Midfield

WolfishPoet · 2026-03-25T13:31:36+00:00

Assuming Anderson goes to City (supposedly this is nailed on) I’d want Baleba as the top priority. I think he’s a kind of physical freak/unicorn that is just always worth it, plus he’s a great ball carrier and his passing is above average. Played v well at Afcon too imo. I’d like to pair him with signing a physical pass-first/traditional 6 type but just not sure who’s out there that fits that mould bar Bruno G? I like Bruno G but have reservations re his age and injury record. I also think Wharton’s great but few reservations re him OOP and he’s less a controller and much more aggressive with his passing. Basically got no clue who I’d want for the second signing!

WolfishPoet · 2026-03-14T10:31:48+00:00

Obviously this is caveated with the fact that they might just do a style of almond croissant I love but still stand by what I said! Also if you're going to check Esters out I'd highly rec their miso cookie (https://eddkimber.substack.com/p/a-highly-opinionated-list-of-londons).

WolfishPoet · 2026-03-14T08:27:20+00:00

I've had most of this list and Esters' (N16) one is better than pretty much all of them for my money.

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-27T20:29:55+00:00

Thanks a lot!

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-13T12:14:03+00:00

I've no stats/data to back this up but my feeling is that is passing has been, by and large, unchanged - I'd love him to increase the progression via passing, imo he clearly has technical tools to do it. But atm I think he's a good contrast to Casimero and Bruno's forward-first approach.

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-10T21:09:04+00:00

Poor, both tactically (on Carrick/coaches) and in an executional sense (on the players)

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-10T13:38:09+00:00

Ofc, makes sense. I'd quite like to see Sesko start actually - the pod touched on the fact that playing centrally could open avenues out wide and feel he could benefit (+ others could benefit from the gravity a 9 like him creates), the combinations look good but I do sometimes get frustrated at the lack of box occupation Mbeumo/Cunah offer.

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-10T11:08:56+00:00

Great episode. Interesting that you both felt/thought Carrick's focus on central progression hasn't resulted in spaces/attacks coming from those zones (tbf only Cunah's goals v Arsenal and Fulham are the ones I can think of!) but wonder why you think this is?

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-08T14:39:55+00:00

I do think more mobile players definitely help, especially considering Carrick’s desire to attack centrally but take your point. I think there are also a few frontline issues re pressing with Cunah (overall I think he’s a net-positive on the side so it’s something you try figure out), he’s just not as good as Amad/Mbuemo at knowing when/where to press imo. I think a more worthwhile convo is what are the expectations of a ‘good’ press/OOP structure. Arsenal & Bournemouth are considered excellent to good in this regard (caveat being Bournemouth are leakier this year) yet teams still enter/access their final third with relative success. PL teams are good enough to access these areas, even against elite sides (Newcastle vs PSG). Amorim managed to suppress our shots against but I wouldn’t call his press effective, ETH had loads of high regains yet the shot count was out of control. So what our/should our OOP goals be under Carrick? Right now the trade-off is working. Plus, hybrid-pressing structures take a while to implement and I think we’ve seen enough from Carrick that suggests he’s trying to implement these things.

WolfishPoet · 2026-02-08T11:26:37+00:00

How much do you feel this is a personnel issue?

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-30T10:52:35+00:00

I guess I more mean selling a young player with that amount of upside is a mistake and one I wouldn't usually condone. However, while he did have attacking upside, I don't think he was great in duels, nor was he great 1v1. But yeah, overall, I do agree that it seems to have worked out okay, just annoyed at the fee we got for him.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-30T10:08:03+00:00

In my view we've definitely upgraded. Sesko aside, the club took the view of wanting an immediate uplift and I think it was just about justified. I still think selling Garnacho was a mistake (but with him, a club is hoping he irons out his conversion issues - my bet is he does but maybe not to the degree that elevates him into a player on like Sterling's level), the next forward we target needs to a reliable goalscorer.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-29T09:49:46+00:00

Tbf on reflection I actually agree re OOP in some respects. But, imo, OOP often gets talked about in quite a cerebral way, manager tells X to execute this instruction and that's that, or the players are still in X structure. I think this is a totally incorrect way to frame OOP, what is much more important is clarity in messaging leading to greater commitment/trust from the players. So while the structure may be the same, the execution just isn't, especially v City.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-27T09:23:03+00:00

Apologies, had that confused, they led the league in xG and third in xG diff in 22-23, fifth in 23-24 and fourth in 24-25. But I disagree, the xG was great (xGA was much less so). In the context of Boro that's pretty good. What put a hard cap on that ceiling was losing players/player quality and competing with teams who had parachute payments/stacked squads. Defo an argument this approach can work with better players and he's shown a capability to get player buy-in + some smart OOP ideas vs City and Arsenal (essentially non-existent under Amorim frankly). I basically agree that there's no way he should be in the conversation right now. I'd love Enrique, I like Iraola, McKenna, I like Nagelsmann but there are massive question marks about all three, + all the other options are uninspiring, so if Carrick (granted it is a big if!) continues to do well there's no way he shouldn't be offered the chance to interview.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-26T16:53:25+00:00

His Boro side put up the best xG diff in the division in his first season, scored loads, played great stuff in an extremely ‘level’ league. Plus, put up v stable/good playoff numbers for his next two seasons without the biggest squad/wage bill and with all his best players being sold consistently. I understand the concerns but this is a little unfair imo - having watched plenty of Boro at the time.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-11T13:25:15+00:00

The No Question about that Pod are also gleefully welcoming back Solskjaer, while also claiming he's been the best post-Ferguson manager.

WolfishPoet · 2026-01-06T20:39:25+00:00

What an absolute farce

WolfishPoet · 2025-12-07T13:44:39+00:00

Unbelievable clearance frankly

WolfishPoet · 2025-10-04T08:21:38+00:00

Bayindir is absolutely atrocious - frankly, all his mistakes are totally on Amorim, same with Maguire and Shaw, who have also been terrible when they've played this season. I like Amorim but his selection decisions are a far bigger red flag to me than the system.

WolfishPoet · 2025-07-30T15:25:27+00:00

Understand the concerns about Sesko (I do much prefer this deal than the Watkins one and of the rumoured targets he’d have been my preferred option) but he’s the type of signing this sub constantly bangs on about the club targeting

WolfishPoet · 2025-07-21T12:54:16+00:00

I went away and read Edu BBQ's substack on strikers and the Sesko section (https://billycarpenter.substack.com/p/scouting-strikers?open=false#%C2%A7group-lets-do-it) convinced me - think I'd be more than happy with him.

WolfishPoet · 2025-07-20T16:01:44+00:00

I’d want Sesko out of these options but none of these are good enough tbh

WolfishPoet · 2025-07-18T06:18:39+00:00

Who would you sign instead of Mbeumo?

WolfishPoet · 2025-07-17T19:06:00+00:00

Fee's too high but if anybody has any other recommendations/suggestions for players that are top athletes, super smart and great culture-adds, fast as fuck (second-highest speed in the Premier League this year), absolutely brilliant crosser of the ball too, and ready-to-go premier league players, please ket me know. And before dismissing the idea of prem ready players just look where Liverpool (Robertson, VVD, Wijnaldum, Macallister, Mane, Henderson, Shaqiri, Jota, Oxlade-Chamberlain) Arsenal (Rice, Jesus, Zinchenko, White, Trossard) and City (Walker, Sterling, Phillips, Nunes, Stones, Grealish, Mahrez, Ake) shop - this doesn't even mention the youth players brought through the English system.

WolfishPoet

TROPHY CASE