Jules Koundé

[Centurions]

maybe if your'e american.

Maybe if you're American.

 

[the_tevez_wiggle]

Maybe this season with 2 Dm,s the centre backs will be more protected. Plus we will have Laporte too this season.

Are you suggesting we play rodri/ferna or rodri/gundo every match. This causes me a lot of anxiety!!! Look at our loss rate with rodri/gundo playing together. Unless we sell gundo and get camavinga or aouer that would be my worst outcome. Even worse than 352 formation once every 50 games in an important match against lesser opposition. Gundogan is a lovely fella but he is like cat nip to certain people including Pep. I'm not against his talent, he's a lovely player but him and rodri or ferna instantly kills my positive feelings stone cold dead.

 

[Neville Kneville]

I think the 1v1 aspect is key for us. Before the Wolves game Sky showed 3 of the goals we let in last year against them and for all the goals Otamendi got rinsed 1 on 1 by falling on his arse. It wasn’t just him last season as it happened frequently, but that illustrates how exposed our defenders are, particularly in transition.

Although there’s always a risk with any transfer, what I also think bodes well is that he’s played in France at a very good level. Their football is more physical and direct than in Spain and this together gives him a good shot at adapting quickly to the Premier League.

He clearly excelled there also as he wasn’t bought for beer money by Sevilla, as they spent €25m on him with a 20% sell on. That’s the top end of what they spend on players and it suggests he’s seen as a top talent. Hopefully he’s the right guy.

He's also 21 years old so has a lot of time to become a top player & can likely play 3 positions & looks like he would be perfect in a back 3 if required.

I'd be totally happy with Koulibaly, but there is no guarantee Koulibaly would settle straight in, either.

Transfers are gambles. Both players look like they are exactly the kind we need.

But then we have to see what actually happens if one arrives.

 

[Delphacito]

This whole "why are we paying this much when we could have had him for less if we bought in a while ago" argument is fucking stupid and I'm seeing it quite often on here.

I don’t know but I feel like we completely missed out on Messi like that. Txiki should’ve bought Messi right after he comes out of his mother in the hospital.

 

[billymumphrey]

This whole "why are we paying this much when we could have had him for less if we bought in a while ago" argument is fucking stupid and I'm seeing it quite often on here.

Mate I was responding to someone who said buying a replacement for Kompany was expensive - when we actually bought Kompany for one fifth that Rio Ferdinand cost a couple of years before. The actual player who we were trying to replace was bought inexpensively!

I'm not arguing. I'm just pointing out the facts.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

This whole "why are we paying this much when we could have had him for less if we bought in a while ago" argument is fucking stupid and I'm seeing it quite often on here.

To some extent you're right but that's why we have scouting network, sometimes I think we just look at Football Manager and league tables tho to find players.

 

[Dirty Harry]

I don’t know but I feel like we completely missed out on Messi like that. Txiki should’ve bought Messi right after he comes out of his mother in the hospital.

Hope we’ve done this with Sergio’s son Benji, what is there to lose with Aguero as your dad , Maradona as your grandad, genetics heavily favour a generational talent surely !

 

[Cobwebcat]

Mate I was responding to someone who said buying a replacement for Kompany was expensive - when we actually bought Kompany for one fifth that Rio Ferdinand cost a couple of years before. The actual player who we were trying to replace was bought inexpensively!

I'm not arguing. I'm just pointing out the facts.

I’ve not read everything you guys have posted but if you are talking about identifying value for money targets at an earlier stage then it’s certainly a valid argument. It’s something every club looks at at most levels now.

At our level we perhaps have the money to minimise the risk of signing a player that is not regarded as a high flyer just yet. Jesus would be an example for us where it was a bigger risk than say Tevez.

The layman calls it moneyball but footy analytics has moved on a lot in the last few years. It’s entirely possible for clubs to find bargains using a combination of data and scouting.

The three best examples, at different levels, are Liverpool Brentford and AZ in the Netherlands.

All three clubs have found and bought players at an earlier stage based on the data they have. In some cases like Brentford it’s their whole business model. Liverpool is regarded to have the best analytics department in the World and has been just as important as Klopp in their success.

A few years ago we were right up there too but we have slipped a little since. Of course there are many other factors we can’t know of at the time we scout and the lower level you scout, the more risk you take.

But if you are saying we could maybe have got some players earlier at a reduced price by missing out the middle man (in this case Sevilla) then that’s a perfectly fine point to make.

 

[Alcatraz]

I’ve not read everything you guys have posted but if you are talking about identifying value for money targets at an earlier stage then it’s certainly a valid argument. It’s something every club looks at at most levels now.

At our level we perhaps have the money to minimise the risk of signing a player that is not regarded as a high flyer just yet. Jesus would be an example for us where it was a bigger risk than say Tevez.

The layman calls it moneyball but footy analytics has moved on a lot in the last few years. It’s entirely possible for clubs to find bargains using a combination of data and scouting.

The three best examples, at different levels, are Liverpool Brentford and AZ in the Netherlands.

All three clubs have found and bought players at an earlier stage based on the data they have. In some cases like Brentford it’s their whole business model. Liverpool is regarded to have the best analytics department in the World and has been just as important as Klopp in their success.

A few years ago we were right up there too but we have slipped a little since. Of course there are many other factors we can’t know of at the time we scout and the lower level you scout, the more risk you take.

But if you are saying we could maybe have got some players earlier at a reduced price by missing out the middle man (in this case Sevilla) then that’s a perfectly fine point to make.

But isn’t that what we are doing right now at the Academy level ? Buying young talent from across Europe & South America, accepting of course only a small % ever make it to the top level

 

[wolviedinho]

Why don’t we just scout clubs like Ajax, schalke, RB,Monaco,Dortmund? Once they try to buy a player for a small fee that is unknown go in and gazump them. Loan the player back to them and once he is developed, take him back. Sorted! You are welcome Txiki.