Stop bunching

When Everton went on the doomed summer spree of 2017 I regularly (much to the annoyance of fellow fans) pointed out that the money we had spent on players since Moshiri's takeover was approximately the same as was being touted to takeover Sevilla FC. Yes, a 5 times UEFA/Europa winning club, regularly in the Champions League for the same cost Everton had invested in such luminaries as Yannick Bolasie, Ashley Williams, Davvy Klaassen, and Morgan Schneiderlin. Obviously, it is far different buying a club to buying an individual player, but I've long thought there are better ways for clubs to approach signing players than just shelling out tens of millions for marginal improvements. Why are players important? Because whatever else a club does brilliantly or woefully everything other than the players on the pitch is peripheral. All the nutrition, specialised fitness training, psychology sessions and man management in the world won't turn a non-league player into a world...

Think of your favourite team's legendary team, the names roll off the tongue. Then look up how often that XI actually all played in the same game. I did it with Everton once and the team I regarded as the definitive mid-80s line up actually only played all in the same match about 10 times. Ever. However, what there was were consistent partnerships. Not just traditional partnerships like centre backs, or even fullbacks and wingers, but the closest passing options for each player. So a left side central midfielder would have the right sided central midfielder, the left winger, the left centre back and the left forward as their partners. So in a Manchester United glory year's team you could pick Roy Keane and say to his left will be Giggs, to his right Scholes, behind him Staam and ahead Yorke. Maybe one of those players won't be available but if three out of four are then they will each know what to expect of three-quarters of their normal passing options. I heard...

I have never seen a single nation produce as many good central defenders and midfielders as France is at the moment. This glut of players isn't limited to a single club, or even a cluster, almost every team seems to have players of the highest potential. Take Rennes. Currently 10th in the league. Their regular central midfield options are impressive: Clement Grenier James Lea Siliki Benjamin Andre Romain Del Castillo Adrien Honou In reserve they have: Nicolas Janvier -  a U17 European Champion and U20 French youth international Rafik Guitane - a £10m signing from Le Havre at 18 years of age and U20 French international Faitout Maouassa - although mainly left sided he is also thought of as a future central midfielder. U20 French international and U19 Euro Champion. Stephane Diarra - another 20 year old central midfielder on loan at Le Mans Denis Will-Poha - yet another Euro Champion central midfielder Jeremy Gelin - yet another Euro Champion central midfielder (...

Congratulations! You've just become the proud owner of a luxurious yacht. An eccentric elderly relative has gifted it to you, all you have to do is keep is running for a year and it is yours to do whatever you like with. This yacht is beautiful, no expense has been spared on building or fitting it out. Unfortunately, some of the parts need replacing. The third bathroom, currently finished in Italian marble with gold plated fixtures and fittings is looking really dated, the shower is leaking, it smells a bit, and it really needs replacing altogether. You have two choices; rebuild it to the same quality and expense, or replace it with a much cheaper one. It will still be a useable bathroom whatever you do, it will still be a luxurious yacht. You decide to go for the cheaper option. It is the third bathroom, who cares? Then the kitchen worksurface cracks and the pots and pans need replacing. The previous kitchen was custom made, the pans are from a high-end company, prec...

I've been thinking a lot about passing recently. It seems to be the area where I think there is most room for improving what analytics can offer. The traditional response to passing percentage statistics is "anyone can pass the ball under no pressure to an unmarked teammate". That is true when you reach the professional level. It is also true that the players with the highest pass percentage success rate are generally centre backs and deep midfielders. They generally play short passes, in less crowded areas to unmarked players. So what is the state of play now? The standard player level data collection output contains: Number of passes Success rate of passes Passes forwards, sideways, backwards Success rate of each type of pass Through balls (not sure on definition) Key passes Passes into box (open play and all) Long balls Final third passes (forwards, backwards, sideways) This is all great to have but you can start to pick holes in almost all the defin...

The most profound change in football over my lifetime is how much the viewing experience has changed. In the late 1980s if you didn't see the match live you had the local news (non-top flight goals), or Match of the Day. If you missed that you had to wait until the following week for the Saint and Greavsie / Football Focus roundup shows. Miss that and you would never see the goals again. Maradonna, Van Basten, Gullit, Papin and all the other icons of that era were pretty much invisible outside of the major tournaments. You just never got to see them play. I can wax lyrical about the brilliance of Lothar Mattheus, but that is based off the 1990 World Cup. I probably never saw him play before or after. If a player had a bad tournament that was it really, so many multi-time champions are massively underrated because they didn't play well in the televised games. Meanwhile, Toto Schillaci is regarded as a great player by people of my age despite a relatively mixed club career. ...

My French league scouting has continued unabashed this week. There just seem to be an incredible amount of talented players at the moment. I've put together a free transfer XI of young talents from Ligue 1 and 2. I've left out the likes of Rabiot because they aren't realistic targets for Championship / lower Premier League clubs. Instead, I have a list of high potential young players who would probably be open to offers from teams at that level and whose wages would be affordable. GK - Abdoulaye Diallo Diallo, 26, is your classic reserve goalkeeper. He has been with Rennes his whole career, but with two long loan spells, one with Le Havre and one in Turkey. He is a full international with 17 caps for Senegal after a youth international career with France. He tends to play European and cup games for Rennes. A thigh injury has ruled him out at the moment, which is unfortunate timing with his contract set to end. RB -Patrick Burner Buner, a 22 year old, attacking rig...