pure balderdash.
If the rumours of a bust up with Foster are true (apparently caught on camera launching a tirade of expletives in his direction) then Will has no place at our club. Take the money from Fulham and offload this bad egg.
You might have noticed that other players with more accurate long balls than Hughes include Masina, Troost-Ekong and Bachmann - that statistic hardly attests to a passing range or lack thereof. I think that mostly speaks to Hughes' role in Xisco system: dropping deep to collect the ball and progressing it with medium-length passes to the full backs, or number 8s. He does that really well which is why he is in the top quartile of Championship midfielders for ball progression. Progressive passes seems a much better reflection of passing ability as long balls just reflect distance. A 40 yard backpass is an accurate long ball but it is not as helpful to the team or as difficult to execute as a 15 yard pass from the halfway line that bypasses two opponents. As for the quarterback claim, I don't think that to be considered a quarterback (in either an American Football or football context) one has to execute lots of long balls. The role of the quarterback is to drop behind the line of scrimmage and run the play by starting off each move with some sort of progressive pass. I don't think the analogy is THAT helpful in the football context considering that the quarterback calls different set plays and is responsible for executing them but in the sense that Hughes is the one who drops deep and is responsible for starting the buildup play with a progressive pass, he is the closest thing we have to a quarterback.
Would be disappointed if he didn't stay and feel it would reflect bad management. He isn't irreplaceable however as things stand I don't trust us to sign a adequate replacement
It’s so strange that we’re now into the third week of pre-season and there’s still no news on Hughes. No leaked stories in the press, no exclusive from Adam Leventhal or Ryan Gray, no photos of him training, not even in the background. It’s like he’s completely vanished.
Pretty much confirmed he’s not in training by that new video posted where the whole squad is in a line doing an exercise and Will’s nowhere to be seen. Can only assume he’s been separated while he looks for a move just like we did with Capoue, Welbeck, Pereyra etc last season.
I'm at a bit of a lost if how the hell we even let it come to this. I presume we held off offering him a new contract before we know promotion was sorted.
Relegation meant we couldn't offer better terms to anyone and it's highly unlikely Hughes would have signed it anyway, seeing as he's not signing now we've been promoted!
He clearly doesn't have a problem with the club, it is problem with the contract. Not surprising given that we are offering a 50% relegation reduction when most of the squad don't have such a clause and will be unaffected if relegated. I wouldn't sign that contract, so why would Hughes.
I think if they paired it with a release clause he might go for it. At his age, this is his "Financial Security" deal. Any deal after this one will be less money unless he has some sort of unlikely jump in form. So he needs to get his money now. The club likewise has to ensure its own financial future - they almost suffered a disaster last year. There should be a way to protect everybody. "We stay up, you get paid" "We go down, you can leave at a reasonable fee - or take a cut with the rest of us"
I agree a release clause would be a fair compromise. It is such a difficult position to play correctly and Hughes' retention and circulation of the ball makes the formation work. I live in hope that he's just injured or something...
I think some people had the same theory as me, that the kit and Hughes' contract will be announced together. 99% sure that won't be happening though.
Yes. He posted this morning that he was at the club filming for some sort of club content which I think he’s done in the past and responded the following to one of his replies: https://twitter.com/chris_stark/status/1417472151666442264?s=21
If it is happening then @LouOrns should know by now. Come on, spill the beans please. We won't tell anyone, honest.
Tbf at this stage I'm not that bothered, he's not irreplaceable, if we get a decent fee for him (say, £10m plus), while bringing in someone like Thorsby for less than that, so be it. Fully expect him to be sold for around £5m mind you!
At this point I'd rather we put a deadline on it just so it can be resolved. Of course I'd rather he and Chalobah stayed, but if it isn't going to be resolved in the next week or so we would be better off cutting our loses and selling the pair while working on replacements.
I saw a tweet at half time on Saturday saying: "Josh King has scored more goals this season than minutes Will Hughes has played for Crystal Palace" Made me chuckle.
