HoffBeadle

If you're reading this because I'm arguing with you, I'm very sorry and I hope when this all blows over we can be REALLY good friends

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@louorns what will its value be to midfields not just next szn but in 3-5 szns’ time?

Already seeing big space athletes cancelling out other big space athletes bc as teams cover ground quicker the game becomes smaller, not bigger. Game will shift back to small space qualities v soon.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

This was already covered in the last 18 months, and the conversations became very comfortable very quickly.

That’s why we’re advocating for him. We’re just watching them play out again with a different audience.

[luke @louorns]

Mainoo is obviously good but I think in 3 or so years time people are going to have uncomfortable conversations about the idea of him compared to the reality. His profile of player is unique but also not desirable for managers despite having huge quality as a carrier/combo player

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@louorns It’s not a case of overhyping him - he won’t be a 100% complete midfielder in the same way Elliot Anderson will never dictate tempo with the variety and sophistication of a top level 6. So the question is what does he have the capacity to improve upon that ties to his USP and

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@louorns People will target his lack of direct ball progression as a failing but a team with him on the pitch progresses better. And in England and the PL we always value winning the ball back significantly more than keeping it, & blocking passing lanes more than being able negate blocks.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@suyashft The identity of English football is tied to anti-intellectualism, G&A stats and raw athleticism is so deep rooted that even our foreign managers have refused to try and shift us away from it & towards something that would actually make the most of our talent pool.

[𝚜𝚞𝚢𝚊𝚜𝚑 @suyashft]

Like Mainoo, Scott, Foden & Palmer.

Used to be Scholes & Carrick before.

[Lippy @LickshotLippy]

English football is horrible if we’re being honest. The best English players are the ones that play the least English

[𝐿. @lebzygold]

The ones who trusted him in a pivot got a Euros final appearance, FA Cup win vs. City + an unlikely top 3 finish. One who didn’t is statistically the worst manager in United’s modern history + we are all seeing how England are performing tonight, even if they do manage to win anyway.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

Oh I know Tuchel’s trolling us now.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

Sure enough.

Continuing the PL 25/26 theme of trying to be the world’s best midtable side

[Adroit Cadet @Adroit_Cadet]

Look, in the end Panama don’t have the quality to keep England out for another 45

It’ll be a huge shock if they don’t cave in and concede 2-3. It’s draining to constantly have your block shifted, covering passing lanes, going direct, etc.

But it won’t take away from the fact this has been poor from Tuchel’s side, once again

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

Been reading that Anderson is the English Pirlo, or the English Thiago Alcantara. At best he’s an English Declan Rice.

And that’s fine, but let’s stop insulting the memory of these great ex-players.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@MC_of_A @19Ahmed64 Not now no, but if Kobbie might be if he drops off significantly in the next 5 years

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@BigNatexd05 Yeah, the problem with a lot of these arbitrary buzzwords is that people put all focus on the pigeonholing and none into the building blocks required to fit in one or the other, or the environmental factors influencing the player’s current behaviour.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@livermorej92 The conversation was not about cost. The conversation was and is about how far removed these derived figures are from sentiment at the time, for a multitude of reasons all smoothed off by this gross oversimplification.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

Btw this requires me to accept that Elliot Anderson is of equivalent value to Alan Shearer.

Data is nothing without context.

[FPL CITY @livermorej92]

@HoffBeadle If we assume that 116m for Anderson will be the biggest fee paid by an English club this summer following thr 96/97 metrics the total league spend would be 1.3bn. Average club spend would be 65m and the second highest fee 60m. Do you see how similar the data is?

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@livermorej92 I’m not interested in whether or not you have run the numbers. The whole point is that the numbers do not stack up to sentiment at the time, which emphasises that the fulcrum around which the numbers should pivot is clearly in the wrong place.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

These inflationary values are really silly. Nobody felt at the time as though Dwight Yorke was moving for more than Elliot Anderson is now.

And this is PL only - this would put Zidane & Lentini at >£1bn and Serie A clubs were paying £400m+ fees on Vieri, Chiesa, Crespo, Buffon…

[Kieran Maguire @KieranMaguire]

Elliot Anderson's deal at £116m puts him 31st in the all time Premier League inflation adjusted transfer fee list, now updated for 2026/27 prices.

[HoffBeadle @HoffBeadle]

@livermorej92 As someone who was alive and cognisant at the time, no they weren’t.

Here’s some perspective - Dwight Yorke (not Alan Shearer) was the 7th highest priced signing in 98/99 across all leagues. He wouldn’t have been top 5 in Serie A. He was less than half the top signing there.