11 Jun 2026 08:18:16
Ed1, who would you say is on top of the list for midfielder that we are interested as of right now after managerial change? Its crazy market for midfielder right now if the likes of Elliot Anderson going for more than 120M and both Alex Scott and Mateus Fernandes are price at 80M.

{Ed001's Note - I thought it was Camara, but not sure now as not heard anything about it since Iraola came in.}

1.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 08:53:27
Camara looks the right fit for what we need for a midfielder who can rotate with Grav in different games, and I would think Wharton would be a no-brainer for the other profile to play the other side in the pivot. I love Scott as a player, but to me he feels too similar in function to Szoboszlai. They are both all action, running and carrying midfielders who are well rounded on and off the ball, but who love running with the ball.

David Lynch did an excellent video on Scott yesterday where he made the case, clearly illustrated through stats, that at the present moment Curtis Jones is a far superior player, though Scott might have a higher ceiling because of his age.

For all the folks slating Curtis and saying he isn't worth 30 mill, while salivating at the prospect of signing Scott for 80, it's definitely worth a watch.

We don't need more box to box players who love marauding with the ball, we need a physical presence who can win the ball and win his duels (though Scott is good at both on the ground and aerial duels), and a specialist passer who can spray the ball quickly and efficiently.

2.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 09:39:53
Curtis Jones being a far superior player is such hyperbole, especially if it's based on stats, a player playing at RB for 70% of the season with almost no meaningful stats from his natural position is, in my opinion, another proof that stats are a bunch of nonsense for the most part.

The only attribute Curtis excels at is his ball control & dribbling, but he almost never uses it for the benefit of the team, dribbling into blind allies and passing backwards after taking on 2 players for no reason!

3.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 10:49:20
Those datamb stats can be highly misleading. Just looking at that alone could lead you to think Jones was as good as Vitinha, for example, which he plainly is not, nor will he ever be. The eye test also matters, and this is one of the places where Jones fails.

As ASB says, Jones makes poor decisions on the pitch; most of his passes are just five/ten yard passes, and on far too many occasions he makes a poor choice with his pass selection and puts a team mate in trouble (the back pass to Ali against Wolves across the face of goal, which then directly led to Wolves scoring, when clearing it up the line would have been a far better choice, being a good example).

He also switches off far too often; his positional sense and defensive awareness are almost non-existent (I lost count of the number of times Jones stood and watched runners from midfield go past him), and he is as tackle shy as it gets (ironic given that guff he came out with about getting stuck in).

There's a reason why he's overlooked compared to the likes of Anderson & Scott; they are actually effective in their position. Jones is not. Whether anyone wants to admit that is up to them, but the facts don't care about your feelings.

4.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 12:02:17
Does every midfielder need to be able to make a piercing through pass or a raking ball out to the wings? Jones is a player who keeps possession in tight spaces (are there many players in the league who are better than him at this?) and carrying it forward or playing a simple pass to someone else, he always shows for the ball all over the field and is comfortable receiving the ball on either foot.

I don't think he often makes a poor choice with his pass selection. It's just that when something goes wrong with one of his passes it sticks in the memory. I also think he is a very capable presser and is very mobile, covering ground.

5.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 12:52:55
The problem is Patrick, all too often he makes the wrong choice and he never learns from those mistakes. No one is expecting him to be peak Gerrard or De Bruyne with his passing, but being aware of your team mates being closed down before passing to them feels like a minimum expectation.

The whole schtick about him keeping possession in tight spaces is pointless because of his tendency to use the ball so badly, either because more often than not he then holds on to the ball far too long or chooses the wrong pass. By comparison, Wijnaldum was far better at that because he did think quickly and moved the ball on intelligently, Jones doesn't do that, he's clearly not a quick thinker and needs far too much time on the ball.



And it has to be repeated that he's defensively all over the place, he has all the worst traits a midfielder can have, he ball watches, lacks concentration, doesn't track runners, never takes responsibility, has poor situational awareness, and for a bloke standing at six foot he's very weak in the tackle. At coming up 26, these deficiencies should be ironed out of his game if he's as good as some would have us believe, but they're all still there and that's why he's not good enough to be a starter at a club challenging for the league, but also why his comparative value is so low compared to the likes of Anderson, Scott or even Wharton. If he ends up at Inter, I can see him occupying the bench.

6.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 13:15:38
Ed, is it true that we were interested in Van Hecke when Slot is still in charge? There is also another Dutch midfielder that we were rumored to be interested in when Slot was in charge. I just can't seem to remember his name.

{Ed001's Note - not that I am aware of, Slot might have liked him but I don't believe he was being targeted at all.}

7.) 11 Jun 2026
11 Jun 2026 16:38:47
Ed01, one of the reasons i'm glad Slot is gone.

Van Hecke is absolutely dreadful.