Summer Transfer Window 2021

[SNSUN]

3 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Probably alone in this but I'd be very disappointed if we let Obafemi go.

I think he has something, scored that cracking goal against Chelsea a while back. But Ralph obviously doesn't fancy him and he's never really kicked on so swapping him for Armstrong seems like a great deal. Adams, Armstrong, Ings and Tella up front next season... I'm Moist at the prospect. That's probably the best set of strikers we'll have had in years. If ever.

 

Moist I tells ya. 😁

 

I like the idea of signing players from the top 6 though. So much talent there. As I said earlier you can make an entire first XI from Chelsea unwanted players that could probably challenge in the Premier League. 

 

No links, but I wonder if we are still interested in Choudhury at Leicester although he's recently been linked with Newcastle.

[SuperSAINT]

5 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Might not be the only 'big 6' buy back deal Saints do...

 

Very interesting.  Certainly no shortage of options.

Thrown a list of various players (mentioned above, linked with us & linked to others places*)

-----------------
- Brandon Williams
- Neco Williams
- Nat Phillips
- Japhet Tanganga 
- Joe Rodon
- Ethan Ampadu
- Axel Tuanzebe
-----------------
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek
- Trevoh Chalobah
- Yangel Herrera
- Oliver Skipp
- Ainsley Maitland-Niles
-----------------
- Reiss Nelson
- Takumi Minamino
- Dan James

- Eddie Nketiah
- Divock Origi
-----------------

* Various MLG notes applied inclusive of age / wages / prices etc.

Edited 2 August, 2021 by SuperSAINT

[woodsaint1]

2 hours ago, Saint86 said:

I'd be a bit surprised if we let him go. He has blistering pace, a decent touch, and can finish. He's been noticeable for what chance creation in preseason and adds something to our attack. In the past Ralph has criticised his training attitude and said he needs to be more serious, and i think if he were ever to get a run in the side that he'd prove a valuable player.

If we are to lose an attacking player then surely it needs to be long first and foremost? Nothing against the guy, but he's far and away our worst attacker now.

I could actually see us singing AA as a forward/CAM and using SA in the middle with JWP at times. 

 

All well and good wanting to move Long on, but there needs to be interest in him. Age, wages and poor goalscoring record does not work in his favour of getting a permanent move. Can see him going out on loan but thats the extent of it.

We've a strong interest in Armstrong and it appears that Blackburn are interested in Obafemi so a deal would make sense. Would be disappointing to lose Obafemi as I think he has more to give, but could I see it being a sale that we would come to regret - no I dont. Could see him forging a career as a decent Championship striker

[Dellman]

If Obafemi goes, good luck to him. I reckon he could be a star in the Championship and if his move helps us pay for AA its win-win.He needs a full season with a Club doing well, Blackburn would be a good fit.

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

23 minutes ago, Dellman said:

If Obafemi goes, good luck to him. I reckon he could be a star in the Championship and if his move helps us pay for AA its win-win.He needs a full season with a Club doing well, Blackburn would be a good fit.

It definitely sounds a good deal, though I'm sure there is that nagging fear of 'what if Armstrong doesn't deliver in the EPL, while Obafemi goes on to become the next great striker in the Championship?!' I doubt it, but who knows?!!

[Gingeletiss]

3 hours ago, Dellman said:

If Obafemi goes, good luck to him. I reckon he could be a star in the Championship and if his move helps us pay for AA its win-win.He needs a full season with a Club doing well, Blackburn would be a good fit.

So, we have to get rid of a player that ‘could be a star’ in the Championship, to fund the purchase of a star from the Championship. Too much football manager going on I suspect.

[verlaine1979]

Obafemi's not a finisher. There's a reason we remember him for the spectacular goal against Chelsea. It's because he rarely finished the meat and drink chances.

[Pilchards]

We know Ings is off at the end of next season so maybe they need to bed a player in.

Adams took a good year to step up and perhaps Armstrong needs that. (If we buy him)

Obafemi has had so many chances and IMHO he’s not someone who is going to replace Ings in the long term.

[ErwinK1961]

5 hours ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

It definitely sounds a good deal, though I'm sure there is that nagging fear of 'what if Armstrong doesn't deliver in the EPL, while Obafemi goes on to become the next great striker in the Championship?!' I doubt it, but who knows?!!

You can never be sure that a great championship striker will make it in the Prem. However, in relation to Obafemi, I don’t ever see him bagging 29 goals in a championship season like AA has just done.

[TWar]

I like Obafemi but after Ings I think consistency is really important, and he can't consistently stay fit. If it were up to me I'd try and swap for Adam Armstrong 100% (with cash to them obviously)

[SKD]

5 minutes ago, TWar said:

I like Obafemi but after Ings I think consistency is really important, and he can't consistently stay fit. If it were up to me I'd try and swap for Adam Armstrong 100% (with cash to them obviously)

Genuine question and not a dig, but what makes you think Armstrong will offer more consistency than Obafemi in the premier league? 

Both are pretty much untested in the division. 
 

Personally, I’m not sold on Armstrong. 

[TWar]

Just now, SKD said:

Genuine question and not a dig, but what makes you think Armstrong will offer more consistency than Obafemi in the premier league? 

Both are pretty much untested in the division. 
 

Personally, I’m not sold on Armstrong. 

Armstrong got 28 goals in the championship, while this is no guarantee of success it is more than Watkins, Adams, Bamford, Pukki, Lambert who all have had decent prem seasons. Therefore, in my opinion, he has a good chance to succeed in the prem. I don't think he is definitely going to do well but we are not a team who can afford players who will definitely do well. You get to pick two of "prem proven", "highly rated", or "expensive". As we can't afford expensive we either get highly rated from smaller leagues or prem proven and average, I prefer the former as a bet personally.

With regards to Obafemi, I don't see him as a long term option as he can't stay fit. Also stories of his lack of professionalism worry me. Personally if it wasn't for Armstrong I'd still want to sell him, Armstrong just happens to be, in my opinion, a very good option.

[SKD]

Just now, TWar said:

Armstrong got 28 goals in the championship, while this is no guarantee of success it is more than Watkins, Adams, Bamford, Pukki, Lambert who all have had decent prem seasons. Therefore, in my opinion, he has a good chance to succeed in the prem. I don't think he is definitely going to do well but we are not a team who can afford players who will definitely do well. You get to pick two of "prem proven", "highly rated", or "expensive". As we can't afford expensive we either get highly rated from smaller leagues or prem proven and average, I prefer the former as a bet personally.

With regards to Obafemi, I don't see him as a long term option as he can't stay fit. Also stories of his lack of professionalism worry me. Personally if it wasn't for Armstrong I'd still want to sell him, Armstrong just happens to be, in my opinion, a very good option.

I haven’t seen him (Armstrong) play. From clips, he looks to be a true number 9 and comes alive in the box - almost opposite of Adams funny enough. 

Personally, I wouldn’t look at goals alone as a sign of potential success. It could be that he was playing in a team who were sticking them On a plate for him (he won’t get that here). 

As, I think you, have previously said, there is a big Gap between the PL and Championship. As shown by Redmond ripping apart a championship defence in Bournemouth. 

Physically, he looks pretty short. Will he be strong enough for the league? Can he create a chance from nothing? 

If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked (especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either). 

[TWar]

1 minute ago, SKD said:

I haven’t seen him (Armstrong) play. From clips, he looks to be a true number 9 and comes alive in the box - almost opposite of Adams funny enough. 

Personally, I wouldn’t look at goals alone as a sign of potential success. It could be that he was playing in a team who were sticking them On a plate for him (he won’t get that here). 

As, I think you, have previously said, there is a big Gap between the PL and Championship. As shown by Redmond ripping apart a championship defence in Bournemouth. 

Physically, he looks pretty short. Will he be strong enough for the league? Can he create a chance from nothing? 

If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked (especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either). 

I think Armstrong is wanted independent of Ings going and if Ings does go we will get someone else as well, from what Leach said. Apparently Armstrong is wanted as back up for when Ings is injured and to rotate/challenge Che to improve.

With regards to chances, he overperforms xG this season and last so he is making his own goals statistically speaking rather than being forcefed goals. I back him to step up, he's quick, two footed, and intelligent. All a matter of chance though, as I say, he could flop but so could anyone else, especially in our price range.

[saintwbu]

4 minutes ago, SKD said:

I haven’t seen him (Armstrong) play. From clips, he looks to be a true number 9 and comes alive in the box - almost opposite of Adams funny enough. 

Personally, I wouldn’t look at goals alone as a sign of potential success. It could be that he was playing in a team who were sticking them On a plate for him (he won’t get that here). 

As, I think you, have previously said, there is a big Gap between the PL and Championship. As shown by Redmond ripping apart a championship defence in Bournemouth. 

Physically, he looks pretty short. Will he be strong enough for the league? Can he create a chance from nothing? 

If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked (especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either). 

You’ve just said you haven’t seen him play, so not sure how you’ve come to that conclusion. He was a couple of goals behind Ivan Toney in the league, who is playing in a much better team, and i’m sure this place would explode with excitement if we signed Toney.

Edited 3 August, 2021 by saintwbu

[ErwinK1961]

4 minutes ago, SKD said:

I haven’t seen him (Armstrong) play. From clips, he looks to be a true number 9 and comes alive in the box - almost opposite of Adams funny enough. 

Personally, I wouldn’t look at goals alone as a sign of potential success. It could be that he was playing in a team who were sticking them On a plate for him (he won’t get that here). 

As, I think you, have previously said, there is a big Gap between the PL and Championship. As shown by Redmond ripping apart a championship defence in Bournemouth. 

Physically, he looks pretty short. Will he be strong enough for the league? Can he create a chance from nothing? 

If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked (especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either). 

Be interested to know who you think we could realistically sign to replace Ings, that wouldn't leave us 'fucked'. 

[SKD]

7 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

You’ve just said you haven’t seen him play, so not sure how you’ve come to that conclusion. He was a couple of goals behind Ivan Toney in the league, who is playing in a much better team, and i’m sure this place would explode with excitement if we signed Toney.

Toney, physically, looks like he is ready for the premier league. 

 

6 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Be interested to know who you think we could realistically sign to replace Ings, that wouldn't leave us 'fucked'. 

Hmm I don’t know, I like the look of Edouard. Im Sure there are others out there that we’ve watched. 

I think he’s more of a like for like ings replacement and more of an all rounded CF, who could also play alone up there rather than in a 2 (Armstrong can’t, he’s too small and would offer no presence up there). 

If we’re in for Armstrong regardless I.e 3rd choice to complement our current 2, I have no issues with this. However, as a replacement, which it looks likely to be, it concerns me. 

[TWar]

16 minutes ago, SKD said:

Toney, physically, looks like he is ready for the premier league. 

 

Hmm I don’t know, I like the look of Edouard. Im Sure there are others out there that we’ve watched. 

I think he’s more of a like for like ings replacement and more of an all rounded CF, who could also play alone up there rather than in a 2 (Armstrong can’t, he’s too small and would offer no presence up there). 

If we’re in for Armstrong regardless I.e 3rd choice to complement our current 2, I have no issues with this. However, as a replacement, which it looks likely to be, it concerns me. 

With regards to Edouard, would you consider the Scottish league stronger than the Championship? Celtic and Rangers are likely better than Norwich/Watford but is the average strength better? Are teams like Kilmarnok, Livingston, Motherwell better than Bournemouth, QPR, Derby. To be honest, I'm inclined to say the Championship is stronger, and Armstrong got a better return than Edouard in the league. Also played a bit of european football and got a goal at AC Milan, which is impressive, but a one off goal in a cup game doesn't make a season.

[SKD]

4 minutes ago, TWar said:

With regards to Edouard, would you consider the Scottish league stronger than the Championship? Celtic and Rangers are likely better than Norwich/Watford but is the average strength better? Are teams like Kilmarnok, Livingston, Motherwell better than Bournemouth, QPR, Derby. To be honest, I'm inclined to say the Championship is stronger, and Armstrong got a better return than Edouard in the league. Also played a bit of european football and got a goal at AC Milan, which is impressive, but a one off goal in a cup game doesn't make a season.

No, I don’t think it is it’s and I agree the championship is probably stronger. However; that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a better player / more suited to the PL league. 

I mean, VVD, Armstrong, Forster and Wanyama all have come from the same league and club.. they turned out alright. 

As I said, whilst 28 goals is obviously impressive, I don’t tend to look too much into it. Many factors could play a part in that. Buying a player based on 1 good season is reactive and a recipe for disaster imo. I believe Harvey Elliot was outstanding last season, which obviously played a big part. 

[ErwinK1961]

Sounds like Watford have ended their interest in Armstrong.

[TWar]

Just now, ErwinK1961 said:

Sounds like Watford have ended their interest in Armstrong.

Wonder if that's because the Obafemi swap has legs, swap deals are better for Blackburn than cash, and they don't want Gray.

[the saint in winchester]

15 hours ago, TWar said:

 

What number is Perraud then? I missed that. I assumed he would take 3. Maybe we ae getting Stuart Pearce back in? 😏

[MarkSFC]

Just now, the saint in winchester said:

What number is Perraud then? I missed that. I assumed he would take 3. Maybe we ae getting Stuart Pearce back in? 😏

15

[hypochondriac]

Has there been any recent link to Armstrong? 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Has there been any recent link to Armstrong? 

Alan Nixon said he was still a target and the Obafemi swap deal was still on a couple of days ago:

 

He is pretty good for us, breaking Jeremi Rodrigues early when no one else even mentioned it, including the club. He's had a couple of other good exclusives too I think but none I can remember off the top of my head.

Edited 3 August, 2021 by TWar

[Dusic]

Think Bednarek will move to take #3.

On Obafemi - I would try to extend his contract and send him out on loan to the Championship if we do get another striker. If we don't then we will need him anyway.

Reason for it is purely business, if he did well out on loan he would be worth a lot more than £6m and it would seem crazy to sell a young striker with some obvious attributes who has scored at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge for an amount like £6m.

To become the club we want to be we really need to get better at selling players and that starts with not letting them run contracts down to less than one year.

[ErwinK1961]

10 minutes ago, TWar said:

Alan Nixon said he was still a target and the Obafemi swap deal was still on a couple of days ago:

 

He is pretty good for us, breaking Jeremi Rodrigues early when no one else even mentioned it, including the club. He's had a couple of other good exclusives too I think but none I can remember off the top of my head.

He has pretty good links seemingly in the lower league North West clubs - Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan. Was very clued up on both the Wigan and Bolton administrations (some of the Wigan stuff was just mental).

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

He has pretty good links seemingly in the lower league North West clubs - Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan. Was very clued up on both the Wigan and Bolton administrations (some of the Wigan stuff was just mental).

He's pretty good at all the clubs in that region. IIRC it was him that broke the news when we signed Jay Rodriguez. Followed him on twitter since then, doesn't post much about saints for obvious reasons but generally sound info.

[ErwinK1961]

5 minutes ago, Turkish said:

He's pretty good at all the clubs in that region. IIRC it was him that broke the news when we signed Jay Rodriguez. Followed him on twitter since then, doesn't post much about saints for obvious reasons but generally sound info.

Yep think you're right, obviously got some good links up there. So if he says we're still interested, I would say it's likely to be true. 

[Minsk]

2 hours ago, SKD said:

I haven’t seen him (Armstrong) play. From clips, he looks to be a true number 9 and comes alive in the box - almost opposite of Adams funny enough. 

Personally, I wouldn’t look at goals alone as a sign of potential success. It could be that he was playing in a team who were sticking them On a plate for him (he won’t get that here). 

As, I think you, have previously said, there is a big Gap between the PL and Championship. As shown by Redmond ripping apart a championship defence in Bournemouth. 

Physically, he looks pretty short. Will he be strong enough for the league? Can he create a chance from nothing? 

If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked (especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either). 

According to you we are 'fucked' no matter what we do. You are even more pessimistic than Alpine ever used to be. However, that aside, let's look at the part of your statement now in bold:

Do you consider number 10's as midfielders? If so, our midfield scored 22 goals last season. A bit more than none (no). If you are only taking our 6's into account, do you include Armstrong in that? I mean, he played 6 quite a bot last season. If yes, our 6's - that is, our DEFENSIVE midfielders - contributed 13 league goals last season. Still quite a bit more than none (no). Without Stuey, they scored 9. Obviously, 8 of those were from JWP - who you don't rate.... Romeu got the other 1. He does only usually get 1 or 2 a season, similar to most DEFENSIVE midfielders. You are right of course, that Diallo has failed to score for us - so far (he has come close a few times though).

Of course, if 10's aren't considered as midfielders then we wouldn't only be relying on Adams and Armstrong to score the goals to keep us up. Not that we would be anyway. 

[Matthew Le God]

2 hours ago, SKD said:

1) I haven’t seen Armstrong play.

2) If we’re going into next season relying on Adams and Armstrong to score enough to keep us up, imo, we’re fucked

3) especially given we get no goals from Our midfield either

1) & 2) 

3) Stuart Armstrong 4 league goals, James Ward-Prowse league 8 goals from midfield is pretty good. Not sure what you expect from a midfielder!

Edited 3 August, 2021 by Matthew Le God

[TWar]

Fun fact, of the top ten premier league midfielder goalscorers, three of them play for us! https://www.footballcritic.com/premier-league/season-2020-2021/player-stats/midfielders/goals/2/41756 including JWP who is second only to Gundogan who had a strange spell playing as a false 9 when KdB was injured.

Not sure about this sites definition of "midfielder" as ASM is on there, but whatever, our lads outscored him too!

Edited 3 August, 2021 by TWar

[SKD]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

1) & 2) 

3) Stuart Armstrong 4 league goals, James Ward-Prowse league 8 goals from midfield is pretty good. Not sure what you expect from a midfielder!

1 & 2 - I’ve explained my doubts around his physicality. I don’t believe he’s good enough to score a significant amount (which is what we’ll need) in the premier league. 

Id be surprised if him / Adams got 15 goals between them and as we know, defensively, we’re not any good so we’ll need to score. 

3 - Most of JWP’s 8 goals came from free kicks. You’d be stupid to rely on a CM to bury every free kick. It’s a nice contribution, but not going to be enough. 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, SKD said:

3 - Most of JWP’s 8 goals came from free kicks. You’d be stupid to rely on a CM to bury every free kick. It’s a nice contribution, but not going to be enough. 

When you have the best free kick taker in the world you are going to score a lot of free kicks! We'll be fine. Also 15 goals between Armstrong and Adams is a very low ball estimate since Adams was in and out the side last season and still got 9 on his own.

[SKD]

26 minutes ago, Minsk said:

According to you we are 'fucked' no matter what we do. You are even more pessimistic than Alpine ever used to be.

 

Did you watch the second half of last season? Have we done anything to realistically make much of a difference on that? What is there to be optimistic about? 

[TWar]

Just now, SKD said:

Did you watch the second half of last season? Have we done anything to realistically make much of a difference on that? What is there to be optimistic about? 

Romeus back, teams fit and rested, most likely an upgrade at lb, a back up rb which I hear is insane, Tella is more developed, and the summer is still young so still time to bring in an Armstrong or someone else equally exciting. You could ask what's changed from the second half of last season, but I ask what's changed from the first?

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

6 minutes ago, TWar said:

When you have the best free kick taker in the world you are going to score a lot of free kicks! We'll be fine. Also 15 goals between Armstrong and Adams is a very low ball estimate since Adams was in and out the side last season and still got 9 on his own.

So that makes Juventus happy. Surely you aren't suggesting jwp is the best free kick taker in the world?

[Billy the Kidd]

5 minutes ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

So that makes Juventus happy. Surely you aren't suggesting jwp is the best free kick taker in the world?

Are you suggesting Ronaldo is the best free kick taker?  Actually, think this one was done to death a while back, buck Ronaldo is nowhere near as effective as JWP.

 

[ErwinK1961]

11 minutes ago, SKD said:

Did you watch the second half of last season? Have we done anything to realistically make much of a difference on that? What is there to be optimistic about? 

Bring back Alpine.

[TWar]

11 minutes ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

So that makes Juventus happy. Surely you aren't suggesting jwp is the best free kick taker in the world?

Was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I certainly think he is top three or so. When you say Juventus you don't mean Ronaldo do you, as he is dreadful! One of the worst success rates in europes top 5 leagues for regular takers, I think JWP is over seven times more effective than him. Good article on this here. Dybala is up there, but he doesn't take much anymore because Ronaldo hogs and wastes them. Messi is probably best still although he gets so many more of them than basically anyone else it's hard to judge, and Milinkovic-Savic is very good. Here is a plot of best since 2017/18, it helpfully backs up my point of Ronaldo being crap too:

Edited 3 August, 2021 by TWar

[Matthew Le God]

8 minutes ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

So that makes Juventus happy. Surely you aren't suggesting jwp is the best free kick taker in the world?

 

1 minute ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Are you suggesting Ronaldo is the best free kick taker?  Actually, think this one was done to death a while back, buck Ronaldo is nowhere near as effective as JWP.

 

 

 

[Matthew Le God]

21 minutes ago, SKD said:

1 & 2 - I’ve explained my doubts around his physicality. I don’t believe he’s good enough to score a significant amount (which is what we’ll need) in the premier league. 

Id be surprised if him / Adams got 15 goals between them and as we know, defensively, we’re not any good so we’ll need to score. 

3 - Most of JWP’s 8 goals came from free kicks. You’d be stupid to rely on a CM to bury every free kick. It’s a nice contribution, but not going to be enough. 

1) Why are you focusing on size? Is Messi too small for the Premier League?

2) You've admitted you haven't seen him play so how are you making the judgment he isn't good enough?

3) Armstrong outdid Ings for goals per game if you look at both of their last seasons in the Championship.

4) Do free kick goals not count? Why are you so dismissive of them? Saints will still get lots of free kicks outside the box next season and Ward-Prowse is likely to score quite a few from those opportunities.

 

[Billy the Kidd]

7 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

Exactly, but stats are also overrated on here.

[TWar]

4 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

1) Why are you focusing on size? Is Messi too small for the Premier League?

2) You've admitted you haven't seen him play so how are you making the judgment he isn't good enough?

3) Armstrong outdid Ings for goals per game if you look at both of their last seasons in the Championship.

4) Do free kick goals not count? Why are you so dismissive of them? Saints will still get lots of free kicks outside the box next season and Ward-Prowse is likely to score quite a few from those opportunities.

 

Convenience, it's harder to criticise JWP when you admit he had a hand in 16 goals last season, because that's actually very impressive for a holding mid.

Edited 3 August, 2021 by TWar

[SKD]

Just now, Billy the Kidd said:

Exactly, but stats are also overrated on here.

Stats without context are, yes. 
 

This is a bit more cut and dry, although again, still not a good comparison without knowing the complexity of said free kick. I.e all of JWP’s could be from 25 yards and all of Ronaldos could be from 35 (example, we know that’s not the case in this example).
 

I do agree JWP is better than Ronaldo and probably is best in the world at free kicks in isolation. 

[MarkSFC]

3 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Exactly, but stats are also overrated on here.

Some. But not one which is about actually doing what the game is all about; scoring goals!!!

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, TWar said:

Convenience, it's harder to criticise JWP when you admit he had a hand in 16 goals last season, because that's actually very impressive for a holding mid.

It’s not convenience at all. His goal return was a solid contribution last season.
 

We know he’s very good at free kicks. But to bank on them is foolish. 

[Billy the Kidd]

Just now, SKD said:

Stats without context are, yes. 
 

This is a bit more cut and dry, although again, still not a good comparison without knowing the complexity of said free kick. I.e all of JWP’s could be from 25 yards and all of Ronaldos could be from 35 (example, we know that’s not the case in this example).
 

I do agree JWP is better than Ronaldo and probably is best in the world at free kicks in isolation. 

Yeah I agree to an extent, and scoring from a 13 yard free kick or one from 110 yards is largely irrelevant to me, the both count as a goal.

I do think stats have become a huge part of the game lately, have been for a while, and I can see why. 

Although it is harder to gain competitive advantages as so much info is available to everyone.  Didnt Sam Allardyce do loads with stats and sports science when he was at Bolton?

[Sheaf Saint]

32 minutes ago, SKD said:

Did you watch the second half of last season? Have we done anything to realistically make much of a difference on that? What is there to be optimistic about? 

Aside from what others have already pointed out, we now have access to our recovery facilities at Staplewood, which we didn't during most of last season due to Covid restrictions.

The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.

[SuperSAINT]

2 hours ago, TWar said:

Alan Nixon said he was still a target and the Obafemi swap deal was still on a couple of days ago:

 

He is pretty good for us, breaking Jeremi Rodrigues early when no one else even mentioned it, including the club. He's had a couple of other good exclusives too I think but none I can remember off the top of my head.

Nixon is very good in that region (as Turkish & Erwin said) and WAY back he was repeatedly saying we wanted Ings when nobody else was.