Tielemans to replace sold Bruno Fernandes? Or just Paul Ince ‘talking sh*te’ about Man Utd?

Manchester United replacing Bruno Fernandes with Youri Tielemans is rubbished, while the greatest left-footed footballers must be ranked.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

Youri having a laugh

I know that it’s the summer and pundits need to stretch even further to talk sh*te to justify still being paid to talk sh*te, but Paul Ince’s recent comments annoyed me. Petty, sure, but I can’t stand pundits making stupid statements while making decent money.

The below is from Ince on Fernandes possibly leaving utd.

“I think you’ve already got a ready replacement in Tielemans. I think he’s a wonderful player. I think he’s like Bruno Fernandes, takes set pieces, scores goals, scores great goals.

“He’s that type of player, Tielemans. Who’s to say that’s not the reason why they bought Tielemans in. You know, who’s to say that’s not the case?”

I am, Paul. Myself and anyone else with half a brain in their nut.

Scores goals does he? So the zero goals in the league last year didn’t suggest he may not be a prolific goal scorer? 26 Prem goals since 2019 for Tielemans, 71 since 2020 for Fernandes.

Fine, he doesn’t score goals Paul, you must have just forgotten that. But he could replace Bruno’s assists perhaps? Oh, he has 20 Premier league assists to Fernandes’s 72. While playing a season more.

Tielemans is a fantastic player, but an attacking maestro he is not.
Will (Has Ince watched Tielemans? Or looked at stats about anything. Ever.)

READ MORE: Have Manchester United made the signing of the season?

Maybe sometimes the best transfer is a no

I witnessed something at work today that, frankly, deserves its own Sky Sports graphic.

A big job came up. The sort of job that makes everyone suddenly sit up a little straighter in meetings.

The woman leaving the position had an assistant who was the obvious candidate. She knows the operation, knows the people, knows where all the bodies are buried; metaphorically, one hopes.

So she got the promotion. And then she turned it down. Her reason? She didn’t think she was ready.

Now, I found this fascinating because we have spent the last 20 years being told that ambition means saying yes to the next challenge. If the door opens, kick it in. If you’re offered the job, take it. If you’re not ready, apparently that’s precisely why you should accept it.

Football is basically built on this philosophy.

David Moyes was handed the Manchester United job in 2013 after Sir Alex Ferguson walked away having just won the Premier League. Moyes had spent more than a decade building Everton into a very respectable Premier League side. He had won the LMA Manager of the Year award three times.

Then he walked into Old Trafford and discovered that replacing Sir Alex Ferguson was not, in fact, the next level of the career ladder. It was climbing Mount Everest wearing flip flops. He lasted ten months.

And then there is Liam Rosenior. Rosenior had done excellent work at Strasbourg, earning a move to Chelsea in January this year. Chelsea gave him a contract through to 2032, which is football’s rather extravagant way of saying: “Welcome aboard, mate. We have absolutely no idea how this is going to go.” Three and a half months later, he was gone.

Obviously, neither Moyes nor Rosenior should be used as evidence that they shouldn’t have taken those jobs. That’s not really fair. Sometimes you have to take the big job to discover whether you are ready for the big job.

But here’s the thing my colleague made me think about today: What if sometimes you’re actually better off saying no? Not because you’re lazy. Not because you’re lacking ambition. Not because you don’t believe you can ever do it. But because you know that, right now, you’re a Championship manager being offered the Real Madrid job.

There is a strange macho/ manosphere culture around career progression. We’re constantly encouraged to “back ourselves”. And yes, absolutely. Back yourself. But perhaps backing yourself also means knowing when you need another season.

Footballers do it all the time. A 19 year old gets told he’s the next big thing, but instead of demanding a starting shirt, he goes out on loan. Gets minutes. Gets kicked around by some centre half called Gary. Learns the game. Comes back stronger.

Nobody calls that a lack of ambition. So why do we treat it differently at work? Maybe the most underrated career skill isn’t getting promoted. Maybe it’s knowing when you’re ready to be promoted. Because there is a big difference between being offered the captain’s armband and being ready to captain the side. And perhaps my colleague understood something that football managers occasionally don’t:

You don’t have to accept every job just because it’s a bigger job. Sometimes you can leave the contract unsigned, work on your game, get another 30 appearances under your belt and wait for the right opportunity. The job will still be there.

Well, probably. This is football, after all.
Gaptoothfreak, Man. Utd., New York (somewhere between Office Space and the Championship)

My left foot

Regardless of what one thinks about Lionel Messi, it is always sad to hear about a person losing their parent, particularly as he and his father seemed especially close. If he does now retire, there is a strong case for him being the greatest left-footed player of all time. So, with time on my hands until the season starts, I pondered who would make a Top Ten List of Lefties to have played in the English Premier League.

That does limit the criteria but saves comments about some Charlie Oldpants who played for a team I’ve never heard of or never seen. Of course, there will also be arguments about who occupies what spot but, hey, it’s my list! So here goes…

10 – Riyad Mahrez – Remember those times when he sat defenders down on their backsides? For a couple of seasons, an absolute joy to watch.

9 – Robbie Fowler – Lacking in both stature and speed, but boy he could bang in goals.

8 – David Silva – Apparently he was a terrible trainer, not that you could tell.

7 – Juan Mata – Some of his sheer inventiveness I would never have thought up in a month of Sundays.

6 – Gareth Bale – For awhile, simply unstoppable

5 – Arjen Robben – You knew what he was going to do. Defenders knew what he was going to do, but to stop him…

4 – Robin Van Persie – I never saw someone hit a ball that hard. And that World Cup header!

3 – Erling Haaland – He just looks like an adult playing against children. He’s going to break every EPL record.

2 – Mo Salah – It hurts to have 2 Liverpool players in this list but I suspect a few MUFC defenders had nightmares facing him.

1 – Ryan Giggs – Maybe not the nicest of human beings actually played on the left, reinvented himself as a midfielder and lasted, literally decades.

I’m sure I’ll be castigated for forgetting someone!
Adidasmufc  (Why does no one ever say “he’s got a wand of a RIGHT foot”?)

Evertonian optimism

Dear Ed,

If anyone was wondering what Stewie Griffin was going to do with his time, now that Arsenal have ruined his favourite hobby by winning the title, I think we now have the answer: adopt a different name and troll a whole new fan base. I’m talking about the email from J.Hibbert (which gets a lol in itself for me, Clive, for a start) in the mailbox accusing me of not being optimistic enough. Ok, so it might not be Stewie himself but it has got to be a wind up.

For a start, which Thierry is he talking about? Is Thierry Henry going to sort me an Emirates ticket? *Thierno* Barry definitely isn’t, since I called him an idiot last time out. Aznou does indeed look promising (I’ll give him that) but that doesn’t mean Moyes will play him. I can’t share J’s excitement about Liam Delap, though. For all the hype a couple of years back, he scored – what, 12? – goals for Ipswich and spent the last year putting the cones out at Chelsea.

For the record though I’m happy to get on the optimistic bus when there’s good reason to. Nicholas Jackson could be a lot of fun, for example.

Kind regards
PhilT (Everton and England)

The new season is already off balance

On looking at the new season (and counting down days with the hundreds of club by club previews) I realised that the league seems to stop sooner than normal.

In the crucial before a ball has been played league table based on the alphabet we see every summer – Tottenham are bottom.  Not sure why but after around 40 years following the football, that totally threw me.  It just felt wrong. In a weird sort of out of balance way.

Thanks to billions spent by our AI overlords, I could test whether this was just my old man brain picking on me.

But no – since football was invented in 1992 : there has never not been a club starting with a W in the Premier League.   [Your Wolves, West Ham, Wimbledons, WBA etc). Not just that since football leagues actually were invented : apparently from 1889-90 through to today there has always been a W in the top flight – going all the way back to Woolwich Arsenal and Wolves…

I have no idea why but this feels like something that needs sharing.

Equally maybe I have missed it and everyone has come to terms with this.  In which case apologies but it has thrown me for a couple of weeks in a way that only inconsequential things can.

Either way thanks for the therapy
PC (First email to F365 since 2017… I think back then brackets were a thing) 

I’m a mild mannered fella not easy to anger, but your esteemed website’s current league table with ‘Palace’ in 17th, ‘Forest’ in 6th and ‘Villa’ in 20th is an absolute disgrace to football. Nay humanity. Even Infantino wouldn’t stoop that low. Okay, he no doubt would.

Coincidence that it lifts ‘Spurs’ to 18th , when they should be 20th? Tickner, is this your devilish work?
Gary AVFC, Oxford (Madjo to score 10+ this season?)

Ifs and buts

As much as I love Lfc and F365, I’ve gotta call bullshit on the article below.

There are so many reasons it’s bs but I’ll just copy Mediawatch and say ‘if’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting:

“Why Liverpool are actually a ridiculous bargain for Bezos and co. at £4.4 billion…”

…When Fenway Sports Group (FSG) bought into Liverpool in 2010, they did so at a £300m valuation. Sixteen years later, the same club is worth £4.4 billion. The club’s value has increased by over 14x…

…If the club can continue to grow its enterprise value in a similar manner to the last decade, then history will likely look back on the £4.4 billion price as, perversely, a bargain.”
Aidan, Lfc