The College Dropout

Cherki has the Ribery vibes of being uncoachable. Maybe Pep wants that

Bring back Ashworth.

Liked what is as From that podcast episode. Tough childhood. Has a real resolution about him that some of the others (Gordon) could learn from. I’ve been one of his biggest defenders. But he’s done at this level for us.

A lot of money. He’s not super secure on the ball. I don’t think he’s ideal for other tactical setups. But he’s perfect for Howe. Has the personality profile Howe demands. ‘Is willing and physically able to chase down subbed on wingers in the 93rd minute’ isn’t available in the data and not a requirement for many managers style of play. It’s no accident that the 2 CMs Howe has bought are ‘braveheart’ types mentally although in different ways.

Klopp would want to say - it’s not that he didn’t want Salah - he preferred Brandt. He was successfully persuaded.

I agree with this but there are other factors. Klopp repeatedly never got his first choice midfield options. Edwards seems great at managing whatever budget he can negotiate and can seemingly get the purse strings open too. Getting business done super early. That didn’t happen without him. They would chase players all summer for the player to go to Real Madrid or Chelsea. So it’s also about being able to manage further up. Staveley and co. probably had too much freedom financially. But we do need someone that can advocate for the playing squad.

Mitchell was brought in to pivot away from the previous approach imo and that meant a pivot from what Eddie wanted.

Agreed Txiki and Pep go back to Barcelona. They were aligned. Edwards and Klopp worked together for a number of years despite tensions. Both entities earning their stripes. I think Mitchell was proposing a departure and misalignment from Eddie. That doesn’t work at any club but certainly not this iteration of Eddie Howe at Newcastle.

But he’s aligned to Pep they go back decades. Edwards for many years managed tensions with Klopp enough to win them titles. Mitchell I think was brought in to mark a pivot that didn’t align with Eddie. Eddie would have to concede or leave. Eddie conceding or leaving is impossible now. Eddie had tensions with Ashworth but it was working well enough that Ashworth wanted Howe at Man U. They could align enough.

I think Mitchell’s plans went against what Eddie would want - like almost fundamentally. After last season, I think PIF were less convinced about that old way of working which is why they changed things up. I think PIF had doubts about Eddie long-term or at least needed Eddie to bend more. Eddie’s justified the previous transfer approach. The 2 most contentious transfers - Tonali and Barnes - came up big when it mattered. Spend a little more on what you consider a ‘sure-thing’ profile wise. Eddie has secured the base. I think Mitchell was a practical demotion for Eddie. Not that he was in-charge before or will be now - but he had more influence. I don’t think he wanted Hall that first season but he was happy to work with it if he got Tonali and the like. Mitchell wanted less influence from Howe with a partial eye on possible successors. Eddie is the King now.

Again pure conjecture but it feels like Eddie was setup on a suicide mission, a crash out, he was meant to die at war with the 300. He came back with the enemies head on a stake and a bountiful of Gold.

We are living and dying behind Eddie Howe. I can live with that as long as he’s credibly challenged in the transfer market. But there has to be alignment. Not what Mitchell was proposing which was a break from what has worked a treat.

WOOOOOOOOOW! Pure conjecture - I think Howe has pulled rank and killed him. Mitchell was talking too spicy about the previous work imo. I think he wanted to make big changes. I agreed with the sentiment at the time. Eddie and co. have vindicated every previous decision by winning that cup and qualifying for the CL. You can’t change that approach significantly now. Big marquee signings mostly from abroad, elite youngsters and floor raising proven PL players that fit Eddie’s specific style of football. He needs more of that.

Not for me like. He was causing havoc with their teams confidence in defence. Not all the clangers resulted in goals but it impacted the team. Many Chelsea fans wanted him dropped for that influence. I think he may have been dropped once for Petrovic or whatever and he came in and stunk it out worse. https://www.theshedend.com/topic/36171-robert-sanchez-joins-chelsea/#comments Go to any random page. 90% of them think he’s shit, makes regular mistakes and we saw when we played them recently - his kicking is highly hit and miss. They want him replaced. There are genuine debates there whether Ramsdale would be an improvement.

Mbeumo isn’t usually so clinical. He’s usually a Big Chance monster who misses a fair few. Changed this season entirely. From what I’ve seen if Cunha that’s his style. A bit like prime Son he’s an excellent finisher from what most regard as tough angles.

It’s almost the same thing though. It’s just it’s not intentional. Being mentally strong is about having the right attitude. But again not in this binary ‘good attitude’ ‘bad attitude’ way. It takes a certain attitude to be resilient, to try and forget past mistakes or a certain situation out your head. But it’s not bad attitude in a HBA way.

Thought he was a bright spark. Hope he can go on loan next season

That was Eddie’s karma coming back for them for the goal line incident when Bournemouth went down.

This season has been vindication for the old regimes way of working. But we didn’t sign mid 20’s PL players for mega bucks though. That wasn’t the approach.

Chelsea play a controlled game and concede few chances. Their ‘expected goals conceded’ is among the lowest. Sanchez isn’t a busy keeper yet he kept throwing them in. He’s not that great on the ball either. Better than Pope though aye. I wouldn’t swap Sanchez for Pope personally.

Pardew got a good amount out of HBA. A lot more than a lot of other managers. It’s the Warnock’s and Redknapp’s that would get the best out of a lad like HBA imo. Let him train twice a week. Give him the keys to the team on Saturday and tell the other lads to get on with it. Ben Arfa wouldn’t have lasted long under Rafa. Maybe he could’ve blossomed in his younger days under Wenger.

Allison, Raya - maybe Martinez. And he just ducked it for his team and is perhaps a weaker shot stopper. He’s thrown in a few this season. The rest I think you give and take something. Ederson is a far inferior shot stopper and doesn’t command his box.

HBA was the type of personality that needed to be indulged like a benevolent father. Puel often played Ben Arfa as a 10 surrounded by hard workers. Howe doesn’t manage like that or setup his team like that. The players that are closet to Howe are proper grafters like Wilson and Ritchie. Howe is too professional and sets standards across training and everything. The manager for HBA was Sir Bobby. And that whole era 1970s-2005. Sir Bobby didn’t mind a difficult personality if you could play. Bellamy said Bobby made him feel like he was the best player in the world. Puel said you have to make Ben Arfa feel important. Ben Arfa was a Bobby Robson player no doubt.

He would’ve managed him out the door.

Who in the league is as dominant at crosses, shot stopping and is better with their feet. Definitively I think there’s 2 or 3. Everyone else you take something and lose something.