I'd argue we still have more space for him compared to the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, City and arguably Arsenal as well
Kaoru Mitoma
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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The fact that he's Japanese is surely making the bean counters at every top club take notice too. We all saw the commercial benefits that having an excellent Asian player like Park had for us.
Really good player but will cost a fortune in an area we are fairly well stacked in.
We'd be fecked if Rashford misses games because Sancho is nowhere near that level and Garnacho cannot shoulder that load, so we need a capable alternative.
Good player but not needed
You don't sign 'capable alternatives' for the amount Brighton will ask for this guy. Also, he's older than Garnacho, Sancho AND Rashford!
It makes much more sense to trust in Garnacho and Sancho then to waste resources on this guy, especially as he could easily turn into a 1 season wonder.
Also, Sancho is a completely different type of winger. He more than anyone suffers without a proper striker to play off/feed.
Would Mitoma accept being second choice though? He turns 26 in May and his next move will probably define his career. And even if we ignore Rashford, the competition is still fierce. Sancho cost 80 million and is 3 years younger than Mitoma. He could at any moment realise his potential. And then we have Garnacho who is 7 years younger and looks very promising.
But for all we know Mitoma may be up for the challenge. And if we fail to sign a center forward then we might have to play Rashford up front anyways. But I reckon he would want a few guarantees from Ten Hag before joining. I just read that he willingly postponed his career by several years because he wanted to study and be better prepared before becoming a professional footballer. That does not sound like a starry-eyed naive boy who jumps at any possibility without considering the risks. And you kind of have to be that guy to challenge Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho right now.
Super player, but don't need him. But what an addition to the squad, if ETH could manage that? But why join Man Utd and 'rotate' when he would start for probably any other top team in the Premiership, and many in Europe?
He's brilliant.
How does a player of his calibre remain hidden playing in Japan until he was 23?
I presume he was maybe a late bloomer?
How does a player of his calibre remain hidden playing in Japan until he was 23?
I presume he was maybe a late bloomer?
Agreed though I think he’d face the same or a similar level of competition on the LW at all the top 6 clubs, with the exception of Newcastle. Seems an abundance of right footers around and a little less quality left footers to play on the RW.
Wouldn’t mind him competing with Bruno for the AM spot though, but we have far more pressing needs with our limited budget.
He went to uni between the age of 18 and 22. He had the confidence to willingly postpone his football career(he was offered a contract) believing that taking things slow while also studying the theory of football would make him a better professional. So theoretically speaking his "physical age" ought to be a few years younger. At least his joints are gonna be better off.
Fascinating article:
https://www.sportbible.com/football...oma-university-premier-league-710808-20230105
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He’ll cost €120-150m after this season especially if they win the CL
Good player and maybe we need him however it looks like ETH wants a serious overhaul in the squad. He’s silently not happy with the goal output especially in PL.
Looking at this in a smart way, Mitoma would probably cost £70m, we are not buying him however maybe it’s unsettling tactic by the club for the Fa Cup game. I think the manager wants more goals and far better options in the front 4 positions.
ETH probably accessed the situation and is hoping for big investment from new owners; I think he’s put the current players into 4 categories : Keep, Can’t Decide Yet, Sell or Release, Loan and Develop
1. Keep - M Rashford, Bruno, Antony, Garnaucho
2. Can’t Decide Yet - J Sancho, A Martial , M Greenwood( it may not be ETH decision)
3. Weghorst(released), A Elanga (Sell),
4. F Pellistri(new contract and loan), A Dialo (new contract and keep or loan)
Let’s assume that he needs 8 players for 4 positions, he can’t buy 4 new striking positions so he will keep 2 from Sancho, Martial, Dialo and Greenwood with the homegrown factor playing an important part that’s why J Sancho will not be sold and becomes the obvious 5th choice as he can play right wing, left wing and number 10 and will get much better in a possession based team.
The other space, I have no idea, we could keep 2 out of 3 and just buy a CF however I think ETH is looking for two players, an out and out CF like Osimhen or Kane and an player like M Ascensio or M Kudas from Ajax who can play multiple positions in the front 4 positions. He wants a more clinical goal threat.
Looking at this in a smart way, Mitoma would probably cost £70m, we are not buying him however maybe it’s unsettling tactic by the club for the Fa Cup game. I think the manager wants more goals and far better options in the front 4 positions.
ETH probably accessed the situation and is hoping for big investment from new owners; I think he’s put the current players into 4 categories : Keep, Can’t Decide Yet, Sell or Release, Loan and Develop
1. Keep - M Rashford, Bruno, Antony, Garnaucho
2. Can’t Decide Yet - J Sancho, A Martial , M Greenwood( it may not be ETH decision)
3. Weghorst(released), A Elanga (Sell),
4. F Pellistri(new contract and loan), A Dialo (new contract and keep or loan)
Let’s assume that he needs 8 players for 4 positions, he can’t buy 4 new striking positions so he will keep 2 from Sancho, Martial, Dialo and Greenwood with the homegrown factor playing an important part that’s why J Sancho will not be sold and becomes the obvious 5th choice as he can play right wing, left wing and number 10 and will get much better in a possession based team.
The other space, I have no idea, we could keep 2 out of 3 and just buy a CF however I think ETH is looking for two players, an out and out CF like Osimhen or Kane and an player like M Ascensio or M Kudas from Ajax who can play multiple positions in the front 4 positions. He wants a more clinical goal threat.
He's pretty similar in age to when Fergie signed Ashley Young from Villa and we got some solid years from him. Sancho is a very different style of winger who likes to operate in tight spaces and he's had more than adequate time to make an impact, let alone justify his price tag. I think the club will quietly listen to offers for him this summer. Mitoma is a better dribbler and far more direct. Even Liverpool signed Jota while they still had Mane and then Gakpo to have viable alternatives and not have the quality suffer when one needs to be rested or unavailable. Wide players of his mold are still hard to acquire, so if he is available, I don't see it as being surplus to options.
Mitoma’s great but it would probably hault Garnacho’s development and Rashford is also best on the left. Mitoma mostly plays left winger, no?
A striker is more important imo.
A striker is more important imo.
I think both can be flexible
Really good player but doesn’t solve any major problem.
Fantastic player. If Rashford was going to play through the middle most of the time he'd be a great addition to our attack
I'm always wary of players at his age that explode for one season. If he does it again next year then I'm on board
Love a good oriental player in the squad but for me it’s the Napoli lad over him.
I watched the video below and now I've changed my mind. Sign him up and play Rashford up front 
This is a genuinely impressive and dense 10 minute highlight reel from just 1500 minutes of football. I think he might be the best dribbler in the league right now? Crazy that he's not on double-digit assits.
This is a genuinely impressive and dense 10 minute highlight reel from just 1500 minutes of football. I think he might be the best dribbler in the league right now? Crazy that he's not on double-digit assits.
He has had a great impact. My feeling though is that he might just lack very top quality. His finishing occasionally lets him down.
That said, he has clearly been better than e.g. Antony or Sancho this season.
That said, he has clearly been better than e.g. Antony or Sancho this season.
To add to your videoI watched the video below and now I've changed my mind. Sign him up and play Rashford up front
This is a genuinely impressive and dense 10 minute highlight reel from just 1500 minutes of football. I think he might be the best dribbler in the league right now? Crazy that he's not on double-digit assits.
Rashford's recent form and end product
Mitoma's recent form and end product
Mitoma can do it all. And his end product on his current run genuinely makes him one of the best attackers in the league this season. Granted its only been 17 starts which is a lot less than some players we might compare him against, where they've played an extra 9 or 10 league matches
Then on top of that he has the speed of, and better dribbling and balance than Rashford and many of the other left wing options in the premier league. Fast, good dribbler who can get out of a tight spot and scores or creates goals with very good end product. He's everything we could and should want in an attacker.
For the people talking about the development of young players, we signed Veron when we had Keane and Scholes was still young etc.
Signing quality players of this calibre only hurts the development of young players if the young players dont have a good attitude. With better starting players we can win more trophies, stay longer in better competitions so there are more games to go around and most importantly in this scenario - who better for Garnacho to see in training every day and try to learn from than a guy who is currently doing what we hope Garnacho can do consistently in 5 years? So there is every chance that it helps a young player's development even if they could end up getting less minutes on the pitch if they arent at least showing in training that they should be the first option to come off the bench and add something to the team after 60+ minutes. Now obviously younger people/players are going to be more prone to not having the best attitude. But if Garnacho is going to be a great player, he probably needs to have a good one.
Agreed, I think Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are definitely teams are ruled out simply because of the recent signings and players they have in that position. City could potentially be interested as they don’t have a player of that profile on left wing. Grealish and Foden are different in style.
I know we have a number of options but depending on how the summer business goes I do worry for the likes of Sancho. I’m not sure new owners would hesitate in cutting losses if better options become available.
Are we not just watching him as he's their best/most in form player and we need a plan to stop him? We are well stocked in his position.
I do worry he's just a one season wonder. Always say little skeptical about late bloomers.
He'll be 26 by the summer so it's a little weird he just pop up until this season.
He'll be 26 by the summer so it's a little weird he just pop up until this season.
Even though he is right footed, the amount of times he goes on the outside is refreshing to see. which is probably why he would be difficult to figure out for defenders next season.
Get him only if our plan is to use Rashford as no.9. Would love such a winger who can consistently beat their man always though. His late blooming is also not an issue due to his studies in university
A late bloomer by choice it would seem. His career effectively started less than 4 years ago. He was offered a contract with one of the best clubs in Japan when he was 18 but he turned them down to study and condition himself for professional football at a later age. This is a fascinating read. He studied physical exercise, nutrition and wrote a university paper on dribbling
He's taken an unconventional route, that's for sure! I don't know much about these things, but it surely his body ought to have suffered less fatigue from taking this approach?
https://www.sportbible.com/football...oma-university-premier-league-710808-20230105
Good player but not what we need. thing is I don’t see where he’d end up. Can’t think of any top teams that need a LW tbh. Maybe city?? Miles better than grealish.
He's very different to anything we have, which would make sense (if our interest is true).
Extremely unpredictable player, in a good way.
Extremely unpredictable player, in a good way.
Beautiful player, would be delighted with him in our squad, but unfortunately, it would make sense only if we go with Rashford as our starting striker next season and/or we are priced out from our striker targets Kane and Osimhen in the summer.
Have a bad feeling about him ending up and excelling in some rival team like Mahrez, Jota and Mane did.
Have a bad feeling about him ending up and excelling in some rival team like Mahrez, Jota and Mane did.
Funny, it used to be the opposite, but then everyone inverted their wingers.
He is incredible, whenever I watch Brighton play he is always making things happen.
Cheers, that was a good read and was an interesting story. It's quite a remarkable path he's taken.
I think he's really entertaining and I'd love for Arsenal to sign him, if not for us already having a few good options there. Though if he could play RW at the same level then I'd be delighted if we brought him in, along with Caicedo.
And perhaps more importantly, I hope we bring in whoever their talent scouts were.
The next big Asia star after Son. Let’s make him a United player
That only happens in JapanA late bloomer by choice it would seem. His career effectively started less than 4 years ago. He was offered a contract with one of the best clubs in Japan when he was 18 but he turned them down to study and condition himself for professional football at a later age. This is a fascinating read. He studied physical exercise, nutrition and wrote a university paper on dribbling
He's taken an unconventional route, that's for sure! I don't know much about these things, but it surely his body ought to have suffered less fatigue from taking this approach?
https://www.sportbible.com/football...oma-university-premier-league-710808-20230105
. Still it'll all depend on the fee that Brighton asks, anything above 40-50M i'd say is too much risk.How does Brighton even find these guys? really amazing scouting.
Would be worth every penny.
Me again. Thank you for asking!That only happens in Japan
How does Brighton even find these guys? really amazing scouting.
Our chairman, Tony Bloom, founded a company called Starlizard. What Starlizard do is data analysis in sport, using mathematical models to predict sporting outcomes. Very high stakes gamblers commission the company to provide betting analysis and insight into value and probability of big money betting.
Tony “The Lizard” Bloom himself is a lifelong Brighton fan, Poker Millions finalist and had a winning horse at Cheltenham last week (which he himself backed for over £400k, using his company’s own data). Given the odds of the horse, it looks like he won around £1.8m on the bet personally.
Brighton/Starlizard’s/Bloom’s use of data is extremely well guarded for business reasons, but Matthew Benham (Brentford’s owner) is a former Starlizard employee and was Bloom’s protege. They had a big falling out, with Benham setting up with own version of Starlizard, named Smartodds. Allegations of corporate espionage and stealing secrets abound. Now the two hate each other.
The reason I’m saying all this is that you’ll notice both Brentford and Brighton are being noticed and being highly praised for their exceptional recruitment, which is largely data driven.*
The club additionally has a large scouting network and a clear structure for each department within the club. Bloom is very hands off, the “top guy” our CEO Paul Barber (OBE) who is considered by many in the field as one of the best in the business. Under him is a Technical Manager, under him a Head of Recruitment, under that a Head of Data Analysis, under that a team of a analysts, alongside that numerous scouting teams, each with their own analysts and team hierarchies.
It is alleged (no source for this so take it as it comes) that actually watching the player is one of the last things the club does. The theory being that a player can have a poor few games under a watching scout’s eye, but their general ability and level of performance is better measured over time.
The club‘s model is to seek value by recruiting players with high potential, developing them and then when the time is right selling for enormous profit. In the mean time, they reap the rewards of good performances. Sounds easy on paper, eh!
If you see a player tearing up Europe or South America, you expect Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG. We aren’t in that market.
Instead, we’ll have our eye on the guy’s replacement in their reserve team, ten years younger and a fraction of the price. They won’t all come off but five punts at £5-10m each is our style, rather than one at £50m.
TLDR: In my admittedly biased view, we are one of the best run clubs in world football. And it’s all thanks to Tony Bloom’s statistics.
Sorry for another long post!
*I would highly recommend reading the book (or watching the movie) “Moneyball”. What both clubs do is essentially this, adapted for Premier League football.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I was thinking Moneyball all throughout your post.
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