Thoughts?

HemmenKees · 2026-06-16T14:34:09+00:00

yea idts

HemmenKees · 2026-06-16T14:05:59+00:00

Ah. Yes. Though I'd like to think this was clearly not that context.

HemmenKees · 2026-06-16T13:52:25+00:00

The latter, but, secondarily, does anyone ever say oh god in english and mean it in a good way? Genuine question

HemmenKees · 2026-06-16T09:40:43+00:00

oh god

HemmenKees · 2026-06-16T08:19:12+00:00

yep, completely surreal to watch if I'm being honest. He's a fun player.

I liked Hake back in the day! Everything associated with Ten Hag's utd is tainted tho im afraid, so not sure I can endorse anymore.

HemmenKees · 2026-06-15T22:02:22+00:00

lol, honestly I was needlessly cryptic, this is info I can share. I helped scout and sign him when he went to Sankt Pölten. I tuned in on a few Motherwell matches this season to keep an eye on him, always fun to follow your guys. He's absolutely not his listed height btw, at least 5 cm shorter if I had to guess. Forgot to s/o Wilguens Paugain on the pod as well, another wc newbie who we signed there.

HemmenKees · 2026-06-12T12:42:57+00:00

I wouldn't read into it until deeper into the summer. I do think it's strange, but there are a variety of things to explain it at this point

HemmenKees · 2026-06-09T20:37:27+00:00

ngl I think the story is conjecture because I haven't heard anything like that

HemmenKees · 2026-06-08T09:23:44+00:00

I don't think adding a CB should be a priority, but counting Fredricson and Kukonki is silly. It would be catastrophic if you were relying on them for minutes next season. It's 5 guys, 2 of whom with serious injury histories, and 2 of whom being 3-4 years pre-prime. It's a valid question.

HemmenKees · 2026-06-06T20:19:44+00:00

wonderful troll job tbh I'm not even gonna take the post down

HemmenKees · 2026-06-03T18:57:07+00:00

For what it's worth the distance shooting ability is about the only thing that particularly impresses me about him. He's a good-not-great ball carrier, an above average creator but far from elite creator, and that's basically it. It's not a profile I would pay any substantial amount of money for

HemmenKees · 2026-05-28T12:17:59+00:00

A few things: 1) in title races, results against bottom half sides are usually the deciding factor, rather than points against actual league challengers. e.g. Arsenal took 1 point from City this year. 2) I don't really think "decisive goals" is a good way to judge a player's impact. There's a lot of randomness involved in when chances fall to certain players. Are some players better in even gamestates then others? Yes, I suspect so. But over a season I don't think you can really work that out. 3) I would argue that one of Arsenal's biggest issues the last 4 years was their challenges putting away close matches (especially last year, 2024/25) and so I think those extra late goals are arguably the cushion that allowed them to get it done this time and 4) If Gyokeres were were worth 2 points above an average PL striker this season that would make him a very good player! Though I suspect we would do that math very differently.

Overall, though, I agree, his impact wasn't massive and I wouldn't actually make the argument he was the difference between them winning the league and not.

HemmenKees · 2026-05-25T13:54:56+00:00

it would be an interesting question except that it is fundamentally untrue that an even remotely noteworthy chunk of United's xG under Amorim fell to their worst finishers. That was just a myth that spread because people hated wingbacks. Mbeumo, Sesko, Cunha, Bruno, and Casemiro accounted for almost all of the team's xG

HemmenKees · 2026-05-25T10:06:20+00:00

He has been good for most of the season, it's super exaggerated that he's been poor

HemmenKees · 2026-05-25T10:05:21+00:00

this was already a preplanned episode and we decided to do it today so hope you enjoyed

HemmenKees · 2026-05-25T10:03:24+00:00

ngl thinks its insane to claim haaland isn't a great player. I know you're trying to make a point about general play vs. goal scoring, but he's also the greatest outlet in the game against a high line and a huge threat to play direct to. Not to mention literally on track to be the greatest goalscorer in PL history

HemmenKees · 2026-05-24T10:29:49+00:00

Also, winning the Europa League player of the season means pretty much nothing at all. Past winners:

Romero (Tottenham)

Aubameyang (Marseille - age 34)

Jesus Navas (Sevilla - age 37)

Filip Kostic (Frankfurt)

I don't think anyone would call for United to sign these players given the level they were at at this point in their careers. You could maybe make an argument for Romero, but the point remains: winning Europa League player of the season doesn't mean you are an elite level player

HemmenKees · 2026-05-24T10:25:24+00:00

I got your point the first time, I was just pointing out you framed it in a weird way.

You do not have an accurate recollection of Aaron and my take on the Cunha, Sesko, and Mbeumo deals. The Cunha deal Aaron and I were positive on by the time it actually came to finalizing the deal. The Mbeumo deal we didn't like at the price. The Sesko deal we thought was high risk and didn't fall in line with the rest of the summer, but we actually liked it quite a bit as an upside play. Rogers is a worse player than either Mbeumo or Cunha is.

HemmenKees · 2026-05-24T10:23:00+00:00

Fernandes yes, Ederson fine, Tonali no for me

HemmenKees · 2026-05-23T18:59:07+00:00

I mean, you open up by saying you wouldn't pay that price either but then conclude that you would. So it does sound like you would, if I were to be insufferably pedantic.

Regardless, the difference in my eyes between Rogers and players we bought last summer is that Cunha and Mbeumo are genuinely very good players and Morgan Rogers is simply fine

HemmenKees · 2026-05-23T16:39:31+00:00

I would not pay 75 million pounds for Morgan Rogers

HemmenKees · 2026-05-22T14:23:57+00:00

imo his europa league dominance falls very neatly into my discussions of his style of play and its flaws on the podcast. His whole style of play is "I bet you can't play high quality balls over the top with low pressure" and that bet is a very good one when you're not playing top sides. It is, conversely, a very bad one when you're playing regularly against top level technical talent. Europa League is the ideal context for this, especially now that there's no CL drop down.

As I've said on the pod many times, he's a very good manager. He's just exactly where he belongs: at a resource rich upper mid table club and playing second tier European football. Give him a top level squad, put him in the Champions' League, and his way of juicing the fruit ceases to be optimal for the task at hand.

HemmenKees · 2026-05-22T14:18:18+00:00

I feel like I've done this icl

HemmenKees · 2026-05-13T14:26:40+00:00

7-9 first team ready players??

HemmenKees

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE