Tom Mason

Junk Male

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@AshwinRaman_ He’s basically had license to charge around winning the ball back given the team structure around him (deep block at West Ham, (mostly) back 3 with England). If he has to be disciplined + defend space instead of being a pure ball winner, it might not be a completely smooth move

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@AshwinRaman_ Flip side is that he’s played virtually all his football in a double pivot in conservative, compact sides. If he’s shunted into playing as a lone 6 with a lot of space to cover in transition, he’s going to have a rough adjustment period for a while.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@GraceOnFootball Plus ever since he binned off Ireland for England, it was clear he was going to prioritise his own prospects ahead of any sentiment (which is entirely fair), so everyone’s been prepared for him to go for ages.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@GraceOnFootball The fact he’s been so open about his support of Chelsea and because he wasn’t actually at the club as a kid (picked him up at 14 after he was released) meant there was never the same level of emotional attachment typical academy grads have, so no real sense of betrayal there.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@AFHStewart A lot of it is chasing empty metrics they can present as evidence of ‘growth’. Stuff like user time spent on app (even if it’s caused by shit navigation/UX). That autoplay feature will be about bumping total plays/views rather than retention (or something that actually matters)

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@GraceOnFootball It's so annoying listening to broadcasters whinge about VAR when they're entirely responsible for its existence. Pundits fixating on refereeing decisions, analysing them from every angle, using slow-mo etc - basically what VAR does now - created conditions where VAR was necessary

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@Jon_Mackenzie It’s very frustrating. Ended up writing something this week because I’m bored of seeing people say that West Ham should stick with Moyes because they’ve gone onto Fbref and sorted the league table by xGDiff.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@ViewFTTouchline The No-Nonsense roles could easily exist as Player Instructions on other defensive roles. BWM is arguably a bit redundant now given that everyone is a potential ball winner in aggressive pressing systems. Could slap PIs on other CM roles too if you wanted a designated ball winner

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@ViewFTTouchline Early days but this has started nicely. Can't quite nail the LB role but everything else is singing.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@YacheBerries Do the same thing with VGC info. Unlock it postgame, stick it in a dex page or have a database in game that’s there if you want to access it but completely optional

Just seems silly to not funnel casual players into competitive if you want to extend your game’s life cycle

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@YacheBerries You’re right, that’s the exact reason it’s not in there. And I understand it - it would ruin the artifice because you’d be hanging a big flashing sign that says “This is a game”

But the IV checker arguably already does that.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@cake389 @WeedleTwineedle Exactly, whole point of it is to record info. Would incentivise finishing it, too.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@WeedleTwineedle Feel like all that + Regenerator tips it into unbalanced territory in a pivot-heavy team.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@WHUFCallum_ Ok well it’s still shooting directly at a defender, isn’t it?

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@SimonStanVO @TheHList @1MrLondon I have some sympathy for that, but don't think the absence of those players necessitates radical change in defensive shape or pressing style every week. Fredericks is obvs quicker but has similar benefits/flaws as our other right-sided defenders.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@TheHList @1MrLondon I'd argue that Cresswell at CB doesn't work, Diop plays worse as part of a 3, and that chopping and changing the roles of his midfielders (Soucek/Noble/Snodgrass for Moyes; Anderson/Fornals/Lanzini for MP) game-to-game is a continuation of a major problem under Pellegrini.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@vinnywhufc Ah yes, shots that were going wide before they hit someone else are a telltale sign of individual quality.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@vinnywhufc You're welcome mate. Happy to enlighten any time.

[Tom Mason @Mase159]

@vinnywhufc His 2 goals vs Brighton were massively deflected which inflates his numbers anyway, but I don't think that attacking contribution is worth the damage he causes to the team's shape when we don't have the ball. Causes more problems than he solves.