Tag Archives: football

My AFCON 11

With the African Cup Of Nations kicking off, I have picked my AFCON 11 and a brief summary of each player. Hopefully, there may be some players you have not heard of. Please tell me yours!!

Goalkeeper: Andre Onana (Cameroon). Back with perfect timing for his nations home African Cup of Nations! Onana was arguably unlucky to receive 9-month ban having taken what he thought was paracetamol for a headache the day after a Champions league tie with Atalanta. He had actually accidentally taken Lasimac, a Furosemide-based diuretic, with Furosemide being on WADA banned list. Since leaving Barcelona due to the arrival of Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Onana has climbed through the ranks of Jong Ajax, to become the mainstay in between the sticks at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. As can be expected with any Barcelona or Ajax goalkeeper, Onana is brilliant with the ball at his feet, but additionally, he is very good with his hand distribution. Some writers noting his “netball style throw”. Onana’s shot save % is around 71% which only 1-6% below the likes of Alisson, Ter Stegen, Courtois, Ederson and Senegalese rival Eduard Mendy, which is why, up until his ban, he was routinely linked with big clubs across Europe. If the home nation are to go deep into AFCON, it is surely going to include some brilliant performances from the Ajax man.

Right-back: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco). Hakimi made his big-money move to Paris St Germain in the summer from Internazionale. Over Hakimi’s career, he has excelled well beyond the leading Right-back’s when it comes to his Goal’s+Assist’s per90. Admittedly, defensively, he can struggle when facing attackers 1v1, but in a proactive and pressing side, he is one of the strongest for pressures.

Left-back: Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria). Algeria are one of the most in-form teams going into the African Cup of Nations. Ramy Bensebaini could be a strong piece of the machine if Algeria are to impress. Defensively he is solid, with a better tackle per90 record than the top left-backs in Europe including Robertson, Chilwell and Theo Hernandez. Versus dribbles, he is among the best statistically and this is likewise in his pressing successes. Attacking wise Bensebaini is not as strong as the leading left-backs, but hopefully, he is able to impress at AFCON.

Centre-backs: Bouna Sarr (Senegal) and Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast). At this point, my natural position was to look at Kalidou Koulibaly. He has played more this season than either of my choices, however…when you look at the statistics, both Sarr and Bailly have been brilliant when they play. Sarr is part of a Bayern Munich side that is strong, whilst injuries and changing managers have left Bailly down the pecking order at Manchester United. Meanwhile, Koulibaly is the main man at Napoli and is having a brilliant season. That said, AFCON is not club form and Sarr will be a partner to Koulibaly in a strong Senegal team and Eric Bailly will be the main centre-back with Ivory Coast. Hopefully, all three are able to have strong tournaments in what is probably the most excited and highest level of quality AFCON in history.

Central-Midfield: Ilaix Moriba (Guinea), Amadou Diawara (Guinea) and Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia). With my midfield, I have actively tried to avoid the obvious names. Whilst Keita, Partey, Bennacer and the likes will no doubt have strong tournaments, the players I have picked are young and exciting players and names you may not have heard or seen much of.

Moriba joined RB Leipzig this season from Barcelona. RB Leipzig were quick to take advantage of the Barcelona financial situation, but no doubt the rise of Pedri and Gavi will have impacted Ilaix’s decision to go elsewhere. Other than Florian Wirtz, there is not a big name teenage central midfielder with a higher xG than Moriba per-90 minutes with 0.19 per-90. Moriba stands alongside Pedri as the leading completed at 55.8 passes per-90 and a high 91.5% accuracy.

Amadou Diawara is an exciting midfielder in the style of Ngolo Kante, Idrissa Gana Gueye or Yvies Bissouma. Unfortunately, due to injuries and changing of manager at Roma, Diawara has only started 82 games since his debut for Bologna in 2015-16. His statistics do not quite reach the likes of Kante or Bissouma, yet nevertheless, I am excited to see him in a high intensity Guinean midfield alongside Naby Keita.

Hannibal Mejbri is probably the biggest unknown of the midfield I have chosen, having played the grand total of 9 Premier League minutes for Manchester United. There is still no doubt of the Tunisian’s talent. Despite the lack of club appearances, Hannibal has played 4 times for his country and last season in Premier League-2 racked up a goal/assist ratio of 0.49 per-90. I would highly recommend a trip to Youtube to see Hannibal’s best skills! Although, of course this isn’t always the most accurate measure of a player.

Right-Forward: Jeremie Boga (Ivory Coast). Boga has been a big part of a very exciting Sassuolo side since 2018-19. Having come through the Chelsea conveyor belt, Boga was only able to make 1 appearance for the Blues. He can play in Midfield or as an attacker and has a Shot-creation rate of 3.09 per-90 this season in the league. Unfortunately, Boga is in a strong Ivorian side and may not feature in every game, but when you consider he has a higher successful dribble % than Mohammed Salah, he is an exciting player to look out for when he does play.

Left-Forward: Ismaila Sarr (Senegal). “Take care of my boy” Sadio Mane says to then Watford Captain, Troy Deeney, after Liverpool win 2-0 at Anfield on the 14th of December 2019. Roll forward to February 2020 and Isamaila Sarr is coming off the pitch at Vicarage road having scored twice against The Reds. From the moment Mane spoke so highly of Sarr, I have been monitoring him. This season has been hit by injuries and Watford’s poor Premier League form, yet Sarr has still scored 5 goals in just 12 appearances. The Mane link routinely creates noise that Liverpool are following Sarr’s progress and with dribbling statistics are on par with his international teammate’s and likewise with his shot-creation per-90 minute stats, it is easy to see why. Ironically, it may be Sadio Mane that keeps him out of the team for Senagal, but I for one hope we see him have a strong tournament!

Centre-forward: Sebastian Haller (Ivory Coast). The most goals in his first 5 Champions League games record! No not Cristiano Ronaldo, not Robert Lewandowski and not Lionel Messi. Sebastian Romain Teddy Haller of Ajax and Ivory Coast! I remember the first time I saw Haller playing for France in the Toulon Tournament in 2014 and since then I have been intrigued. After coming through at Auxerre, Haller had a good scoring record for Utrecht and Eintracht Frankfurt. However, British fans will mostly be familiar with his struggle at West Ham United. But I urge you to acknowledge this as a blip. West Ham were a very different team at that point and unfortunately, at 6 foot 1, Haller was played much as an outlet to hold up the ball, which has never been his strength. Since moving to Ajax, Haller has a goal-scoring ratio of over a goal every 2 games and this season a goal + assist ratio of 1 per game. The Ivorian will no doubt have a massive part to play if his country are to go far in the tournament. Finally, his comments regarding the lack of respect for a tournament that is older than the European Championship, definitely score points with me.

I hope you enjoy this read and the African Cup of Nations. Let me know which players you are looking forward to seeing.

✌⚽ Hopper.

How to build Newcastle.

With the signing of Trippier but the loss to Cambridge United, it is clear that Newcastle are both on the right track, but a hell of a long way from the place we all know they are headed.

In recent weeks, we have seen Newcastle linked with Digne, Tarkowski, Ekitike, Wood, Coutinho, Ramsey, Bale, Isco, Rivaldo, Bobby and Jack Charlton, Shearer, Keegan and Messi. But which signings are both feasible, but also would be sensible at this time.

At this point in time, the most important thing for Newcastle is to do is finish above the three teams they are adrift with currently, Norwich, Watford and Burnley.

As things stand, Norwich sit bottom having played 19 and gained 10 points, Newcastle 19th, played 19 and 11 points, Burnley 18th, played 17 and 11 points and Watford just outside the relegation zone on 13 points having played 18 games. You would like to think Leeds, Everton and Southampton are clear with an 8 point gap for the former 2 and 10 for the latter. Although, in football, stranger things have happened.

With Burnley having two games in hand over Newcastle, it is out of Eddie Howe’s team’s hands to a certain degree. But…is it?

Currently, the January transfer window is open and as previously stated, Newcastle are linked with a lot of players. Whilst my default position on transfers is to suggest buying young and moulding players to be the ultimate approach to squad and club building, it is clear that Newcastle do not have the time for this. Therefore, I would opt not to sign the likes of Ekitike at this point. Newcastle need to view this transfer window as a standalone, get the job done window. In the summer there is time for a long term, strategy based, recruitment process. Right now, Newcastle need experience and know how to get through this season and remain a Premier League side.

The next group of players Newcastle are linked with are the players who at one point would have been the players sought after world wide. Decisions will need to be made by the Newcastle recruitment team, which of these players can deliver the aforementioned experience and know how, and which of these players are washed up, past it and looking for a last pay day. The other red herring to avoid would be the mercenaries. We all remember in the early days of Manchester City as the Abu Dhabi group came in, Robinho’s arrival. It is important to remember that in the earlier days of Qatar’s stewardship Paris Saint-Germain there were as many flops as there were success stories. Consider Zenit Saint-Petersburg, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and basically every club in China, and I’m sure Newcastle have enough evidence to guide themselves through the turbulent, rocky, waters, in which Agents are in their natural territory and your years in business will leave you scuba diving without flippers surrounded by the sharks.

However, Manchester City did stumble onto a strategy that worked and continued to do so throughout their path to Premier League dominance.

At the end of the 2008/09 Robinho and Jo season, Manchester City sat in 10th. Among the clubs above them in 4th, 5th and 6th sat Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa. Whilst there were 7th, 8th and 9th between them, City were only 3 points behind Fulham in 7th. However, the gap between 7th and 6th was a sizeable 9 points, making it 12 points for Manchester City to gain, in order to take the next step in their progression.

Queue the 2009 summer transfer window. In comes Emmanuel Adebayor, who with 10 league goals, was Arsenal’s second highest scorer (the first being Robin Van Persie with 11 goals). With Adebayor, came Kolo Toure, an experienced Premier League winning Centre-back who played 29 of Arsenal’s league games the previous season. Joining them, Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa captain and Joleon Lescott, off the back of a good two seasons with Everton, in which he had also played regularly for England.

This strategy, not only strengthened Manchester City, but directly weakened the teams who were in the next places they wanted to head. The 2009/10 season saw City finish above both Villa and Everton, with Liverpool, not Arsenal falling below them, Manchester City finishing 5th.

They continued this strategy season upon season. In 10/11, City strengthened

significantly. In came future club legends such as David Silva and Yaya Toure (joining his brother), along with Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Aleksander Kolorov. But they were all joined by James Milner of Aston Villa.

2011/12 saw Sergio Aguero joined by Arsenal’s Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. 2012/13, Jack Rodwell and in 2015/16 Raheem Sterling angered Liverpool fans by joining City having narrowly missing out in a title race with them just one season prior.

Nowadays, City have no need to cripple the teams around them, mostly because it is tough to do so when you consistently sit top of the pile. Although, they still indulge Pep Guardiola in the next big thing to give him projects. But they tend to go for a specific Pep Guardiola style player.

But for Newcastle, the chances of getting the Pep of the time and giving him the right toys to play with are a long way off. When they will be competing for the next Mbappe, Haaland or Bellingham. But if we come back to right now and the 2022 January transfer window. They could learn a lot from the Manchester City of a decade ago. Steer clear of a Robinho. Get yourself a Gareth Barry. Look at Burnley, Leeds, Everton and Southampton. Tomorrow look at Wolves, West Ham and Tottenham. The road is long.

My experience

For the last 10 years, I have been lucky enough to work at every level of football from grassroots to professional clubs.

I am currently Head of youth phase in the Welsh academy system and previously have coached in the English academy system.

Recently, I have completed my Masters degree in Football Coaching, which is in addition to my BSc Sports coaching degree and holding a UEFA B licence. I have coached, been an analyst, scouted and video scouted in my time in football.

My goal is to use my experience and knowledge about football to give nuanced opinion of certain themes and topics a few times a week. I will not try to exaggerate, click bait or give tribalist opinions of current form or results, if you are looking for football banter, I happily can suggest a whole array of Facebook pages for just these things.

I hope you enjoy the content I provide and I hope it can give a more in depth opinion from a football nerd, who just likes to express his views based on my expertise, experience and research.

Hope you enjoy, Hopper 🤙🏻