kingfox

As Ric said, those stats are seriously skewed mate, comparing him to actual strikers, he is a far better creator, dribbler and ball carrier than those stats suggest. But while at Sturm Graz, he’s played mostly in a front two, with him being the one who tends to drop, involves himself in the play and operates pretty much like a false nine/support striker.

Raducanu vs Rybakina next up is a very intriguing solid test for Emma, watched Rybakina’s match last night and she was far from convincing, especially second set.

With Ivanovic for example, you can easily point out what his strengths are, aerial ability and someone willing to engage in duels. Sylla doesn’t stand out in any metric apart from goalscoring. Bundesliga 2 are only three games in, but some of his stats so far this season are almost as identical to last season.

Better than what we have now in specific traits, yes. But better as an overall footballer, that will be a game of wait and see. I’ve said numerous times that our midfield lacks a ball winner, as I posted the other day with his stats, as you’ve said yourself, he can do both sides of the game. We have midfielders with ball playing ability, but not really with any defensive ability, Mattsson was a very viable option for the ‘6’ role. Let’s hope we get gifted a midfielder with some defensive ability in the next few days, if not, then I seriously worry about contending for promotion. Silas Andersen please Mr Glover

“Arguably better than those 3” is a bit OTT at this moment in time but fee wise is what frustrates me the most too. Mattsson fits the right profile of the type of midfielder we need right now, he can dictate play, but he also has better defensive ability than the midfielders we have now. It’s no surprise to see @Ric Flair get annoyed when stuff like this happens, I always go back to Tanaka to Leeds as an example, we bang £25 million on Oli Skipp, while Leeds picked up Tanaka for £3 million. I’ve banged the Scandinavian drum on here for what feels like an eternity now, so much hidden potential in Denmark, Sweden and Norway that you just know we could pick up for under £10 million, we did it with Hermansen. Let’s see what the next few days bring, but as Ric said, failing to tap into the Scandinavian market when we have a manager who has worked in the three countries above is a bit stupid.

Another Scandinavian midfielder, Thomas Jorgensen - Viborg. Of midfielders in the Danish Superliga, he currently ranks… 2nd - Expected Assists 7th - Key Passes 2nd - Chance creation 5th - Attempted Dribbles 3rd - Offensive Duels 3rd - Progressive Carries 1st - Duels 2nd - Defensive Duels 1st - Possessions won Very much an all rounder of a midfielder.

“My Bilal went from the Anderlecht under 15’s to the Premier League in six seasons, stuff like that doesn’t go unnoticed”

Looks like we have a fetish for right-backs.

I very much agree with Marti’s comments regarding his in possession work, but the comments regarding his defensive work, we as fans know that is complete bollocks If Marti wants to play him for his in possession work, fine. But those stats yet again prove that whether it’s Soumare or Winks, if one or both end up staying, they need a more defensive minded partner alongside them, that and a new striker is the missing part of the jigsaw, otherwise I fear we’ll be seeing more teams the calibre of Preston out work us.

Wow. As I posted last night, Soumare is currently averaging 4 possessions won a game. Compare that to the Preston duo of Ali McCann and Ben Whiteman, who sit at the top of that statistic with 10+. No wonder we got out worked and lost to Preston.

It currently lists players who have played 150mins + 👍🏻 Winks just sneaks in on 151 mins.

DataMB have updated their database for the 25/26 season, very early days of course, but this is what Soumare has shown from a defensive perspective so far this season, fvcking embarrassing. New midfielder with some defensive ability is a must!

He doesn’t come across as a target man type of striker, his duelling stats are crap, his dribbling and ball carrying stats are crap too, his passes received numbers are meh and out of Bundesliga 2 strikers, he ranked bottom for possessions won.

His main stats from last season, goalscoring numbers were decent, but doesn’t stand out in any other metric.

My heart literally skipped a beat in fear after scrolling through Twitter to be greeted by his face and Rylan style teeth. What a relief to see him move elsewhere.

Hopefully this opens the door for us to get a left-back who actually knows how to attack.

Yep, he is the one. Very similar numbers defensively to what Ndidi gave us, but with far better passing ability. GERRIMIN!

Going back to last summer when we were crying out for a number 10, the numbers Stengs produced in the 23/24 season in terms of creativity made him a viable option. Despite being prone to injuries, in terms of a positional sense, signing him would make perfect sense as we’ve sold McAteer and BEK could well leave too. Stengs is capable of filling both those gaps. He’d come with risk, throughout his career he has blown very hot and cold, but as seen two season’s ago, he is capable of producing some impressive numbers.

Attacking LB option, Fredrik Bjorkan(Bodo/Glimt) Gets himself into the box, strong ball carrier and dribbler.

This is where hopefully a new signing would be made, we all know the midfield needs revamping, but if one of Soumare or Winks stays, they need a new midfielder partner imo. If Soumare stays, we need to acquire a midfielder who can dictate and do work defensively. If Winks stays, I’d rather see him back as the 6, then get an energetic box-to-box midfielder to partner him.

Bit harsh Ric, he did listen to you eventually …

I haven’t seen obsessive love for a player like that since myself and Sean St Ledger in 2012.

Ric’s wet dream from 2019 might finally come to fruition.

Will always have respect for JJ, at his best he was a Premier League quality full-back, a real shame that injuries affected him and he couldn’t find his best form again. £10 million with a year left on his deal is very solid business from our end.