Thats what makes the most sense positionally, otherwise its an odd addition

Deschamps definitely on a bit of a not so friendly parade lap for this World Cup, there’s a decent chance of a French implosion a la 2010 and 2002. They do have a very strong squad if they can all get along for 6 weeks during the tournament. Spain look pretty formidable at this point, Yamal is an absolute star but Germany ran them very close in the Euros and they also have young players coming to the fore. I seriously doubt Portugal can go far with Ronaldo still starting every game, he’s really not worth his spot anymore and his antics at the Euros were pretty embarrassing. Agree re Brazil and England, both teams with very good players that just can’t seem to come together in a coherent team.

He’s played most of his games at LB/LWB. The games he’s played further up the pitch have either been against big teams (Anderlecht, Gent) or in the relegation play offs to presumably try and tighten things up

And are a sportswashing project for Qatar

At one point the interviewer asks pasha a question and he just ignores him and Gestede answers it. What!!!?? Waggott seemingly justifying Eustace leaving by saying that managers leave clubs more often these days. Holy fuck the guys not just a dickhead, he's an imbecile too

Massive credit to Pickering for keeping Doak quiet especially in the first half and a very good tactical switch from JE to bring on Beck when he threatened to get on top in the second. The goal is pretty obviously offside and tbh I'm shocked that it wasn't called at this level. It doesn't take anything away from the performance however, even a 0-0 would have been a good result against an in-form Boro side.

I think to an extent referees should be given some leniency for mistakes because yeah refereeing can be hard. But that doesn't mean they are exempt from criticism when they have as poor a game as today's ref did. He was abysmal But since the rule is pretty cut and dry, do the gesture = yellow card, Gueye loses a bit of sympathy for me. Even if the rule is a silly one

It's incredibly thick from Gueye to get sent off like that but even so it's a really stupid rule. Referees must be questioned every time they make a decision but as soon as you make a gesture it's a yellow card? I understand in the extreme examples of multiple players crowding the ref or for repeat offenders but it really makes no sense for an individual player

Chiesa is an absolute crock tbf. He's a player but he's missed about 80 games through injury in the past 3 seasons

Well yeah but at least it seems like he's doing well in it. Could be another Wahlstedt, could be better, I'd rather have a look at this guy than Ruddy. In an ideal world we spend a few million on a more proven GK, but that's not the way things go around here.

The goalie is pretty much an unknown but he did get the joint most clean sheets in the Hungarian league last season, so who knows. Cantwell could be a good signing if we actually get him in. Big "if"

Football Manager (yeah I know but what else do we have) has him much better offensively than going the other way https://fminside.net/players/5-fm-243/28121435-owen-beck

Ah I see, think I'm conflating with another story then

I think Chelsea (and Notts forest if memory serves) don't have a front of shirt sponsor for aesthetics purposes rather than because they can't find one. They do have a sleeve sponsor though

"There are no restrictions on funding the club... apart from this one" For fuck sake

It appears we are trying to assemble the slowest defense in championship history. And if Carter gets injured we lack any mobility back there at all. Bit worrying imo

As much as I would love to be wrong, I think barring injury Mainoo will go to the euros above Wharton. He only got a U21 call up because of injury in the last international break so he would need to do something drastic to be in with a shout. Mainoo has been very good since coming in so I can stomach Wharton missing out to him, to be honest the kicker is Henderson remains in squad despite evidently playing a lower standard of football.

I think even to be a solid mid table team we require at least 5 genuine starters in. Working on the basis that the current incumbents drop down to being squad players. I don't think there will be a massive clear out of players contracted to the club as there will not be the money to replace them. Take Wahlstedt and Hyam for example, both we've spent money on and both have had rough seasons. But I think we'll keep both in an attempt to see return on investment. But honestly who knows with this club

As far as I know, (some xG models are different to others) base xG is only determined from the position of the shot and whether the shot is with the foot or a header. So yeah you expect anyone to put that exact chance away i.e open net, nobody blocking the shot. But the 0.46 number comes from the average of all shots taken from that position which includes shots with loads of defenders in the way and all that. xG is better viewed as a season long thing, where players will get a variety of chances which balances out this issue. Players will get some high xG chances that are actually harder to score than lower xG chances, depending on the circumstances of the individual shot.

The only thing past any nefarious dealings I can think of is that we are essentially a conversation starter for use at parties/conferences/whatever for them. They stomach the millions of pounds lost so they can say "by the way we own former premier league champions". Like we're not even a plaything but a little trinket put on a shelf It makes no sense but when have Venkys ever made sense?

Different countries moved different players to originally make the back 4 from the old W-M, England moved 5 and 6 backwards and split 2 and 3 to be the full backs. In Europe they still split 2 and 3 but moved 4 and 5 back instead. The south american countries do it differently as well for what its worth but we've had an influx of european coaches so the european way has caught on

Make no mistake this squad needs MILLIONS spent on it to even be mid table in the championship. That's assuming we stay up. I actually feel somewhat sorry for this set of players cause fuck me they've been hung out to dry by the upper management

I did think of that but this one's worse imo.

I know it may be harsh to gang up on a GK for a mistake, occupational hazard and all that. But.. Genuine question. Is that the worst keeper fuck up from a rovers player? It's the worst I can remember