Whenever someone tells me that the free market is perfect, I remember that Garth Crooks is still employed.
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Heâs actually very similar to American sports analysts - in that he gives his âexpertâ opinion but the more he says the more clear it is that he doesnât actually watch any of the things he is giving his opinion about.
Literally everything he thinks and says about football can be gleaned from watching Match of the Day.
Eg. Anyone who watched Forest this last week will know that Matt Turner was a disaster who nearly lost them both games with his irratic play. Crooks doesnât know that because he didnât watch the games.
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I watched the Utd game, and although Turner made a great save towards the end of the match, he was a bag of nerves all through the game, and it was only Utd being a shambles that prevent him being punished more than he was.
Dubravka, being the difference between his team conceding four or conceding ten, would have been a fair shout.
Itâs absolutely wild that Crooks makes him keeper in his team of the week. He is a classic example of someone actually prospering by being shit at his job, as people actively check in to see what rubbish he has come up with now and the Beeb get the clicks.
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Bizarre that Dubravka didnât rate notice. Highest xG ever, kept his side in a match until late facing 34 shots (15 on target). Most keepers would be shellshocked after a first half like that.
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Dubravka was a decent keeper when he arrived at Newcastle.
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I take Garth Crooks with a pinch of salt and laugh.
He seems earnest, and faux intellectual, and I vaguely remember him on the Telly from years ago on different programmes to sport. Might be off base with that memory though.
Heâs a bag of wind.
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I think Rafa brought him into Newcastle?
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Ah, the mean streets of Greenwich, Connecticut.
Why are we idle on weekend after FA Cup?
Seems our next PL match is Bournemouth on 21st?
Is this correct
jeez we have another 12.30 kickoff to come?? (17th Feb)
11 days between Fulham first leg and Bournemouth.
Itâs the famous PL winter break.
But if there is a replay in the FA Cup it will be played in between those matches.
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So apparently Forest may have done something improper over loaning Shelvey rather than cancelling his contractâŚ
But also, âthe club are at risk of a potential points deduction if they are found to have breached the Premier Leagueâs profitability and sustainability rules. Forest will be informed later this month if any charges are to be brought against them.â
So I can just see how cheaty are playing this - every other club can be found guilty and punished while they are just allowed to obfuscate and delay so Pep can use their cheating to âwinâ lots of âtittlesâ.
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Pep calls them âtittlesâ not âtitlesâ. Cos I hate the fucker I pick on it - something I never did (for instance) with Emery.
Top contributors to AFC and AFCON
Nottingham Forest - 6
Ola Aina (Defender, Nigeria)
Serge Aurier (Defender, Ivory Coast)
Willy Boly (Defender, Ivory Coast)
Cheikhou Kouyate (Midfielder, Senegal)
Moussa Niakhate (Defender, Senegal)
Ibrahim Sangare (Midfielder, Ivory Coast)
Brentford - 4
Saman Ghoddos (Midfielder, Iran)
Kim Ji-soo (Defender, South Korea)
Frank Onyeka (Midfielder, Nigeria)
Yoane Wissa (Forward, DR Congo)
Wolves - 4
Hwang Hee-chan (Midfielder, South Korea)
Justin Hubner (Defender, Indonesia)
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Defender, Algeria)
Boubacar Traore (Midfielder, Mali)
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Team of the Half Season
I have a formula I built assessing overall performance of players in individual positions with an intention of boiling the performance down to one number - inspired by the baseball WAR statistic.
This was last seasonâs TotY according to my model. As you can see it seems generally correct - itâs a pretty solid Team of the Year. Players must have featured in a minimum of 66% of available minutes. I do find that Haaland in particular is undervalued in this model because it is assessing total player quality and he is a very limited player in his all around game - which his goals do not cancel out completely. In fact Man City players in general seem to be undervalued, probably due to playing style.
I do not separate CFs and WFs - they are all just FWs.
Also a FB is just a FB - I donât discriminate on side.
22/23 Team of the Year
GK: Pope - Newcastle
FB: Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool
CB: Schar - Newcastle
CB: van Dijk - Liverpool
FB: Trippier - Newcastle
CM: Gundogan - Man City
AM: Odegaard - Arsenal
AM: Fernandes - Man Utd
FW: Saka - Arsenal
FW: March - Brighton
FW: Mitoma - Brighton
22/23 Anti-Team of the Year
GK: Bazunu - Southampton
FB: Semedo - Leicester
CB: Konsa - Aston Villa
CB: Kehrer - West Ham
FB: Smith - Bournemouth
CM: Lavia - Southampton
AM: Buendia - Aston Villa
AM: Havertz - Chelsea
FW: Aaronson - Leeds
FW: Ayew - Crystal Palace
FW: Solanke - Bournemouth
And so⌠without further ado - the 2023/2024 Half Season Team and Anti-Team of the year.
Team of the Half-Season
GK: Alisson - Liverpool
FB: Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool
CB: Romero - Tottenham
CB: van Dijk - Liverpool
FB: Trippier - Newcastle
CM: Rodri - Man City
AM: Gross - Brighton
AM: Maddison - Tottenham
FW: Salah - Liverpool
FW: Son - Tottenham
FW: Mitoma - Brighton
Anti-Team of the Half-Season
GK: Foderingham - Sheff Utd
FB: Thomas - Sheff Utd
CB: Trusty - Sheff Utd
CB: Al-Dakhil - Burnley
FB: Kerkez - Bournemouth
CM: Yates - Nottingham Forest
AM: Havertz - Arsenal
AM: Christie - Bournemouth
FW: Foster â Burnley
FW: Morris - Luton
FW: Hojlund - Man Utd
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Interesting that Lavia got into the Anti team last year given I know how much you rate him, at least part of which was based on stats. What is to be taken from that?
High bar for entry (had to play in 66% of league minutes) and despite being the overall worst he is pretty rounded in the categories I go by. Heâs also three years younger than the next qualifying player - I rate him so highly because of his raw skill and the fact he doesnât have a glaring weakness. Plus (@cynicaloldgit loves this one) he is very press-resistant which leads him to be excellent at ball retention.
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