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OT: Soccer thread

Unfortunately Spalletti didn't give Udogie a call up to azzurri this time. That being said it's a tough slot to crack with DiMarco and Spinazzola both proven excellent and off to great starts this year.

Is Udogie playing in a true fullback role or is he more of an attacking winger right now?
 
Montana said:
@zeke do you pay much attention to the analytics in football at all?

everyone uses footballref, and it struck that in a sport like this where team tactics, formation, etc play such a huge role it’s odd that there isn’t any “rel” stats (that I’m aware of)…..seems like a huge blind spot for the publicly available data that could easily be done, and would provide far more insight into the quality of the player.

Like Brennen Johnson has a pretty meh footballref page….but he also was top two in the vast majority of Nottingham Forrest xStats….like led the team in xG but it was obviously somewhat muted relative to other teams top guys, given their place in the standings and -30 in goal differential.
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I don't know them near as well as hockey of coirse but in general imo they're legit good and important stats for the most part.

I'm not convinced by their xG models so much (though i'm starting to be convinced more lately) but most definitely all the component data is important.
 
zeke said:
Unfortunately Spalletti didn't give Udogie a call up to azzurri this time. That being said it's a tough slot to crack with DiMarco and Spinazzola both proven excellent and off to great starts this year.

Is Udogie playing in a true fullback role or is he more of an attacking winger right now?
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playing as an inverted fullback, so plays more centrally in midfield at times & up the pitch, but then in the final third can attack the box or overlap with the winger.

yeah and everyone is bummed he didn’t make the national team….just a matter of time, but would have been nice to just see him get that experience in now, and soak up what he can. He’ll be there before long tho.
 
zeke said:
I don't know them near as well as hockey of coirse but in general imo they're legit good and important stats for the most part.

I'm not convinced by their xG models so much (though i'm starting to be convinced more lately) but most definitely all the component data is important.
Click to expand...

oh yeah there are some great stats gathered, especially in terms of progressive passing & carries, tackling by third, non-pen xG, etc etc…

just feel like there not being anything to differential or weigh things like play style etc, is a big blind spot.
 
One thing I feel like I didn’t appreciate about the Brennen signing is just how valuable his burst & acceleration will be when pressing defenders in their own end….was so focused on what his speed could bring to the offence, I kinda overlooked just how valuable that explosiveness will be for our press.

tough to bench Kulusevski after the game he had, but I suspect we see Brennen as a 70th minute sub or so next game.
 


Don’t love selling Big Dave, cause he’s looked solid under Ange and is our best depth option if Romero gets injured (or suspended)….but €15m is a nice return for someone like him running down his contract.

can run with Ashley Phillips, Davies and Dier until January window and sign some added depth then.
 
Also sent Ndombele out on loan, with an option to buy where Galatasaray would pay us €15m over 5 years starting in 2024.
 
Any truth to the rumours that LOF is being transferred to HFBoards for €11m?
 
CH1 said:
Any truth to the rumours that LOF is being transferred to HFBoards for €11m?
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we sent him on a free transfer and covered his wages, but unfortunately they rejected the option to buy clause I tried to sneak in.

they did confirm Henry Cavill is a star tho.
 
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@MindzEye some more Postecoglou porn for you.

This is a 22yo old centerback we purchased from the Bundesliga, who I believe only had one full season as a starter there….is making the huge leap to the Prem, and was believed prior to signing as maybe being a bit of a “raw, project” acquisition…despite having elite traits*.

But Postecoglou tossed him directly into the starting lineup within a week of signing, starting a game after I believe only one training session….and not only shows that confidence in him, but tells him he wants him doing one of the more dangerous things on the pitch….being an aggressive on ball defender that makes risky progressive passes, tries to dribble past his man to burst upfield carrying the ball to progress it to the attacking players himself….instead of playing it safe and just booting it out of play if he’s under any pressure.

The guy is mind blowing to me….Gary Neville and some English pundits were calling him arrogant to think he could walk in and mimic Pep’s style of football (which Ange addressed after one big win, saying he was just “copying Pep” 😆)

The only names that come to mind that I’ve seen in all these years of sports being this open minded and aggressive offensively is Mike Martz with the Greatest Show on Turf Rams…and maybe Mike D’Antoni’s Suns? and even he admits that in retrospect he wasn’t nearly as aggressive as he should have been.

Goddamn it’s refreshing…..can’t wait for it to all fall apart and crush my soul.




*(Fast as fuck, but also a pretty huge guy, so awkwardness, lack of co-ordination & body control was a worry, when drawing pens is such an artform in the Prem)
 
Also just love his self assuredness in his system and that playing aggressive entertaining football doesn’t have to contradict playing winning football.

….especially given he’s the first Australian to ever manage in the Prem, which historically hasn’t given many guys outside the legacy football countries a shot to run a team. (Let alone a 57 year old getting his first gig of this stature in a top 5 league)
 
lecoqsportif said:
I get that Canada is in a bit of turmoil with Herdman leaving, but we can’t miss these international windows to play friendlies. The US and Mexico had games, we did not.
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Herdman left partially due to no friendlies being played.

You can thank your local CPL owner for the turmoil the national teams are in right now
 
Nice international break surprise…



Man City & PSG were after this kid for ages, so I’m thrilled to see he wanted to come to Spurs….another top end CB prospect for the project, with probably the highest ceiling. 🫶🏼
 
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