BBC Top rated players so far

[Blue-fox 344]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54867591
 

Found this online, with us having 3 out of the top 10 players so far this season. 

[LCCFox96 945]

Great representation for us, and the spread of different clubs there shows the healthy level of competition in the league.

 

As an aside, I think Mendy is very unlucky to miss out on the Top 10 CM's section. As the French would say, he's been magnifique.

[Riyad_Suarez 160]

Not sure why, but I wasn't expecting to see *spoiler alert* Fuchs in the top 10 PL players so far.

 

He's been decent, don't get me wrong, but he's only played the last few games hadn't he?

 

Or has he been performing well on the quiet and I've just missed it? 

 

[Wolfox 4,386]

Wrong Mendy in there!

[Foxymcoxy 300]

2 minutes ago, Riyad_Suarez said:

Not sure why, but I wasn't expecting to see *spoiler alert* Fuchs in the top 10 PL players so far.

 

He's been decent, don't get me wrong, but he's only played the last few games hadn't he?

 

Or has he been performing well on the quiet and I've just missed it? 

 

He's been absolutely class pretty much 100% of the time he's played so it's not too surprising to me that he is up there on average rating.

[Buce 11,637]

 

Interesting that the four Immortals still starting (Vardy, Kasper, Albrighton and Fuchs) are all represented in the top ten in their respective categories.

 

Legends.

[boots60 1,193]

Good to see mainly Leicester & Southampton fans voting.

No representatives from up north, probably illiterate.

[nwl fox 693]

What a resurgence for Fuchs! Fair play, I think he's been brilliant this season. I'd kind of written him off , not in a bad way, I thought it was a good idea to keep him round for another year just for what I believed he'd bring to the dressing room but didn't really want  us having to rely on him to play many minutes (if at all). However, I have to say he's been spot on pretty much every game he's played so far and I'm now thinking we should try and get him to sign for another year! 

[shen 1,983]

Congerton & Co possess some kind of magic 8 ball, surely. I don't even think the most optimistic Southampton fans had expected Vestergaard to be one of their stand-out players - but our scouting team seemingly had a hunch!

[WilmslowFox 118]

18 minutes ago, boots60 said:

No representatives from up north, probably illiterate.

Hey!  I live near Manchester and my parents were married.

[Swarles Barkley 1,573]

Knew we should've signed Vestergaard ahead of Fofana

 

#CongertonOut

[shen 1,983]

1 minute ago, nwl fox said:

What a resurgence for Fuchs! Fair play, I think he's been brilliant this season. I'd kind of written him off , not in a bad way, I thought it was a good idea to keep him round for another year just for what I believed he'd bring to the dressing room but didn't really want  us having to rely on him to play many minutes (if at all). However, I have to say he's been spot on pretty much every game he's played so far and I'm now thinking we should try and get him to sign for another year! 

Honestly, I think Fuchs has been a bit overrated - a bit like Edouard Mendy, whose rating is surely influenced by the extra attention he's gotten and the direct comparison people are making to Kepa. 
But Fuchs has been solid and he's a decent outlet when playing out from the back. I don't think he's been better than Castagne though, who put in literally match-winning performances in the first couple of games.

[AKCJ 14,951]

Bit of a joke that Kane isn't in the top 10 forwards. Makes a mockery of it.

 

7 goals and 8 assists in 8 games.

[StriderHiryu 16,960]

27 minutes ago, shen said:

Congerton & Co possess some kind of magic 8 ball, surely. I don't even think the most optimistic Southampton fans had expected Vestergaard to be one of their stand-out players - but our scouting team seemingly had a hunch!

Yes I noticed that too. We definitely have some kind of analytics model that we use in combination with scouting. Vestergaard kept coming up so there must have been something about his stats that kept performing well even when he seems very average. I suspect it was aerial duels won, as that's been recognised as something we have been weaker at since Huth and then Maguire left.

 

We track players for minimum a year before we go onto buy a player and I believe this is still true even with players that are yet to make their debut, so I expect Fofana was known about before his debut. Regarding Fofana's price, I bet we had stats and reports of how he was faring in the youth team and then when comparing it to what an experienced player should have realised that he already had the same stats as a player 5-6 years older and so was a potential world talent, hence splashing the cash. I remember Kylian Mbappe had similar traits when Monaco got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, his League and Champions League xG was better than Messi and Ronaldo's despite being 18 years old!

 

Some other players we were also linked with much earlier than other clubs were Trincao (linked last winter, not just in the summer), Tete (Shakthar Dontestk) and Abdülkadir Ömür (Trabzonspor). The boat has already sailed on the first one, but it will be interesting to see how the other two fare. Tete destroyed Ral Madrid earlier in the season.

 

So no idea what model / system we use but thank god we have it! I also believe it's improved every season, we signed a new head of football analytics last season and I am sure he feeds into it. 

[shen 1,983]

6 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Bit of a joke that Kane isn't in the top 10 forwards. Makes a mockery of it.

 

7 goals and 8 assists in 8 games.

Honestly, I think he's never been better than what he has shown at the start of this season. I didn't know he had that kind of play-making ability in his locker. He's been brilliant.

[baldeagle 1,580]

11 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Bit of a joke that Kane isn't in the top 10 forwards. Makes a mockery of it.

 

7 goals and 8 assists in 8 games.

Yeah but he’s still a dick 

[shen 1,983]

8 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Yes I noticed that too. We definitely have some kind of analytics model that we use in combination with scouting. Vestergaard kept coming up so there must have been something about his stats that kept performing well even when he seems very average. I suspect it was aerial duels won, as that's been recognised as something we have been weaker at since Huth and then Maguire left.

 

We track players for minimum a year before we go onto buy a player and I believe this is still true even with players that are yet to make their debut, so I expect Fofana was known about before his debut. Regarding Fofana's price, I bet we had stats and reports of how he was faring in the youth team and then when comparing it to what an experienced player should have realised that he already had the same stats as a player 5-6 years older and so was a potential world talent, hence splashing the cash. I remember Kylian Mbappe had similar traits when Monaco got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, his League and Champions League xG was better than Messi and Ronaldo's despite being 18 years old!

 

Some other players we were also linked with much earlier than other clubs were Trincao (linked last winter, not just in the summer), Tete (Shakthar Dontestk) and Abdülkadir Ömür (Trabzonspor). The boat has already sailed on the first one, but it will be interesting to see how the other two fare. Tete destroyed Ral Madrid earlier in the season.

 

So no idea what model / system we use but thank god we have it! I also believe it's improved every season, we signed a new head of football analytics last season and I am sure he feeds into it. 

I was worried that our recruitment success was going to disappear since many involved in the recruitment team during Pearson's/Ranieri's time have been poached or moved on.
I obviously didn't give our club enough credit to find able or better replacements. We must be the envy of many clubs and I wonder how long we can have this edge over others.

[shen 1,983]

1 minute ago, baldeagle said:

Yeah but he’s still a dick 

He isn't though really. 

[Foxymcoxy 300]

10 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Yes I noticed that too. We definitely have some kind of analytics model that we use in combination with scouting. Vestergaard kept coming up so there must have been something about his stats that kept performing well even when he seems very average. I suspect it was aerial duels won, as that's been recognised as something we have been weaker at since Huth and then Maguire left.

 

We track players for minimum a year before we go onto buy a player and I believe this is still true even with players that are yet to make their debut, so I expect Fofana was known about before his debut. Regarding Fofana's price, I bet we had stats and reports of how he was faring in the youth team and then when comparing it to what an experienced player should have realised that he already had the same stats as a player 5-6 years older and so was a potential world talent, hence splashing the cash. I remember Kylian Mbappe had similar traits when Monaco got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, his League and Champions League xG was better than Messi and Ronaldo's despite being 18 years old!

 

Some other players we were also linked with much earlier than other clubs were Trincao (linked last winter, not just in the summer), Tete (Shakthar Dontestk) and Abdülkadir Ömür (Trabzonspor). The boat has already sailed on the first one, but it will be interesting to see how the other two fare. Tete destroyed Ral Madrid earlier in the season.

 

So no idea what model / system we use but thank god we have it! I also believe it's improved every season, we signed a new head of football analytics last season and I am sure he feeds into it. 

Spot on mate. At this point the consistently strong recruitment cannot be attributed to individuals it is clearly the whole system started under Vichai and Pearson which the club has now maintained across multiple managers.

[nwl fox 693]

1 hour ago, shen said:

Honestly, I think Fuchs has been a bit overrated - a bit like Edouard Mendy, whose rating is surely influenced by the extra attention he's gotten and the direct comparison people are making to Kepa. 
But Fuchs has been solid and he's a decent outlet when playing out from the back. I don't think he's been better than Castagne though, who put in literally match-winning performances in the first couple of games.

No, I agree, there are players I'd probably put in there ahead of him on merit, but nevertheless the point still remains his resurgence has been a very pleasant surprise. 

[Wymsey 4,601]

Surprised that Man Utd's Fernandes isn't up there.

Seems to the one in their team that makes their forward line more potent.

[baldeagle 1,580]

1 hour ago, shen said:

He isn't though really. 

I beg to differ 

[StriderHiryu 16,960]

1 hour ago, shen said:

I was worried that our recruitment success was going to disappear since many involved in the recruitment team during Pearson's/Ranieri's time have been poached or moved on.
I obviously didn't give our club enough credit to find able or better replacements. We must be the envy of many clubs and I wonder how long we can have this edge over others.

This is a great question, but I think that we might surprisingly keep the edge for quite a long time to come, at least compared to other Premier League clubs. The reason is that we have a real harmony between the various departments at the club, and no power struggle, so every department is working toward a unified goal harmoniously rather than just trying to get by.

 

Our summer transfers have been the best example yet; not have they all been good but they have all had an impact already. I believe this is because it wasn't just a case of scouting players, but finding players to fit into a specific system and thus having traits we are after.

- Castagne has allegedly the best stamina in the entire Belgian squad and was used to playing high intensity at Atalanta.  

- Under has quality in the final third, is fast, and can spot a pass.

- Fofana has an incredible leap, is fast and is a proactive defender that makes the challenge quickly rather than holding off.

 

Now compare this to signings made by other clubs and those around us, they often don't make sense. E.g. Man U signed Maguire to play next to Lindelof, but neither is blessed with pace, so they still have that problem. Then what happens if they sack Ole? The next manager will have a different system and will want other players, and the cycle continues.

 

By having a manager in place for a long time (5 year contract) and having established teams, it means we can be a lot more strategic in what we do.

 

Well worth checking out is a series called "Masterclass" by the DOF at Sevilla, Monchi. Sevilla are consistently able to win trophies despite a modest outlay and spend, and he explains in this series of videos how the club is structured and why. Our structure is different, but it's clear many principles remain the same.

 

 

 

 

 

[nwl fox 693]

28 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

This is a great question, but I think that we might surprisingly keep the edge for quite a long time to come, at least compared to other Premier League clubs. The reason is that we have a real harmony between the various departments at the club, and no power struggle, so every department is working toward a unified goal harmoniously rather than just trying to get by.

 

Our summer transfers have been the best example yet; not have they all been good but they have all had an impact already. I believe this is because it wasn't just a case of scouting players, but finding players to fit into a specific system and thus having traits we are after.

- Castagne has allegedly the best stamina in the entire Belgian squad and was used to playing high intensity at Atalanta.  

- Under has quality in the final third, is fast, and can spot a pass.

- Fofana has an incredible leap, is fast and is a proactive defender that makes the challenge quickly rather than holding off.

 

Now compare this to signings made by other clubs and those around us, they often don't make sense. E.g. Man U signed Maguire to play next to Lindelof, but neither is blessed with pace, so they still have that problem. Then what happens if they sack Ole? The next manager will have a different system and will want other players, and the cycle continues.

 

By having a manager in place for a long time (5 year contract) and having established teams, it means we can be a lot more strategic in what we do.

 

Well worth checking out is a series called "Masterclass" by the DOF at Sevilla, Monchi. Sevilla are consistently able to win trophies despite a modest outlay and spend, and he explains in this series of videos how the club is structured and why. Our structure is different, but it's clear many principles remain the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Man, I love your posts! 

Thanks for that, just a brief glimpse but it was fascinating. Watching that, I think possibly gives a bit of insight into why previously perceived great managers/coaches such as Ramos & Emery have not been able to translate their success over here, they've simply not had the same sort of structure in place that allowed them to flourish at Sevilla. What I found really interesting was the emphasis he put on being close to the players & manager as people rather than just relating to them in their professional capacity so that you can understand anything that may be inhibiting their performance in their roles, not rocket science but I don't imagine its the norm in the world of football. 

 

[SecretPro 3,192]

3 hours ago, AKCJ said:

Bit of a joke that Kane isn't in the top 10 forwards. Makes a mockery of it.

 

7 goals and 8 assists in 8 games.

Yeah. But he is an odious, mouth-breathing, ugly cnut so it's OK.