20 alternatives to Frenkie de Jong and where they rank? 🧵
Manchester United recently signed a Lead data scientist & his biggest job will be finding a DLP 6/8, if we can't get (or won't pursuit) Frenkie.
Let's start, as you can see Frenkie excels in progression & taking players on through the middle and usually players that do it a lot fail in efficiency, starting with out bottom 4. Caicedo is a safe & secure bet with… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
16. Gravenberch 15. Lepenant 14. Ricci 13. K Kone
Kone & Gravenberch are identical profiles. If ten Hag wanted an adv. 8 but can't get Ryan then Kone is an ideal choice- Both lose the ball in the process of driving up a lot.
In this set, Samuele Ricci is a safe choice high… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
12. Le fee 11. Ugarte 10. Kudus 9. Mac Allister
I've included Kudus because of the links & Ajax style + connection. He can be used as an 8 on the inside RHS. Mac Allister resembles Frenkie's pentagon in this set, not quite excelling like him but good-very good in the 5 areas.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The more rounded player in this group is Kephren Thuram (son of Lilian Thuram). Progresses through carries and taking players on whilst retaining the ball relatively higher. Kökçü of Feyenoord is a wild-card here,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
4. Kovacic 3. K Taylor 2. Maxime Lopez 1. Rice
Lopez (Sassuolo) & Rice are almost twins. Any club looking for Rice or losing Rice can also look for Lopez.
Efficient + Secure!
Don't risk taking players on but keep the ball to a very high-rate whist managing to progress it in high… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Some honorable mentions:
Y Fofana
Seko Fofana
Paredes
Rabiot
Barella
Salis Abdul Samed
Rovella (similar to Paredes- efficient & secure, pass well but don't take-on or carry- static 6 type that progress through passing)
My conclusion is Frenkie's profile is rare- excelling in all areas with high efficiency and very good retention in spite of taking players on. I won't be surprised if not just ten Hag but the club is stubborn and pursuit de Jong longer than we like (although a deadline would… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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Thanks for your time people, let me know if you have any name and if they are scoring well in the 5 key areas, I’ll post their graphic too!
On De Gea's kicking troubles v Betis, ten Hag said "I can't ignore it".
Also, why are United constantly linked to Brentford's Raya & Porto's Costa.
A quick look analysis of De Gea.
☆ De Gea has been known for his shot-stopping through superhuman reflexes but one look at his-
last few seasons shows a steep decline.
He was once an elite shot-stopper hence the rest of his flaws weren't concerning. Also, playing in pragmatic low blocks, he wasn't really demanded to play with the ball or come out to stop shots/ prevent chances. ten Hag eventually would-
mould this team to play the style of play he prefers which enables his team to dominate the ball in order to control games better, to create mor chances and buildup for it starts from the back. Some fans would say primary job of a goalkeeper is stop goals but De Gea has been-
Wout Weghorst's 🇳🇱 exquisite touch!
A mini thread. #MUFC
Let's take a look at some of his control and short passing.
Below, he receives a pass from Rashford, takes couple of touches and sends a pass with perfect weight that literally stops on Rashford's path. Here he's facing the goal.
Here, he receives a pass again from Rashford while moving and simply nudges it 1st time to Bruno. A pass on his 1st touch with his back to goal while on the run. (Video has been slowed down to 0.8x to observe his touch better)
Picked 1 player each from every department for reasons highlighted further below.
-Eriksen was very calm, kept it ticking and played like a natural CM.
-Martinez line breaking passes are a huge asset to ten Hag's progression principle.
-Weghorst's touch and back to goal play.
Observe a nice triangle between Rashford Bruno and Eriksen before Eriksen passes it onto the path of Bruno. (Recommend keeping the sound off from here onwards to avoid any disturbing sounds, the match sound is anyways absent in these videos)
This will be a long one, grab a coffee, water or whatever you like.
As it was quite obvious, there was man to man marking & pressing. Fred & Eriksen were shadows to KDB & Rodri respectively.
Also, the whole block was compact as much as and as often as they could. You could picture the whole outfield in this frame (everyone in the middle 3rd)
Casemiro offers a huge upgrade to Man Utd's midfield.
Even if you combine McTominay and Fred, Casemiro is better at all the attributes and much more.
So far, with Fred and McTominay either one had a quality that the other missed.
Casemiro adds steel to the team - provides both aerial prowess as well as strength in the ground battles and much needed energy.
He is going to take one or both of Fred & McTominay's position depending on how the team is set-up, a 4231 or 433.