MacKinnon x McDavid probably the most enthralling thing anyone could possibly watch ever (since last week when Crosby was also in the line)

Men’s national hockey with NHL players feels like watching people from another universe, it’s absolutely unbelievable, never seen anything like it

I don’t think it’s appreciated how good Cunha is honestly

I mean I’d have gone 4231 with Dorgu RW today too but it feels so disingenuous to talk nonsense about this United team if you have even so much as looked at the list of players available right now

United are like the 7-8th best team in the PL with the 7-8th best squad and sit 6th. 4 pts off 2nd, 10 clear of 18th. By most bottom line metrics (expected/actual GD and Pts) they are projected +15-20 pts and +6-10 league positions on last year. I don't get the hate. The team is fine. Change my view

Striker on pace to score 40 vs defence on pace to concede 20 like a statistical experiment except it’s the actual Premier League season

Honestly I went from actively disliking baseball a few weeks ago to being mesmerized for like 3 hours tonight, and the team I was rooting for lost. What an outstanding game

Not gonna overreact but Cunha is literally peak Pogba and Martial in one player

Not gonna gloryhunt baseball, however,,, 🍁

You guys should check this out www.linkedin.com/posts/twelve...

I don’t post much anymore for many reasons, but IMO we’re hitting a level on the podcast we’ve never hit before. We disagree in many ways with most of the public United discourse and big voices in the space ab Amorim. I think if you’re interested in my work / United you should tune in

Hear me out: – United have played 3 of last year’s T4 so far – They have 10 points from 7 – They will sit ~10th on Monday – Their xGD is a bit skewed, but they will sit roughly 5th/6th on xGD After they play Liverpool next week, they have a run of 13 matches with no T4 opposition (1/2)

Didn’t have a chance to submit my Top 10 this year, but you should really tap into SCOUTED if you haven’t yet. Substantive, high-effort, knowledgeable football coverage is not easy to come by on the internet these days

We all finally stopped taking the bait with Sunderland signing under-the-radar young talent from other leagues to try and survive the PL, only for them to get over 30% of the points they need in their first 6 games

I am now on the Josh King train. Overturned due to reasons out of his control but he just scored an Mbappe goal on Chelsea’s head. Really good against United last week too. 18 years old. The skill and composure are all there and he’s clearly physically at the level

Holy moly Arsenal SWUNG this summer

One of the most unique players I’ve ever watched. Hyped to see this if it happens

I missed the game but my sense is things are pretty bad

I’m audibly heated in this and Kees is very patient with me, but do think the discussion is as substantive and nuanced as we were hoping for. The easy default is thinking we’re saying Amorim is good or deserves the benefit of the doubt when we’re not. We’re saying he isn’t being given a fair shake

A lot of "Amorim's tactics are a bigger problem than the midfield", and maybe I'm being reductive, but I honestly think this is a case where the obvious answer (that the midfielders are bad) is far and away the best and biggest one

Gameweek 2 and midfield situation has already reached “where do we go from here” at United. How can any coach be expected to do anything when this glaring hole never gets addressed?

This type of forward is constantly undervalued by analysts who either overindex looking good in the tape or stats guys looking at on-ball impact on pie charts. Only one player can have the ball, passers need receivers. There is huge value in sniffing out shots teams otherwise wouldn’t get

People born after the stock market crash are now allowed to play first team football for Arsenal?!?!

Everton showing real ambition. Dibling is a Big 6 level prospect relative to age. My only concern is how top-heavy it’s looking. Beto, Barry, Ndiaye, Grealish, KDH, McNeil, Dibling… solid PL players are going to have to sit while less solid players continue to get minutes for them in deeper roles

Don’t know much about Lammens but the general idea of this move seems wise. It leaves United, as often is the case, a few good midfielders away from a serious squad

None of them bonafide superstars but I think Eze, Gyokeres, and Madueke are all good enough players to test how much better Arsenal can get at cracking games open in attack without dismantling the defensive solidity that has led them into title contention to begin with

Losing like that to that goal is so frustrating. But I guess it’s better than being bad

Bayindir is not a PL goalkeeper. Cunha is the type of forward who can crack open huge games. Huge shift in the press from the front 5 although Arsenal were horrible. Since Hojlund is leaving, United need strikers. Can’t go without when Sesko isn’t playing

Elliot Anderson is legitimately one of the better midfielders in the Premier League at 22, fair enough. Physical, strong in duels, can turn and progress the ball in multiple ways

Reijnders and Cherki… what a way to kick off another stomach-churning half decade of me watching my favourite players at City and Liverpool

Sunderland have cool players doing cool things but they’re getting smoked in both boxes by pretty average PL opposition. I am, as I was, worried #EPL-live

£200m on attackers and went broke again just in time to prevent them from ever fixing the midfield. Every year they invent new ways of doing it

Ouattara is so legit, love how even in this day and age big teams sleep on guys like this

Listening to Kees rattle off insightful thoughts about team after team while I crack subpar jokes is the best way for you to load up the Premier League season

Waiting to see what the fee on this ends up being but guessing it’ll be bad for Fulham. Muniz is good and young. Fulham have a very low chance of relegation. Cashing out to Atalanta (where his value will rocket) so they can invest in Raul Jimenez is wild

AC Milan paying €6m to fix Hojlund for a year when they’re unlikely to pay €45m to buy him seems like a good scenario for United. Very much a last chance for Hojlund at the top level though. I personally still think he has way too many strings to his bow to be as bad as he looked last year

Honestly I think this actually turned out really well but I’ll let you be the judge of that :)

This is a nice gamble for Villa. Fee is about half what PL teams have been paying for good mid-20s PL attackers and I think Guessand most likely ends up being just as good as many of those guys (across multiple positions)

Prices aside, if I could pick any one player in the world that isn’t already at a superclub for United to sign, it would probably be Baleba. And so I am walking around today with a smile on my face. Silly season is BACK

Palhinha on loan one of the most obvious good deals of the summer. €51m last summer was such a farce. The people running football even at the pinnacles are still doing nowhere near enough process control or due diligence before spending their money

The way Rashford’s time at United has ended has been sad and disheartening. The way people are understating how successful and important his United career has been is outright annoying. Rash could never kick a ball again and he would still be a massive, almost unprecedented success story

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Always find criticisms of my “positivity” funny. United are one of the richest clubs in football with one of the highest salary bills. They finished 15th last season, missed CL in 3/4 seasons, and spent over £750m+ in transfers this decade. Do you want me to lie?

£135m dropped and no striker, no midfielders, and no wingbacks. No young prospects. No league-leading forwards. I think it’s now fair to say we might be cooked

Alvaro is good – ball striking in particular has huge upside – but is he €50m starter for Real Madrid good? I think it’s possible but the proof is not in the career mins he’s played to date. Good for him though

Are Gyokeres and Madueke the guys to take Arsenal to the title? I have no idea. But they are very good forwards who break games in different ways, joining a team that can do everything except break games in different ways. Arsenal should have been sanctioning gambles of this sort since 2023

Sunderland are on a heater this summer. They’re going to either stay up or make millions in transfer profits (or both)

Replacing Jorginho with a starter in Zubimendi and Partey with Norgaard for depth makes total sense. It’s also €70m+ on deep-lying midfielders again when they’re crying out for output… again. Just do the thing City and Liverpool don’t want you to do

Was waiting to see who would pick up Jashari. Really lovely player

A lot of people listening to "we think Mbeumo is good but not worth £50m" and leaving with "they think Mbeumo is BAD and shouldn't be signed by ANYONE". But this episode is probably a good example of what we are. We're trying to value transfers as opposed to explain whether the player is good