Sands(CM in 343) and St. Pauli got blasted 4-0 by the Kuse. But solid numbers from Sands. 24/36 passing 2/5 long balls 4/6 duels 5 recoveries 0/0 fouls/fouled FM(7.0)1st
There’s no player on the pitch who could have headed the ball down from that height…except Big Pat. One of the replay angles seems to show he got his head as high as the crossbar.
In a more unheralded yank off busio is up against klinsmann in Serie b. Busio and Venezia have upper hand early 2-0, and busio got the opening goal. Cessna and klinsmann currently holding last playoff spot , lots of slack between them and the non playoff spots fortunately for them
4-0 awwww yeah we back ladies. Needed that little blip against Modena looks like. Back to dominant ways for Venezia
Makes me wonder why no Olajuwon height guy ever plays CF. I don't mean a Manute Bol twig but a solid athletic really tall guy. Crouch was about the closest but he was more on the twig scale. Not only would a guy that tall be a force in the box either way but on goal kicks he'd get any ball near him.
Could we 4-4-2 with Balo and Big Pat? That's everything Bruce Arena wanted in 2006. It would create problems...... Basically Rossi and McHead in the multiverse. Surprisingly, Big Pat's hold up game isnt at McHead or even Ching level yet, but we can get him there......... Imagine him with the hold up play laying off to Balo.........that would be fun.
If a player is too tall it’s easy for a shorter player to shoulder charge him off the ball. The shorter player has better leverage. So the tall player would have to be really strong to be able to hold the ball.
With the tactic we played in the last window, it could be an option to play Balogun next to Pulisic and behind Agyemang. It would be an interesting change of pace; having a player who is so great at making runs as Balogun running off of Bug Pat’s headers would discourage teams from high pressing. We wouldn’t have to play the ball through the midfield, just crank it up to Agyemang’s head and try to score off the ensuing chaos. Long balls are coming back as the inevitable counter to teams compacting the field so much that they don’t have a numbers advantage in the back. A team would think long and hard about leaving only the two central defenders back against such a tactic by the US. One thing that makes Pat different from most center forwards of that type is, he’s fast. If he can flick a ball to Balogun or Puli, and the latter player carries it forward, Agyemang will keep up with the play and be there for a cutback.
Big Pat is hard to know what to do with. I watched this whole game against Swansea today. In open play he's almost a liability for them. If he ever has to dribble at a defender, that's not a recipe for success. On set pieces he's an epic monster. He had a second chance on a corner that he did an absolutely wonderful job with. Soared high, headed down perfectly, just a little too close to the keeper (who made a great save). We know what percentage of goals are scored on set pieces these days. It's extremely important. Pat just has such a different profile than our other forwards.........................
Gianluca Busio sends Klinsmann crashing into his near post with a beauty of a free kick. Now on 7 G/A for the season, Busio lifts Venezia again as they sit atop Serie B : r/ussoccer gorgeous goal by Busio, sent Jonathon's face into the post looks like too. something, something........I guess he didnt even notice the post until Busio told him.......something....
I'm bothered by the sense I get (from people watching), that he's doing that classic forward thing of being utterly useless throughout the game, and then pulling a random goal out of his but as a poacher in the box, or a headed goal as you mention off a set piece. Our set up isn't really effective with a donkey footed striker as the spear of it, the interplay we need between our CM's and WF's is how we produce the bulk of our goals, and the striker is a part of generating those opportunities. I wonder if that is part of the reason Poch wouldn't want to go away from him in the Gold Cup. Just really wanted to see if Pat can avoid being a liability, a black hole in terms of the attack or not. I like the goals, I like how he's found a way to generate production, but I fear that the guy just is so NOT EFFECTIVE at everything else, that he violates the rule that a goal in an otherwise horse ---- performance, makes it a quality performance (since goals are so rarely produced period in this game). If he's a -2 when it comes to xG because he fumbles away everything in game, then bags a late goal on a set piece, is he actually worth it, if he stole away 2 or 3 good chances through the donkey feet issues? Not sure. I haven't watched him at Derby, I'm just relying on what people like Scuffed have said, who watched, and you seem to echo it. We're kind of in trouble in terms of striker: Balo: Kind of just not the greatest fit at Monaco. Pepi: Injured nonstop in 2025 and 2026 Wright and Sargent: Being essentially demoted (possibly) in the Championship Agyemang: Scoring a lot of goals, but apparently mostly sucking actually in game, beyond the random 1 good moment every 1.5 to 2 games. Not great .
@grandinquisitor28 , the problem with your hypothetical is in the “-2 XG.” Soccer is too low scoring of a game for that to be realistic.
I guess the other concern about Pat is whether he can do these things on set pieces against World Cup round of 16-caliber defenders and not just Championship & CONCACAF defenders. Right now he's doing what he needs to do in order to make our World Cup roster, though. Actually playing and actually scoring.
Big Pat was the most fouled player in the match. He also won the most duels in the match. Derby are not making him a focal point, but obviously he doesn't need to be one to be effective. 1 goal 0.3 xG+xA 4/8 passing 3 recoveries 11/18 duels 3/5 fouls/fouled FM(7.7)5th
If your actual goals is better than your xG I guess that's good for a striker. Agyemang Goals 10 Expected goals (xG) 6.9 Haaland Goals 22 Expected goals (xG) 20.3 Ag is the Haaland of The Championship! Then I look at Van Ziptonik and he has 15 goals with a 7.82 xG.
To be fair, who exactly do we have on the roster that is able to do that? I mean, if we're only bringing guys who can score consistently against Top 16 teams then the roster will be 0.
I feel like Big Pat is very likely to make the WC roster. He may (or may not) play a ton, but I think Poch will definitely want his unique-to-our-pool attributes. At the VERY LEAST, he's the kind of player you would want to be able to throw into the mix if we need a late goal. Can't teach height, nor hops. Regarding whether he can do it against higher level competition than the Championship, well, I'd again refer to height and hops. Better CBs will do more than the Championship guys he's going up against regularly, but he'll always have the same advantages he utilizes currently, regardless of the competition level.
Against lesser teams the height advantage may be even more. The really good Euro teams will have defenders as tall as him though.
The guys he's playing against are plenty tall and plenty physical. That doesn't negate his jumping ability, and he's shown that he can get in and find his header goals amongst those guys. Obviously, there are better CBs that we may face in the WC who will be just as tall and physical, and better at the rest. But I think his ability shown will be very useful even if obviously less effective against better comp.
Brenden Aaronson and Leeds avoid an FA Cup upset against Birmingham. They won the game on penalties. Brenden didn't start but came of the bench at minute 68 for Gnonto. Did make his penalty. 91’ Back underway at St Andrew’s! 1-1 pic.twitter.com/ZEER5R85K8— Leeds United (@LUFC) February 15, 2026
Also in the FA Cup, Fulham beat Stoke 2-1. Antonee played the full 90, of course. Fulham doing their annual best to run him into the ground.
Trusty and Celtic get a desperate 3 points late with a 3-2 win. All eyes on Hearts vs Rangers.........Celtic fans will still root for hearts nonetheless, we know how that rivalry goes. Banks helps Augsburg pitch another shut out in an important match against the bottom table PL side. That was a must win and they got it. Thinking our WC back three is gonna be ???-------Richards--------Banks. who we throw out left, I dont know. McKenzie, Ream, Trusty, ..........Weston??? not sure. Serie B "rest of the pack" Monza and Frosinone kept pace today regrettably, no dropped points. Venezia still 1 point in lead plus GD. Cremaschi is getting absolutely no burn at Parma, kind of a bummer. But they are winning games and look likely to stay up.......
What are you talking about??? This was Antonee's first appearance since the 1st of the month. He'd had been a DNP in Fulham's last two PL matches.