And I’m sure he’ll tell the Watford press that he can’t wait to come back in Jan and fire us to prem survival. If the Cardiff press were to interview him I’m sure he’d say that he dreams of joining a prestigious club like the bluebirds.
Scored again today. That's 3 goals and 4 assists for him. Not bad considering their dreadful start to the season, they're now 8th.
As we're nearly at the halfway point of the season I thought I'd do a deep data dive into each of our loanees and see how they're doing each. Each mini report will show: Their radars (if you don't know what they mean - there's a guide on them here: https://statsbomb.com/2021/07/understanding-statsbomb-radars/ - although i'll do a brief summary for each player) Show the positions they've been playing Shot maps Similarity to Premier League players for this season (this compares their radar against PL players in the same positions and comes up with the most similar players - not gospel and has plenty of flaws but gives a rough idea of the playstyle of each player) Philip Zinckernagel: As we saw during his brief stint with us, he's a pretty versatile player and Forest have used him as such, with him spending time up front, on the wing and just behind the striker, although the #10 position is where he's spent most of his time. He takes a good amount of long shots (or is that a bad amount of long shots?) and is surprisingly good at pressing (I don't remember that from last season at all but a quick check shows similar numbers for us last season). Ayew, Joelinton + Rashica aren't the greatest of players to be compared with, but I think if we end up going down he'll be a solid addition to the team. At 27 I can't imagine he'll ever be a PL player though. Tom Dele-Bashiru: An interesting profile, similarly to Zinc - he's been used all over the place. He started off playing centrally but has recently been shoe-horned out wide to accommodate the resurgence of Danny Drinkwater and it looks like it's really suiting him - he rarely loses the ball (with great passing + turnover stats) and isn't afraid of taking people on. His central midfield profile looks somewhat similar to Etebo's which is interesting, but winger/AM similarities are much more interesting, although could be distorted by the amount of games he's played centrally which could throw off the stats. Joseph Hungbo: He shoots and he dribbles. That's about it. Similarities are a mixed bag although interesting that Cucho flags up as a similar player - although remember that Hungbo is playing in a much much poorer league than Cucho so likely wouldn't be able to put up the same stats in the PL or maybe even the Championship. Would look for a lower Champ loan or upper L1 loan next season most likely. Could potentially even be a squad option next season if we go down and end up losing Sarr/JP/Dennis/Cucho.
Adalberto Peneranda: Not gonna lie, this surprised me - although he's missed a lot of recent games due to injury so it's a relatively small sample size which could throw things. We know his playstyle - dribbles lots, never crosses although he's got into some great positions for shots. His similar players is interesting as well, although with a year left on his contract after this season I imagine we won't see him in a Watford shirt again. I think I'd still give him another shot in the Championship if we went down though. Maduka Okoye: Not gonna pretend like I know loads about goalkeeping so i'll keep this brief, looks like he's solid in the air and has good positioning with slightly above average shot-stopping. Doesn't often come off his line though. Yaser Asprilla: Good at lots of things, but also doesn't really seem to excel at anything in particular. Hopefully we can get him a loan to Udinese in January which will give a better idea of his level and what he's capable of as the Colombian league isn't of a great standard. That being said these are great stats for a 17 year old! Have to go now and didn't want to lose this but will do our League 1 + National League loanees tomorrow!
Thanks @reids for all the time and work you do for making us more informed about our squad with definitive statistics rather than vague opinions. Always appreciated.
Bit harsh on Hungbo I think Ried’s, we saw little glimpses of what he’s capable of last season. Yes he’s in a weak league but he’s also doing it for one of the weakest teams. I’d aim higher with a loan move to a championship team or stay with us if we’re in it next season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not sure it is harsh - he’s playing for Ross County. That’s a million miles away from where we are and also quite some distance from Championship level. Regular game time at a decent League One side next season would be his level you’d imagine.
Tiago Cukur Good in the air and largely takes good quality chances when he shoots, but he doesn't shoot often and doesn't really do much else. Think L1 was likely too high of a level for him and would look at a National League loan next season to allow him to grow some confidence in the senior game as he's outgrown (physically!) the U23s game. Matt Pollock There's a lot to like here - he's aerially dominant (and a set-piece threat) with some great defensive numbers. His passing accuracy isn't the best but looking at his pass data he plays a lot of forward passes rather than playing it safe which isn't a bad thing (quite the opposite!). I can't quite pinpoint what level he can currently (or next season) step up to - I think a Championship loan (or a place in our squad if relegated) is probably the most likely. Dan Phillips Some very interesting numbers, sadly he's been injured for a good chunk of the season so the sample size isn't the greatest but he seems very solid defensively, with decent (but not exceptional) tackling, interceptions + pressing numbers as well as a good amount of dribbles for a centre-mid. Could be a useful squad option if relegated next season, but otherwise would look for a lower Champ/Top 6 L1 loan next season. Dapo Mebude An interesting most similar player! Mebude loves to dribble and wins lots of fouls. Would like to see him increasing his presence around the penalty area though, taking more touches in the box + increase the amount of shots he takes. He hasn't quite established himself in the Wimbledon first team yet so I'd imagine a loan to another L1 team beckons, where he can hopefully get more game-time.
My point is he’s doing ok for a ***** Ross county. He done ok in the games for us in championship ok only a few glimpses of him. But as far as development goes I think championship would be a good level for him, league one would be a sideways step from where he’s at now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
https://the72.co.uk/258410/doncaste...ould-return-to-their-parent-clubs-next-month/ Cukurs loan might be terminated apparently.
Is it? They're 11th in the Scottish Premiership, and the way I see it, Rangers and Celtic are at least top half of the EPL, the clubs that regularly qualify for Europe (Hearts, Aberdeen) are probably just about good enough to survive in the Prem, and the rest are bottom of Championship standard at worst.
Interestingly no mention of Dahlberg, though I guess if he does leave Donny, it won't be their decision!
Celtic and Rangers are probably around the same level as us (granted, our level varies wildly!), the best of the rest would probably survive at Championship level, the rest are probably League 1 standard
Dahlberg hasn’t been playing for them of late, though I assume in his case it’s because they already know he’s going to a Championship team.
I’m not sure about that, our best position in recent years has been only 11th and Scottish clubs have actually done very well in European competition from time to time which suggests that the better ones would at least survive in the Prem. Celtic won the European Cup and have got to a final in that competition and one in the UEFA Cup, and Rangers and Dundee United were finalists in the latter competition. Admittedly some of those achievements were a long time ago, but Celtic (winning at Blackburn and Liverpool on the way) and Rangers got to the UEFA Cup finals during this millennium, which makes them at best as good as Fulham and Middlesbrough during their heyday (7th in the Prem). But maybe they’d struggle more these days with the gap between the Scottish and English top flights having got bigger, what with Rangers’ relegation and the Scottish team being in the international wilderness for so long. Some years ago I hazarded a guess as to what the equivalents are in the English pyramid to the divisions in Scottish football. I think my view remains unchanged; in addition to what I’ve just said about the SP, the Championship is a mixture of Leagues 1 and 2, League 1 equal to the National League and League 2 to the National League North and South (if I remember rightly, some of the players in these divisions are part-time, don’t know if this applies to just the Scottish L2 though).
Fair enough, Rangers would probably take us, but Celtic have been pretty ropey in Europe for a long time now, the gap between England and Scotland which at the start of the millennium was noticeable yet not insurmountable has become a chasm. I believe the Scottish Championship is fully professional so probably roughly corresponds to League 2 level (maybe top National League, after all there isn't much difference between top National League level and League 2 with the money sloshing around in non-league), Scottish League 1 is probably National League/NL North/South, and Scottish League 2 is probably NLN/S level roughly speaking
Perhaps I've been slightly too harsh but I'm not convinced by a Championship loan at this stage. He's done ok in a poor team but he also hasn't excelled, he's proven he can be a threat on the ball but needs to turn more of those of dribbles into end product which will hopefully take him onto the next level. This will be easier to do at a similar level to this season than moving up to the Championship where he'll have to encounter challenges similar to the ones he faced at the start of the season (having to force himself into the starting 11 and make himself undroppable).
Hungbo got a crucial assist in Malky's Ross County's six pointer at St Johnstone to help them move four points clear at the bottom and was BBC man of the match. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59726775
Lo-Everton sent off for Yeovil today away to Torquay in the 64th Minute, they then conceded three goals and lost 3-0
I can’t remember and being a bit lazy to look it up, so anyone know which of our players out on loan can be recalled in Jan?
Cheers, maybe TDB for some younger legs in midfield and Zinc as a different option as a number 10? I mean, it’s all pretty irrelevant if we don’t sign any defenders! At this stage I’d even gamble in Pollock. And Dahlberg for that matter!
TDB possibly the best of the bunch, and he's been playing mainly on the right where we'll need numbers during AFCON (and you never know, maybe beyond), could he also do a job as a more defensively minded holding midfielder? Could do with one of those too!
Why didn't Dahlberg play at Morecambe today (was on the bench)? Might have stopped them throwing away that 3-0 goal lead, it's going to be very hard for Doncaster to stay up now. Incidentally, Watford old boy Toumani Diagouraga scored in Morecambe's comeback, hard to believe he's still playing, his time with us and Hereford when he helped them gain promotion to League 1 when on loan seems like a totally different era.
