venom2011

I bet if a top team came in for Mason Mount, half their fanbase would say the same thing. And we know how moronic that would be.

Hopefully they're also realising that we cannot go into a season with Havertz, Mount, Sterling, Aubameyang, and 'Ol glass hamstrings. We've lost 3 attackers already - Lukaku, Werner, Ziyech and have brought in Sterling so far. I must say, I love a good punt. Gordon's defensive stats are mighty impressive. His attacking stats are heavily caveated by the fact that he plays for Everton who were horrendous last season. Even so, he's clearly physically strong, a very good dribbler, and takes a mean setpiece. Is he worth 60m? Of course not, but I've got a feeling he'll be a sleeper hit down that right flank. I mean imagine being harried by Mount, Kante, Gordon, and James down the right?!!! We may just see a few early retirements.

3 new players (1 new to the league and 2 young) in a back four setup. I'll save you the heartache and tell how that's going to go - not well at all. Tuchel can't reload a save unfortunately. 😄

We've enquired about this gent apparently:

I'm not sure what '33 year olds' has to do with anything - Koulibaly is 31. And the average time for bedding in a player from a foreign league seems to be 6-12 months. Which isn't necessarily a reflection of the overall quality of their performances. Koulibaly was great against Spurs afterall.

Well it's not as if the team that won the CL was great. Nor the one that won the first CL. This squad was due for an overhaul. This is Tuchel's 2nd full season and he's only had Sterling, Koulibaly, and Cucurella just arrive. People are getting far too carried away. These new signings need time to gel with the team - they're all starters. Koulibaly needs time to adjust to the pace of the PL, which is clear to see. And we are short of midfield quality due to perennial injuries. We are still short of a CB and a decent goalscorer - and we can use a quality midfielder - but I'd imagine that will be sorted soon.

Ruben had a good season last season. He was very good in preseason and was brilliant vs Spurs. I've seen some people say he's not suited to play against a pressing game, but not one has offered a reason why. It's like they hear some narrative they like and repeat the same bollocks ad nauseum. He along with Kovacic are our best solutions against a very good press. You know who isn't great against a good press? Jorginho, Gallagher and Azpi - essentially all the alternatives to Ruben. To be good against a press you need a mix of good technical skills, ball control, positioning and agility. Last season we struggled against a great City press at home and the main culprits were Kante, Jorginho, Azpi and Alonso (+ Werner and Lukaku up top). He deserved his start and was far from the main problem yesterday.

He's better at RWB yes, but also better than Azpi and Trev in a back 3. So the question is - Do you drop Ruben after a fantastic performance against Spurs? No you don't. You can maybe argue that we could have seen Gallagher for Azpi, and James in midfield, but I like that he gave him the start.

This must be amazing for Bath. And he deserves it. It's been too long since we've taken advantage of the market in this age group. And now that we're moving to a more data centric scouting approach, it makes even more sense.

Even if at this point you accept that there is no interference which is mad, almost immediately after he strikes the ball A) The ball is unsighted for a split second directly because of Richarlison. B) Mendy needs to wait until the ball passes him before he dives. Why is this important? Because it wasn't a rocket shot or a clean strike. At the time I remember thinking that almost trickled into the bottom corner. And Mendy misses it by a finger nail.

The offside thing interested me the most. He says Mendy could see the ball... So if Richarlison Kane and Son stood offside in front of him, and Mendy had to move half way to the corner flag to see the ball, it's not interfering with play? Madness

Definitely. But again, he had the fanbase divided because he wasn't an automatic starter for the best team in Europe... To be fair I think it was just a timing issue. If we had Cech and didn't have the immediate focus of CB signings, we wouldn't have waited until the last minute to hijack the transfer.

🙂 I agree with you in that sense - you mean like a Drogba from Marseille... So my only response to that is - we don't currently need a rough diamond, another expensive risk. Take Drogba - Came in, was fairly decent initially (nothing special) and scored something like 10 goals. We can get that same output with Broja who is a talent already on our books. Havertz, another great talent on our books. What we need is a top goal scorer, a household name or close to it. Just because we aren't publicly pursuing unearthed gems doesn't mean we're not actively tracking them or that the scouting department is failing. Take someone like Nkunku - who we are actively tracking. It may take 100m to get him, he comes with high risk as he's coming from Germany and has only had 1 prolific season. So do you potentially blow another 100m or do you bide your time, bringing in a proven PL scorer who can get us 20 goals this season? The mind boggling thing is, some on here are criticising our transfer activity for not being more calculated in our pursuits and others are criticising it for not being more bold. Can't have it both ways.

Can't agree with that. In the past two seasons we've sounded out Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, Jesus etc. They're not here for different reasons, but it's certainly far from a damning indictment. No, but we are to believe that the best option for right now is a prolific ex-Arsenal striker.

Blocks and Attacking 3rd pressures are two of his biggest strengths. The ranks in the picture below are for forwards across top 5 leagues. He's certainly better than Haaland, Nunez, or Lewandowski who every Tom, Dick, and Moron would've loved to see here - despite them potentially having a Lukaku-like effect on our system.

While I understand the sentiment, they are not better fits because they are inferior goal scorers. His touch was good enough to score loads for Arsenal and Barcelona which says enough - those teams control possession and face as many parked buses as we do. Premier league proven, still quick and hungry for goals - what's not to like. We are all fed up of stop gaps but they're inevitable if there are no viable alternatives.

They are not just fullback options are they? Cucurella covers LCB and Gordon RF/RW as well. And both are talented. I would also point out the James and Chilly play the most important positions in the system. Otherwise it would be like having Drogba upfront (with an injury history) and your back up striker is Batshuayi. Your title challenge is on a knife edge. Decent theory but I'll go with the more plausible - he is driven by success and knows we need to get the squad to a level before we can make smarter, more calculated moves. Hence, they are taking their time with Fofana because they've already covered the loss of Rudiger and Christensen somewhat with K2 and Cucurella.

By 'other clubs' you mean Bayern and Barcelona...

I wouldn't say it's crazy given that the two deals people have gotten the hump over (Cucurella the other) provide suitable options to Chilwell and James. I would prefer our season not crumbling if we lose either/both again.

I'd say if anyone thought it was possible that Mount had 32 appearances vs top half opposition in the Premier League, against which a maximum of 20 games can be played...... they need to give their head a wobble.

I mean.... seeing as he's scored 1 goal against a top half team and made 32 appearances I'd say it's very definition of 'correct', no?

That's a G+A metric, you should express it more clearly. Your inference is incorrect and my argument controls for his goal contributions - saying he needs to do more (specifically in big games) - and the manner of his praise indicates that. Indeed, his stats prove he's more than a 'work rate merchant' but no one is making that argument...

Unsure what this statement has to do with anything as it's irrelevant to the point and it's also incorrect. Lukaku and Havertz scored more goals across all comps.

My guess - RWB + attacking cover. If you look at his stats - the ones I posted previously - his work rate and off the ball stuff is pretty great. Then on the ball he's quick, technically sound, a good dribbler. And Tuchel has seen him against his side a few times. It's worth noting that the base fee offered is 25m and I doubt we would offer much more than that. The structure of the add ons means we'll be paying more if he does well which is fair. If the media reported 25m + add-ons, less fans would lose their mind.

The reason it didn't feel like that is because of XG's limitations and usefulness when analysing one match rather than larger sample inferences. It is not something to hang your hat on in certain contexts. E.g RLC had a great chance for the header but missed the ball completely so the contribution to XG is 0. All you need to consider is this: Spurs had one great chance - Kane shooting wide. For us, Mason had a few good ones, Sterling, Kai, James, and Ruben should have scored.