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Jack Grealish

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I will take your word for that but it still doesn't really change my point.

Fernandes has 13 in 21 in the Premier League, 18 in 33 overall. Fantastic record.

Without penalties however it reads 7 in 21(PL), 7 in 33 overall. Much less impressive but still not bad for an attacking midfielder in a new league/team. The top attacking players might get around 15-20% of their goals from penalties, for Fernandes however it's a whopping 61% - a slight difference.
And he might have had more assists if those chances he made were converted into goals and not penalties?

So many ifs and buts it's ridiculous. Grealish doesn't even play in the middle he plays LW anyway, they could happily play together. It's whether you'd drop Rashford, not Bruno :houllier:
 

Devil may care

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I still don't see how we'd fit him in, basically City are the only team that play with two attacking #8's and a holder, and even Pep isn't doing it as much now that Fernandinho is getting on and he isn't a 100% confident Rodri can roll solo. Given the money he'd cost he has to start and the only way I see that is if Bruno is dropped or Rashford is moved to RW as he'll never be dropped.
 

Idxomer

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Grealish is a completely different player to Bruno, if you want to compare him to a United player it should be either Rashford or Pogba.
 

Lewnited

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I still don't see how we'd fit him in, basically City are the only team that play with two attacking #8's and a holder, and even Pep isn't doing it as much now that Fernandinho is getting on and he isn't a 100% confident Rodri can roll solo. Given the money he'd cost he has to start and the only way I see that is if Bruno is dropped or Rashford is moved to RW as he'll never be dropped.
Yeah this is my take as well, I really like him as a player but he doesn't fit anywhere in our starting 11. He's being talked about as a Pogba replacement, but the role Pogba's been asked to play isn't a role that Grealish plays.
The depth would be great but spending £80+ on a player that may or may not start would be pretty stupid.
 

andersj

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City didn’t spend 80m on KDB and United didn’t spend 80m on Bruno either, so why would a team needs to spend 80m-100m on Grealish?

There is no guarantee that every player has potential to grow in a better team. That 80m-100m for an attacker is a money that should be spent on someone who can produce 30 goals per season contribution, otherwise there is a valid reason why his value should be less than 80m like how clubs paid on KDB & Bruno.
Man City did spend £58 mill on KdB in 2015. Not sure what that equals in todays market. Man Utds revenue has since then grown with approximately 50 %. So probably somewhere between £80-100 mill.

My point is that yard sticks like that is off very little use. To say that a player is not worth £80 mill because he has not produced 30 goal involvements for two seasons does not make much sense. Certainly not when they player is playing for a team like Villa. Or saying that he should not cost £80 mill since Bruno cost £50 mill. I remember people using a similar logic when Liverpool bought van Dijk for £80 mill comparing his price to other defenders. Arguing over what he had achieved so far. Sometimes, the right player can be the one who takes you to the next level. How do you measure the value of that?

If Grealish produced 30 goal involvements for Man Utd, what offer would it take for us to sell him? I would argue that it would probably take a lot more than £100 mill. Especially considering what he offers in addition to the goal involvements.
 

Idxomer

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If we were pre-covid, he would be worth as much as Coutinho cost.

Now, I don't know but probably something nearing 100m.
 
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FootballHQ

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You could easily play Grealish and Bruno in same team, we've got Barkley as number 10 and we've got the balance just about right (although we always struggle v manic press teams like Leeds and Southampton).

Would mean Rashford going to the bench or giving him another go centrally and moving Martial to the bench.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Man City did spend £58 mill on KdB in 2015. Not sure what that equals in todays market. Man Utds revenue has since then grown with approximately 50 %. So probably somewhere between £80-100 mill.

My point is that yard sticks like that is off very little use. To say that a player is not worth £80 mill because he has not produced 30 goal involvements for two seasons does not make much sense. Certainly not when they player is playing for a team like Villa. Or saying that he should not cost £80 mill since Bruno cost £50 mill. I remember people using a similar logic when Liverpool bought van Dijk for £80 mill comparing his price to other defenders. Arguing over what he had achieved so far. Sometimes, the right player can be the one who takes you to the next level. How do you measure the value of that?

If Grealish produced 30 goal involvements for Man Utd, what offer would it take for us to sell him? I would argue that it would probably take a lot more than £100 mill. Especially considering what he offers in addition to the goal involvements.
Again, did you not read my original post? You can't compare centre back like Van Dijk or even Maguire with attackers. Centre back have their own value because unlike attackers, there are limits for top centre back out there.

Attackers is about the goals involvement, number matters. KDB produced 10 league goals & 20 assists with Wolfsburg in 14/15. That's 30 goals involvement. KDB showed it in Wolfsburg, Bruno showed it in Sporting. Grealish has never show it whether he played in Championship or EPL.

Club can't just ask ridiculous money for attackers that doesn't produce enough number. There are attackers out there produced similar or even more numbers than what Grealish did and some of them are younger than Grealish. Grealish is in his 25 already, that's the age of attacker that start playing in their full potential means there is a good chance that he won't develop much further than what he is doing right now.

There should be some reasons from the asking price. And right now, I can't think a good reason why he should cost 80m-100m. The Aston Villa poster is using Felix & Maguire as example which doesn't make any sense how those two's cases are comparable to Grealish. One is 19 years old produced more numbers, the other one is centre back which have different value to attackers. And Grealish isn't a centre back, he's 25 years old attackers.
 
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Oranges038

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I find it hilarious that people argue over stats for assists, goals scored, penalties xg, xga and whatever else and but try to discount goals because of penalties. It is a bullshit argument. Sure why stop there why not discount free kicks or assists from free kicks and corners.

On Bruno you see. But if he didn't score penalties he'd only have 7 goals. If Utd players weren't fouled he wouldn't have got the penalties to take. If Utd weren't creating chances in attacking areas this wouldn't happen whether he's involved in the build up or not.

Sure, if David Beckham didn't take corners and free kicks he'd have less goals and assists. If Alan Shearer didn't take penalties he'd only have 206 premier league goals.

The fact is he is doing what he was brought to the club to do. Create and score goals, I couldn't care less if he scored 25 penalties a season and got another 25 assists from corners that's still 50 goals he was involved in. Simply put, to get those corners and penalties they must be doing something right in the attacking areas of the pitch.

Now Grealish, all you have to do is watch him to know he's a really good player.
His record in the PL is good for Villa without a doubt. 77 games, 13 goals and 12 assists according to the premier league website, his pass accuracy is up on 80%. Directly Involved in approx 50% of their goals last season. Last season and this season are the bulk of those goals and assusts stats. He's had 1 really good season and is looking likely to have an excellent season this year if he keeps going the way he his.

If he could be guaranteed to replicate his numbers for Villa without a doubt and be involved in a team that expects to score 70/80 odd goals a season and be involved in half of them, then yes he would be a good signing.
 

andersj

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That's 30 goals involvement. KDB showed it in Wolfsburg, Bruno showed it in Sporting.
For more dominant teams in weaker league. Something that easily could contribute to inflate their numbers compared to Grealish. Anyway, I dont think there is many comparable cases to Grealish, but it looks like he will get quite a few goals and assists this year. Furthermore his involvement in buildup, and specially his press resistance, would be of huge value to us.
 

RedSky

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You could easily play Grealish and Bruno in same team, we've got Barkley as number 10 and we've got the balance just about right (although we always struggle v manic press teams like Leeds and Southampton).

Would mean Rashford going to the bench or giving him another go centrally and moving Martial to the bench.
Aye, I imagine that was the plan. Rashford and Grealish dueling it out for the LW spot, with Rashford and Martial also dueling it out for CF position. We could even have tried playing Rashford at RW. Don't think anyone could have predicted he'd have such a good start to this season, he's already got the same amount of assists this season than he did all of last season.

I also think his leadership skills is yet another reason why we were interested in him.
 

Hellboy

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He's the best attacking midfielder in the prem, not saying they can't play together but I would have him over Bruno at CAM.

Bruno-Fred
Grealish
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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For more dominant teams in weaker league. Something that easily could contribute to inflate their numbers compared to Grealish. Anyway, I dont think there is many comparable cases to Grealish, but it looks like he will get quite a few goals and assists this year. Furthermore his involvement in buildup, and specially his press resistance, would be of huge value to us.
Are you telling me Aston Villa has no players to be dominant enough in weaker league like Championship? Mings, Tuanzebe, Abraham, McGinn & Grealish himself, these are players who are good enough for PL level. Abraham had 25 league goals when he was on loan with Villa, so you can't give me excuse why Grealish can't reach similar number when he had good players around him in Championship.

Let me give you some fact, the 14/15 season when KDB had 10 league goals & 20 assists, Wolfsburg finished 2nd. When he left in 15/16, Wolfsburg finished 8th and then next following season finished 16th. That shows you Wolfsburg other players weren't that good to be called "dominants'', KDB made them better.

For an attackers, asking price/value has to be based on two things. Numbers and potential. He's 25 means his potential isn't valuable as those 19-23 years old attackers like Felix or Sterling was. His number isn't high enough. Aston Villa is asking ridiculous amount that is unfair for attackers market, and if the fans & the player himself think it's fair then they are totally wrong because it means they are sealing him away from leaving like what Palace did on Zaha or Napoli did on Koulibaly. None will pay price that has zero sense.
 
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GledTheRed

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The unusual (yes unusual) high number of penalties Utd got last season skews everything. Utd finishing in top four even though quite clearly, as seen, they are far from a top four team. Ole seen as a useful, if not decent, manager thus keeping his job for longer than he should. And, of course, Bruno's contributions. He's a very good player I'll give you that but his stats need a heavy dose of context other than 'you need someone to score them'.

Disclaimer: I'm not complaining about any of the above. Long may it continue. 5 year deals for Ole and Pogba continuation hopefully. :)
Table doesn't lie.
 

FootballHQ

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Are you telling me Aston Villa has no players to be dominant enough in weaker league like Championship? Mings, Tuanzebe, Abraham, McGinn & Grealish himself, these are players who are good enough for PL level. Abraham had 25 league goals when he was on loan with Villa, so you can't give me excuse why Grealish can't reach similar number when he had good players around him in Championship.

Let me give you some fact, the 14/15 season when KDB had 10 league goals & 20 assists, Wolfsburg finished 2nd. When he left in 15/16, Wolfsburg finished 8th and then next following season finished 16th. That shows you Wolfsburg other players weren't that good to be called "dominants'', KDB made them better.

For an attackers, asking price/value has to be based on two things. Numbers and potential. He's 25 means his potential isn't valuable as those 19-23 years old attackers like Felix or Sterling was. His number isn't high enough.
He was brilliant for us in the championship promotion season even if stats seemingly didn't show it. Start of 18/19 he thought he was going to Spurs and it was all but done before thankfully new owners decided to keep him for one more year so it took him a few weeks to get his head around, add in last few weeks of Steve Bruce.

Dean Smith comes in and he starts dictating games again. He then picked up an injury from early December and didn't come back until March 2nd v Derby. In that time we only won two games despite having Mings, McGinn and Abraham all out on the pitch. Come back and we go on 10 match winning run to make play offs.

I imagine that season Conor Hourihane had good stats in terms of goals and assists but anyone can see there's a vast gulf in ability between him and Grealish even at championship level.

We obviously don't want to sell so of course we're going to put massive price on him. No different to Palace with Zaha although I suspect they'll finally sell next season with Eze establishing himself and Wolves with Adama who's been a bit more quiet this season, Neves too.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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He was brilliant for us in the championship promotion season even if stats seemingly didn't show it. Start of 18/19 he thought he was going to Spurs and it was all but done before thankfully new owners decided to keep him for one more year so it took him a few weeks to get his head around, add in last few weeks of Steve Bruce.

Dean Smith comes in and he starts dictating games again. He then picked up an injury from early December and didn't come back until March 2nd v Derby. In that time we only won two games despite having Mings, McGinn and Abraham all out on the pitch. Come back and we go on 10 match winning run to make play offs.

I imagine that season Conor Hourihane had good stats in terms of goals and assists but anyone can see there's a vast gulf in ability between him and Grealish even at championship level.

We obviously don't want to sell so of course we're going to put massive price on him. No different to Palace with Zaha although I suspect they'll finally sell next season with Eze establishing himself and Wolves with Adama who's been a bit more quiet this season, Neves too.
This is not about whether he’s good player or no, it’s about transfer market value.

The valuation of the transfer market for attackers or attacking midfielders should be based on his end product number and his potential. Player can be the greatest dribbler in the country like Zaha or Grealish but end product matter the most in transfer valuation for attackers/attacking mid. In term of potential, he doesn’t have lot of years to develop like Sterling was at Liverpool or Felix.

You don’t want to sell isn’t the point. The point is whether there is a club that will pay 80m-100m like how Atl Madrid paid on Felix or Ciy on Sterling or KDB.

No one will pay 80m-100m on Grealish because he hasn’t prove himself to be worth the same value as those attackers that were sold for the same value. KDB hit 10 league goals & 20 assists in Wolfsburg 14/15 something Grealish couldn’t get anywhere near while 19 years old Sterling & Felix had the same or more end product as 23 and 24 years old Grealish which reflect to the player’s potential’s valuation.
 

Raven

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If Pogba's off at the end of the season, we really have to go all in on Grealish. Magnificent player.
 

FootballHQ

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This is not about whether he’s good player or no, it’s about transfer market value.

The valuation of the transfer market for attackers or attacking midfielders should be based on his end product number and his potential. Player can be the greatest dribbler in the country like Zaha or Grealish but end product matter the most in transfer valuation for attackers/attacking mid. In term of potential, he doesn’t have lot of years to develop like Sterling was at Liverpool or Felix.

You don’t want to sell isn’t the point. The point is whether there is a club that will pay 80m-100m like how Atl Madrid paid on Felix or Ciy on Sterling or KDB.

No one will pay 80m-100m on Grealish because he hasn’t prove himself to be worth the same value as those attackers that were sold for the same value. KDB hit 10 league goals & 20 assists in Wolfsburg 14/15 something Grealish couldn’t get anywhere near while 19 years old Sterling & Felix had the same or more end product as 23 and 24 years old Grealish which reflect to the player’s potential’s valuation.
Fair enough, you're arguing in a logical way regarding the fees.

Making it sound like we should be honoured to sell Grealish for 50-60m to Man. United or something though. :lol: Can't say I'm having sleepless nights about watching him play pivitol role in us continuing moving up the league table over next 18 months.

Man. United would be a better team with him in it, think that's what most of the forum is arguing.
 

JohnnyLaw

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I still don't see how we'd fit him in, basically City are the only team that play with two attacking #8's and a holder, and even Pep isn't doing it as much now that Fernandinho is getting on and he isn't a 100% confident Rodri can roll solo. Given the money he'd cost he has to start and the only way I see that is if Bruno is dropped or Rashford is moved to RW as he'll never be dropped.
Not ideal, but how would you feel about any of these sides?

Grealish - Rashford - Greenwood​

Telles - Fred - Bruno - AWB

Shaw - Maguire - Lindelöf​

Or

Rashford - Martial
Grealish - Bruno
Mctominay - Fred
Telles - Maguire - Lindelöf - AWB​

Or

Martial
Bruno
Grealish - Fred - Mctominay - Rashford
Telles - Maguire - Lindelöf - AWB​
 

Dante

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The unusual (yes unusual) high number of penalties Utd got last season skews everything. Utd finishing in top four even though quite clearly, as seen, they are far from a top four team. Ole seen as a useful, if not decent, manager thus keeping his job for longer than he should. And, of course, Bruno's contributions. He's a very good player I'll give you that but his stats need a heavy dose of context other than 'you need someone to score them'.

Disclaimer: I'm not complaining about any of the above. Long may it continue. 5 year deals for Ole and Pogba continuation hopefully. :)
We also had an unusual (yes unusual) low number of tap-ins in the box.

United's attackers are all dribblers who carry the ball forward and draw fouls in the penalty area. What they're not is fox-in-the-box types who find an extra yard of space to finish easy chances away from their markers.

United's propensity to get penalties is proportional to our number of dribblers in the front 3, and inversely proportional to our lack clever movement to find space. It only looks unusual because we're so heavily loaded a specific kind of player.

If we had 3 giants up front, we'd have an unusual number of headed goals instead. No conspiracy, just a reflection of the team's strategy.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Fair enough, you're arguing in a logical way regarding the fees.

Making it sound like we should be honoured to sell Grealish for 50-60m to Man. United or something though. :lol: Can't say I'm having sleepless nights about watching him play pivitol role in us continuing moving up the league table over next 18 months.

Man. United would be a better team with him in it, think that's what most of the forum is arguing.
I’m arguing the fact that you think just because Atl Madrid was willing to pay 100m on Felix means clubs should also pay 80m-100m on Grealish. At his age, Grealish needs to produce about something closed to 30 league goals & assist per season to be in the same case.
 

Dumbstar

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We also had an unusual (yes unusual) low number of tap-ins in the box.

United's attackers are all dribblers who carry the ball forward and draw fouls in the penalty area. What they're not is fox-in-the-box types who find an extra yard of space to finish easy chances away from their markers.

United's propensity to get penalties is proportional to our number of dribblers in the front 3, and inversely proportional to our lack clever movement to find space. It only looks unusual because we're so heavily loaded a specific kind of player.

If we had 3 giants up front, we'd have an unusual number of headed goals instead. No conspiracy, just a reflection of the team's strategy.
Its only the MUGA crowd that bring these arguments forward as though Utd have some special powers that other, hugely better, teams don't. Like I said, I'm very happy for this to continue. I hope you win many more penalties this season too. Ole must stay in the White House. ;)
 

harrington

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It's a bit odd his transfer to United is discussed so much on the cafe.
It gives again an insight into what it's like to the fan of one of the usually dominant clubs. Fans of most clubs, while obviously wishing that, in an ideal world, the great players would play for their team, can still truly enjoy on an altruistic, 'pure' level, the football played by such players. For some United fans (and for fans of the other biggies) it actually seems a bit anguishing for them to watch the likes of Grealish play. Whatever detached love they experience for the game gets contaminated by avaricious possessiveness or a sense of entitlement, whenever a prime talent emerges wearing another team's shirt. "Cannot. Completely. Enjoy. Until. He's. Ours."
 

Devil may care

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Yeah this is my take as well, I really like him as a player but he doesn't fit anywhere in our starting 11. He's being talked about as a Pogba replacement, but the role Pogba's been asked to play isn't a role that Grealish plays.
The depth would be great but spending £80+ on a player that may or may not start would be pretty stupid.
Exactly, what we need is a player that can do what Ole really wants from Pogba, which is to drive the ball out of midfield and open games up with a great range of passing from deep, only without the defensive discipline and workrate issues Pogba has in the role. Grealish is very good off the left as a floating playmaker of sorts, but he's not a player for the double pivot we need.



Not ideal, but how would you feel about any of these sides?

Grealish - Rashford - Greenwood​

Telles - Fred - Bruno - AWB

Shaw - Maguire - Lindelöf​

Or

Rashford - Martial
Grealish - Bruno
Mctominay - Fred
Telles - Maguire - Lindelöf - AWB​

Or

Martial
Bruno
Grealish - Fred - Mctominay - Rashford
Telles - Maguire - Lindelöf - AWB​
Of the 3 I think the 3rd one, basically the old Fergie 4-4-1-1, is the only one that would really work, but to me Rashford on the RW has never produced much, so we'd be moving him there and replacing his goals from the LW with less goal threat but more creativity, and still not solving the RW issue we've had for years as we'd be using that spot just to keep Rashford in the starting 11 as he's untouchable. I get why people like Grealish, he's got good attributes in his game and he's a good player to watch, I just don't think for the money he'd cost it would be a wise use of what will no doubt a tight budget next summer, I see the arguments that he's better than Bruno or Rashford in their respective positions and maybe he is, but we have more crucial positions that need addressing before worrying about upgrading two of our better players.
 

Dante

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Its only the MUGA crowd that bring these arguments forward as though Utd have some special powers that other, hugely better, teams don't. Like I said, I'm very happy for this to continue. I hope you win many more penalties this season too. Ole must stay in the White House. ;)
What the feck are you on about? My argument is as much a criticism of United as anything else.

Our front line are all wingers. They dribble from deep more than other front lines because they lack the instincts to be in the right place at the right time in the box.

Aubamayang can also dribble, but he has more variety in his game than any of our 3. He doesn't put himself into foulable situations on the edge of the box as often as Rashford/Martial/Greenwood, because he spends more time finding space in penalty area to actually score goals. Therefore, he's obviously going to draw fewer penalties than our first choice lot.

When Mata and James played regularly, they didn't win penalties at anywhere near the same rate. So it obviously has more to do with the individuals than the team they play for.

It's no more controversial than saying that positionally poor defenders make more tackles to compensate for being out of position. Wan Bissaka is the best tackler in the league. He's also positionally suspect. That's not a conspiracy to pad Wan Bissaka's stats. It's a consequence of the way he plays football. There's also no conspiracy to pad Bruno's stats.

Our font line's strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same reasons why we're brilliant on the counter but shit at breaking a low block. We too often dribble from deep and play most of our football in front of opposition defences. It makes us easy to defend against... up until the point when one of those dribbles leads to a penalty. It's a poorly thought out attacking strategy that reflects badly on Ole.

If any other manager decided to tell his forwards to play 20 yards deeper, they'd also win more penalties and create fewer clear cut chances.
 

cptkeane1993

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Swapping Pogba for Grealish looks like it would provide a serious upgrade in capability for us
100%. Grealish comes with not just technical skills but also leadership qualities and is just the type of big character we need. Although I'm worried we may have missed the boat by not signing him last summer - more folks would have taken notice of him now after Villa's season so far and his games in the England shirt.
 

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What the feck are you on about? My argument is as much a criticism of United as anything else.

Our front line are all wingers. They dribble from deep more than other front lines because they lack the instincts to be in the right place at the right time in the box.

Aubamayang can also dribble, but he has more variety in his game than any of our 3. He doesn't put himself into foulable situations on the edge of the box as often as Rashford/Martial/Greenwood, because he spends more time finding space in penalty area to actually score goals. Therefore, he's obviously going to draw fewer penalties than our first choice lot.

When Mata and James played regularly, they didn't win penalties at anywhere near the same rate. So it obviously has more to do with the individuals than the team they play for.

It's no more controversial than saying that positionally poor defenders make more tackles to compensate for being out of position. Wan Bissaka is the best tackler in the league. He's also positionally suspect. That's not a conspiracy to pad Wan Bissaka's stats. It's a consequence of the way he plays football. There's also no conspiracy to pad Bruno's stats.

Our font line's strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same reasons why we're brilliant on the counter but shit at breaking a low block. We too often dribble from deep and play most of our football in front of opposition defences. It makes us easy to defend against... up until the point when one of those dribbles leads to a penalty. It's a poorly thought out attacking strategy that reflects badly on Ole.

If any other manager decided to tell his forwards to play 20 yards deeper, they'd also win more penalties and create fewer clear cut chances.
The mistake you’re making is trying to engage in a logical discussion with the most tiresome and unfunny WUM on redcafe. So many words wasted...
 

bsCallout

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Grealish fits in on the left. So unless you're dropping Rashford then there isn't much point getting him.

He doesn't start ahead of Bruno in the middle and neither Bruno nor Grealish should drop deeper to accommodate the other.
 

FootballHQ

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I’m arguing the fact that you think just because Atl Madrid was willing to pay 100m on Felix means clubs should also pay 80m-100m on Grealish. At his age, Grealish needs to produce about something closed to 30 league goals & assist per season to be in the same case.
He's also just signed a new 5 year deal btw. Contract length also impacts on transfer fee.

Ashley Young was averaging about 10 goals a season and similar number of assists in each of his seasons. In the end went for about 17m which is way less than we wanted but had little choice with just a year left on his deal.

Jack could've just sat on the 4 year deal he signed in August 2018 and saw how this season panned and then we'd have little choice to let him go for 40m next summer.

One more case study for a player who'd just signed a 5 year deal:

https://www.skysports.com/football/...charlison-everton-reject-barcelonas-85m-offer
 

Charlie Foley

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Grealish fits in on the left. So unless you're dropping Rashford then there isn't much point getting him.

He doesn't start ahead of Bruno in the middle and neither Bruno nor Grealish should drop deeper to accommodate the other.
But he’s “two times the player” Bruno is apparently
 

Winzaghi

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One thing people overlook for Grealish is the chances he created. He was tied second in the league with Maddison, just behind De Bruyne, but the interesting thing was 90%+ of the chances he created were from open play. He rarely takes set pieces, whereas a good proportion of Maddison's and De Bruyne's came from set pieces. Assists only become assists when the person on the end of the chances scores them, otherwise they're just chances. His strikers last season had 6 goals between the 4 of them.
 

FootballHQ

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One thing people overlook for Grealish is the chances he created. He was tied second in the league with Maddison, just behind De Bruyne, but the interesting thing was 90%+ of the chances he created were from open play. He rarely takes set pieces, whereas a good proportion of Maddison's and De Bruyne's came from set pieces. Assists only become assists when the person on the end of the chances scores them, otherwise they're just chances. His strikers last season had 6 goals between the 4 of them.
Still remember him picking ball up from halfway line and going past 2-3 Arsenal players with ease in the home game (exact same run he did on Sunday). Problem last season is he was slipping ball through to Kienan Davis who last scored a league goal in 2017 and it inevitably went just wide. Watkins scored identical chance last match no problem so will be huge difference to the all important numbers come May.
 

Chief123

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Probably an unpopular opinion, but for me Grealish would be a better option and would offer more on the left wing/inside forward position than Rashford does.

So if we did buy him, for me the bigger dilemma would be what to do with rashford.
 

Sandikan

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What the feck are you on about? My argument is as much a criticism of United as anything else.

Our front line are all wingers. They dribble from deep more than other front lines because they lack the instincts to be in the right place at the right time in the box.

Aubamayang can also dribble, but he has more variety in his game than any of our 3. He doesn't put himself into foulable situations on the edge of the box as often as Rashford/Martial/Greenwood, because he spends more time finding space in penalty area to actually score goals. Therefore, he's obviously going to draw fewer penalties than our first choice lot.
Interested you said this, as having had him in my fantasy footy team for a few game weeks early doors, I watched him closely, and he doesn't actually seem to get very near the box at all. No wonder he doesn't win pens!

2 goals in 8 league games this season. One the pen v us.