[Albion] Billy Gilmour How good was he tonight?

[Baldseagull]

I'm not saying he won't get there but I think he needs to be consistently world class before we compare him to Xavi, Iniesta, Bremner or Mac Allister. Three of those have won the world cup FFS.

That said, he's got better and better since he first got a consistent run in the side in the final third of last season and is surely now one of the first on the team sheet, and was absolutely superb yesterday.

Yeah, but he is Scottish, so picking up the World Cup is about as likely as Leicester winning the Premier League, doesn't mean he isn't a world class player though.

 

[We're the Stripes]

View attachment 171262

That little look of resignation from the Marseille player once he'd realised what had happened

 

[Milano]

Chelsea fans must be absolutely sick at the sight of Gilmour in an Albion shirt.

 

[stewart12]

Yeah, but he is Scottish, so picking up the World Cup is about as likely as Leicester winning the Premier League, doesn't mean he isn't a world class player though.

agreed, winning a major international trophy isn't a requirement of being a world class players

loads of bang average players have won trophies and loads of world class players haven't.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Yeah, but he is Scottish, so picking up the World Cup is about as likely as Leicester winning the Premier League, doesn't mean he isn't a world class player though.

Maybe WBG will win a Euro Winners medal of one kind or another to add to his Champions League Winners nedal?

 

[Seagull58]

I think he's better than Bremner.

A while back, I said he reminded me of those nippy Spanish midfielders who were the engine room of Barcelona at their peak - Xavi and Iniesta.
Like them, he has a low centre of gravity, keeps the ball and is getting better and better. And at still only 22, his best is yet to come.

Iniesta, one of the top 10 midfielders in the world in the last 20 years. WBG has a way to go before that is a remotely accurate comparison but I can see some resemblance. Iniesta played a bit higher up the pitch though, despite starting as a DM. Xavi, also one of the top 10 midfielders in the last 20 years, played as a deep-lying playmaker, so more the role that Billy currently plays. His performance last night was Xaviesque.
If Billy continues to progress and plays regularly at last night's level he might be somewhat comparable to Xavi. Both Xavi and Iniesta were pretty much world-class by the age of 21 though.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I do wonder if we may be watching a future Albion captain

 

[Happy Exile]

A lovely article

Gilmour of Brighton sh*ts on Caicedo of Chelsea and *everyone* saw it coming

Gilmour produced a faultless display for Brighton on Thursday. He's everything for Brighton that Caicedo isn't for Chelsea, and *nobody* is surprised by their respective trajectories.

www.football365.com

 

[Baldseagull]

Maybe WBG will win a Euro Winners medal of one kind or another to add to his Champions League Winners nedal?

You think Scotland might actually win a game at the Euro's?

 

[Eric the meek]

Iniesta, one of the top 10 midfielders in the world in the last 20 years. WBG has a way to go before that is a remotely accurate comparison but I can see some resemblance. Iniesta played a bit higher up the pitch though, despite starting as a DM. Xavi, also one of the top 10 midfielders in the last 20 years, played as a deep-lying playmaker, so more the role that Billy currently plays. His performance last night was Xaviesque.
If Billy continues to progress and plays regularly at last night's level he might be somewhat comparable to Xavi. Both Xavi and Iniesta were pretty much world-class by the age of 21 though.

There was nothing inaccurate in my comment. I said Gilmour reminded me of Xavi and Iniesta. He does. He may not remind you of them but that doesn't make my statement inaccurate ! The only comparisons I made were low centre of gravity and ball retention. Given Billy's height and balance, and 100% successful pass rate, I stand by those comparisons.

Btw, I'm not sure what your claim that Iniesta was world class at 21 is based on? He was born in 1984 and only won his first cap for Spain in 2006. At 22, Gilmour already has 13 caps for Scotland. In June 2021, at age 20, he dominated the England midfield in the 2020 Euros knockout stages, topped the player ratings and was player of the match.

 

[Baldseagull]

Iniesta, one of the top 10 midfielders in the world in the last 20 years. WBG has a way to go before that is a remotely accurate comparison but I can see some resemblance. Iniesta played a bit higher up the pitch though, despite starting as a DM. Xavi, also one of the top 10 midfielders in the last 20 years, played as a deep-lying playmaker, so more the role that Billy currently plays. His performance last night was Xaviesque.
If Billy continues to progress and plays regularly at last night's level he might be somewhat comparable to Xavi. Both Xavi and Iniesta were pretty much world-class by the age of 21 though.

Gilmour probably would have been if he had come through La Masia.

 

[Littlemo]

I do wonder if we may be watching a future Albion captain

Wasn’t he captain (albeit briefly!) in the American series? I think it was when RDZ shoved on all the kids

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

You think Scotland might actually win a game at the Euro's?

'There are no easy games at this level of competition' - Ally MacLeod

 

[Seagull58]

There was nothing inaccurate in my comment. I said Gilmour reminded me of Xavi and Iniesta. He does. He may not remind you of them but that doesn't make my statement inaccurate ! The only comparisons I made were low centre of gravity and ball retention. Given Billy's height and balance, and 100% successful pass rate, I stand by those comparisons.

Btw, I'm not sure what your claim that Iniesta was world class at 21 is based on? He was born in 1984 and only won his first cap for Spain in 2006. At 22, Gilmour already has 13 caps for Scotland. In June 2021, at age 20, he dominated the England midfield in the 2020 Euros knockout stages, topped the player ratings and was player of the match.

It's based on this:-
"Iniesta started his professional career through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, after an early migration from his birthplace, and impressed from an early age. He made his first-team debut aged 18 in 2002. He began playing regularly during the 2004–05 season and remained in the team until 2018. Iniesta was an integral part of the Barcelona sides that won two historic trebles in 2009 and 2015, and his 35 trophies, which includes nine La Ligas and four UEFA Champions League titles, make him the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time."
and this:-
He was in the Spanish team that won the UEFA U-17 championship in 2001, the Spanish team that won the UEFA U-19 championship in 2002, and the Spanish team that was runner-up in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2003.

 

[Eric the meek]

It's based on this:-
"Iniesta started his professional career through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, after an early migration from his birthplace, and impressed from an early age. He made his first-team debut aged 18 in 2002. He began playing regularly during the 2004–05 season and remained in the team until 2018. Iniesta was an integral part of the Barcelona sides that won two historic trebles in 2009 and 2015, and his 35 trophies, which includes nine La Ligas and four UEFA Champions League titles, make him the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time."
and this:-
He was in the Spanish team that won the UEFA U-17 championship in 2001, the Spanish team that won the UEFA U-19 championship in 2002, and the Spanish team that was runner-up in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2003.

Nice googling, but does any of it actually put him in the 'world class' category at 21? The data you quote, covers his whole career. I'm not disputing he has a glittering record. He absolutely does. I rate him extremely highly, which is why I said Gilmour reminded me of him. For me, there is no higher accolade.

Most of your data is invalid, as it occurred after he was 21. The trebles in 2009 and 2015 are both too late. Your choice of other data is odd. Why do you regard his membership of the Spanish U-17, U-19 and U-20 teams as evidence of him being 'world class' at 21? On another data item, why does 'playing regularly during the 2004-05 season' (for Barca) make him world class?

Just to recap, all I said was that Gilmour reminds me of Xavi and Iniesta. I didn't say 'Gilmour is as good as Xavi and Iniesta', or 'Gilmour is better than Xavi and Iniesta'. Just that he reminds me of them. For some reason, this has triggered you, enough to claim that Iniesta was world class at 21, and then post a load of googled data, all of which is irrelevant.

 

[ManOfSussex]

I just watched a recording of his interview on TNT Sports last night with Steve Sidwell and Michael Owen. What stood out for me though from it was the fact that Jules Breach is just lovely.

 

[HCxUK]

Changed the game when he came on at half time vs Burnley and completely ran the show last night. The control WBG & Gross give us in midfield is insane. Have to say he is streets ahead of Dahoud in terms of impact - strangely saw a few on here suggest Dahoud was the better player

 

[Seagull58]

Nice googling, but does any of it actually put him in the 'world class' category at 21? The data you quote, covers his whole career. I'm not disputing he has a glittering record. He absolutely does. I rate him extremely highly, which is why I said Gilmour reminded me of him. For me, there is no higher accolade.

Most of your data is invalid, as it occurred after he was 21. The trebles in 2009 and 2015 are both too late. Your choice of other data is odd. Why do you regard his membership of the Spanish U-17, U-19 and U-20 teams as evidence of him being 'world class' at 21? On another data item, why does 'playing regularly during the 2004-05 season' (for Barca) make him world class?

Just to recap, all I said was that Gilmour reminds me of Xavi and Iniesta. I didn't say 'Gilmour is as good as Xavi and Iniesta', or 'Gilmour is better than Xavi and Iniesta'. Just that he reminds me of them. For some reason, this has triggered you, enough to claim that Iniesta was world class at 21, and then post a load of googled data, all of which is irrelevant.

It hasn't triggered me as such. I said I could see some resemblance but I feel that a comparison with 2 of the best midfielders of all time in terms of regular performance levels is not warranted. A couple of seasons performing at or close to last night's level and it may be worthy of discussion. If you're simply comparing his physical attributes and style of play there is some resemblance to Xavi.

 

[Zeberdi]

A lovely article

Gilmour of Brighton sh*ts on Caicedo of Chelsea and *everyone* saw it coming

Gilmour produced a faultless display for Brighton on Thursday. He's everything for Brighton that Caicedo isn't for Chelsea, and *nobody* is surprised by their respective trajectories.

www.football365.com

Strangely completely misses a whole season at Norwich before Chelsea reluctantly let him go and he came to Brighton. Tuchel did want to keep Gilmour signed to Chelsea but wanted to send him straight out on loan again after he ended his loan period with the Canaries - it hadn’t been good loan, Norwich was relegated and Gilmour had a pretty torrid season. Tuchel couldn’t find a regular MF spot for him at Chelsea after the Norwich loan so he wouldn’t have got the regular games he needed - a typical problem for developing youngsters (especially with Big Clubs when there’s already 3 or 4 ahead of you in the pecking order). It was Gilmour who flatly refused to go out on another loan and who wanted a permanent club to play in - The chance to work under Potter was one of his deciding factors ironically - strange old world.

 

[Eric the meek]

It hasn't triggered me as such. I said I could see some resemblance but I feel that a comparison with 2 of the best midfielders of all time in terms of regular performance levels is not warranted. A couple of seasons performing at or close to last night's level and it may be worthy of discussion.

I didn't realise you have a rule of a two season probationary period of top performances before you will consider a comment of the variety 'player X reminds me of former player Y', worthy of discussion.

Do you have any other rules I should be aware of?