Recent content by Powderfinger

He has 16 league G+A after having 7, 11, 8 in his three years at Chelsea. It's a small sample but his finishing has been more confident than at Chelsea, although not quite as good as his Leverkusen days. For seasons/comps with available data... Leverkusen - 33 non-penalty goals on 26.5 npxg...

Havertz has been one of the first names on the team sheet all season, he hasn't really been competing for game time. And I think you're just wrong about what ~60m buys you these days for top clubs in general. Here are the 25 players who cost 50m or more in the PL since summer 2022: Havertz...

Yeah, complete bunk from start to finish.

If it was a truly a "classic" title winning season then we would have been able to drop those points to Villa and still have the title well in our hands. I think people forget how often teams in the past slipped up in title races, especially how often it was the case that the winner of the...

There were some fundamental problems with Ange's tactical approach to the game that the media just chose to completely ignore much of this season because they love a good narrative and the Big Amiable Aussie provided one. -You can't invert both fullbacks and push them high up into the pockets...

Current coefficient rankings" Italy 18.428 (basically unassailable so not even going to game it out) Germany 16.785 (seven teams) England 16.750 (8 teams) Let's take a seemingly fairly likely scenario and see how this plays out: Liverpool wins against Atalanta but not by enough to advance (2...

He’s a hard worker and has a great shot from distance but what else does he really do well?

Yeah, that seems workable as long as it’s a three and there is a defensive anchor behind them.

Liverpool look absolutely terrible, like they thought they could win by just showing up. Atalanta could be up 3-0.

Great looking player but a bit of an awkward fit with Mainoo. Both highly technical players probably best as 8s, linking play and creating solutions. In the PL, I don't think either is cut out to be a DM that sniffs out transitions, covers big spaces if necessary, and helps control matches...

KDB is a unicorn but Bernardo is an amazing player in so many respects. Can't wait for both of them to feck off. Pep has been blessed with so many great midfielders over the year that I think the football world at some point just came to assume he would always have top top players in these...

IMO, his best position will be as an 8. If you want a top end inspirational comparison, its Iniesta...that kind of magic footed player who can wiggle out of trouble anywhere on the pitch, hold the ball under pressure, and then help unlock defenses in the narrowest of spaces in the final third...

He was good at Brighton but nowhere near a player you would ever consider for team of the season. I think Liverpool have a lot of good players, not sure they have any truly top class ones beyond Salah, VVD, Alisson, and maybe TAA in the right system.

I forgot about Alisson. Top class player for sure. I rate MacAllister a lot but I’m not totally convinced that he’ll look quite as good in a different system.

I can't see him getting sacked in six months but wouldn't be surprised if he only lasts a year or two. Klopp is a genius manager. Similar to Fergie's last decade, he built a truly elite side and then replaced it part-by-part with lesser players, yet managed to keep performance levels extremely...