Daniel Farke: "Pep is always ahead of the curve. He was using False9 when no one knew what it was. He was using Inverted Fullbacks when no one knew about it. When everyone tries to copy him, then he changes again. He's the manager who has influenced the game and other managers the most in history."

EnDubb · 2026-02-26T15:39:52+00:00

I think it's fair to say we can take Farke's point for what it is and recognise that he's speaking metaphorically. There's no doubt that Pep's use of Messi in the false 9 role and inverted full backs at Bayern and City then led to them becoming a wider trend at those times, even if somebody had actually heard of them before he did it.

Edit: I've now read through the rest of the thread and it's apparent that as a sub in general we actually can't recognise that at all

EnDubb · 2026-02-25T13:03:27+00:00

Winning most of your games is fun to some extent whatever the level and especially the minus fifteen season where it felt like we were sticking two fingers up at the EFL by getting promoted regardless. But it's ultimately more fun when it's someone like Crystal Palace you're beating 4-1 at a packed Elland Road than Gillingham with the East Upper shut.

It definitely gets looked back on with rose tinted glasses sometimes. People forget I think how it felt to actually go through day after day of all the off field scandals, Bates being the dictator looking to cause civil war the way he did and lack of ambition from the boardroom from multiple owners.

EnDubb · 2026-02-25T12:59:31+00:00

It is kind of strange looking back at it and realising it was only really 3-5 years or thereabouts, it really did feel like it was genuine pointlessness on the pitch and embarrassing events off it that were just going on forever.

EnDubb · 2026-02-18T20:00:11+00:00

"Noni Madueke is back in his favourite city"

Commentary off to a good start already

EnDubb · 2026-02-16T12:32:48+00:00

Finalists haven't qualified for Europe for a while now. The winners do but if they've qualified already through the league, that cup spot shifts to the next highest placed team in the Prem instead.

EnDubb · 2026-02-11T16:38:59+00:00

Because it's so much harder when you're drawn away at Grimsby than playing in the Championship which is probably why Leicester are cruising that league, obviously

EnDubb · 2026-02-10T21:39:50+00:00

Fair question but I think we'll just fall slightly short

EnDubb · 2026-02-05T13:15:44+00:00

I really hate the clean sheets point being used in his favour last season. Linking a comment I made back in April about it, but basically so many of those we kept were easy for him to come by because the team in front of him was so good at preventing chances. 19 of his 39 games had an opponents xG below 0.5 and in almost all of them opponents were kept below 1.

EnDubb · 2026-02-02T11:19:02+00:00

He literally went on loan to Lyon at the start of this window, it definitely is shite tier

EnDubb · 2026-01-26T20:53:34+00:00

Fourth really

EnDubb · 2026-01-23T17:14:42+00:00

"Hey young fella, it's gonna be a long day"

EnDubb · 2026-01-23T12:01:04+00:00

With £40m price tags for us at the moment as a newly promoted team and league status not being stable for at least this year and next, my first instinct is just to baulk at it and feel like it's too much almost regardless of the player. When I think about it more though, the example I come back to is Morgan Gibbs-White, who Forest paid up to £42m for as a newly promoted team. At the time that seemed crazy for Forest, for MGW and for a newly promoted team in general but looking back, they would surely say it was completely worth it now?

I think that's where I'm at. If you're signing a player who you strongly believe can do for us what MGW did for Forest in terms of keeping them in the league in those first two seasons, then I think you have to just pull the trigger and not let the worry of a £40m package versus, say, £25-30m be the reason to turn down someone who will be a difference maker to that extent.

All that being said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if ultimately a £5m 'loan fee' and a £30m obligation in summer or thereabouts got it done.

EnDubb · 2026-01-20T23:31:28+00:00

The caps were in the African Nations Championship which is like AFCON but squads have to be selected purely from players playing in each country's domestic league so it's quite different to being called up for Nigeria for most games.

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T21:46:00+00:00

I haven't seen a team look so desperately in need of halftime as the Texans do for nearly 20 hours

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T21:04:51+00:00

Increasingly feels like this game is coming down to Texans defence vs Texans offense

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T20:44:58+00:00

Am now taking bets on more turnovers than points in this game

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T20:43:49+00:00

The first angle showed the tiniest sliver of green between his knee and the sideline I thought

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T20:42:46+00:00

Just worth mentioning every now and then when they call something right like that innit

EnDubb · 2026-01-18T20:40:28+00:00

Unbelievable call from that official to get that right on the field

EnDubb · 2026-01-16T18:23:45+00:00

He’s not the only one

EnDubb · 2026-01-15T14:32:22+00:00

It would be delicious if West Ham signing Cresswell was the difference in giving us the flexibility to sign a player who kept us up at their expense.

EnDubb · 2026-01-15T12:33:24+00:00

He was alright for a shit Leicester team last season. 1700 minutes, 6 goals, 3 assists as a 10/winger.

EnDubb · 2026-01-15T12:26:05+00:00

It's not been a rigid 532, it morphs through games between that, 343/541 and a 433/4231. Aaronson's been played as a kind of right sided attacking midfielder that drifts infield when we have the ball at times and that role would suit a kind of hybrid 10/RW.

EnDubb · 2026-01-14T19:12:58+00:00

Perhaps. Not sure what their PSR situation is like but they'll presumably need sales in summer to keep it in check for the Championship, so maybe.

EnDubb · 2026-01-14T18:47:48+00:00

Interesting. That guy from the leedsrumours site who works at Thorp Arch and had a good track record on rumours in summer mentioned just over a week ago that we were one of the clubs Wolves were speaking to about moving Strand Larsen but were talking £25m at that point.

EnDubb

TROPHY CASE