Analyzing ⚽️
Joined July 2024
- Tweets3.9K
- Following194
- Followers1.7K
- Likes4.1K
Saw Barcelona fans complaining about this
the biggest issue is still finding a way to fit vini and mbappe. Rodri may even make it worse, cuz both are at their best attacking spaces and quickly, bringing Rodri to slow the game down and play vs low blocks (?).
trent, silva, jude, huijsen, guler etc. enough for buildup.
1
8
624
he’s right but he’s answering a different question. No one’s asking you to control the game for 90mins, but even when we had control of the game, we just had no intensity, and that has been the case for weeks now
🚨🚨 Michael Carrick QUOTES:
“I didn't think we did [look passive]. Did you think we were passive? Football is a difficult game.
“We controlled a lot of the first half and we played a lot of good football today. There is going to be spells when you don't have it go your own way.”
“To expect total dominance for the whole game, I don't think anyone gets that in this league.”
in this era of football, i don’t know if letting your stars do anything, “freedom”, works anymore. Teams need to be more efficient, seeing as opposition have more tools to punish you. I feel like the whole attackers with freedom thing will die very soon. It’s just not efficient, and ball losses like this can lead to fatal consequences
see how they did absolutely nothing today? was just very clear that they have absolutely no ideas at all. Another trophyless season
another issue of the data fallacy. i watch every real madrid game, but all you needed was to see like 3 games to know that they’re going trophyless again this season.
asides from the fact that they cant defend, their attack is just devoid of any form of chemistry, and it’s a similar case of when United fans pointed to XG to say Amorim was doing well. Very soon everything will fall apart.
11
830
another issue of the data fallacy. i watch every real madrid game, but all you needed was to see like 3 games to know that they’re going trophyless again this season.
asides from the fact that they cant defend, their attack is just devoid of any form of chemistry, and it’s a similar case of when United fans pointed to XG to say Amorim was doing well. Very soon everything will fall apart.
3.56 xG and 5 big chances for Madrid's attack again today. Still wasteful, but it undeniably is working
youtu.be/cb6r0V2vuxE
how do i mute united content
🚨🗣 Wayne Rooney has cast doubt over Michael Carrick and the club's summer recruitment strategy:
"We need to be a bit more CLEVER with the players we're bringing in.
"What I don't understand is that we've signed Tielemans and Santos and then we signed Baleba, who I think is a GOOD signing. But then you've got Santos on the bench. So then, when Baleba is fit, is Tielemans gonna go to the bench? Is [Kobbie] Mainoo gonna go to the bench?
"Then you'd have two players you've brought in [benched] or one of your younger players who has probably been United's best player over the last couple of games in Mainoo, on the bench.
If that's the case, if Carrick doesn't FANCY Santos for whatever reason, that signing has still been made, so why has that money not been used on full-backs or another striker?"
[Stick to United, MEN]
1
16
1,264
i’m sorry, but how can fans, who have never gone through any sort of referee training immediately know that enzo is offside and he interfered with play but referees that receive constant training and practicals not know this. It’s just not possible, nope.
Howard Webb explains the awarding of the goal in the Manchester derby and how the VAR review didn’t lead to the right outcome
👉 preml.ge/khqmcyuk
2 well known archaic managers
Jose & Tuchel, 2 of the most decorated current managers, both came to the same conclusion. According to football twitter experts however, he’s a “GOAT level talent” because he crosses the ball well. And btw- I can play those same clipped balls up the right that he gets glazed for
1
9
1,171
1:55 mainoo does an unbelievable job, and if bruno scanned before receiving he’d see he’s in a lot of space, he can carry a bit, then maybe release rashford. the most annoying part of the attack is that they don’t know when to hold the ball and when not too.
And this right here is the gap between data and the eye test. Disclaimer, this is no form of disrespect to Spence, i’m a huge fan of his and what i’m about to say has nothing to do with his understanding of data or the game, just a general point, but those of us that had been talking about Mainoo since the onset are not surprised at the level he’s playing at all, and we know he can do even more.
The issue with data is that it’s so contextualized, that missing even the littlest of context can just skew the actuality, however, the issue with the eye test is that stupid people have eyes too.
I think ceiling wise, eye test is the one, as in, the person that has a really good eye will judge/spot things much better than data (at least in its current state).
This mainoo situation is so similar to the modric case.
Anyways, my main point is that i wonder what the perfect balance to strike is for incorporating data and the eye test.
Kobbie Mainoo has been lights out recently.
In my opinion, he used to be a moments midfielder - someone that stuck out in the memory for quality of technique and actions that carried more aesthetic value than on-pitch value.
Recently (honestly since Michael Carrick took over), he's been a much more complete midfielder, where his data backs up his hype.
For me, it starts with responsibility.
In his first two seasons, he was in the bottom quartile for passes received, passes completed, and final third entries (vs. team median) among T5 midfielders.
He was also in the 50th and 76th percentile for xThreat received; as in, how valuable were the passes he was receiving, as well as in the 82nd percentile for offensive duels won (VTM).
So in years 1 and 2, a low touch, advanced receiver under-pressure. This also aligns to my contention that he was a "moments midfielder", as these actions will look more impressive than they are actually valuable.
Last season, he made a big leap for all three of passes received, passes completed, and final third entries (VTM) - he was in the top half among T5 midfielders.
His xThreat received fell to the 21st percentile, and this all makes sense - he's receiving earlier in possession, and more often.
But, is this evolution really a good thing?
Looking at the second image, his total VAEP over the past three seasons has been:
- 23/24: 29th percentile
- 24/25: 24th percentile
- 25/26: 77th percentile
So yes, the evolution is a good thing. He's getting on the ball more, he's positively impacting the game more, and the overall value he's contributing is higher.
Oh, and even though his xThreat received has dropped, his off duels won VTM was still the exact same, so he didn't lose proficiency in tight spaces or under pressure when he was in those situations.
And this season, he might be taking it to an even higher level.
- comfortably 1st among PL midfielders for prg carry distance p90
- 75th percentile for xA p90
- 88th percentile for line breaking passes p90
Its like he was overrated due to biases of him being flashy, young, an academy product, on one of the biggest teams ITW, etc... but over the past 6 months of club football he's actually quantitatively been absolutely top, right at the same time the novelty of the things that biased people in the first place wore off.
Now, was he capable of handling a larger volume of actions earlier, based on the things flashed in the first two seasons? I don't know, and I'm open to either answer.
The fact is that he didn't, and I tend to use Occam's razor for evaluating volume metrics (within possession adjusted or team environment contexts); to me, the simplest answer for why a player didn't touch the ball as often is because they weren't good enough to earn the touches.
Regardless, this is what a breakout season looks like.
He still has the same core issues as before (weak in the air, minimal ground coverage), but his in-possession value has scaled from moments to sustained value.
Somehow I think he might be underrated now.
