Hey all — no newsletter today. I was sick yesterday. Migraines, who need ‘em? To make it up to you all, let’s do a chat today. We’ll start at 9:00 AM PST and go for about an hour, hour and a half. If you can’t make it, we’ll miss you — and the thread will be there for you to read, forever. Any and all questions are fair game! See you then.
I've been watching more classic matches lately. You should do a column on the biggest moments in football history that VAR would've changed. The Hand of God is the obvious one. A less obvious one: John O'Brien absolutely straight-legging the shit out of Jared Borgetti in ~ the 6th min of the 2002 USA/Mex match (to say nothing of the handball to come later on). We would've been robbed of our own VAR gripe on the Torsten Frings goal line "clearance." The butterfly effect on these decisions is fun to flesh out.
Is the current pool of US U-20s actually significantly better/deeper than in the past, or are we all being delusional? And who are your favorite up and coming US prospects?
How're you feeling about the Jets after the draft? I'm weirdly optimistic after watching Joe Douglas maneuver, but then I remember Adam Gase is the coach.
Should Ligue 1 try to incentivize another uber rich entity to buy a team in their league to make it competitive? Wouldn't it be beneficial to Ligue 1 to try to get UEFA to relax FFP regulations to help make the league more competitive and eliminate PSG's procession to the title each year?
Also I always wonder about Germany. The league have their rule about the 50+1 ownership and the fans hate Leipzig for supposedly violating it, but does the average German fan really enjoy just watching Bayern march to the title every single year? Shouldn't they also be in support of FFP being relaxed and a rich owner coming in and presenting some real financial competition to Bayern?
Is there such thing as a midfield being too young? Does a good/effective lineup generally need a veteran stalwart somewhere in the middle? (e.g. USMNT projected starters ~ Tyler Adams, McKennie, etc.)
If you were to rank non-attacking players (CM, CB) using only data from FBREF (via StatsBomb), what data would you use and which would you give the most precedence to?
Is Naby Keita's failure to live up to expectations thus far 99% about injuries, 100% about injuries, or something else? It seems like his absurdly good (small sample size) per 90 minute numbers seldom enter into conversations like James Pearce's most recent piece for the Athletic. It also seems like there's a general failure to acknowledge that he's going to complete a lower percentage of passes than Gini or Hendo when he's routinely attempting higher-risk, higher reward passes (which, why sign someone from a Red Bull club if you want to drill that out of them?).
When Newcastle buys Mbappe, will he be forced to play out wide due to Joelinton having the number 9 spot locked down?
All right! That was fun, as always. Loved the thoughtful questions, as always. And we'll do it again soon. Hope you're all hanging in.
Any more questions? We're gonna wrap up in a little bit.
I've been watching more classic matches lately. You should do a column on the biggest moments in football history that VAR would've changed. The Hand of God is the obvious one. A less obvious one: John O'Brien absolutely straight-legging the shit out of Jared Borgetti in ~ the 6th min of the 2002 USA/Mex match (to say nothing of the handball to come later on). We would've been robbed of our own VAR gripe on the Torsten Frings goal line "clearance." The butterfly effect on these decisions is fun to flesh out.
Is the current pool of US U-20s actually significantly better/deeper than in the past, or are we all being delusional? And who are your favorite up and coming US prospects?
Do you have any idea what will happen with promotion and relegation in the Prem, and can the tentative plans to bring the league back actually work?
How're you feeling about the Jets after the draft? I'm weirdly optimistic after watching Joe Douglas maneuver, but then I remember Adam Gase is the coach.
How did you not make 'Total Football' the podcast intro music? it sounds like another Parquet Courts song, perhaps? But still.
what’ve you been reading lately? always looking for something non-fiction/behavioral economics-y
Thought's on a combined LigaMX/MLS? How long would it take such a league to become a member of the "Big 5" leagues, if ever?
Should Ligue 1 try to incentivize another uber rich entity to buy a team in their league to make it competitive? Wouldn't it be beneficial to Ligue 1 to try to get UEFA to relax FFP regulations to help make the league more competitive and eliminate PSG's procession to the title each year?
Also I always wonder about Germany. The league have their rule about the 50+1 ownership and the fans hate Leipzig for supposedly violating it, but does the average German fan really enjoy just watching Bayern march to the title every single year? Shouldn't they also be in support of FFP being relaxed and a rich owner coming in and presenting some real financial competition to Bayern?
Using a standard 4-3-3 formation, rank the positions from most to least important.
Is there such thing as a midfield being too young? Does a good/effective lineup generally need a veteran stalwart somewhere in the middle? (e.g. USMNT projected starters ~ Tyler Adams, McKennie, etc.)
If you were to rank non-attacking players (CM, CB) using only data from FBREF (via StatsBomb), what data would you use and which would you give the most precedence to?
Which player is going to be the most game-ready when the PL restarts, and why is it James Milner?
Is Naby Keita's failure to live up to expectations thus far 99% about injuries, 100% about injuries, or something else? It seems like his absurdly good (small sample size) per 90 minute numbers seldom enter into conversations like James Pearce's most recent piece for the Athletic. It also seems like there's a general failure to acknowledge that he's going to complete a lower percentage of passes than Gini or Hendo when he's routinely attempting higher-risk, higher reward passes (which, why sign someone from a Red Bull club if you want to drill that out of them?).