The Ndiaye Paradox

[Tickhill Blade]

Mousset
Ndiaye / MGW / Berge

It's a shame we didn't really see those 4 together. Slav didn't know what to do with Berge, Ndiaye wasn't involved much in the beginning, and Mousset was being Mousset before being bombed out by Hecky.

It could/should have been incredible!

Also when Ndiaye first got into the team, he didn't have the fitness that he did the season after and was cramping up after an hour. Not that I'm excusing Slav for some of the football served up!

 

[Balham]

Has Mousset become a bit of a myth though? Nine goals, six that brilliant season. But although he had a great performance at the Etihad and absolutely ripped Phil Jones a new one at Bramall Lane, I'd pretty much say he'd started to look handy and us understand what Wilder had seen (amongst so many great performers that season).

I really don't recall anything though to understand folk going all misty eyed and talking about him as the great lost talent. He was a punt, showed some talent when fit but didn't apply himself and that's shown in what went before and after us. Nowhere near Iliman levels of talent or performance.

Mousset had all the physical requirements to be a top level striker: pace, finishing, skill but his problem is that he's not got the mental strength or application required to be a professional footballer. That purple patch in the autumn of 2019 coincided with United employing a personal trainer and/or chef with sole responsibility for looking after him. That ended during lockdown and he was never the same player after.

That match against Manchester showed how good he could have been. It's a real shame.

 

[Tongeincheek]

Mousset had all the physical requirements to be a top level striker: pace, finishing, skill but his problem is that he's not got the mental strength or application required to be a professional footballer. That purple patch in the autumn of 2019 coincided with United employing a personal trainer and/or chef with sole responsibility for looking after him. That ended during lockdown and he was never the same player after.

That match against Manchester showed how good he could have been. It's a real shame.

My all-time favourite player to watch in a Blades shirt during that span.

Never did I think we'd have such an explosive striker in the top division, clearly scaring the crap out of well-established top-level defenders.

He looked so happy and into it during that purple-patch, beaming smiles, jumping and dancing with his team-mates, running over to Wilder for a cuddle.
Then contrast how he celebrated all those goals to the one he got against Spurs in lockdown and (even though there were no fans) its clear he'd lost something, and now with hindsight we know he never got it back.

Its a massive shame - him and JOC are my two favourite players of recent years & they should have helped us to get established in the prem and then moved on for huge fees.
But for very different reasons we made sod all on the pair of them and got relegated in disgraceful humiliation... twice!

 

[fifty shades of blade]

My all-time favourite player to watch in a Blades shirt during that span.

Never did I think we'd have such an explosive striker in the top division, clearly scaring the crap out of well-established top-level defenders.

He looked so happy and into it during that purple-patch, beaming smiles, jumping and dancing with his team-mates, running over to Wilder for a cuddle.
Then contrast how he celebrated all those goals to the one he got against Spurs in lockdown and (even though there were no fans) its clear he'd lost something, and now with hindsight we know he never got it back.

Its a massive shame - him and JOC are my two favourite players of recent years & they should have helped us to get established in the prem and then moved on for huge fees.
But for very different reasons we made sod all on the pair of them and got relegated in disgraceful humiliation... twice!

Agree. Mousset looked electric back then, a real wasted talent imo.

 

[JimW1889]

My all-time favourite player to watch in a Blades shirt during that span.

Never did I think we'd have such an explosive striker in the top division, clearly scaring the crap out of well-established top-level defenders.

He looked so happy and into it during that purple-patch, beaming smiles, jumping and dancing with his team-mates, running over to Wilder for a cuddle.
Then contrast how he celebrated all those goals to the one he got against Spurs in lockdown and (even though there were no fans) its clear he'd lost something, and now with hindsight we know he never got it back.

Its a massive shame - him and JOC are my two favourite players of recent years & they should have helped us to get established in the prem and then moved on for huge fees.
But for very different reasons we made sod all on the pair of them and got relegated in disgraceful humiliation... twice!

I've always said Mousset was a good purchase for that period alone. I remember him coming on against Liverpool and they actually looked terrified of him.