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FDJ - rumour mill

Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 25, has had a change of heart about Manchester United and wants to join them in the summer. (Fichajes)

Another 6 months of speculations kicking off?

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Freds Red (U22942)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
comment by Sat Nav (U18243)
posted 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
comment by manusince52 (U9692)
posted 45 minutes ago
I don't see any urgency for a RB now AWB is showing that he is learning. And Dalot better than most in the PL.
But a striker for sure.
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A couple of decent games against god awful opposition in Forest & Wolves doesn’t change much.

The full back position is so important these days and neither he nor Dalot are good enough. Dalot is better but if we want to get to the top, Dalot’s level is what we should have on the bench.

Similar with martial. I don’t want to buy a bench level player, we should be buying better than we have and then what we have goes on the bench.

Just like ETH is doing: Martinez > Maguire, Casemiro > McFred

Now we need ??? > Martial and ??? > Dalot


I’m willing to give Sancho and Antony a little bit of time but not much before they end up on the right hand side of the > equation.
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I said the same on the top 4 thread, but was told that approach was football manager stuff. Odd.
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Really? There’s nothing football manager about it at all.

If the right player isn’t available then you don’t buy (within reason).

The only player in our front line currently that would deserve a place in a team trying to get back to the top is Rashford.

Replacing Sancho/Antony/Martial with similar level players is a complete waste of time & money.

It seems to me that Ten Hag is doing what we’re saying an upgrading positions. We’re currently a Top 3 - Top 6 team. That means that a lot of those players should be on the bench if we want to be a regular top 4 let alone top 2

posted on 2/1/23

That’s why analysts use xA (or xAG). It’s a far more useful stat than assists.

….

And also why statistics are no substation for watching players and seeing with your own eyes.

According to statistics (and I had them quoted to me on here as his defence) Telles was an outstanding attacking full back.

Having actually watched him play this clearly is not the case.

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Rosso is just another product of the culture industry (U17054)
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Once again, there’s nothing Bruno can do once the ball has left his boot. Whether goals result from the chances he’s creating is out of his control.

That’s why analysts use xA (or xAG). It’s a far more useful stat than assists.
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as you have said on here, and as i have said before, all i want is some consistency on these matters. you have been banging the "look how high his expected assists are" drum for the past 12-18 months - presumably because his actual assists have fallen off a cliff - but i don't remember you doing the same when he first joined united, and his assist generation was miles above his expected numbers (in fact, his expected assists per 90 minutes have been much higher in his last 18 months than in his first 6 months).

so either we care about his actual output, or his expected output, but we can't flip from one to the other just to suit our argument.

as a very, very general rule, given that we are not pl data analysts, most fans focus on actual output rather than expected output, though this seems to break down when players we don't like (martial, pogba) start to rack up the stats.

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 14 minutes ago
comment by Rosso is just another product of the culture industry (U17054)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again, there’s nothing Bruno can do once the ball has left his boot. Whether goals result from the chances he’s creating is out of his control.

That’s why analysts use xA (or xAG). It’s a far more useful stat than assists.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
as you have said on here, and as i have said before, all i want is some consistency on these matters. you have been banging the "look how high his expected assists are" drum for the past 12-18 months - presumably because his actual assists have fallen off a cliff - but i don't remember you doing the same when he first joined united, and his assist generation was miles above his expected numbers (in fact, his expected assists per 90 minutes have been much higher in his last 18 months than in his first 6 months).

so either we care about his actual output, or his expected output, but we can't flip from one to the other just to suit our argument.

as a very, very general rule, given that we are not pl data analysts, most fans focus on actual output rather than expected output, though this seems to break down when players we don't like (martial, pogba) start to rack up the stats.


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Rosso has caught the Hafi bug.

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 52 seconds ago
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Rosso has caught the Hafi bug.

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for which there is no known cure (though there is one expected soon)

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 52 seconds ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rosso has caught the Hafi bug.

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for which there is no known cure (though there is one expected soon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The short circuited maniac was telling everyone we are going to win the league due to a combination of letters from the alphabet and Roman numerals, yesterday.

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 6 minutes ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The short circuited maniac was telling everyone we are going to win the league due to a combination of letters from the alphabet and Roman numerals, yesterday.
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he may be a short circuited maniac, but he's our short circuited maniac.

personally i find it reassuring, amidst all the mess and turmoil of the last few years, that hafi remains hafi.

posted on 2/1/23

I would like FDJ in our current side based on watching him play, not by looking at his stats.

We have nobody as capable as him when it comes to retaining and circulating possession in tight spots and starting attacks from deep either with a burst of dribbling or a quick pass through the lines.

We can’t rely on Eriksen for 90 minutes twice a week and he should be an addition not our first choice partner for Casemiro imo.

Think De Jong and Casemiro would be a great midfield pair with Eriksen/Bruno ahead, that midfield would have everything.

posted on 2/1/23

comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 3 hours, 32 minutes ago
comment by Rosso is just another product of the culture industry (U17054)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again, there’s nothing Bruno can do once the ball has left his boot. Whether goals result from the chances he’s creating is out of his control.

That’s why analysts use xA (or xAG). It’s a far more useful stat than assists.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
as you have said on here, and as i have said before, all i want is some consistency on these matters. you have been banging the "look how high his expected assists are" drum for the past 12-18 months - presumably because his actual assists have fallen off a cliff - but i don't remember you doing the same when he first joined united, and his assist generation was miles above his expected numbers (in fact, his expected assists per 90 minutes have been much higher in his last 18 months than in his first 6 months).

so either we care about his actual output, or his expected output, but we can't flip from one to the other just to suit our argument.

as a very, very general rule, given that we are not pl data analysts, most fans focus on actual output rather than expected output, though this seems to break down when players we don't like (martial, pogba) start to rack up the stats.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
In Bruno’s first full season he led the league in xA by a country mile. (Finished second in assists I believe.)

He’s a facking dynamite player, and I’d love to know who people think United might realistically replace him with who’d be a guaranteed upgrade.

posted on 2/1/23

^ Feel free to pull me up next time I start lauding a player based on their assist numbers without referencing xA

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