TWar

Ofcourse knowing theory is only part of it, but its a significantly more valuable part than having played football at a very low level and getting all confused by terms like "against the ball" and "expected goals". Unless you are telling me you are a former top level pro-footballer, in which case who are you? Out of interest.

I like Tella well enough, I think he has something about him. Definitely not a prem starter but I'd far rather a younger player like him with promise come off the bench than someone like Walcott. Developing players is core to our club imo.

Weirdly I do actually do kite surfing

This was literally my point. Attacking mid is a more important spot to invest in as Broja has been mediocre since mid december but we were fine regardless but as soon as our creative players stop producing at the same rate we stop winning.

The exact same was said of Che Adams and he was up for player of the month last month

If you were going to ask someone to design a new paint who would you pick, someone who understands the underlying theory of paint science but has never actually painted something or someone who did an ok job painting their room once but apart from that doesn't know there arse from their elbow? The ideal candidate is someone who has both professionally painted and understands the theory behind paint creation, but failing that, someone going "well, once I painted a fence" is pretty useless in the grand old scheme of things. That's a better analogy I'd say. You playing a bit of amateur football doesn't make you more qualified to comment on the prem than anyone else.

The issue is, in our system scoring isnt the only thing a striker is expected to do, you need to also help your strike partner score and help the others in the attack. This was easy to ignore when he was scoring freely but with 3 in 16 it's harder to ignore.

Don't need to watch the games to be aware he was a 3rd choice bench option for a relegation threatened side, universal consensus in Italy was he was wank, and the only game he started in his last 10 for Torino was a 7-0 thrashing where he was directly responsible for atleast 3 of them. He has done mildly better than expected but is clearly viewed as 4th choice by Ralph given Stephens and Bednarek have both played ahead of him when fit. Does ok in a back 3 and had a couple of decent cup games where he surprised people but is clearly not a good player and is clearly not particularly highly rated. Valery is ahead of him in the pecking order now I suspect.

I mean, think what you want, but his key passes per 90 is 19th in our team, lower than Jack Stephens, Valery, and Lyanco, and almost 1/3 of what Adams and Armstrong both put up. His expected assists per 90 is 14th in our team, behind Valery again, and under 1/3 of Adams and Armstrong again. He pretty objectively doesn't do much other than score and with 3 goals in his last 16 games, he aint doing much scoring.

His career didn't start with us.

Boths ceiling is incredibly low for me, Stephens is mildly more consistent but not by much. Neither should be anything but 4th choice imo.

I think Stephens is better than Lyanco, personally. Would rather get rid of him but we just signed him. Can't see two CBs leaving unless one of them is Salisu unfortunately though.

Understanding of the overall game does not favour Broja. He is his goals, outside scoring goals he does little else, his passing and link up is pretty poor. He has scored 3 goals in his last 16 games. Anyway, as I said, not interested in having the Broja argument again. He is decent, not worth breaking the bank for when we have other places of need. Lets move on.

Well I was saying league goals. If you count the cup it is 3 goals in his last 16 games (3 in 12 for the period you mentioned before 4 games ago) which isn't that much better, including a poor displays against championship level coventry and swansea. Anyway, I'm not interested in having the Broja argument again. He is a 6 goal prem forward who is 20 and should be treated as such when signing. Decent money but lets not blow the bank when we need good quality in three other positions.

Broja has now scored 2 goals since the 15th of December in the league. He has been on a 6 game goal drought. Saying he has been off form for the last 4 games is objectively untrue. And yeah, we didn't create enough. I do think Stu has done well, Moi not so much, but between the two of them we don't create enough. Stu should be starting next season, no doubt, but he can't do it alone, especially since he cannot play too many games in a row. I wasn't criticising Stu at all, just saying he can't be our only good AM next season when he only really wants to be playing once a week.

If "Finding a new way" was that easy everyone would do it. We did well in that spell as Moi and Stu were on red hot form, the former has fallen away and the latter famously struggles with fixture congestion. Interestingly Broja in that period only scored 2 league goals in 9 games so it's not like having a top forward was carrying us over that period. Our attacking mids were looking class and now they aren't. Broja has been off it for months yet we continued to win and our form only drops when the AMs form drops. For me that tells me we need to put our money into AMs.

Yesterday we created plenty, against a big team we could catch on the break, but those aren't the important ones for us to win. We need to create plenty against the teams around us and in the three previous games we dominated possession (in all three we were over 60%) but barely made anything.

I'd take Pope or Cornet, not sure I'd want Tarkowski as he is quite slow and suited to Burnleys lower block more than our high line. Fry from what I've seen could be good. Not really aware of the other two enough to comment. Johnson has put up good numbers but seemingly has better clubs after him than us so doubt we get him.

I have a funny feeling McCarthy might be off. Granted he signed a new contract allegedly but it feels like his hamstring injury has lasted forever which is a bit suspicious given how he was publicly thrown under the bus (deservedly I'd argue) following his last game. Feels like we are freezing him out. Anyway, for me we need a new keeper (keep one of Macca, Willy, and Forster, don't care which whoever is on lowest wages so we can spend big on first choice) A new CB, someone who can be second choice not like Lyanco last summer which is still a baffling decision. Ship Bednarek, he's way overrated, not suited to Ralph's style, and clearly doesn't give a shit about the team. This seasons Vestergaard, sell to some poor unsuspecting club and then revel in them telling us how we robbed them all next season. A cheap young back up CM who can be 4th choice and learn behind JWP Romeu and Diallo, maybe another big club academy raid. Think this was supposed to be Smallbone but he seems to be playing further up the pitch now. A clear out at 10, get rid of Walcott, Djenepo, and one of Redmond/Moi (preferably Redmond imo but Moi if we can't get him to sign a modest contract). Bring in atleast one to replace them who is class. First choice please. Next season New AM, Stu, Moi, Tella would be a good four, or Redmond in for Moi if needed. A new striker or Broja. Preferably get Broja on a perm as he has shown he can fit our system. However, as I have said elsewhere, Broja is a 6 goal prem forward with little passing and hold up ability so if we can get him in for under £25m then great but if an Arsenal or West Ham or Villa wants to offer silly money like £30m+ then walk away and buy someone else. The less we spend on a forward the more we can spend on high quality GK, 2nd CB, and a number 10, all of which are just as important with our lack of chance creation (see Villa, Watford, Newcastle) and error prone defence (See Villa, Watford, City).

Hopefully this is the back of him, if we sell Bednarek for over £10m then I suspect we could find a better CB for that. Especially Since Jan can't be fucked to play in our most important game of the season due to international commitments.

I think the "him" in this context means Adam Armstrong.

Good riddance. With him, Salisu, Stephens, Lyanco and Valery emerging I don't think there would be much scope to sign a new cb, which we sorely need. If we sell him for even remotely decent money I back the club to replace him with someone far better, with the quality of our scouting and the bonus spending power of the new owners.

The argument I was referring to was that playing amateur/semi professional football made you better at judging a game, that I don't play amateur/semi professional football, and therefore my view on the game is less valid. Which is wrong on all three counts. You are addressing the wrong point.

He has been on a decent run, as he has many times in the past, but he also has crap runs where he looks abysmal. Get rid asap and bring in someone new.

It's amusing you call others embarrassing then refer to yourself as a lion