Vesper

he was until he blew out his Achilles tendon he has clearly lost a half of a step, which is so crucial for a speed merchant like him

not a lot to choose from (26yo and under EPL CMFs valued at or more than Dewsbury-Hall Alexis Mac Allister 🤩 Dominik Szoboszlai 🤩 Kobbie Mainoo 🤩 Matheus Nunes Pape Matar Sarr 🤩 João Gomes Curtis Jones Ryan Gravenberch Joe Willock

neither of which are valid reasons against him, nr is the fact he plays for Bologna (in the CL now btw) and also btw

strong statement from me and I mean it, as I can no longer sit and watch the attempted gaslighting/false slating: People who shit on players in a Big 5 league mainly (or to a large degree) because they play for a non 'top 15 or 20 in the world club' (ie a 'big club') are clueless and do not understand football talent. Full fucking stop. I have seen this bollocks for years here, and the old board/scouts did it with WC players like Camavinga, Tchou, Nicolò Barella (pre Inter), William Saliba, Victor Osimhen (prenapoli) Gabriel Magalhães, Rodri (pre AM), etc

another option likely off the board

it matters a lot for 2 positions, fullback/wingback and winger below that CB, to a point the rest not so much at all

I think he and Levi would soon be the go-to paring in a back 4, and add-in Tosin if a back 5 I am good with Tosin and Cala in back 4 too and if/when Chilwell gets injured again, Cala is a great LB back-up option to CuCu footedness is not THAT huge of an issue Calafiori and Bastoni are both lefties and yet paired well for Italy

one who is semi dross (Badi) one who is unproven (Levi) and a LB who is always injured (Chilly) nothing changes those facts atm

hard pass crazy wages I rate all of the following remotely available right footed CBs over de Ligt (it is a small 'd') - not including Giorgio Scalvini as he is injured, so not available until 2025) Ronald Araujo Bremer Leny Yoro (but Real want him, so not likely) António Silva Jean-Clair Todibo

he was easily their best player in a 97 point season with a +48 GD I am not ecstastic over buying him, I would prefer the ones I listed above, espevially Pablo Barrios from AM (pic below), but I am ok with Dewsbury-Hall it is silly to call him Drinkwater 2.0, as some are doing

Chelsea complete Marc Guiu signing from Barcelona https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5593053/2024/07/01/marc-guiu-Chelsea-barcelona-transfer/ Chelsea have completed the signing of 18-year-old striker Marc Guiu from Barcelona. He has signed a six-year deal to keep him at the club until 2030. The Athletic reported Chelsea had reached an agreement in principle to sign Guiu and were set to activate a €6million release clause in his Barcelona contract. He is being seen as a Chelsea acquisition rather than one for Strasbourg, who are in their multi-club model and already used as an alternative venue to develop players. “It’s an immense joy to sign for Chelsea and I struggled to sleep ahead of the journey here because I was so excited,” Guiu said. “Ever since I was small, it was my dream to play in the Premier League. “Now I have the opportunity to come here to Chelsea and I will work my hardest to be successful for the club.” Guiu is a product of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy, having been at the club since 2013. He rose to prominence last season after scoring a match-winning goal in October’s 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao to become Barcelona’s youngest-ever player to score on debut, at the age of 17 years and 291 days. GO DEEPER Marc Guiu: Barcelona's 17-year-old match-winner transforms his world in 23 seconds Guiu first appeared in the first team squad during pre-season in 2023, featuring on Barcelona’s tour of Japan. Guiu subsequently spent last season alternating between Barcelona’s first team and Barcelona Athletic, the club’s reserve side which plays in the Spanish third tier. The Spain youth international made seven first-team appearances during the campaign, scoring twice. Chelsea have been in the market for striking reinforcements this summer, with Nicolas Jackson their first-choice centre-forward last season. The Athletic reported they had an offer of €32.5million (£27.4m) plus add-ons rejected for Atletico Madrid forward Samu Omorodion. They have also held talks with the representatives of Lille striker Jonathan David, and held an interest in Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran. Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, David Datro Fofana and Mason Burstow are among the attacking options returning to Stamford Bridge this summer following loan spells last season.

disasterclass buys, especially the first two I lost my shit on all 4

Inside Manchester United’s front-of-shirt deal: $75m per year, no Champions League clause https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5604561/2024/07/01/manchester-united-snapdragon-sponsorship-news/ By the summer of 2023, Manchester United had endured a decade of strife. Without a Premier League title since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, United had reached the Champions League quarter-finals only twice in those 10 years and were onto their fifth permanent manager in Erik ten Hag. The club appeared to be up for the sale and their historic Old Trafford stadium and Carrington training facilities both required vital modernisation. Against this backdrop, United ventured into the market for a new front-of-shirt sponsor. The Germany-based software firm TeamViewer announced in 2022 it did not intend to renew a five-year agreement with United worth £47million (£37m at current rates) per annum, which had only begun in 2021. By December 2022, United and TeamViewer reached an agreement that allowed the club to buy back the rights to their front-of-shirt sponsorship. The search took Victoria Timpson, United’s CEO of alliances and partnerships, to San Diego in California, where she asked Don McGuire, the chief marketing officer (CMO) of Qualcomm, a U.S. technology firm and an existing United partner, if it might step up to the plate. After months of negotiations, a deal was agreed: a three-year contract worth $225million. United’s new home kit, unveiled today, features Snapdragon, a Qualcomm subsidiary, as the most prominent sponsor on a jersey that will be worn in matches by both the club’s men’s and women’s teams. Snapdragon, in case you are wondering, produces the chips or processors found in an estimated three billion devices globally, across smartphones, PCs, virtual reality, gaming and cars. In an interview with The Athletic, CMO McGuire reveals: Snapdragon has an option to extend for two further years beyond the initial three-year agreement. The $75million annual sponsorship is not contingent on United qualifying for the Champions League, and they will not be penalised if they spend consecutive seasons outside what is Europe’s elite club competition. Snapdragon will have the option to place a charity’s name on the front of United’s jerseys for one game per season to promote good causes. The Snapdragon CMO stated it would make a “lot of sense” and would be “positive” for the Premier League to take one-off regular season games involving United outside of England to key markets such as the U.S. Snapdragon would like to host United’s women’s team on a tour of the United States, including a potential exhibition match against NWSL side San Diego Wave, who play at the Snapdragon Stadium in California. Speaking from his office in San Diego, McGuire explains how and why Snapdragon believed United, for all their flaws in recent times, remained a hugely appealing club to sponsor. The firm, which also sponsors the Mercedes Formula 1 motor-racing team, enlisted the support of CAA Sports agency to help analyse across leagues and teams in multiple sports, and also looked closely at cricket. “Football is obviously the biggest sport in the world,” McGuire says. “That provides great reach, and the premium football is Premier League. “We could have done a deal with the Premier League centrally. We could have done a deal just with F1 versus going in at the team level. But philosophically, teams are where passion is. People love teams, they love drivers, they love players. They don’t necessarily care about the league. The league is just there to set rules and put on a show. So, we chose Manchester United for several reasons. One is scale: United have 1.1billion fans worldwide.” United have long used this number, including when the club pitched to investors including petrochemicals firm INEOS and the Qatari Sheikh Jassim during a strategic review that culminated in INEOS head Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquiring 25 per cent of the club and securing control of their football and business operations. Does McGuire actually believe United have 1.1billion fans? And if so, then how is a fan defined in this case? GO DEEPER Explained: What INEOS' investment means for Manchester United “You look at jersey sales worldwide,” he says. “They sell more than anybody. You look at engagement on social media. We broke it down by country; 253million in China. China is their biggest fanbase, which is a really important market for me. India is their second largest fanbase and then the U.S. is third. “It’s about the global reach of the brand and the franchise in markets that I care about, because Snapdragon is a global brand. So I need to think about these things outside of the UK, outside of the competition between Man City and Man United. That’s great drama, great fodder and great understory. But I’m looking big. I’m looking global. What is going to give me best bang for my buck for a return on investment? That’s how we narrowed in on Manchester United.” McGuire admits that the financial commitment to this deal required internal persuasion at Qualcomm. “I was pushing a boulder up a hill a little bit, because we’ve never done anything this big before,” he says. “The equivalent of a broadcast exposure for a front-of-shirt partner for Manchester United in any given match could be as high as a Super Bowl advertisement. So imagine 40-plus matches a year. ‘You can give me hundreds of millions of dollars for me to go and just advertise around the world, or we can do this for much more cost-effective numbers’.” This deal will be among the last secured by Timpson, the latest of a string of high-profile United executives leaving Old Trafford following the INEOS investment. She will be gone within three months, following the departures of the club’s former chief executive Richard Arnold, interim chief executive Patrick Stewart, chief financial officer Cliff Baty, chief communications and marketing executive Ellie Norman and football director John Murtough. GO DEEPER Richard Arnold's Manchester United legacy tied to Ten Hag, Ronaldo's exit and Greenwood One of Timpson’s roles in securing this deal was to ensure the tumult at the club did not impact United commercially. Her team managed to avoid any punitive clauses if United do not qualify for the Champions League. United’s kit deal with Adidas, for instance, involves a reduction if the club spend consecutive seasons outside of that competition. “Integrity is really important to us,” adds McGuire. “There’s several ways to win. You can win on the pitch. We want to be with the winner… We knew United were taking steps right to redirect football operations to move them into a different place. And we were confident in that for the long haul.” Last week, The Athletic revealed United are considering selling the naming rights to either a refurbished Old Trafford or a new stadium. This interview was conducted before that report was published but McGuire was asked, in light of the fact Snapdragon already sponsors a stadium in San Diego, whether it would consider a similar approach with United. McGuire explains that Snapdragon is already assisting with improving wi-fi within Old Trafford and at Carrington, where he says connectivity had been “lacklustre” because the training complex is in the countryside, south-west of Manchester. “If we want to go deeper, it’s really going to depend on the results that we see,” McGuire says when asked about naming rights. “And do we believe we could get anything more out of it? Because there is a law of diminishing returns with all things. “I’ll give you a perfect example. We’ve expanded our Mercedes Formula 1 relationship into the Formula 1 Academy. We think it makes sense for us to support the mission of the Formula 1 Academy, which is to produce the first female Formula 1 driver eventually. So expanding and wrapping our brand around Doriane Pin, who’s the Mercedes, 20-year-old young woman in second place right now in Formula 1 Academy, we think that is a good thing for the brand. “If there’s that opportunity with Manchester United beyond front-of-shirt, if we believe there’s more to be nurtured and more to be farmed out of the relationship, we’ll certainly always look at that.” Discussions may be possible during United’s upcoming pre-season tour, during which they will face Real Betis at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on July 31. United also played against Wrexham in the same stadium last summer. The appetite for United in the U.S. is underlined by the fact their tour match against Liverpool, in South Carolina on August 3, sold out the 77,000-capacity stadium where it will be played within 15 minutes. Football’s world governing body FIFA is currently reviewing its policies in a move that may allow competitive regular-season domestic fixtures to be played outside a home country. This has led executives from both NBC (which broadcasts the Premier League in the U.S.) and CBS (U.S. broadcasters of the Champions League) to throw their weight behind the idea of playing one-off matches in the States. As United’s front-of-shirt partner, would this mean more positive exposure for Snapdragon? “Absolutely,” McGuire says. “Taking the NFL model and the MLB model, where they go abroad and they play regular-season games, that count towards their victories and their defeats. For the Premier League and European football in general to look at that, it makes a lot of sense. “With global football being so expansive and our brand being there no matter where in the world, it benefits me, so that’s fantastic. We just got the newest MLS (Major League Soccer) franchise here in San Diego, and they’ll be playing at Snapdragon Stadium (when the 2025 season begins early next year), so we’re super-happy about that. With David Beckham’s investment in Inter Miami and with the arrival of Lionel Messi and the World Cup in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada in 2026, we’ve got so much momentum. Then you have women’s football and the level of the U.S. national team and NWSL; the San Diego Wave also play in Snapdragon Stadium. “Building on that momentum and capturing that and then deciding, ‘Let’s put some actual regular-season matches in these other locations’ I think it is a positive for the league, whether it’s just the Premier League or European football in general. I think it’s amazing. It’s just about expansion of audience, right? So I think it’s great.” United’s women’s team have never played an exhibition match in the States, but this summer their fellow Women’s Super League sides Arsenal and Chelsea are travelling over to play against each other and face NWSL sides Washington Spirit and Gotham. McGuire, grinning, says: “We would love to have the Manchester United women’s team play San Diego Wave in Snapdragon Stadium. That would be phenomenal. We’ve actually talked about that. So we’d love to make that happen. I think the Wave would be totally down to do that as well. So yes, yes, yes and yes, in answer to that.”

Bove was a beast i n some of the Roma games I saw, but yes, he would be the bottom of those 5

I heard he also has a lederhosen fetish

Indeed, it is sophistry, and not even skillful sophistry. Wankistry?

Chalk and cheese as you cherry-picked from La Liga with 2 really solid, european qualifying teams versus poor ones from the Championship.

On 7 August 2019, Cancelo signed for Premier League club Manchester City on a six-year contract worth £27.4 million plus Danilo being sent to Juventus in part-exchange, equalling to £60 million, making him the most expensive right back ever.

Swedish site, translated Sky: Manchester United try to hijack Bayern's Olise deal https://www.fotbollskanalen.se/bloggar/sillybloggen/2024/06/30/sky-manchester-united-forsoker-kapa-bayerns-olise-affar/ Just over a week ago, The Athletic stated that Michael Olise, 22, had decided to go to Bayern Munich. All parties were expected to reach an agreement shortly. But since then it has been quiet around Crystal Palace's star winger. Until now. German Sky states on Sunday that the deal is not in danger - for now. However, Bayern Munich are said to want to complete the transfer as soon as possible as "many clubs" are trying to hijack the transfer, including Manchester United. At the moment, the giant from Old Trafford has not been successful in his attempts. Olise still wants to go to Bayern, where he is offered a contract until 2029. According to Sky, small details remain to be resolved between Bayern and Crystal Palace before the matter is signed, sealed and delivered. The mandatory medical examination is scheduled to take place next week if everything goes as planned, writes the television channel. The price tag is expected to be between 50-60 million pounds (around 660-800 million kroner). It remains to be seen if the Bundesliga giants manage to complete the transfer. Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester City are other clubs rumoured to be interested in the 22-year-old. Olise has a strong CV to show. From his outside position, Olise accounted for ten goals and six assists in just 19 games in the Premier League last season.

Tottenham favourites for Archie Gray after £40m move to Brentford collapses Gray returns to Leeds but could soon return to London Newcastle’s Elliot Anderson on his way to Forest for £35m https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jun/30/tottenham-favourites-for-archie-gray-after-40m-move-to-brentford-collapses

they can go fuck themselves with a chainsaw

Every UK CMF and DMF 25yo and under who is valued over 5m euros 1 Kobbie Mainoo Central Midfield 19 €50.00m 2 Conor Gallagher Central Midfield 24 €50.00m 3 Curtis Jones Central Midfield 23 €35.00m 4 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Central Midfield 25 €30.00m 5 Joe Willock Central Midfield 24 €30.00m 6 Lewis Miley Central Midfield 18 €22.00m 7 Alex Scott Central Midfield 20 €20.00m 8 Archie Gray Central Midfield 18 €18.00m 9 Carney Chukwuemeka Central Midfield 20 €15.00m 10 James McAtee Central Midfield 21 €12.00m 11 Tommy Doyle Central Midfield 22 €10.00m 12 Josh Dasilva Central Midfield 25 €10.00m 13 Charlie Patino Central Midfield 20 €9.00m 14 Josh Eccles Central Midfield 24 €7.00m 1 Declan Rice Defensive Midfield 25 €120.00m 2 Adam Wharton Defensive Midfield 20 €30.00m 3 James Garner Defensive Midfield 23 €22.00m 4 Jack Hinshelwood Defensive Midfield 19 €16.00m 5 Oliver Skipp Defensive Midfield 23 €15.00m 6 Flynn Downes Defensive Midfield 25 €9.00m 7 Tyler Morton Defensive Midfield 21 €8.00m 8 Hayden Hackney Defensive Midfield 22 €7.00m 1 Elliot Anderson Central Midfield 21 €15.00m 1 Billy Gilmour Defensive Midfield 23 €18.00m 1 Jordan James Central Midfield 19 €5.50m 1 Ethan Ampadu Defensive Midfield 23 €16.00m 1 Shea Charles Defensive Midfield 20 €10.00m

The Next in Atleti’s Long Line of Midfield Gems: Pablo Barrios https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/the-next-in-atletis-long-line-of-midfield-gems-pablo-barrios/ La Liga has no shortage of talented young midfielders with immense potential. I’m sure several spring to mind immediately – Jude Bellingham, Martin Zubimendi, Pedri, Eduardo Camavinga, Gavi… the list goes on and on. But there’s one man that deserves equal recognition with the others for his current abilities and seriously world-class potential: Pablo Barrios. My theory for why he doesn’t receive the same buzz as the others revolves around the identity of the team he plays for. Atlético Madrid, especially during their time with Diego Simeone at the helm, is not known for flashy or aesthetic football. As such, players do not get the same publicity as other teams in La Liga, especially compared to their cross-town rivals. Funny enough, that was almost Barrios’ path. When he was five, he started his career with local Madrid youth team Escuela Deportiva Moratalaz. From there, he was noticed by Real Madrid scouts and joined La Fábrica in 2011. However, in 2017, he moved to the east side of the Spanish capital and signed with Atlético Madrid on a free transfer. Since then, he moved up the ranks of the youth system until he eventually broke through to the first team in 2022. Part of the reason Barrios broke through into the first team at such a young age, in addition to his talent of course, is because he possesses many traits Diego Simeone values in a midfielder. Hard-working, tough, no-nonsense, happy to put a foot in, you get the picture. If you’ve never watched Pablo closely, but you have seen Saul Niguez, Koke, Marcos Llorrente, etc., then you’ll understand the profile of the player. However, he has some additional technical abilities in his profile not usually seen in the traditional rugged Atleti side, which I would like to explore with you. The best way to understand a player’s profile (in my opinion, anyways) is to look at select underlying statistics. You might be thinking of stats like xG but it (and many others) are highly situational and influenced heavily by the team around the player, especially on a game-to-game basis. I prefer to distill it down to eight statistics, which can be broken down into two buckets: where the player touches the ball, and how they progress the ball in possession. Everything else is just noise. Within the possession bucket, I look at the total volume of touches, then the number of touches in each of the defensive, midfield, and attacking thirds of the field. For progression, I look at the total volume of progressive actions, then at the per 90 count of progressive carries, passes, and receptions. It may seem over-simplified, but it really helps you quickly understand how the player operates during the vast majority of the game that isn’t shown in YouTube highlights. The graph I shared displays Barrios’ percentile rank among all midfielders with at least eight 90’s in a La Liga season, from the ‘21/22 season through right now. A couple observations we can make about his evolution from last season to this: he’s migrating further back on the pitch in possession, seeing more of the ball in the defensive third and much less in the attacking third. With that, his total progressive actions have declined, but his progressive carries have actually increased. This is quite an uncommon occurrence. Progressive carries (and all other dribbling stats in general) are highly correlated with players being further up the pitch. Typically, players that make a defensive shift like Barrios will see their ball carrying go down, but their progressive passing figures increase. Let’s explore this anomaly a bit further by analyzing Barrios’ dribbling statistics: Using the same sample group of 485 La Liga midfielders to have logged 720 minutes or more in a league season from 2021 to now, I’ve plotted their take on attempts per 90 minutes on the X axis and their take on success rate on the Y. The dotted lines illustrate one standard deviation above the median number, providing a way to visualize players with exceptional volume (to the right) or exceptional effectiveness (above). You’ll notice that basically nobody rates as exceptional in both aspects. This is to be expected – the higher volume of take ons a player attempts, the lower the success rate. I have many theories for why this is the case, but it bears itself out across every sample group I have ever studied. For our man in question, you’ll see he has attempted fewer take ons this season than last, but has seen a dramatic jump in effectiveness. It took me a while to wrap my head around this, as I expected the opposite; Pablo’s progressive carries per 90 minutes rose this season. Why have his dribble take ons decreased? Then, it hit me. Opta has a bit of a complicated definition for a progressive carry, but it effectively boils down to any carry that advances the ball 10 yards or more to the opponents goal line from the furthest point forward of any pass within the past 6 before the carry. Only carries ending in the opposition’s half of the pitch count, and any carry that ends in the opposition’s 18 yard box, regardless of distance covered, is a progressive carry. In other words: carries that move the ball forward, excluding carries in less threatening parts of the pitch. With Barrios’ move further toward Atleti’s defensive half when in possession, he’s been afforded the opportunity to carry the ball forward more into open areas of the pitch, rather than having to pick out a pass or take on a player during the carry. As well, when he does take on players off the dribble, he has become better at it (and likely more selective), hence the big jump in effectiveness. In fact, Barrios’ 77.5% take on success rate is the highest on Atlético Madrid in both of the past two seasons. Given the above observations, I feel pretty confident that despite the overall decline in progressive actions from last season to this one, Pablo Barrios is becoming a more effective progressor of the ball with his new, deeper positioning. For what it’s worth, even though his progressive passes/90 has dropped from 6.38 to 5.55, his progressive passing distance is actually up slightly this year, so again, what he’s lost in volume he’s making up for in effectiveness. The other side of the coin to consider when a player becomes more defensive minded: does their defensive activity match the positional shift? While defenders (especially center backs) can be hit or miss in terms of volume of defensive actions, the best ones always have high effectiveness metrics (aerial duel win rate, tackle success rate, etc.). This is not the case for midfielders, however, as volume of defensive actions is king. Let’s take a look at Barrios’ numbers over the past two seasons. His blocks/90 has gone down slightly, but everything else is up compared to where he was last year. Challenges (the defensive action equivalent to take ons) and interceptions are two of the most important stats in my eyes for a midfielder, as they show the highest level of defensive awareness. And Barrios has made his biggest strides in these categories. Tackles/90 minutes was the one I was surprised to see only increase slightly, as this is the one I have observed seeing the biggest increase for midfielders taking on more defensive responsibilities (a subjective observation – not something I’ve actually studied). So, let’s take a closer look at the zones in which Barrios’ is winning his tackles. If you’ll remember back to the initial radar chart I shared, he’s seen a big increase in defensive area touches, slight decrease in the midfield, and big drop in the attacking third. This bears itself out in the tackle attempts as well: a big increase in the defensive third and huge decline in the attacking third. Curiously, though, he’s winning more in the midfield as well, which is a sign that his effectiveness is improving overall. I previously compared Barrios to the classic Atleti midfielders, and while his tenacity and mentality aligns, his playstyle really does not. So – who might you have seen that I can most accurately compare Pablo to? Using my “Positioning and Progression in Possession” criteria, I found two very intriguing players. The first: Leon Goretzka. Goretzka’s ‘22/23 campaign, to be specific. He rated as the most accurate comparison to Barrios’ ‘23/24 season marks. While the German sees more of the ball in the attacking third, their progression marks are nearly identical. They’re both taller midfielders (Barrios at 6’0”, Goretzka at 6’2”), and have a reputation for being both physical, yet refined on the ball. My model does not use these as inputs, just additional similarities. Thinking about early career Leon Goretzka playing under a manager like Simeone gave me chills, but that might be what we get with Barrios. The other comparison? Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. The Cameroonian’s ‘21/22 campaign rated as the closest comp to the ‘22/23 version of Barrios, and the 8th closest to his ‘23/24 numbers, so it is probably the most accurate comparison. Thinking about it further – it makes total sense. Zambo Anguissa is a defensive-oriented, box-to-box midfielder with a unique willingness to start counters and progress the ball with his carrying rather than passing. This description is exactly what I hope to have detailed about Pablo Barrios and his playstyle to this point. Given this was Anguissa’s age 25 season profile, and Atleti’s man is still only 20 years old, it is a very promising sign for Barrios’ future prospects. If you take anything away from this piece, I’d like for you to understand that while Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid have a reputation for midfield bulldogs, Pablo Barrios is not that. He does check the box for the defensive effort level needed to play for the Argentine, but he offers an element of technical ability and effectiveness in ball carrying not often seen at the Wanda Metropolitano. He’s a really exciting prospect, he’s a really good player already, and any conversation involving the dearth of young midfield talent in La Liga is incomplete without mentioning the name Pablo Barrios.

Why Jonathan David appears destined for the Premier League: ‘A unique mentality to never stop’ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5600601/2024/06/29/Chelsea-jonathan-david-canada/ Jonathan David has always done things his own way. As a teenager he scored hat-tricks for fun in youth soccer in Ottawa, resulting in multiple Canadian MLS clubs offering him a spot in their academies. But he wanted to go straight to Europe. So he did, moving from the Ottawa Internationals to Belgium’s Gent in 2018, before joining Lille in 2020. David then patiently waited for the right opportunity to emerge for the next step of his career, perhaps staying at Lille for longer than expected through his five-year contract. Meanwhile, the spotlight grew, brightening this summer due to interest from the Premier League (his representatives have held talks with Chelsea), and even more so after he scored the goal sealing his country’s 1-0 win over Peru at Copa America — Canada’s first major tournament win in a generation. GO DEEPER Canada keep their cool to come of age at Copa America Further attention is unavoidable. Not that he craves it. At Copa America, one of the biggest tournaments he has played in, requests for interviews are often met with a smile, wave of the finger and shake of his head. Though when asked about speculation about his future, he did give an answer: “I’m still under contract. I have one more year. As of now, I’m a Lille player.” As of now. David is undoubtedly aware his next career step will come this summer. He appears destined for the Premier League, a league very few Canadian national team players have reached before. Is he ready? Whether it is his pure goalscoring, the quality he shows off the ball, or his composure in difficult moments, this season at Lille and this summer at Copa America has proven David is ready for the Premier League. Asked about his club future, the 24-year-old says he would like to play for a club like Barcelona one day. “You always want to play with the best players,” he said. His goal-scoring suggests he is heading in the right direct. Since landing in Europe aged 17, he has reached double figures in each of his last six domestic league campaigns, averaging 16.8 goals per season in the Belgian and French top divisions. His arrival at Lille coincided with a shock title win, partnering Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz at the top of a 4-4-2. Since then, his role has adapted to an all-action lone No.9 under Paulo Fonseca, bearing the brunt of goalscoring responsibility while also dropping deep to link with creative midfielders and help move his team up the pitch. David’s goals come from a variety of situations, helped by the fact he is so two-footed. Since joining Lille, he has scored 22 goals on his weaker left and shown his ability to finish from tight angles and awkward positions. “If you want to be a top striker, you have to be able to shoot and be very good with both feet so players can’t anticipate what foot you’re going to use,” David told Canadian media last June. “So that’s why I’ve worked on both feet. I’d say my left foot is pretty good but I think I can still get better.” It also makes him much more dangerous from close range, able to react to a variety of rebounds, cut-backs and crosses to finish first time on either foot. As we can see from his shot evolution chart below, most of David’s work takes place within the width of the six-yard box, with a noted increase in his average shot quality last season. Zooming out, his underlying numbers look encouragingly sustainable. The graph below compares his goal-scoring rate (blue line) with his expected goal-scoring rate (red line) based on the quality of opportunities falling his way, both excluding penalties. Not only does it show that David generally out-performs his expected output, but that the number of chances falling his way are steadily increasing. Both are signs that he can maintain a healthy scoring rate, particularly in a prolific chance-creating team. Perhaps he can do so by maintaining the straightforwardness that has become a hallmark of his game. “(David) brings a nice simplicity,” Robyn Gale, former Canada men’s national team mental and cultural manager, said of David during ahead of the 2022 World Cup. “Anytime I’ve had him tell me about a goal he scored, it’s very simple. He’s like, ‘I noticed the goalkeeper shifted this way. So I placed the ball there.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s simple.’ And I think he just brings a nice presence and simplicity to the pitch.” That simplicity was never more evident than in his goal against Peru. “In this situation, I’m just thinking that I have to put (the shot) on target,” David said, shrugging his shoulders. Much of David’s appeal to the biggest clubs will be his ability to drop deep and help progress play. His pass completion of 82 per cent was only bettered by a handful of strikers in Europe’s top five leagues last season, and he can bring other attacking players into the game with flicks and tricks around the box. Against Peru for example, his touchmap shows that he likes to combine with midfielders. Yet, with four touches in the penalty area and a break-away goal, that doesn’t always come at the expense of a striker’s presence. For Canada, there is no doubt who his strike partner is and will be for the duration of Copa America: Mallorca’s Cyle Larin. Larin and David are number one and number two in Canadian all-time scoring, with 26 of David’s 27 goals for Canada coming in competitive matches. “We’re just (playing) closer together now,” Larin said about David. “The more that happens, the more I think we can score more goals and be connected.” That stability of a near-constant partner up top means they have come to understand each other’s movements almost intrinsically. Larin and David were two of three players who got touches on the ball in the build-up to David’s goal against Peru. Yet what David does off the ball that should garner as much attention as his goalscoring. David has developed traits that make him more than just a poacher for goals. He might not be front and centre with every play for Canada, but he is still one of the team’s most intelligent players. Maybe that manifests in sniffing out the right areas to exploit and set up team-mates. Maybe that’s executing new Canada head coach Jesse Marsch’s press to make himself valuable defensively. Against Peru, David showcased defensive actions that were on par with some of Canada’s best defenders. David reads the game on a level that has consistently earned him praise both behind the scenes and in public from the Canadian team coaching staff. “(David) has such a unique mentality to never stop,” Marsch said. “He doesn’t take breaks on the pitch, he’s never caught by surprise. Even on a day where it’s very hot, you can see that he can cover the ground. He’s makes some defensive plays at the end of the match, all the way back in our box. “And then his ability to slow the game down and make final plays is ultimately what his real talent is. But I think a lot of people may miss the fact that he’s so clued in every moment that nothing really slips by.” Marsch coveted David when he was Leeds United manager in 2022. GO DEEPER 50 to watch - Jonathan David: The Canada striker determined to be a household name By evolving into a multi-dimensional player, David may have set himself up for the Premier League this summer in a way he has not in the past. “He gives the team what the team needs in the moments of the game,” said Canada team-mate Jonathan Osorio. “And he’s smart enough to realize that. That’s a superstar.” Indeed, this summer feels like the one that David launches into a new orbit by joining the a club with more reach globally, and with more challenges to present on the pitch. And who David is off the pitch could help equip him for the unique intensity that comes with playing in the Premier League. Still known colloquially throughout Canada’s team as “Iceman,” a name given to him by former Canada coach John Herdman, David takes the highs and lows of life as they come with a consistently measured demeanour. He keeps anxiety not at arm’s length, but rather so far out of sight he would need to squint to see it. “John is always Jonathan David, you can’t rattle him,” said Gale. “He operates on his own rhythm.” “(David) has been the same person since he’s been a kid,” Theo Bair, the Canadian forward who grew up playing against David in Ottawa, said. “He doesn’t talk too much, he’s unbelievably fast and is always a good finisher. And he will continue to be.” As part of Marsch’s overhaul of Canada both tactically and otherwise, and with a focus on youth and preparation for the 2026 World Cup, Canada’s head coach has named David to his leadership group. It’s an interesting step considering how introverted David can be, in the best sense of the term. It puts David on the precipice of having to speak to far more people, with a sense of responsibility he said he wanted ahead of the 2022 World Cup. So much has changed for David on and off the pitch between the World Cup to this summer. That newfound responsibility could help him with the next stage of his career. GO DEEPER Who has qualified for Copa America knockout stage - and who is out?