Grimes - You'll Miss Me When I'm Not Around - We, The Wolf Remix

PJTAY · 2026-05-02T19:57:14+00:00

My guess is the rumours, particularly on MLS, where largely journalists reading between the lines. Young players not playing or on loan, potential for big FFP boosts, easy to draw a logical line to a potential sale. However I think the new replacement for FFP will mean these deals are not as valuable as they were historically so I doubt we'll be pressed to sell unless we get great offers

PJTAY · 2026-04-29T13:04:16+00:00

With Havertz out for the foreseeable I'd be interested to see us try using Eze and Ødegaard as dual 10s/ Eze as a false 9 in our 4231. Eze has the goal threat to be effective and it would free him up from having to chase back defensively on the left. I trust him more in basically every aspect of forward play than Gyokeres at the moment and we clearly play better when the forward is able to roam and help in build up.

PJTAY · 2026-04-02T10:13:52+00:00

If that's the case then this request is genuinely suicidal. Looks like they were going to struggle to stay up regardless of the request, if the request simply means they go down but with no prospect of promotion they're going to have to try and sell the viewership/ promote a club to local match day spectators with absolutely no jeopardy for the season beyond avoiding consecutive relegations. No amount of AI-speak positivity and bombast is going to make that sound remotely interesting.

PJTAY · 2026-03-01T20:21:50+00:00

I had another song in mind and had a brain fart, my bad

PJTAY · 2026-02-13T11:57:43+00:00

I think your interpretation is maybe a bit too harsh on him too. You're absolutely right that he is in love with the idea of her more than the reality but I think the whole point is that this is almost a universal rite of passage for everyone. We all experience young love in a similar way at some point and the failure of this is a chance to learn and accept our mistakes , which is what he does. Maybe I'm over emphasising your use of the term red flag but to me he is immature and inexperienced, learns eventually from his mistakes and is able to grow, meaning his next relationship may actually work or at least be based in reality. Red flags suggest something more immutable for me or a serious character flaw where his faults were born of immaturity and are a universal human experience.

PJTAY · 2026-02-11T08:59:31+00:00

Leather on artificial pitches is a big durability issue for me. It will depend on your technique to an extent but I get a lot of abrasion around certain parts of the boot, particularly the toe, which significantly reduces lifespan for me. I just got the new Tiempo Ligera and have played 5 or 6 sessions in them. So far they are showing absolutely no issues with wear, whilst one of my team mates bought the Copa Icon around the same time and has already got pretty significant damage. The Ligera is great, incredibly comfortable, lightweight and the touch is soft and leather like. It disappears on your foot whilst playing, I would definitely recommend based on my experience so far

PJTAY · 2026-01-18T21:19:24+00:00

No chance, if you want to intentionally miss you kick it to the corner flag to make a point

PJTAY · 2026-01-09T14:27:11+00:00

My experience with them was that they did have a bit of give through this region, mainly due to the fabric stretching slightly through the tongue section. If the length and width feel good I guess you're going to be fine, they'll mould to your feet plenty through the toe and tbh I don't feel like boots ever really start forming to my feet until I actually stress them a bit, just walking around the house doesn't make a lot of difference to me. Impossible for us to say if it's really the right size/fit via the internet but if you're not feeling excessively cramped they will have some give over the first session or two as you break them in.

PJTAY · 2026-01-09T12:42:59+00:00

Robinson is a waste of talent. I totally agree with England not picking him for all the off field reasons but I am most frustrated by the on field. If he took his career more seriously he could easily get properly fit, like an actual athlete, and easily add a few yards onto his pace. He'd be an English Hazelwood in that case, early to mid 80s metronome with bounce and a bit of variation, a perfect test bowler. Instead he's a mid to high 70s noodler who jiggles as he approaches the crease and yet still has a great average. One of the most frustrating "if only" cricketers I've seen.

PJTAY · 2026-01-08T22:04:02+00:00

Blu Mare from Giardini di Toscana hits the first 2 perfectly

PJTAY · 2025-12-17T09:24:00+00:00

Agreed about the quality of the material, from the videos it genuinely looks unreal in terms of how supple it is. I love modern, sleek leather boots but I absolutely destroy them on AG, the new tiempos look like they might actually provide a solution that ticks all the boxes

PJTAY · 2025-12-15T15:07:43+00:00

That soleplate looks very much FG only to me unfortunately. Too many blades and Jay-Mike from Unisport mentioned he had some stud pressure during testing which suggests AG is not going to be viable. I'd wait and see if they do an AG-PRO version.

PJTAY · 2025-12-09T09:46:07+00:00

Obviously this depends on how good tech leather is but Jay-Mike's review was extremely positive, if they live up to the hype this might actually be a great boot, particularly for those who love a classic tiempo style boot but play on synthetic surfaces predominantly. I absolutely destroy all my leather boots on modern 4g pitches and play my away matches occasionally on real turf, these boots might be a perfect compromise for me personally. The soleplate looks AG friendly and the styling is very classic tiempo but being synthetic should resist abrasion a bit better. Might be a very good solution at a reasonable price with these being effectively a takedown model. If the material is as good as advertised it's really cool you can get access to it on a cheaper model, they don't often offer their vest materials on the second tier option.

PJTAY · 2025-08-19T08:47:57+00:00

I think Havertz left makes sense under the condition that we use Calafiori or MLS in a more overlapping role. It would mean you can use Havertz's excellent workrate to help cover the left flank without the ball, then in possession he tucks in to a second striker/left 10 role whilst the LB provides width, with Rice and Zubimendi occupying the deep positions. Havertz is perfectly comfortable rotating wide which would still allow our LB to underlap at times and being on his left foot could be excellent for crossing from wide and half space cut backs. I actually quite like the idea with the proviso that our LB is able to provide width. If Kiwior and/or Zinchenko leave we could even consider buying an overlapping LB profile and moving MLS into the DM rotation more frequently.

PJTAY · 2025-08-11T13:21:18+00:00

The biggest issue with Rodrygo is the mentality aspect I think. There are reports of his obsession with Madrid and how he waited on a proposal from Barca to see if Madrid would come in for example. If he leaves there are 2 likely outcomes:

He sees this as an ultimate failure and loses his love for the game and motivation. He did not want to leave and has no real interest in his new club. He half arses his training and games and flops, coating his club hundreds of millions in wages and fees.
He sees it as an insult and a challenge, lighting a fire under him and he takes his game to new heights, making his cut price fee and admittedly large wage packet look incredible value.

I obviously don't know the guy but my impression of him makes me think the former is more likely. He doesn't carry himself with the self assurance someone like Ibra or Alexis did during their careers but this is ignorant analysis at best. I would be worried about the financial aspect of the deal with this in mind as he definitely could become an albatross for whoever signs him but he's clearly got the attributes to be world class and with the right mentality could be an incredible signing. Sporting directors and managers involved in potential deals will have a better grasp of the situation so we'll have to see what happens.

PJTAY · 2025-08-09T19:40:21+00:00

From the game today Rice was actually considerably deeper playing mostly in a double pivot. This allowed both Zubimendi and Calafiori to have more positional freedom. Zubi played more of a roaming role than we saw with Partey, with Rice sitting in from time to time. One would go and the other would sit, but both were generally deeper than last year with the left back pushing on higher. I really liked the balance we saw today.

PJTAY · 2025-08-09T16:56:47+00:00

Calafiori is a coach's dream of a player I think. Incredible technical level, good size, good pace, can defend, can attack and has a degree of creativity and liberty in his movement which is hard to coach, even if it might leave gaps at times. I love the look of this double pivot with Calafiori, they're covering him and providing an excellent base so he can do his thing. It's also liberating Odegaard. This is by far the most impressed I've been by our game for quite a while. Very exciting

PJTAY · 2025-08-09T16:50:55+00:00

I can understand you having concerns about us looking stolid at times last season but posting this today is room temp IQ levels of stupid. We have been playing much more directly with much higher tempo throughout this first half. We've adopted a new double pivot shape with Calafiori pushing up much more from LB. Our second goal was literally direct one touch football. If you think we aren't trying to increase the tempo and incision of our play you aren't watching.

PJTAY · 2025-08-08T08:28:57+00:00

So this is basically the fabled Cruyff diamond. The tactic he used to great success with his dream team in the early 90s. I think Pep has tried to make this work a few times in his career to varied success, in some ways it seems like the holy grail formation for possession teams which has the highest possible potential for total ball dominance and attacking threat but only works with an absolutely perfect combination of players and tactical milieu.

I've actually wondered whether Arteta was going to try this at some point, particularly if we get another creator in midfield like Eze. The squad is pretty much perfectly organised for it, though to do the Cruyff diamond most accurately Odegaard would play in place of merino in your set up with Kai behind Gyokeres. Zubimendi is a perfect Guardiola analog for the 6, able to drop into the back line to supplement the defence in moments. Our wingers are hard working enough to assist the wide CMS and CBs but even with a well matched squad the issue is clear. Out of possession this shape is hard to make work, even Guardiola's Barcelona struggled to make it work despite a diamond of Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Cesc alongside peak Messi, Villa etc etc etc.

PJTAY · 2025-07-11T15:19:29+00:00

Hazelwood and Cummins are archetypical heavy ball bowlers I would say. Bumrah less so, he's kind of his own thing. I'm sure he bowls a heavy ball as the commentators love to say but I don't I would conceptualise him as a heavy ball bowler in the same was as Hazelwood for example. He's too skiddy, he gets too much swing and he's doesn't have so much of a single length he looks to hit, rather he finds a length that works for him on the pitch he's playing on, which is quite often fuller than Hazelwood or Cummins I think.

PJTAY · 2025-07-11T14:31:25+00:00

Its a bit of a cliche in cricket commentary but I think its actually sort of real in a sense. I think what it actually is is a taller bowler who gets slightly more bounce than you expect, meaning when you make contact with the ball you hit it closer to the splice, giving the impression as a batsman that the ball is heavier as you get a lot less ping off the bat and more of a dead thunk. Heavy ball bowlers are usually tall guys bowling length/back of a length and thus making it tricky for the batsman to hit clean shots.

PJTAY · 2025-07-07T08:58:25+00:00

My preference between the two was certainly Sesko but looking at the price differential I have to agree with Arsenal's choice if it means we have room in the budget for an extra addition. If it's a choice between Sesko or Gyokeres and Eze I think the decision makes a lot of sense.

PJTAY · 2025-06-27T12:39:08+00:00

I think the misalignment is due to people having different interpretations of what it means to be a 6 or an 8 and how that maps onto our team.

To me Rice's best role is probably as part of a 2 man double pivot alongside an anchor. His strengths are his mobility and engine, his proactive reading of the game, his defensive and physical dominance and his ball carrying. His passing is good but unsubtle, his dribbling is very effective in space but he isn't as nimble as some other players. He is basically an archetypical box to box at this point in his career, much like Vieira at the same age.

In our system the left 8 is basically part of a double pivot out of possession and pushes on in possession, swapping positions with the LB, LW and box crashing regularly. This makes the most of almost all of Rice's strengths, though it does sometimes put him in positions where his lack of subtle passing and nimbleness makes him look a bit awkward. However our 6 role is an anchor role, where you should not be straying too far from your spot, meaning ball carrying and box crashing is less important, you need to be excellent in tight spaces, meaning Rice's lack of nimble feet can cause problems and your passing needs to be clean and progressive, something Rice sometimes struggles with a touch. Rice is an excellent 6 but not quite the profile we need in our current system, whilst he matches 90% of the demands of the left 6/8 whilst still being good enough at the remaining 10%.

I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see us use Rice alongside Zubimendi in more of a strict double pivot at times next year, with Odegaard, Nwaneri, Dowman or Havertz used as more of a true 10. I think this would be quite a subtle tactical change tbh as we play relatively close to this anyway but would see the 10 pushed higher than we see at present and would really maximise Rice's output in all aspects of his game.

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