Stottie

Thanks to Foxedup for interesting reads. Harvey Barnes is two-footed, shoots strongly off his weaker foot, and can get to the byline or go outside and shoot toward the near post, so very different to Miggy. If Maxi is leaving and creating FFP wiggle room, the focus then turns to what Howe wants for our left side. It's not "broken", we're coming off a what was a great season, but the big differences between ourselves and Man City, Arsenal, and Liverpool are goals scored and possession. The next step up may be getting our left back more involved in attacking play, to create more of those goals scored.

I'm a Maxi fan and if while you can have a fine Maxi vs. Barnes pub discussion, I don't think there is much room to argue the merits of (Maxi) vs. (Barnes plus two other players based on FFP accounting). In that situation, Maxi loses hands down.

FFP is bullshit. Spurs are hundreds of millions in debt for their stadium, which doesn't count. The (little) money we'll get for CL being based on a 10 year coefficient is also closed-shop bullshit. I love Maxi and I think he has come on as a team player under Howe. I wanted to see more, but the club and PIF's hands are clearly tied. We're also getting to the point, for the first time in twenty years, where upgrading the team will mean replacing an already good and popular player.

I put Robert on a level above the others in terms of attacking contribution. He was something else. Saudi is a big payday. Regardless of what the league is like, it's a helluva lot of money. If ASM were to start missing more games, that's a lot of wedge to miss out on.

Love Maxi but probably the best for all involved. FFP is clearly an issue for the club. He's not worth 50m to an Eddie Howe team but could well be to a less pressing team in a weaker league with a PFM type manager. He could be very useful to them.

Fair play for Maxi if he doesn't want to go to Saudi, but the wages on offer and his injury record suggest it would be a move his agent is likely to push hard for.

If Liverpool get an OTT fee for a basically finished Fabinho or Henderson, loads of journos will have to shut up. Their perceived moral high ground is gone. LIverpool are the club journos in the UK are most precious about, so from a sportswashing perspective, it would be wise move.

Hope Tonali is looking at his phone and not the match.

Some serious cackling from Ando in that commentary. Almost sounds like Sid James.

Going back two pages, but isn't the issue with Targett the big wages he's on and its meaning relative to the FFP restriction on wages to turnover? Our turnover is not high enough to cover paying someone five million a year to sit on the bench, unless they're coming on and scoring goals like Callum Wilson.

If Saudi are paying full Transfermarkt prices for declining Sky Six players, we should sell some combination of Murphy, ASM, Targett and Miggy for the same full Transfermarkt prices. If there are five CL places, the goal should be to finish Top 5, realistically above Villa, Brighton, Chelsea, and Spurs. Finishing above both Liverpool and Man U will not be necessary next season. Liverpool alone improving shouldn't be an issue. If Nunez finds his shooting boots and Diaz regains his form, they won't need a new midfield.

Henderson to Saudi would mean two of the Sky Six taking transfer fees from them. I can't see how that doesn't open the door to us selling to them too. It has to. Salah is still Liverpool's best player. Selling him now actually weakens them, so I would welcome it even if they get Chiesa. Regarding Lavia, the Manchester Evening News reckons City sold him with all manner of buyback clauses, so Liverpool only get him if Pep doesn't want him back. This would mean Pep rating him below Kalvin Phillips. There aren't many examples of Pep-era City letting good players go, Jadon Sancho as the only one that springs to mind. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/man-city-transfers-romeo-lavia-27277041

Just a thought but if Trippier can't be replaced like-for-like in a year or two, which I suspect, would Tonali be a first step towards us principally playing a box midfield? Assuming age take Trippier, Schar, and Burn out, the future lineup is. Pope RCB Botman LCB Bruno (right 6) - Tonali (left 6) Gordon (right 8) - Joelinton/Willock (left 8) RW Isak Barnes Due to TAA, we can't say Tripper is a "one-off", but anyone we sign is unlikely to be the next no. 1 crosser in the league. This means the lopsided 3-4-3 we play in possession has its days numbered. Even now, we can't play it if Trippier is injured or rested. With Trippier on the field, Tonali offers Bruno cover and an upgrade on Longstaff.

Cool, hope lots of people are tuning in. C'mon England and AG! I live overseas, so online for me.

U21 final about to start. You can watch it online on UEFA tv. https://www.uefa.tv/match/live/243053/2036152

I'll agree with that. The main stat we don't do well on, i.e., not in the top 6, isn't chance creation but possession. All the goals and chances we created last year, pretty much Top 3, were with 52% possession. fwiw, in 21-22, we averaged 40% possession under Bruce and Howe combined. A 12% improvement in one year may be a new record. It might be worth tweeting someone at Opta. The flip applies too, so we conceded the equal lowest number of goals, but from our opponents taking 48% of the passes. Man City's opponents scored the same number of goals, joint fewest, but from only 36% of the ball. If we control the ball a bit better and take a few more chances, we should be confident of emulating last season or going better. 14 draws means lotsa points were left out there. 14 draws into 6 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats would give us 8 more points.

Just because this thread needs more stats. 100 games' worth for both players, for teams of a similar level. Barnes is a full year younger than Bowen.

Fun with stats says he's got three goals and three assists in just 661 minutes as a sub. Small sample, but very impressive, almost cheat code level. He's also scored 9 of his 35 league goals with his weaker (left) foot, off 9 xG. Hitting xG off your weaker foot is pretty good. The highlight reel has him going down the outside and scoring with his left. https://understat.com/player/6681 Just for the "is a CL player?" issue, aren't his stats better than Trossard's?

Yes, my impression is it would be this year's Nick Pope. Not flashy, and yes, coming from a relegated club, but a no-risk effective player for a low price and low wages. An upgrade on Murphy (who I do like) for certain. Isak should be playing a lot next year, so that should satisfy anyone's need for flair.

Yeah, if you think folk are being judgemental about his "with my babies" photo, you ain't seen nothing yet!

With Maxi, you have to remember he had two seasons bailing out a clueless c*nt of a manager playing "hit it to Maxi" ball. That's a lot to unlearn. I said it on another thread but the main issue is his xG, basically him not getting into goalscoring positions. Thanks to the wonders of stats, we can rank him against other players in the team for expected goals per shot. He is easily the worst of all our attacking players. He's shooting on average from positions where a statistically average player will score only 1 in 16. Even Bruno, who shoots from farther out, is 1 is 10. Under Howe in 22/23, Maxi's chance creation for others was top notch and he's young enough to suggest there still could be a player in there, though maybe not as a first choice in a "intensity is our identity" setup. For us to carry him with his limited defensive contribution, he's going have to start scoring more. Miggy did it as a player who's older, so I wouldn't completely rule it out just yet. The financial stuff is beyond me, but if it makes sense to sell him, so be it. I think of all of our players as replaceable, especially now with the recruitment team we have. Clinging to what we have in already is Ashley-era thinking that we don't need to do any more.

There'll be quite a few bubbling under that top 6 too, Maguire, Sancho, Nunez, VVD etc. Assuming Nunez isn't top 6.

Our squad is a prime example, but it's not just the quality of the wide player but the actual type as well. Joelinton and Miggy are both wide forwards who create little, especially Miggy. Look at their goals vs. assists. The obvious tactic then is to not play them together. Either Joelinton left and Murphy (get to the byline crosser) right or ASM (creator extraordinaire) left and Miggy right. Gordon is an option too of course. The aim is to get both creation and goal threat from the flanks. One thing with ASM is how low his xG is. He shoots, but only from poor positions. Maybe its on the player, but he does not get into good goalscoring positions. It would be a sign of player and team improvement to see ASM score a tap in.

Ideally the Saudis would buy one of the cheaper Liverpool players to shut up their "oh we're so pure" fans, and then buy one of ours for Ruben Neves money. It won't be just yet, but my lingering dread is that the Saudis pay massively for Salah just as he stops producing and Liverpool are happy to offload.

That's Salah, Saka, Martinelli, Rashford level. Big big money. Barnes is a fine player but that's too high a target. Even Mitoma was only something like 7 goals 7 assists, and not guaranteed. We kept him very very quiet at SJP. Miggy doesn't create, he just combines with Trippier or Bruno (who create) or finishes. He won't be up for it, but if our system is "forward at RW", we could try Isak there. Maybe a fun thing to try in preseason. His second against Spurs was a right forward's goal.