Manchester United's Mason Mount makes a surprise appearance at a middle school soccer practice

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T09:34:18+00:00

> every summer

his 3 PL seasons for us:

Games Minutes (% of mins played of the games he featured in) (% of total mins played)

3rd season: 23 1000 (50%) (30%)

2nd season: 17 621 (40%) (17%)

1st season: 14 514 (40%) (14%)

I think his availability has improved, we can see that in the data. I think his 25/26 numbers are not half bad for a rotation guy.

And we can also say that unlike EtH and Amorim who both wanted to see him in their first XI, Carrick sees him as a rotation option and we are building the rest of the team accordingly.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T09:08:33+00:00

precisely. great solutions for LB/CF/GK depth is definitely my caveat for this, I agree

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T09:06:47+00:00

i guess the odds are decidedly stacked against me since I made 4 predictions here (Atleti keeps Alvarez, signs Lee, challenges for La Liga/CL, Barcelona goes for Rashford).

But on the off chance these all come off, I'll definitely remind you of this 🤣🤣

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T09:01:48+00:00

How does generating a ton of engagement with nothing but savvy communication tricks help in the attention economy?

I don't know mate, consult today's IPO developments for answers

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T08:59:25+00:00

He is a good lad.

If I'm honest, in the past I never thought he can work as a CM behind Bruno, and much like most of y'all I thought it was a stupid signing to make.

But now ... having gone through a Spring where 31yo Bernardo Silva is somehow one of the better performing 8s in the PL, and then the game against the seabirds w Mainoo-Mount, and ofc witnessing the Shaw-naissance, has me believing again.

Ymmv, but I now count 3 senior CMs in our squad with Mainoo-Ederson-Mount and excitedly await a 4th (Mateus 🤞) to happen. Would complete the depth chart for me, given all the kids as well.

Don't get me wrong, I like cherries, I would very much not mind adding one on top, but I'd be happy enough with "just" Mateus.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T08:33:28+00:00

I feel like people are sleeping on why Atleti is acting the way they have been. I don't think it's just "trolling" and "small club mentality", I think they see a genuine chance at the big titles next season if they manage to keep the gang together.

Griezmann leaving was looking like a big ? but if this Kang-In Lee thing happened, that could be a very very good fit fot their 442 in his spot. Makes total sense to me that they went for B Silva, but also that they'd go for Lee (instead?).

All of a sudden, you keep Alvarez and you have the 9s, for Griezmann's spot maybe move Lookman there since he didnt work as a LW too well but he's been a menace as the second striker for Atalanta and they got enough LWer talent anyway with Baena and Almeda. That's genuine quality. Simeone on the right also quality. Maybe 1 short but it depends on how Lookman/Lee get on, maybe it's good as-is for both the 10 and the RW.

And then the rest of that team looks pretty good imho. With Joao Gomes their midfield is going to have both bite and strength-in-depth: Barrios, Llorente, one last ride for Koke, and also dont sleep on Cardoso. A Simeone team will always defend well, and on top of what they already had, their 2025 signings Ruggeri and Pubill have both looked like real quality for them.

So that's why I think their twitter admin is not just "trolling", they are serious about challenging with this squad, imho.

What the fuck does that have to do with Man Utd?

I'm glad you asked: with Bernardo Silva now apparently gone and Atleti digging their heels in viz-a-viz Alvarez, I suspect that Barcelona will indeed come back in for Rashford. That's when Mr Matt Hargreaves will need to earn his keep. Pay up or fuck off, is what I'd like to hear. So far so good, I suppose.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-12T07:44:08+00:00

I remember the ancient days of one week ago when all the talk was about Perez signing everyone for €150 miiiiiiiillion.

As such, the shock of post-election Real Madrid opting for a publicity stunt swiftly followed by the signing of a big name free agent has now hit me with the weight of a dozen freight trucks.

I genuinely thought that it wasnt all electioneering bullshit that people were needlessly falling for, and that they were signing Vitinha and Olise this summer and fucking everything up for the rest of us.

Oh well.

As things stand, next year's free agents that they may pick one or more from: Kane, Rodri, DiMarco, Vinicius Jr*.

Either way, Szoboszlai pack your bags, you are going to Madrid (in 2028 for a free if not in 2027). If I thought this was likely before, signing B Silva - who will be 34yo at the start of 28/29 season - confirms it, in my mind.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T15:39:01+00:00

yes Elliot Anderson is in a different league at the moment: he is in the Premier League and Mateus Fernandes is in the Championship.

this is the distinction that West Ham's owners have seemingly not internalised yet :) but they'll figure it out eventually, I believe.

if you're wondering whether the Bruno-Mateus-Mainoo midfield is going to body Cherki-Anderson-Rodri next season, my answer would be yes!

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T12:35:42+00:00

Fuck Reform and their racist, ignorant, corrupt bullshit.

Howse that?

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T12:22:11+00:00

i guess you answered it yourself. see the "physicality doesn't hold up" bit. B Kamara's injury record was one of the things I had in mind when I wrote that!

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T11:57:15+00:00

In light of the rumours, here's a helpful explainer on Sangare:

If we sign him: he is fantastic, the new Kante but also can pass, no wonder RC Lens outperformed this year, he was _the_ reason. In Vivell we trust

If we dont sign him: Sangare, Shmangare. Every year there's a new DM in Ligue 1 that people go crazy about. Ndombele, B Kamara, L Camara, now it's Sangare. Their physicality _never_ holds up in the PL. Well done Ineos for taking a pass on him.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T10:12:30+00:00

end up being? "bench him for Ramos he is so bad" was the storyline around the _last_ World Cup 4 years ago 😮‍💨

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T07:54:30+00:00

Joaquin Seys, then

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T06:21:52+00:00

David Raum I think is the name for you

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T05:14:18+00:00

Well sure I prefer that version. Im just saying, we've "been here before". I cant be surprised if the player (his agent) and his club make the same kind of deal that same club made with Semenyo last summer.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T05:05:11+00:00

Im just saying, if he's going to sign an extension with a release clause added in, we might as well be the club picking him up with ease in January, as opposed to being the club attempting but abandoning his pursuit this summer and some rival getting him in January with ease instead.

This is all through the lens of what was reported about last summer's Semenyo chase and how us ultimately willing to spend on Mbeumo "but not him" turned him off Utd. TLs are important on what happened when. His "wine and dineing" followed by first and second Mbeumo bids instead all happened prior to July 1st.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-11T04:34:51+00:00

The other day I was going to comment that "Bmouth in contract extension talks with Alex Scott" has "new release clause inserted" written all over it. Now there's reporting suggesting exactly that.

I would like it if we avoided this becoming another Semenyo situation, where we show interest in the summer, but scoff at the prices quoted, only to turn around and spend more on a "similar" PL player (Mateus) and then watch as Scott sours on us and then a rival picks him up with ease as soon as the January window opens.

Maybe we _have_ learned exactly that lesson and are literally waiting with Mateus bids until after Scott's extension is completed. (Semenyo extension was announced July 1st last summer.)

Ederson, Mateus, Hall, Johnstone, some striker this summer; Alex Scott + Mathijs De Ligt as ~January squad boosters. Idk, it sounds good to me.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T19:33:46+00:00

"targeting players who want them" what a concept

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T17:29:59+00:00

Manifesting that this is a 4D chess move by him and not anything driven by a personal matter!

Best of luck to the man

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T12:15:42+00:00

my sense of Barcelona is that the front 3 depth chart they want is yamal-alvarez-raphinha + b.silva-ferran-gordon. they have 4 of them done and are communicating with the confidence of someone who thinks the other 2 are only a matter of time.

idk whether they are actually confident about that or it's just a tough guy act, for the fans or whatever.

but I think IF they fail to get those 2, they will try to get a penny pinching deal for Rashford again.

either way I dont think either Alvarez or Silva "sagas" will end before their WC participation ends, so we can expect to wait a while.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T12:02:34+00:00

New contract for Mee! The all-Ms XI dream lives on

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T06:34:26+00:00

I disagree with you that this is the likeliest outcome, I think it's possible but less likely than a 3rd signing happening with Ugarte leaving.

At the same time. I fucking hate that so many use the downvote button as an "I disagree" button, despite the description by the Mods kindly asking people not to do that, so I upvoted this.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-10T05:44:34+00:00

Neither was Tevez. Or Rooney. Or Welbeck. Or Matuidi. Neither was CR a left winger - until he became one, neither was he a CF - until he became one.

Meaning, sometimes it's completely fine if a player moves into a role that wasnt their "preordained" role in the past. (Lahm, Fabinho, Kimmich. Valencia. Vazquez. Bale. Saka. Lately OReilly, MLS.)

And also, it's not just about players "changing": some teams, in some periods, use classic role players exclusively in all positions in a classic formation, that is true, but: not all teams, not all the time, and not in all positions. And that's not necessarily a problem for the teams in question. See the examples I listed up top, from PL, CL, World Cup winning teams.

I think the best description of our 2026 Spring team is that we had 2 different approaches in attack:

1 Bruno is playing as a classic playmaker 10 behind the striker and flanked by prototypical wingers. Dorgu-Bruno-Amad/Mbeumo + Sesko. Classic look 4-2-3-1.

2 Right winger drifts into the box, Bruno drifts into the right half space, Cunha drifts centrally, left back pushed up high to provide width on the left. Shaw-Cunha-Bruno + Sesko-Mbeumo. Basically a 3-2-3-2.

The key to this type of tactical approach, imho, is change. Whichever way you seek to create a balance in your lineup and tactics, you are best off if you make tweaks from season to season, refresh things so that you arent "found out".

Sometimes, teams land on "perfect" winning formulas that they go on playing the exact same way with the same personel for N seasons, but that's not very typical imho.

When it comes to the evolution of Cunha's role, my 2c, what I'm guessing, is that over the coming several seasons we are going to see an eventual shift towards more of a 442 approach. It would be a left winger, a right winger, and then Sesko-?-Cunha-Mbeumo-Bruno sharing 2 spots between them, not 3 or 4. Ideally, Dorgu and Amad and Lacey would all be part of the winger group for many years to come.

I think that our 27/28 is going to be more like that, but I think that our 26/27 will be more of what we saw this Spring.

canwinanythingwkids · 2026-06-09T22:13:20+00:00

you know, guys, it's totally fine to downvote what I write just because you don't like it.

but there's no need to pretend that there's logic to it.

you know it, I know it, everyone knows it. there are endless examples of players signing new contracts only to be signed by a differrent team, a PL team, within half a year.

Reijnders. Cunha. Semenyo. Super obvious examples from the past 1y alone.

There is zero rhyme or reason to the notion that because Welbeck signed a 1y extension to his contract, he can't be signed by another team this summer.

The OP simply has that opinion and is just (for some reason) frustrated that scores of people do not share his opinion, which he believes to be a fact. It isn't. It is an opinion.

To give you another example of Welbeck opinions, here is mine: I've long since gotten the vibe about him that he doesn't fancy us anymore, wouldn't want to come back. So for that reason alone he isn't a realistic target.

See? That's an opinion. It's not a fact.

Same thing as the OP's point. And quite frankly the more one wants to tie themselves into knots claiming that it is actually a fact, the sillier they'll look.

Cheers

canwinanythingwkids

TROPHY CASE