Stottie

The nerdy Athletic Tactics podcast that has Michael Cox on said back in Feb that Willock would be perfect as the new Gini in Liverpool's midfield. He was the first name they mentioned. +1 to the opinion that he's better shooting, maybe just more hit-the-target shooting like Isak, from being elite.

Thanks for the reply. Leicester have provided some great entertainment in recent seasons and I wish you well. It was ultimately deserved but I'm still surprised you were relegated. That has to be one of the strongest squads to go down.

Great summary. I doubt anyone foresaw relegation, but it was clear in summer 22 that Leicester were only going backwards, with Schmiechel (sp?) going and not being replaced and no money for signings at all. Fair play to Maddison and his people for being the first to try and jump ship, regardless of how serious they were in inviting us to bid. fwiw, I reckon a Maddison for cash and Dubravak deal in summer 22 would have kept them up. A season of decent goalkeeping would have done more for them than Maddison's (very good) contribution. As its worked out, Tielemans, Rodgers and now Maddison have got out with their reputations mostly intact. It's a waste though and a team with Leicester's squad shouldn't have been relegated. The Champo is not a pushover and there is no guarantee they'll come back up. There's a good chance some of their players won't have relegation contracts and will remain on Prem wages. Isak, Tonali and Gordon even prove we can go big for players we want badly enough. It just can't have been the case here.

No, I meant the people panicking on Twitter because we didn't sign Madisson or Szobo. I bet many of them are forgetting about Gordon.

I wonder what percentage of them have written Anthony Gordon off already?

A three of Szobo, Mac Allister and Trent sounds like them conceding 47 goals again. I'll start worrying when they get a ball-playing DM (Caicedo etc). And a right back.

Quoted to highlight Murphy being above Almiron, who doesn't cross the ball and will not register expected assists. I'm a bit surprised Isak isn't higher, and suspect his numbers must have dropped off as he was played wide. The numbers were higher earlier in the season. First question with Zaha is "does he press?" because if he doesn't, that's less output than ASM for another passenger.

Quite a lot to process here. Maddison's great, and not joining us won't change that. I suspect we wanted him based on our 21-22 view of what we had and where we wanted to be and now aren't that fussed based on our updated 22-23 view of what we have and where we want to be. Well, not fussed enough to pay what must be higher wages than when we bid on him. I can't see us bidding on a playing wanting 175k in summer 22. He must have signalled he would take much less a year ago. I reckon Eddie etc's updated views on midfield based on 22-23 are why we've gone for Tonali, which no-one saw coming. No one was saying "get another box to box mid". Even the "upgrade Longstaff" people wanted a conventional DM, which Tonali clearly isn't. Maddison is widely seen as a low-block door opener, but perhaps we don't need one. In our final vs. low block game, ironically Leicester home, we created chances galore and hit the woodwork three times. All that game suggested was that we needed more luck and better finishing. We finished the season creating way more chances than the earlier mega-vexing draws vs. Bournemouth, Palace etc. I feel we have far more guile now. If we do need a ten, Isak can clearly do it, and probably Miggy too. Miggy is a funny one because he's a goal threat but never hits the line and creates for others. Far more crosses went in when Murphy was playing there. Miggy's pressing is incessant, so there is a mad bastard pressing #10 in there, every center half's nightmare.

For lovers of symmetry.

Good player, I'd have happily welcomed him, but will trust the club's judgement on this, in both financial and football terms. With Tonali, its hard to read the club's intent. We were expecting an AM (like Maddison) and a DM, but Tonali is more box to box like Bruno. There is a good chance that Maddison would no longer fit. For a new signing at RW, ideally we'd like someone who can also play centrally as a FW, not an SS.

Just buy more of them lights they use to grow the pitch and shine em at people's windows on a timer.

Oh, and I'd like NEWCASTLE UNITED in big letters down the side like the old West Stand. In the same font if possible. That looked fantastic.

If PIF with their clout and the Reuben brothers with how much land they have in Newcastle can't convince the council/planners to let them do something, I can't guess what that something will be, noone can. My only preference is that the ground stays where it is or Leazes Park, and does not end up out of the toon in a trading estate.

To-na-liiiiiii, To-na-li! To-na-liiiiiii, To-na-li! Come and see me! Geordies in Champions League!

I'd rather sell Miggy to Saudi than Willock to Liverpool or Tottenham. We're now at the big table, with few possible buyers for our players who'll bring proper money in. Our options are really quite limited. Captain Hindsight perhaps, but we missed a trick last season in not letting Eliot Anderson play a season in the Champo and lift his value to 20M+. Kuol etc. have been bought with one eye on selling them on for higher prices if they don't quite make our level. Its part of what Man City, Chelsea, and Liverpool all do. The logic for the above in summer 2023 of course is for us to sell purely for FFP wiggle room to buy a purple LB, RCB, or whatever Eddie wants. We wouldn't just sell because we have stingy owners with a limited kitty. There's a kitty but the establishment (FFP) won't let us use it.

Not a bad shout, age profile etc.

I know nothing about Chiesa (!) but his production stats look similar to before his injury. The biggest difference seems to be time spent on the bench, suggesting he's out of favour. https://fbref.com/en/players/b0f7e36c/Federico-Chiesa

It's certainly looking very tasty. We were down to the bare bones against Chelsea final day, so we still need another player. If there is one stat we had last season that was not elite, it was possession, 53% vs. 58% or higher by the other top clubs, Brighton included. If we can control the ball more, more good things will happen.

Here's Tonali (green) vs. Bruno G (blue). Tonali as a double pivot mid in a 4231 and Bruno as Bruno in our 4-3-3. (I'd take Maddison in a heartbeat. I see no risk at all, just pettiness over the fee)

I don't watch Italian football so I'll defer to others about what kind of player etc. I'll just say Tonali has the highest average rating on Sofascore among Milan players in Seria A and is ninth overall for all positions in Seria A for the 22-23 season. His score put him just above Osimhen. https://www.sofascore.com/player/sandro-tonali/892673 His average rating is also third top among Milan players on Whoscored, who will calculate it a different way. These scores are automatically calculated for each game, but clearly pass the eyeball test when you see who scores well. For us to grab a young and mega consistent key player from a European powerhouse who were just in the CL semifinal is bloody amazing. I cannot get my head round it.

I don't know how much Havertz brings the attack, but Arsenal were five points ahead of Man City off the same games played when Saliba got injured. There were 11 games to go. Rice will obviously improve them defensively and that's where the improvement needs to be. Their title challenge crumbled with them losing leads, not them failing to score.

I have a feeling the dark horse in the Maddison situation is Man City depending on the Gundogan/Bernardo situation. Arsenal/Man U don't need Maddison, and Chelsea is a shit show. I think there is too much flux at Liverpool (new midfield trying to accommodate TAA) and Tottenham to make them sensible destinations for him at this time.

Did we actually bid for Maddison twice last summer, or was that just paper talk?

Respect to Walker if he's leaving to get playing time and not just somewhere that will pay massive wages.

Tough start. City away is a freebie, but the others are games we want to be getting points in and not giving points away to rivals. If the club does have its transfer targets identified, I would suggest getting them in early, even if that means paying a few million more than we'd like. Only two months and ticking.