The General Football Thread

Mitrovic is a proven Premier League goalscorer. He's had at least two solid seasons with two different (struggling) teams over the years. Stats for last season look fairly crap, but most of his appearances were as sub. Parker obviously didn't fancy him, which with lovely old hindsight might have been a bit of a bad move by him.

Che Adams goals per minute last season, was one every 314 minutes. This season one every 609 minutes. it just ain't very easy scoring goals in the Premier League.

 

That's why I posted the per minute. A goal every 287 minutes really isn't great in this era, though it isn't awful either. From a goalscoring perspective, the most-comparable recent players to Mitrovic in the PL are Neal Maupay and Ashley Barnes (who has a longer PL track record), both players who are/were...okay? Not great, but playable on a lower half side. Which is pretty well what Mitrovic is as well, though one could argue that it's a bit telling that a Fulham side desperately in need of goals couldn't find starts for him last season. But in the Championship, he's an unstoppable force.

And Che isn't a great comparison because, frankly, Che's goalscoring record in the PL is pretty abysmal. What's keeping him in the lineup is the other attributes he brings, and owing to his high assist rate Che actually has the better per-minute goal contribution in the PL between the two (a goal/assist every 198 minutes for him, and every 202 for Mitrovic). If he was primarily being deployed for his goalscoring acumen, he'd have been packed off to the Football League some time ago.

 

Ironic that his Premier League record should really have started with a red card about 30 seconds into our game against Newcastle, when he nearly crippled Matt Tsrgett.

 

I think his hot-headedness has always been a bit of a red flag to any potential admirers. I was surprised to see he's still only 27 though. Thought he was in his thirties by now. Just coming into his prime.

 

This an excellent highlights site. https://hoofoot.com/

 

I thought he was older than that too. I wanted us to sign him to replace Pelle when he left.

 

Brilliant performance as a lone striker against a back 3. Can be so easy to get isolated and pocketed in that context but he was a nuisance throughout the game.

 

Derby docked more points.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59288687

 

Huge game in the Southern League tonight, top of the table Farnborough take on 2nd place Hayes and Yeading... Come on Boro

 

And we're 3-0 down already. Nevermind then.

 

Make that 4. This is what I get for being enthusiastic about anything. I should know better.

 

Well done Wales, held on for a draw and won my acca for me...

 

The frozen pitch is, indeed, a bit stupid, but Canada hits the half 1-0 up. Long shot spilled by the Mexico keeper and slammed in by Cyle Larin. Mexico has yet to attempt a shot.

Panama's rather stubbornly hanging in there having won again today, which means that Canada's not done and dusted yet, but Canada's now 45 minutes from being atop the group.

 

I was mentally preparing for a 0-0, because frozen, slick Fieldturf and -10 temps don't make for good football, and don't really suit a Canadian team that plays fast and on the floor, either. But after a foul-heavy first 45, Canada got a scruffy goal, added another scruffy goal, and then survived a late Mexico push for a 2-1 win. The sort of performance that gets called 'gritty' a lot of the time on this side of the Atlantic, from a squad that is generally more skill than muscle.

Canada's position in the table (top, a point above the US, two above Mexico/Panama) doesn't necessarily look dominant, but really, it is. Three of the four will qualify automatically, and Canada not only has the lead on points, but they have a sizable gulf on GD compared to Mexico/Panama, and the easiest remaining schedule. Panama still has to play Mexico and the US away, making it much harder for them to gain ground.

Still, it's not official-official. If Canada collapses, they might fail to make it. But...I mean...this team is undefeated in eight in the Octagonal. We smashed Panama last window and beat Mexico today. We've been by every metric the best of the eight teams to date. We're going to ****ing Qatar, folks.

 

Sticking to a Canadian theme, Saints should sign Stephen Eustaquio

 

I'm definitely not against that. He's been a revelation...could argue that, despite the star talent in the squad, his emergence in midfield has as much to do with our standing as anyone. Shouldn't be terribly expensive either.

 

Just like Jonathan David, wasn't going to be expensive 3 years ago, when I was hoping for Saints to sign him!
There is some great talent in the Canadian set up, clubs like ours need to take a chance on them, before we can't afford them.

 

We're also getting dual nationals playing for Canada for reasons beyond a lack of any other option. Ike Ugbo is a relatively well-regarded young player. Wasn't going to play for England, but Nigeria wanted him, and they're a perennial World Cup team; he briefly switched allegiances to Nigeria before joining Canada for this international window.

There are a bunch of other prospects who were born in/grew up in Canada (Lucas Dias at Sporting, Marcelo Flores at Arsenal, Stefan Mitrovic in Serbia) who have demonstrated at least some interest in playing on the senior side that would have been locks to hold out for a better national side a generation ago. Long-term that's going to be one of the biggest contributions of this generation: ensuring that kids feel like being capped by the Canadian national team isn't just a gateway to Transatlantic flights to get curbstomped by Honduras every few months. As good as this side is, they'd be that much better if someone like Fikayo Tomori hadn't felt like playing for Canada was a death sentence for his international ambitions.

 

Welsh midfielder, who played against Belgium midweek, when hearing that De Bruyne has since tested positive for Covid said -
“Lucky I didn’t get within 2 yards of him during the game”.

 

Feel like I should comment on Derby's season. 0 points after 18 matches is, objectively, not good, but given their massive point deduction it isn't bad either. At their current points/game pace, they'd finish the year on 33 points; Hull, sitting one place above the drop, is on pace for 38. It's still not terribly likely, but they have an outside shot at survival with a squad consisting mainly of aged castoffs and schoolchildren.