repman

I think SVH’s role, certainly for this season, was only ever going to be as a sub. If there were injuries maybe he’d get a shot but even then I’m not sure. With Rowe returning it seems like people are starting to wonder how we can fit Rowe/Sainz/Sara/Nunez into the same team. Barnes seems like the obvious choice in this scenario, there’s the question of whether Sara or Rowe go into that position but in terms of getting your best players onto the pitch all at once he’s the one to go. The only other option would be to drop Kenny into CB but that feels less likely. Had we not lost both Rowe and Hernandez (and others) to injury I don’t think this debate would ever really have popped up as the minutes would’ve been shared around a little better I think. As a sub option I think it’s clear why you’d go for SVH, he’s got good goalscoring pedigree from a young age and at the back end of games when you’re searching for a goal that could be what you need. Certainly his game seems to be more oriented to him being a penalty box striker, and I wouldn’t want him dropping deep in midfield based off what we’ve seen. I do think he’d be fine when we’re holding on to a lead, he’s a good target to aim at and fresh legs are always welcome at that point.

The pass going backwards is irrelevant, it's simply that the linesman didn't give it.

It'll be interesting to see how much staff turnover we see this summer at Colney. When Webber came in he brought quite a lot of people in in a short space of time, Weaver included. I think this time around there are better foundations but it also wouldn't hurt to get some fresh perspective in either.

The underlying numbers suggest the opposite though, there's certainly the factor of game state which would lead to us perhaps sitting back and conceding more shots while taking less but I think the difference is still pretty stark. Our xG difference in the first half since boxing day (last 20 games) comes out to an average of +0.25, so if we played like that for the full 90 we'd be around Ipswich but still below the other top 4 teams. In the 2nd half of games the average comes out at -0.15, which over a full 90 would equate to something like relegation standard. This has been even more apparent in the last few games, which I guess would lead us back around to the subs debate.

Really? I feel like we routinely fade as the game goes on, our default when sitting on a lead is to drop deep and I don't think I can recall many games this year where we've really ramped up the pressure in the last 10-15 minutes, even in games where we're behind. The most obvious case to me is Hull at home which was the opening day. I'm not sure it's strictly a fitness issue though. It's probably more to do with older legs, and more recently lack of subs, combined with us not being a possession heavy side like under Farke.

He doesn't though? His career mark is 48% vs Barnes' 37%, obviously a smaller sample size and there's some missing data too but considering SVH was also in his teens/early 20s for some of it then he's not exactly going to have full grown into his body by then. It's logical to suggest his physical game will improve as his body matures.

I doubt SVH is someone Knapper has been following for a long time considering his role at Arsenal wouldn't really have covered those bases. It's more likely he was one of a number of names on a list made by the recruitment department. The fact he'd had 2 good goalscoring seasons at a young age makes him somewhat of an outlier. That's probably what inspired the followed for a long time comment. When January came it was probably more a case of finding someone who was available on loan, rather than us getting the best possible target. What it did show though was that Knapper is going to go through the recruitment department for transfers and the manager's voice would no longer be the prominent one, as it has been every window since Webber joined bar last summer.

The main problem with Hwang was that he spent most of January in South Korea. With that situation going on it was hard to see him as an option.

Based off of this it's probably fair to say they've basically been the same player this season. The only real differentiators being some of the defensive counting stats, ie the aerials and clearances which are perhaps more indicative of team style. Also worth pointing out that Kenny has had a stint at CB which will pad those slightly (and dampen others). Kenny's carrying is better than Morsy too, probably the most underrated part of his game.

Our record did improve when Knapper walked in the door but truthfully we were pretty bad for a while even as we were picking up points. Only been the last 2 months when we've looked better.

It's funny how graphs can make things look to be fair, Kenny looks like the outlier but considering him and Sara have played basically the same amount of minutes it works out at him winning 7/8 more tackles over the course of the season. Nonetheless it's good to see them both grade out well here.

If we don't go up this year I think we are going to see lots of changes. I just can't see how we maintain such a high wage budget considering parachute payments will be no more. If that's the case, we will probably be looking to get as many high earners off the books, but considering most of them are 30+ that will be easier said than done. The first lot will presumably be done this summer with Gibson, Giannoulis and Batth all likely to be let go for nothing. We'll still need to plug the finances anyhow and that will have to come from player sales, at least 1 of Sara/Sarge/Rowe will go and possibly more than one if we need money to spend in other areas. I don't think Attanasio will be putting his pocket any more than he has done so far. If this is the situation we find ourselves in I don't think Wagner will be here, and I'm not sure he'd be massively keen either. We rolled the dice on this season and it might just pay off, but no matter the outcome I don't think we'll be doing similar again.

I really don’t see how Aboh or SVH for Barnes isn’t an improvement. He’s such a non threat at this point. As he’s probably staying on though I hope I reverse jinx him.

The SD shouldn’t interfere with selection, and I doubt Knapper is. However, the fact that the SD is the one who constructs the squad means you can at least force a managers hand more than they would like. Webber did this plenty of times with Farke, it was perhaps less obvious then as their success was tied into one another. I’m not sure that’s the case right now with Wagner & Knapper.

He’s injured more often than Sam Byram, that should say it all.