Four reasons David Moyes continues to manage Kudus Mohammed off West Ham’s bench

Cutting Chris Hughton some slack, there is absolutely nothing wrong having goalkeepers touch the ball more than strikers in modern day football.

With an over emphasis to build attacks from the back, defenders and goalkeepers are most likely to be on the ball than strikers who are typically required to make runs to receive passes from the back or to create space for teammates.

As such, seeing Antoine Semenyo touch the ball 15 times in 64 minutes against Mexico with goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi touching the ball 46 times in 90 minutes, shouldn’t lead to an apocalypse.

Thankfully for Black Stars head coach Chris Hughton, the international break is swiftly over and football talk has already turned to the fleet of top European club football games coming.

Beyond this weekend’s brilliant slate of games including Chelsea’s tie against Arsenal and Manchester City’s tie against Brighton and Hove Albion, there are UEFA Champions League games too before a crazy slate of games are cleared on October 28 (Barcelona v Real Madrid) and October 29 (Manchester City v Manchester United, Inter Milan v AS Roma and Napoli v AC Milan).

*Head coach Chris Hughton of Ghana (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)*

After such piss poor performances against Mexico and USA, only the return of club football can take the heat from the massive fallout off the Black Stars poor showing in the penultimate FIFA international window of 2023.

This situation adds to the concern many Ghanaians have about the team’s chances of succeeding at the 2023 AFCON considering there are just two games to play in November before attention turns to next year’s tournament in Cote D’Ivoire.

*Sergiño Dest #2 of the United States battles for the ball with Jordan Ayew #9 of Ghana (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)*

Veteran forward Jordan Ayew sure does have his fair share of critics for his polarizing role in the Black Stars but even the most ardent anti-Jordan fan would appreciate the Crystal Palace man’s honesty.

Tabbing Ghana’s run against Mexico and USA as a “reality check” and falling in a string of performances that have made the Black Stars “know its level” is an apt description of what the Stars went through and where the team’s present status lies. (Click highlighted text to read story)

*Kudus Mohammed of Ghana in action against USA Photo Courtesy: West Ham*

None of the Black Stars players exactly covered themselves in glory including the man of the moment Mohammed Kudus. Despite his brilliant talent, Kudus was flat out average and simply couldn’t elevate the team above the mediocre performances it put up.

Heading into the double header of friendly games, there was a serious push for West Ham United manager David Moyes to make Kudus a consistent starter in the Premier League and not have him make appearances off the bench as has been the case since his move from Ajax.

*Kudus Mohammed challenges Christian Pulisic Photo Courtesy: Hammers News*

That type of talk reached a crescendo when Kudus stepped off the bench and fired in a fine strike to give West Ham a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United. Football legend, Asamoah Gyan has pointed out the benefits of this cautious approach by Moyes citing his time in the Premier League with Sunderland as a prime example. (Click highlighted text to read story)

Kudus has enjoyed a fine run of starting berths in the Europa League and Carabao Cup though as he warms himself into life in England.

*David Moyes the manager / head coach of West Ham United (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)*

However, fans shouldn’t expect Kudus to start games especially in the English Premier League for a while as Moyes continues to manage him and here is why:

Nothing broken yet to fix at West Ham

Don’t fix what isn’t broken and this very popular saying fits right into the state of West Ham at the time of writing. The team ranks seventh in the EPL standings on the back of winning four of eight games while drawing two and losing two along the way.

*Jarrod Bowen (Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)*

The team is on track to finish in the top half of the league and challenge for a Europa League spot which is miles off what it dealt with last season.

With a starting unit that has Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, James Ward-Prowse occupying the attacking spots behind Michail Antonio, there is no point rocking the boat by forcing to fix Kudus in this unit.

Kudus is a direct replacement for Paqueta but the Brazilian has been in fine form this season marking a departure from an up and down debut campaign after moving from Olympique Lyon.

*West Ham United’s James Ward-Prowse (Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)*

Bowen is making the England squad ahead of guys like Raheem Sterling and Ward-Prowse has been simply sensational as a new signing from Southampton.

Room is always made for an incredible talent like Kudus but for a conservative coach like Moyes maintaining some semblance of defensive solidity is always prioritized hence the hesitance to start Kudus right away.

*Lucas Paqueta of West Ham United (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)*

West Ham’s improved depth and versatility

By adding guys like Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez, David Moyes has quite a handful of ways to set his team up irrespective how stiff he tends to be tactically.

Alvarez and Ward- Prowse can pair together in a double pivot in front of the backline or Alvarez can slide next to Tomas Soucek as has been the case since the Mexican settled in London in a 4-2-3-1 system. Ward-Prowse occupies the central spot behind the lead striker in such a setup or plays next to either Soucek or Alvarez as a deep playmaker.

*Soucek (28) celebrates goal in 2-2 draw with Newcastle United Photo Courtesy: West Ham United*

Even in this space, Kudus is likely to miss out on a starting berth as Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals (mainly due to his defensive work rate) are right footed fits who are ahead of Kudus in the pecking order. Before the arrival of Ward-Prowse and Alvarez, Kudus’ chances of starting consistently would have scaled up tremendously.

In a 4-3-3 system where Alvarez is flanked by Ward-Prowse and Soucek on either side, the personnel remains the same due to the group’s ability to play in such a setup.

*Edson Alvarez of West Ham United FC (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)*

Health, downturn in form

Embattled Manchester United defender Harry Maguire talked about the inevitability of injuries as one of the reasons he should see more game time with the Red Devils despite being clearly the least favourite centre back for Man United manager Erik Ten Hag.

The same applies to Kudus as his impressive stint as a “false nine” at Ajax means West Ham’s injury prone strike options in Michail Antonio and back up striker Danny Ings are likely to miss significant time to injury.

Michail Antonio of West Ham United (Photo by West Ham United FC/Getty Images)

Kudus could play his way into the starting unit through this avenue after coming off the bench to replace Antonio on a couple of occasions already.

At this point, health isn’t particularly an issue at West Ham and as mentioned earlier, the form is just right so maintaining the status quo with the starting unit sans Kudus is just right.

AFCON Factor (to an extent)

Looking at the Black Stars shaky run in recent years and under Chris Hughton, there is a strong sense that the team might end up exiting the 2023 AFCON early just as it did in the 2021 edition. That would mean Kudus could end up missing just a game or two EPL games at most and that wouldn’t hurt West Ham’s march in the 2023-2024 league season.

However, the magic of tournament football means Ghana turns around its fortunes and goes on a deep run and possibly lifts the title. That would mean Kudus misses at least five league games aside possibly those in the FA Cup and Europa League.

In an indirect way, by adopting a slow approach to introduce Kudus into the starting unit and keeping Benrahma also as a substitute, David Moyes could be prepping his side to deal with the absences of the African attacking duo down the road.

Bowen is untouchable at this point, Lucas Paqueta didn’t play for Brazil and Ward-Prowse didn’t get called up by England in the recent international window (unlike Kudus) and all three are expected to start for West Ham against Aston Villa on Sunday.

As such, expect Kudus on the bench this weekend and maybe for a while in the Premier League.

The NBA is saving Ben Simmons just in time after failing him MINTAH Writes

Seeing Ben Simmons make a steal, eat up the basketball court with a couple of long strides and deliver a two-handed dunk definitely brought tears to the eyes of many an avid basketball fan, especially those of the world’s greatest basketball league-the NBA.As shocking as it might sound, there are basketball fans who aren’t enamored by the spectacle the NBA is. The showy, flamboyant and sometimes over-the-top display of masculinity is a bit too much for some hoops lovers.On the tactical and stylistic side, basketball fans, especially those in Europe, aren’t enthused by the NBA’s pivot from the fundamentals of the sport that is heavy on rebounding and pass first team-oriented basketball.The modern NBA has Centers prioritizing scoring points from beyond the three point arc and Point Guards prioritizing scoring points than generating better shot openings for teammates and assists.Simmons is a throwback playmaker who looks to pass first than score first and is trapped in a Power Forward’s body; he’s a 6 foot 10-incher who scores points close to the basket and in the open court.However, all that has been missed for pretty much two seasons with Simmons battling injuries and mental challenges, hence the outpouring of positive messages over Simmons’ display in an exhibition game. After an extensive wait, the big Aussie is back in the mix and doing well so far after registering 10 points and three assists in 14 minutes.What caused Simmons to fall off from a career that was destined to end up in the NBA Hall of Fame early in his career was the league failing a former number one overall draft pick by having him stuck on the Philadelphia Sixers teams that had one too many players who needed the ball in their hands to produce.Simmons was forced to play as a floor spacer who shoots three pointers and his ability to handle the ball was limited too playing next to Joel Embiid.His first run out with the Nets was supposed to better but with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the roster and demanding for the offense to run through them, Simmons was relegated to the background.Battling physical ailments and mental challenges also proved to be stumbling blocks for Simmons too. It sounds crazy to say the NBA failed Ben Simmons; where is the personal accountability in all this you say? Well the NBA, like all American based sports leagues, operates in a socialist vacuum in a very capitalist society.As such, the worst teams get the best young talents through a draft whereas the best talents go to the big teams as soon as possible in other jurisdictions.The various teams in these leagues (MLS, NFL, NHL) work to make the league unit better and working to fix a former number one overall draft pick and generational talent is great for business for the league and is something that has been done for several decades.After a strange string of hesitations to give Simmons the best chance to excel, the NBA is finally doing right by Simmons by surrounding him with shooters and having him operate as the main ball handler. In Brooklyn’s 126-129 loss to Los Angeles Lakers, Simmons played with Cam Thomas, Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton and Mikal Bridges.Claxton isn’t a floor spacer by any stretch but his athletic runs to the rim constantly puts pressure on the opposition’s defence to account for him as a lob threat especially playing with three scorers in Thomas, Bridges and Dinwiddie.An even better situation for Simmons, is the incoming addition of three-point shooter Cameron Johnson who is dealing with an injury.Having Johnson serves Brooklyn Nets and Simmons very well since Thomas, Bridges, Johnson and Dinwiddie have the right size to fill the spots outside the Center position that Simmons can fill when playing against a team hell bent on forcing the Aussie to attempt shots several feet from the rim.As a two-time member of the NBA All Defensive First Team with a 6-foot 10-inch frame, Simmons’ versatility stretches to Center spot. By surrounding him with shooters and scorers, Simmons at Center can operate the way two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner, Nikola Jokic does for the Denver Nuggets.In the Mile High City, the Serb operates next to a scorer with a three-point shooting range like Dinwiddie and Jamal Murray but is tasked with pushing the ball up court and setting the offense in motion.Simmons works best operating in this mode since he has the court vision of Jokic and is just as strong but way faster than the big Serb.There is another benefit inherent in surrounding Simmons with shooters and scorers on the Nets as his versatility aids in improving the team’s depth.Playing against a team that stretches the floor to its max means the Nets would ideally fix Simmons at Center with Claxton getting paired with Simmons as the ideal matchup for Brooklyn when the Nets play against a Cleveland Cavaliers that employs two big guys at Center and Power Forward.By having the possibility of Simmons at Center, Claxton could move to the second unit and feature with Royce O’Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dennis Smith Jnr and Day’Ron Sharpe with Lonnie Walker IV and Darius Bazley waiting in the wing.The Eastern Conference’s top tier is pretty much set with Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics leading the way and Miami Heat in a tier close below this group.Cleveland and Philadelphia Sixers occupy the tier beneath Miami and somewhere between the Heat and Sixers plus Cleveland, there is the Brooklyn Nets who have the capacity to become a dark horse conference title contender just like Miami.A lot of that has to do with how Nets coach Jacque Vaughn uses the chess piece not named LeBron James in his lineups leveraging on the Aussie’s strengths and trying hard to wipe out his weaknesses.Simmons has to do a better job of improving his midrange and three point shot efficiency and attempts to push opposition defences to pay a bit more attention to him when he is off the ball.Former Boston Celtics now Memphis Grizzlies Guard, Marcus Smart scores just enough of his many three-point shot attempts to make defences account for his presence off the ball.However, at 27 years, Simmons is pretty set in his ways and should he fail to pivot his game to a floor spacer the way Brook Lopez did even at an advanced age, the Brooklyn Nets and indirectly the NBA, needs to continue with its Ben Simmons redemption module after failing to do so the first time out.Like other American sports leagues, every move done by the NBA is done to protect the logo and make the league grander that it already is.Just as the league someway, somehow managed to turn Andrew Wiggins’ non-impactful 18-point scoring average on Minnesota Timberwolves into an impactful member of the Golden State Warriors title-winning squad, it can do same for Ben Simmons and is well on its way to doing exactly that. Ben Simmons #10 of the Brooklyn Nets (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Damian Lillard might not love Milwaukee but he definitely loves the Bucks MINTAH Writes

In the aftermath of a series of blockbuster trades, Damian Lillard is now a new member of the Milwaukee Bucks, Jrue Holiday is with the Boston Celtics and DeAndre Ayton is with Portland Trail Blazers.The shakedown from these big trades will shape how the respective teams approach the upcoming NBA season and a few campaigns beyond the one that commence

With Lillard and Holiday on board, the Celtics and Bucks are the clear favourites to win the Eastern Conference title.While Portland is posturing about staying competitive and battling for a playoff spot with Jerami Grant and Ayton fronting the push, the team will eventually bottom out into a full on rebuild.

Ayton is young enough to stick around for Portland’s bevy of lead youngsters, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons to play through their mistakes en route to becoming elite.That aside, Ayton is eager to show he can play his way into an All Star and potentially an All NBA player that he is likely to stick around Portland for a while.

For the soon-to-be 30-year-old Grant, this is very unlikely and he is sure to be traded to a title contender as soon as he shows off scoring consistency and solid defense for more draft picks.As expected, Damian Lillard, in his first official presser as a Milwaukee Bucks player, said all the right things.

Between greeting Milwaukee fans three hours later than scheduled and holding on to his sons to avoid waving at the crowd and greeting them reportedly, it is clear Damian Lillard doesn’t want to be in Milwaukee but definitely wants to be on the Milwaukee Bucks roster.After all, he spoke about his desire to play with Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in years past to this effect. Saying “I’m supposed to be here and I’m excited for what’s to come” in an interview with NBA reporter Chris Haynes isn’t necessarily an endorsement of Milwaukee.

Two (opposite) things can be true at the same time while the context varies with Damian Lillard’s situation, basketball and Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell lived what Lillard is likely to go through.Russell infamously stated, “I played for the Celtics not for Boston” after experiencing marked racism in his time in the Eastern coastal city despite winning 11 titles in his 13 year run with the team.

So while Russell had an absolute blitz with Red Auerbach, Bob Cousy and company on the Celtics, he went through absolute hell living in Boston.Beyond this, he also spoke some absolute truths too at his presser with his thoughts on how he fits into the Bucks mix. “I definitely thought about it and i just don’t know how you handle that” he said in response to how his pick and roll game with Giannis will play out.

After taking a fleeting round of photographs with three of four other members of the Bucks starting unit-Giannis, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez- Lillard couldn’t help but acknowledge the depth in quality of the group stating, “I ain’t never been in no photo like this, man”.

The best group Lillard played with in his 11-year tenure at Portland Trail Blazers was that unit that featured young versions of Wesley Matthews, Nicholas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez. It is safe to say Lillard’s new starting crew is hands down better than the best Portland ever put around him.Lillard reportedly pushed for a trade to the Miami Heat but didn’t get his wish as Portland opted to trade him to Milwaukee instead.

It was always going to end up like this for Lillard as the teams with the best trade offers weren’t necessarily the destinations he wanted to head to.Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder offered the trade deals and all had one thing in common; give Damian a better chance to challenge for the title than Portland.

In Minnesota, pairing Lillard with Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert looked like a very good step just as pairing Lillard with John Collins and Lauri Markkanen in Utah and pairing Lillard with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. Effectively, Lillard got the treatment San Antonio Spurs meted out to Kawhi Leonard when the latter pushed for a trade. Looking to land in Los Angeles or a big market team, Kawhi ended up getting traded to Toronto Raptors in a one-year rental before his contract expired and rendering him an unrestricted free agent who eventually signed for Los Angeles Clippers.

Leonard ended up winning the NBA title in a remarkable run despite the remarkable odds stacked against that feat from happening.Unlike Kawhi, Damian Lillard’s move to an “undesired” location has massive upside as Milwaukee is just two seasons removed from celebrating an NBA title and still has a solid attention pull plus a history of winning a title.

The Raptors hadn’t won a title before Kawhi landed in Canada and unlike Leonard who played without a star in Toronto, Lillard gets to play with a star in Giannis Antetokounmpo.Having just Lillard and Giannis is enough for any team to be a worthy title contender but having a top wing scorer in Middleton and a Defensive Player of the Year nominee in Brook Lopez takes Milwaukee to a tier above any team bar Phoenix Suns.In Portland, opposing teams double-teamed Lillard and forced the ball out his hands and played the same tactic on former playmate CJ McCollum who had overlapping skills to Lillard’s.

In Milwaukee, opposing teams can’t double-team Giannis or Lillard since Middleton and Lopez are more than capable scorers inside and outside the painted area.While Lillard had success running the pick-and-roll with Jusuf Nurkic in Portland, Nurkic isn’t as athletic or as strong a finisher at the rim as Giannis. Boston Celtics look to be the biggest threat to Milwaukee but Boston’s big man Kristaps Porzingis has extensive health issues and easily tunes out when plays aren’t heavily run through him.

He pouted when he had to “stay in the corner and shoot three-pointers” while playing with the ball-dominant Luka Doncic. Transitioning to play with not one but two ball-dominant wings in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum aside from having a Point Guard in Holiday who will dictate the pace and flow of the game is hard to see ending well.

That aside, Boston doesn’t match up defensively to Milwaukee and size, especially inside the paint where Bucks have an advantage with the Brook Lopez-Giannis combo over Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis-Al Horford duo.Had Lillard ended up with the Miami Heat, his defensive flaws would have been covered up by the Heat’s defensive studs like Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo but landing in Milwaukee means Lillard still gets upgrades here too.Lopez has been a top defender in the NBA in the past three seasons and Giannis has a Defensive Player of the Year title to his name, something neither Adebayo nor Butler has.

In his 11-year NBA career, the closest Damian Lillard has got to the NBA title is a Western Conference Finals appearance that ended in a gentleman sweep in the finals series.In contrast, making the Conference finals is regarded as the least achievement for Milwaukee Bucks due to the factors listed above and then some.With a distinguished career in the bag, Lillard needs consistent runs in the playoffs and maybe an NBA title win to ensure his career gets the credit it deserves and that is what the Bucks guarantee even if the team’s host location isn’t on top of Damian Lillard’s destination list.

MINTAH Writes: Win or Lose tonight, Brighton is what Chelsea wishes to be

The face of Chelsea’s ownership group-Todd Boehly-won’t say it but inject a dose of truth serum into his system and he will confess he’d wish his Chelsea side played and won games like Brighton and Hove Albion.

Every once in a while, there comes a team that comes with something different that captures the imagination of the football world, no matter how big or small the team is.

The Seagulls’ guile, zest and fluid build-ups that lead to the creation of more chances over the duration of a game many a team would struggle to match even with extra minutes added, is such a sight.

It is for this reason, one-time Kumasi Asante Kotoko Sporting Club CEO, Nana Yaw Amponsah, raved about West African Football Academy (WAFA) and stated he wanted the Porcupine Warriors to be like WAFA.

The start of his tumultuous stint with Kotokobeganright off the bat from this statement’s fallout and that stint ended in very acrimonious fashion.

Beyond this, Roberto De Zerbi’s side seems to have an injury-proof template that doesn’t wobble in the face of first-team regular absentees as witnessed in Brighton’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

*Man United players react to 3-1 loss to Brighton Photo Courtesy: Sky Sports*

In that win, Brighton played without regular starters Solly March, Pervis Estupinian and Julio Enciso but looked just as effective.

On a night that could be easily mistaken for a full-on Premier League midweek schedule, there is one standout game, and no, it’s not Manchester City’s tie against Newcastle United.

*Julio Enciso #20 of Brighton & Hove Albion (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)*

Despite the amazing prospect of having two teams that finished last season in the top four spots face off in the third round of the Carabao Cup, Man City’s matchup against The Magpies has far less intrigue than Chelsea’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Aside looking out for Kalvin Phillips’ performance in a rare starter’s role in place of the suspended Rodri, there isn’t much to get excited about Man City v Newcastle. It is the complete opposite for Chelsea’s game against easily the most entertaining side in English football though.

*Kalvin Phillips of Manchester City (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)*

Stuck in a terrible run of performances that predates Mauricio Pochettino, The Blues are in desperate need for goals and wins, and grabbing both against high-flying Brighton would certainly go a long way to get Chelsea back on track for a return to European football.

Despite spending approximately a billion American dollars to heavily pivot from the remnants of Roman Abramovich’s Russian oil-fueled side, Chelsea is struggling mightily. Why this is happening is down to a myriad of reasons that is summed into one phrase; there is just way too much going on at Stamford Bridge.

*Pochettino Photo Courtesy: Getty Images*

A fleet of players departed the team while a fleet of players were brought into the team with a new manager. Pochettino’s hire as head coach marks the third time Chelsea has had a new name in that role since Thomas Tuchel was sacked, under two football seasons ago.

The sledgehammer effects of injuries on the Blues cannot be underestimated too, with as many as 11 players being inactive having a heavy toll on what the coach can do to create some semblance of a settled unit.

*Graham Potter (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)*

Despite the enormous gap that exists between a two-time Champions League winner and a relative newbie European participant, Chelsea and Brighton share deep connections. Former Chelsea boss Graham Potter starred on the sidelines at Brighton before moving to Stamford Bridge.

Blues players Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez followed the same route to Chelsea as Potter.

*Moises Caicedo Photo Courtesy: Chelsea Chronicle*

On the other hand, former Chelsea players Billy Gilmour and Tariq Lamptey are in line to start for Brighton tonight. In unsurprising fashion (these days), the Seagulls are favourites to win the Carabao Cup match based off their remarkable run of form that endures despite switching from Potter to De Zerbi.

Tariq Lamptey of Brighton and Hove Albion (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

After several technical head switches over a short period and Pochettino having a proven portfolio, there are signs that Chelsea’s owners will keep the Argentine coach around for some time.

As highlighted earlier in this piece, Brighton’s system seemingly has an inbuilt resistance to injury-related absenteeism, versatile players who slot and play effectively across multiple positions and just oozes sheer brilliance in attack.

*Roberto De Zerbi,. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images for Premier League)*

However, what is most impressive about how Brighton has gone about its business is that the team has done so with players with low profiles just as Chelsea is attempting to do. On paper, Chelsea doesn’t have the squad that screams a billion dollars due to the presence of such players who are young and building their way into Balon D’Or conversations or grand off the pitch magnetic marketing pull.

Buying a raft of promising youngsters will do that a team.

*Romeo Lavia recently joined Chelsea from Southampton Photo Courtesy: Getty Images*

Even Chelsea players with a lot of “hype” around them like Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez still have some ways to go before building themselves into any of the football awards or ace marketing conversations.

After heavy investments in subsequent transfer windows since the takeover was complete, Chelsea’s youth revolution falls far short in spectacle compared to big clubs going through similar phases like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

*Gavi celebrates goal Photo Courtesy: Reuters*

Real boasts of guys like Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Juniour, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde while Barca has the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo.

*Bellingham scored on his Real Madrid debut Photo Courtesy: Getty Images*

From a tactical stand point, Chelsea sets up in a 4-2-3-1 system like Brighton and does everything well playing out from the back to the front but Brighton has a potent attack that differs sharply from Chelsea’s.

In six games this season, Brighton has scored 18 goals while Chelsea has just five to its name. It was the same last season as Chelsea ended the campaign with 38 goals while Brighton scored almost twice Chelsea’s goal tally by bagging 72 goals.

*Erling Haaland (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Image*s)

Putting Chelsea’s goal scoring problems into proper context, The Blues have 43 goals as a team dating back to last season at the time of writing but Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has 44 goals by himself scoring 36 goals last season and adding eight goals in six games this season.

*Chelsea Co-Owner Todd Boehly (Image: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)*

Chelsea’s youth are going through several phases of growing pains but Brighton’s bevy of youngsters are delivering now and even if the oddity in football that makes the sport so unpredictable strikes again to give Chelsea a win over Brighton tonight, Brighton is everything Chelsea wants to be.

In the eye of Man United’s storms, Ten Hag has no reason to fret MINTAH Writes

Coming off an impressive debut season, Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag should be on the hot seat looking at the indifferent start the Red Devils have had to open the 2023-2024 season.

United’s historically bitter rival Liverpool on the other hand, has at least something to smile about looking at the number of minutes newbies Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister have played together four games into the season.

MacAllister and former RB Leipzig midfielder Szoboszlai have played 672 minutes together which is a higher mark than Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Naby Keita (625 minutes) managed together through the whole of the 2022-2023 season.

Speaking of MacAllister, the Argentine player’s former team Brighton and Hove Albion is the immediate next opponent for Manchester United and the Seagulls go into the game with a ton of confidence and serenity.

Szoboszlai-MacAllister Photo Credit: Liverpool Echo

Two wins and two losses in four EPL games isn’t the most terrible start to a 38 game league season but for a team that spent over $170 million on new recruits on top of heavy investment pumped into Ten Hag’s debut season, Man United should have at least nine points from a possible 12 to begin the new campaign.

Harry Maguire of Manchester United celebrates with the trophy among team mates during the Carabao Cup Final (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Coming off the international break, there is palpable belief Man United loses to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, September 16. Looking at how Brighton has carried on from its impressive showing last season, it is fair to pick the Seagulls for the win this weekend.

After all, Man United’s pair of wins has been registered in unimpressive fashion against mid to lower tier clubs Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Joao Pedro scored on debut at Brighton (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Aside a major blip against West Ham United, Brighton are the same outfit of the 2022-2023 season; the same team that captured the hearts, minds and eyes of idealists and even the staunchest “hater” with its silky free flowing brand of football.

Unlike Man United, De Zerbi’s team is settled and not as burdened with bad off the pitch PR in connection with its players conduct. United is without two of its top inverted wing options in Antony and Mason Greenwood who are implicated in cases of alleged sexual misconduct and that is one of several issues that ought to be a major headache for Ten Hag.

However, in an interesting twist of fate, that isn’t the case as mitigating factors have come to the aid of the former Ajax head coach.

From a team perspective, should Man United fail to build on last season’s run, Ten Hag won’t be blamed for the disappointment looking at the chaos in the team and here is how Ten Hag gets absolved of blame in all this.

Antony and Greenwood Legal troubles

Sexual allegations slapped on both players and the lingering results could feel like an albatross on the neck of a manager who would have to consistently address questions on both players at every turn. However, Ten Hag doesn’t have to do so as Greenwood has been shipped off to Getafe on loan while Anthony has been excused by the team.

Mason Greenwood (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

In case both players return to Old Trafford, Ten Hag wouldn’t be the Bad Guy responsible for that since the final decision lies with the much maligned team owners, The Glazers and club CEO Richard Arnold who isn’t the most liked guy at Old Trafford.

Avram Glazer, owner of Manchester United at a training session (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The American Billionaire family can’t do anything right in the eyes of most Man United fans even after consistently supporting its managers over the years to the tune of over a billion pounds. Having such a big fall guy or in this case fall guys, is just perfect for Ten Hag to avoid intense scrutiny over his personnel and tactical choices.

Jadon Sancho fallout

Jadon Sancho (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Ten Hag has a lot of cache in the bank in the Jadon Sancho drama since the Dutch coach has been a strong defender of Sancho in the former Borussia Dortmund player’s many down moments. Ten Hag sounded positive on several occasions when discussing Sancho and what he adds to the team but on the flip side, Sancho quite frankly hasn’t lived up to the hefty price tag or hype since leaving the Signal Iduna Park.

Based on last season’s performance and his successful time with Ajax, Ten Hag has shown that he is a quality coach and that is enough to believe his scathing remarks on Sancho’s training habits.

Jadon Sancho (Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Rather than have the manager be solely responsible for entangling this thorny issue as is often the case, Man United’s CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough are reported to take active roles in ending the feud. The result is a personal training programme for the English winger away from the team

Should Sancho return and improve his performances, Ten Hag gets credit for that; should Sancho leave Man United, Ten Hag still gets credit as a strong disciplinarian and one who puts the team’s needs ahead of a player’s needs regardless of the player’s profile.

Greenwood-Ronaldo Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

Ten Hag’s handling of Cristiano Ronaldo en route to winning the Carabao Cup and making an FA Cup finals appearance would be an example to buttress this belief.

Marquee signings slow start

James Maddison of Tottenham Hotspur is challenged by Casemiro of Manchester United (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

While new signings like Moussa Diaby, Sandro Tonali and Dominik Szoboszlai are shining away, Man United’s top recruits are yet to deliver a statement performance. While Ten Hag played a key role in Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund’s transfers to Manchester United, the manager has an alibi he can lean on to deflect any questions on his scouting abilities.

Hojlund is working his way back into form from a back injury, Amrabat got to Man United injured and Mount’s horrible run since joining Man United is on hold as he deals with a hamstring injury.

Rasmus Hojlund of Manchester United poses with Manager Erik ten Hag after signing for the club (Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Physical ailments can buy Ten Hag’s signings time to get the confidence and form to play up to the value of their contracts and possibly beyond such values.

As an aside, Antony’s suspension and subsequent time off also buys Ten Hag time to get his very pricey signing to be more consistent and more productive on his return.

Ten Hag with Amrabat Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

On and off the pitch, matters are far from good for Man United fans, owners and players but the Red Devils manager Erik Ten Hag is in a better place than other stakeholders and should be the last person to fret in the rocky phase the club is going through.

MINTAH Writes: The woes of Jesus might be blessing in disguise for Kai Havertz

Largely lost in the consensus confusion that set in after Arsenal splashed 65 million pounds to sign Kai Havertz from fellow London side Chelsea is how impressive the Gunners frontline was in the 2022-2023 season and what the German could add to that tally.Even in the absence of Gabriel Jesus for a good number of weeks and playing with wing forwards (Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka) who are still yet to turn 23, the Gunners scored 88 goals and only scored six fewer than league champions Manchester City.Mikel Arteta doubled down on wing forward production by signing Leandro Trossard in the January transfer window and the same theme run through the rationale behind Arsenal’s Havertz signing.While not exactly a wing forward, Havertz thrives in a hybrid role through the central area and those swats of grassland carved out between the edges of the penalty box and the central areas in the final third. He has been signed to provide exactly what Martinelli and Saka provide on the wings but through the middle.Beyond Havertz, Arsenal has signed defender Jurrien Timber and midfielder Declan Rice to address areas they fell short in the final stretch of the last campaign that cost the Gunners the EPL title.While negotiations in football are a tricky business and it playing a big role in Rices’ somewhat delayed arrival at the Emirates, it is clear Havertz was targeted by Arteta as the guy to give the Spanish coach the chance to fully utilize his playbook.After spending extensive time with Arsene Wenger in his latter playing days and doing same with Man City coach Pep Guardiola as an assistant coach, Arteta most assuredly has grand tactical schemes he couldn’t get his hitherto thin squad to play out in real time until now.With so many quality and versatile players at his disposal, the biggest threat to an Arsenal EPL title winning season is Arteta’s man management skills. Throw up every in game scenario that demands a tactical tweak or two and Arsenal have the men to get the job done. Throw up any crazy formation and Arsenal can match the shape to beat 85% of teams they face.However, keeping starting caliber players engaged and ready to contribute immediately despite playing limited minutes in backup roles is the subtle art Arteta needs to pull off. Only the best of the best managers have done this and that list includes Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane and Arteta’s former boss, Pep Guardiola.In short, Arteta’s evolution into an elite manager from a hot shot ex player turned coach is one of the standout themes to follow this season.Gabriel Jesus has suffered a knee injury and is set to miss games at least in the first month of the new season and that comes with a silver lining in the dark cloud of the Brazilian suffering from a similar injury that cost him extensive game time just months ago. Should this development persist, it could curtail Arsenal’s return on their “Gabriel Jesus investment”.How Arsenal lines up against Man City in Sunday’s Community Shield is sure to give a sense of what Arteta’s team brings on a nightly basis at least from a schematic standpoint and how to get the best out of Havertz this season.Playing Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice in Arteta’s familiar 4-3-3 setup wins a ton of games against many a team in the world but against Guardiola’s that is too risky.Playing out such a setup would take Arsenal back to the last campaign and bring up the same issues that cost them the league title last season and that is defensive cover. As brilliant as Rice is, flanking Odegaard and Havertz on either side of the Englishman is asking a lot defensively from the former West Ham player to solve on his own since Odegaard and Havertz work hard a ton for their team but shining on the defensive side isn’t exactly their forte.Quite frankly, Guardiola’s Man City will overrun Arsenal should the aforementioned trio start in midfield as will Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and to some extent Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea and Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.Playing through mistakes and phasing out mistakes highlight the importance of playing preseason games and in the loss to Man United, Arteta was given a rude awakening of what lies before him should he pair Odegaard, Rice and Havertz in midfield against a top tier team.Partey’s improved involvement in preseason shows he is very much part of the Gunners plans for the upcoming campaign.However, switching to a 3-4-3 system that spreads the midfield in a diamond shape is the best way to offer defensive protection to Aaron Ramsdale while providing space to accommodate Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka and Martinelli plus another forward.Arsenal’s envisaged lineup for Sunday’s game has William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Timber in the backline with Thomas Partey at the base of the diamond midfield with Rice and Odegaard lining up on the right and left sides diagonally off Partey and Havertz placed at the tip of the shape.The German gets to play centrally behind Eddie Nketiah with Martinelli and Saka on the left and right wings respectively and for a guy who tagged himself as a, “midfield player who likes to go into the box” this setup puts Havertz right where he needs to be.Nketiah does a ton of great work keeping defenders busy with his work rate and constant movement and doing so gives Havertz chances to do what he does best; manipulate spaces, recognize spaces and take advantage of spaces.This is highlighted in some of his stats from last season where he ranked third in attacking runs in the EPL only behind Heung- Min Son and Ollie Watkins while ranking fifth in the league in runs made that challenged the backline.For runs Havertz made as a target of passes, the German ranked second in the entire league only behind Mohammed Salah.The return of Jesus won’t change this Havertz trend from happening and that is exactly what the German needs to build up his confidence after a poor run with Chelsea.A confident Havertz who scores goals off late runs into the box is a Havertz who can even push up and lead the line considering the fine goal returns of Martinelli (15) and Saka (14) last season. Both wing-forwards are expected to kick on from their impressive outings and score more than they did last season.Now this is a different situation from the Chelsea setup that had wings Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech struggle in front of goal as this group combined for just eight goals with Havertz scoring seven goals in the Premier League.Havertz can lead an attacking line but he under performed last season because he didn’t get enough help from fellow attackers and his confidence was shot to the extent he missed quite a number of sitters.After a difficult spell at Chelsea, signing for Arsenal was a very odd choice shrouded in uncertainties over where he would be played to best utilize his strengths.In his final season at Bayer Leverkusen in 2019, Havertz scored 20 goals and added seven assists in 42 games and with a bit of tweaking from Arteta, Partey’s timely return to his early 2022-2023 season form and Gabriel Jesus’ injury, Kai Havertz is in the best situation to excel.

Budding a Big Fish: Why Crawford beats Spence for Undisputed title MINTAH Writes

All hail King Ryan for his insistence to fight Gervonta Davis when all signs pointed to another failed round of talks between the bright young stars of boxing. The politics of boxing means even the flimsiest of reasons could be used to call off a big bout just as much as the big reasons.

On the flimsy side of boxing negotiations, Sergio Martinez’s super welterweight championship bout against Miguel Cotto almost fell through over which fighter’s name came first on the artwork promoting the fight.

Cotto’s camp rightly argued he was on the “A-side” for the fight since he had a bigger fan base and drew more eye balls to every fight he was involved in more than the champion Martinez. The artwork originally had Martinez v Cotto but after much protestation and threats to pull out of the fight, the artwork was redesigned to Cotto v Martinez.

On a more serious side, Ryan Garcia accepted a rehydration clause and the Golden Boy Promotions boxer also accepted to fight under the “PBC’ banner.

Had it not been for Garcia’s adamant stance to make the fight, disagreements over purse percentages and the egos of former in-ring rivals Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jnr. who represent Garcia and Davis respectively, would have gotten in the way of negotiations just as it had so many times before.

*Ryan Garcia (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)*

*Gervonta Davis beat Garcia in the headline bout Photo Credit: ESPN*

It is so clear the De La Hoya and Golden Boy camp wasn’t too fond of Garcia’s decision to do whatever it took to fight Davis considering the grand fallout between Garcia and the group in the aftermath of Garcia’s knockout loss.

*De La Hoya-Garcia (left) Photo Credit: ESPN*

Aside a heated verbal exchange between De La Hoya and Garcia on social media, Golden Boy Promotions has gone on to sue Garcia over the latter’s attempt to terminate his contract. However, Garcia’s role in making the Davis fight, playing a lead figure in hyping it up and delivering in the ring opened the door for other big fights fans have yearned for similar fights to be made.

Since Garcia lost for the first time in his professional career, Devin Haney has fought and beaten Vasiliy Lomachenko, Naoya Inuoe has fought and beaten Stephen Fulton and Caleb Plant fought but lost decisively to David Benavidez Jnr.

*Haney v Lomachenko Photo Courtesy: Vox-CDN*

Saul Canelo Alvarez is pegged to fight Jermell Charlo later in September while heavyweight division bouts between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte and Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois takes place on August 12 and August 26 respectively while Chris Eubank Jnr. fights Liam Smith in September.

Great fights are coming this year and it is possible Canelo fights Benavidez in December- even if there is that aberration of a contest between UFC’s Francis Ngannou and heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

*Terence Crawford with Top Rank’s Bob Arum (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)*

Later this weekend, perhaps the biggest of them all takes place in Las Vegas. Terence Crawford taking on Errol “Big Fish” Spence Jnr. is as big as it gets. The undefeated pugilists finally get to square off in the ring after four years of back and forth, and lots of all bark but no bite.

*Erroll Spence Jr. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)*

Boxing politics played a key role in this “delayed” fight since Crawford was on the Top Rank side of the divide with Bob Arum while Spence resides in the PBC camp. Thankfully before this bout dragged into irrelevance, time was the saving grace as Crawford’s contract run out and the man nicknamed Bud became a free agent and eligible to negotiate a deal as he pleases.

*Errol Spence Jr. connects with a punch against Yordenis Ugas (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)*

Spence holds the WBA, IBF and WBC welterweight titles after beating Yordenis Ugas and Kell Brook to capture both belts while Crawford holds the WBO title. The July 29 bout is very close to call but even in the closest of bouts, there is still a favourite to pick and in this case, it is Terence “Bud” Crawford.

*Terence Crawford defeats Felix Diaz by RTD in the 10th round (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)*

For starters, Crawford is the more cerebral of the fighters whose focus in bouts is too laser sharp, it sometimes defies logic and reality. Crawford stays locked in all the time once the bell goes and until the bout ends, his stoic figure doesn’t change.

On the flip side, Spence has shown consistently he loses focus and drifts in bouts that have led to scary moments that could have put a blemish on his clean record. Against Ugas, Spence lost his mouth piece and lost his focus in the process while trying to check if his teeth had been knocked out.

*Yordenis Ugas connects with a punch against Errol Spence Jr. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)*

For context, Spence’s dentals had suffered damage when Errol was involved in a near death car accident a couple of years back. Ugas rocked Spence and should have delivered a flurry of punches to score a knockdown or possibly a knockout but he didn’t and that was Spence’s escape en route to score a 10^th round technical knockout.

Spence’s trainer Derrick James mentioned it as an area they need to work and that’s good but James has made such comments during previous fights and that is a source of worrying coming up against an efficient and ruthless fighter in Crawford.

Experience counts for a lot in such a close but elite fight and Crawford holds the advantage in this regard as the guy with 39 wins in all 39 bouts he has been involved in. On the flip side, Spence has won all 28 professional bouts he has been involved in and that is quite extensive but he is inexperienced in the post-accident part of his career.

*WBC/WBA and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (R) works with trainer Derrick James (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)*

Since recovering from the serious accident, the Dallas native has fought just two times with one coming against Mikey Garcia who had just moved up in weight class and struggled to find his footing in the contest. His other fight was against Yordenis Ugas who doesn’t have an established jab.

For Crawford, who thrives on hunting weaknesses and exploiting them, this is an issue his game plan will address while targeting Spence’s right eye that was operated on two years ago.

*Crawford working out (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)*

Crawford’s ability to switch stances and fight his way to victory in a wide range of ways puts him ahead of Spence at least on paper. Southpaw Spence pummels his opponents’ body on the inside and takes advantage of them over compensating for this by connecting on clinical upper cuts and overhand left punches.

Omaha native Crawford wins bouts off the orthodox and south paw stances against pressure fighters, rangy fighters, speedy fighters and doing so fighting from range, inside and mid-range and landing counter punches, throwing a flurry of punches and scheming on the inside.

*Errol Spence Jr. celebrates after defeating Yordenis Ugas (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)*

For Spence, beating opponents involves chopping them down just the way Derrick James has promised his man will do to beat Crawford this weekend.

*Terence Crawford (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)*

Spence’s best route to win this bout is by making an aggressive start to the fight while Crawford who is usually a slow starter, gathers information to use later in the fight. Forcing Crawford to not settle into his groove and forcing him to fast track his information gathering inside the ring is what Spence needs to do to get a leg up early on and manage the fight through to score a win.

MINTAH Writes: Manchester City is the best destination for Kudus Mohammed, not Chelsea

Pep Guardiola molding one of football’s malleable talents is sure to be one of the best experiments to witness

As crazy as it sounds, there was a time there were legitimate concerns over signing the great Ronaldinho. Was he another Denilson, a trickster who had all the skills in the world and beyond to beat players at will but could never put it all together to become an elite player, or even worse an average player?

Was Ronaldinho going to be another Brazilian who flat out flames out, like his compatriot, when asked to produce consistently as every elite player does?

The answer was a bit up in the air, considering Ronaldinho had already showed up big on the big stages (at the 2002 FIFA World Cup) and in the biggest games for Paris Saint-Germain (against Olympique Marseilles and AS Monaco especially) but was pretty anonymous in games against mid table teams and bottom dwellers.

Denilson’s huge failure to live up to his world’s most expensive player tag rubbed heavily off on doubts on Ronaldinho but that was soon put to bed by the ever smiling maestro who dazzled the world at the Camp Nou.

*Denilson of Brazil. (Photo by Mark Leech/Offside via Getty Images)*

*Barcelona’s Brazilian striker Ronaldinho celebrating after scoring a goal during an UEFA Cup (Photo credit should read CESAR RANGEL/AFP via Getty Images)*

In fact, Ronaldinho was so untouchable at Barcelona that his time at AC Milan, though very good, is generally viewed as part of the more unimpressive years in his career.

Professional sports operates with a strong copycat format that whatever works gets replicated by other operators in the discipline.

Barcelona’s Ronaldinho (R) during Spanish League football match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, 19 November, 2005. AFP PHOTO JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)

In the NBA, the winning template was to play small ball like the Golden State Warriors teams that won three titles in four years. That has switched to going with a traditional big man who has the passing skills of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Seeing the somewhat depressed market for Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus isn’t shocking, looking at the flat performances of Antony and Mykhailo Mudryk. Both players were sold by Ajax Amsterdam and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively for at least 100 million Euros and underperformed in their debut seasons in the English Premier League.

Had Antony and Mudryk started their EPL careers off with a bang, clubs would be queuing up to sign a left footed winger with tremendous ball juggling ability, balance, improving goal scoring prowess, and years on hand to grow into an absolute world-beater.

*Kudus Mohammed in action against Angola in a 2023 AFCON qualifier*

Mohammed has been consistently linked to the EPL since the start of the 2022-2023 season with Everton, Liverpool, Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal all mentioned as potential destinations. Chelsea has been added to this “interested in Kudus” list in recent days with the London club mentioned as a huge admirer of the Ajax player.

Outside the EPL, Borussia Dortmund looks to be the best club for Kudus but moving to the German side is quite a linear move and Brighton and the EPL represents that step up in competition quality.

Kudus Mohammed (left) with Hafiz Konkoni at Black Stars training session

Though Brighton will compete in the Europa League and not the Champions League like Dortmund, affairs at the club are quite settled and a path to regular extensive minutes are quite clearer compared to Arsenal, Chelsea or even Everton.

However, one team that hasn’t been connected to securing Mohammed Kudus’ signing at the time of writing this piece is Manchester City. Here are reasons why a move to Man City works for Mohammed Kudus.

Chelsea’s priority compared to Man City’s

*Caicedo (Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)*

Chelsea is having trouble deciding between spending money to sign Moises Caicedo to play exclusively as the defensive midfielder alongside the versatile Enzo Fernandez in Mauricio Pochettino’s heavily used 4-2-3-1 formation and buying another central defender.

With Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana injured and Thiago Silva very high up there in age and having his fair share of injuries, getting an Axel Disasi is more of a priority than getting a winger who can also line up in midfield in Kudus.

*Wesley Fofana (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)*

On the other hand, Man City needs such a player in its setup following the exits of Riyadh Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan. Pep Guardiola’s side has played its hand to fill the wing/midfield role by registering its interest in Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise.

Michael Olise Effect

*Josko Gvardiol (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)*

While the Cityzens are engulfed in a battle with RB Leipzig to sign defender Josko Gvardiol, the team EPL champs need reinforcement in the midfield/wing role. Rico Lewis played in this role last season but an upgrade on the English youngster is exactly what Pep desires hence the interest in Olise who is more accomplished than Lewis.

Kudus has the tactical range to play Bernardo Silva’s role as a guy who plays on the wing and can slot into the left side of a three man midfield unit with Rodri and Mateo Kovacic or Kevin De Bruyne.

*Michael Olise (Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)*

Olise played to his immense talent this past season but Kudus has shown he is more accomplished and the more ready player to meet Guardiola’s demanding system.

An archetype of Guaridola’s system was on full display in Man City’s 1-0 over Arsenal at the Emirates in the COVID-hit 2020-21 season where Man City went striker-less and won the league.

*Guardiola show off Champions League title Photo Courtesy: Evening Standard*

In that win over Arsenal, De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva took turns playing central in a three-man attack formation. Kudus played 16 games last season, scored nine goals and added two assists as a makeshift center-forward for Ajax.

As a right winger, the soon-to-be 23-year-old played 17 games, scored seven goals and registered four assists, while scoring two goals and bagging an assist in nine games as an attacking midfielder. As a pro, Olise (who turns 22 in December) is yet to line up as a center-forward, thus giving Kudus the edge even in the face of Olise’s effect in this discussion.

Continuing the Man City way of doing business

Man City under Guardiola operate a bit differently from the norm as the club signs players who aren’t necessarily needed but end up slotting into Guardiola’s grand scheme and becoming contributors. Manuel Akanji wasn’t a ‘sexy signing’ as an inconsistent defender who made a tad too many mistakes but he contributed immensely to the treble-winning squad.

*Jack Grealish Tom Flathers/Manchester City FC via Getty Images*

City overpaid for Jack Grealish, and in the Englishman’s debut season at the Etihad, he did look like an overpaid winger.

*Mohammed Kudus of Ajax (Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)*

However, in his second season, he played up to his price tag so well.

At this point, Mohammed Kudus to Man City looks a bit off script but doing things a bit off script, with others catching up later has been Guardiola’s trademark since breaking into pro coaching ranks. As such, seeing Kudus in a Man City jersey isn’t farfetched at all.

MINTAH writes: Onana gives Ten Hag his best shot at replicating Guardiola’s striker less system at Man Utd

It definitely has taken some time to sink in but at this point, Pep Guardiola must be the greatest football coach of all time.

While it is difficult to picture the Spaniard deliver these words in the bellowing defiant tone Muhammad Ali did after shocking the world with a beat down of Sonny Liston, he doesn’t need to do so.

After all, the actions of leagues he has coached in, national teams, fellow coaches, referees and all stakeholders in football, communicate that Pep is indeed the greatest to ever do it.

No man or woman has had this much influence on how the beautiful game is played, enjoyed and perceived than Pep.

It is for this reason, Bastian Schweinsteiger will pin the poor performance of the German Men’s national football team on Guardiola.

Well why wouldn’t he? Instead of playing efficient, fast counter attacking football, that relied heavily on crosses to feed strikers like Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose and Kevin Kuranyi, the Germans have been bitten by the Pep bug ever since Guardiola infused his possession heavy style into Germany’s team, Bayern Munich.

*Guardiola shows off his first Champions League title with Manchester City (Photo Courtesy: Evening Standard)*

Playing with a false nine marked Guardiola’s way of moving off Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o while accentuating Lionel Messi’s march to becoming the greatest in his own right. Playing Messi centrally worked so well that the most dominant team in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, Spain, applied it and won a third international title in a row.

La Roja won the 2008 Euros and 2010 FIFA World Cup on the back of using Guardiola’s Tiki Taka system and switched their way to European glory by playing midfielder Francesc Fabregas as a central striker. Teams want to play and win like Pep’s teams after dominating in Spain, England and Germany while winning the treble with two teams in two countries.

*Spain wins 2012 Euros (Photo Courtesy: DW)*

If all this doesn’t make you believe Pep is the GOAT of coaches, then why would an elite goalkeeper like David De Gea be unemployed at the time of writing this piece. For a false nine system or tiki taka system to work, the team’s goalkeeper must be comfortable with the ball at his feet since the keeper is for the most part, the initiator of possession.

*David De Gea of Manchester United (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)*

While Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag showed a lot of patience throughout last season with De Gea’s inefficient passing especially in losses to Brentford and Brighton early in the campaign, Sevilla later in the season, the breaking point came in the FA Cup loss to Man City.

David De Gea led the entire game in wayward passes with the former Atletico Madrid stopper playing an eye-gouging 18. That’s a goalkeeper registering more bad passes than outfield players who touch the ball more, to put things in perspective.

Despite keeping 190 clean sheets in 545 appearances, winning the 2022-2023 Golden Glove award and a handful of Man United Player of the Season awards, it still wasn’t enough to keep De Gea at Old Trafford beyond the campaign.

*Erik Ten Hag (Photo Courtesy: The Mirror)*

By snapping up Andre Onana from Inter Milan, Ten Hag not only reunites with the Cameroonian international he worked with for multiple years at Ajax but also his fine shot stopping skills and most importantly for Man United and Ten Hag, his ball playing ability. Onana’s traditional goalkeeping abilities are quite understated but are good enough to hang with the best of them.

*Andre Onana (Photo Courtesy: ManUtd.com)*

For instance, Onana registered a 77.8% save rating while De Gea registered a 73.5% rating last season. De Gea’s clean sheets mark stood at 43.1 compared to Onana’s 46.3 clean sheet mark and all these stats come on the back drop of Onana playing 41 games to De Gea’s 58 according to the BBC. When adjusted, Onana’s numbers should be at par with De Gea’s numbers if not better.

*Andre Onana (Photo by Richard Sellers/Allstar/Getty Images)*

Aside passing, saving penalties is another Achilles heel of De Gea and even his vaunted shot stopping skills aren’t as great as they look compared to the marks he set earlier in his career especially in the most turbulent post Sir Alex Ferguson years.

So aside getting an upgrade in Onana in passing and chance creation categories, De Gea’s biggest selling point-preventing goals- isn’t such a big sell after all and adds up to justify Ten Hag’s decision to move off him.

The Ten Hag era is really going to kick into gear in his second season at Old Trafford and it is likely to continue to be without a recognized striker.

*Harry Kane (Photo Courtesy: Team Talk)*

Getting Harry Kane is a very long shot this season just as getting Victor Osimhen while Kolo Muani and Rasmus Hojlund aren’t accomplished enough to entrust them with the enormous responsibility of leading the offensive line on the back of what is sure to be a huge financial layout from the Red Devils.

Seeing Man United play Wolves on August 14 with Anthony Martial as the team’s sole striker should be no surprise and while Martial looks the part, how he has applied himself in the role is questionable just as his ability to stay fit.

*Erling Haaland of Manchester fouls Andre Onana of Inter during the UEFA Champions League 2022/23 final (Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)*

This means Ten Hag has to roll out a Pep Guardiola system with wingers/ wing forwards in Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Amad Diallo and Antony leading the line. Guardiola used this system to win the 2021-2022 EPL title after Sergio Aguero missed significant time to injury.

Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling led the line so well, Aguero had a hard time getting back into the starting lineup. It also marked recently departed Ilkay Gundogan’s best goal scoring campaign in the EPL (13). Ten Hag has Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes ready to replicate this kind of production.

Having Onana’s ball playing skills and athleticism and awareness to play as a keeper-sweeper should help Man United inundate opposing team’s boxes to force teams to make mistakes.

*Anthony Martial of Manchester United (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)*

Had Man United rolled into the season with no recognizable striker and had De Gea in post, teams equipped with the right quality in personnel and tactics would easily exploit the gaps in between the lines created by having a goalkeeper with passing deficiency who lacks the athleticism and confidence to step up and be a third center back passing option.

*Erik Ten Hag the manager / head coach of Manchester United (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)*

Having this in play gives Man United the chance to create mismatches and overloads which is essential in building attacks.

Man City’s successful EPL title winning season with a striker less system was made possible by having a ball playing goalkeeper in Ederson in post; with Andre Onana, Man United has the right guy to do same.

Ten Hag and Guardiola worked together at Bayern Munich and having seen his former boss use the striker less system to win an EPL title, Ten Hag has all the tools now to beat season expectations of a third place finish.

MINTAH Writes: Thomas Partey is on the outside looking into Arsenal’s 2023-24 season

Despite missing out on some huge marks, it is clear Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta continues to improve with every campaign at the Emirates. While in recent seasons, his team has missed out on a Champions League spot and then went on to drop the biggest one of all – the EPL title – Gunners fans can take comfort in this consistent improvement in performance.

Aside the rise in position finishes under the Spaniard, it is becoming quite clear Arteta is embracing some of the ruthless traits that have made Pep Guardiola such a serial winner and flat out the greatest coach of all time. Joao Cancelo was one of the best Manchester City players in the final quarter of 2022 but by the time 2023 rolled in, the Portuguese was on his way out of the club.

Arteta has pulled off similar moves as he did away with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and is about to do same to Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey. Like Aubameyang and Cancelo, Partey starred for a sustained period before falling off and eventually lost his place in the starting unit.

Rodri curled in the winning goal for Man City Photo Courtesy: Getty Images

Many forget that there was a time where Partey, Casemiro and Rodri were ranked as the best central midfielders-defensive midfielders in the EPL but unlike Casemiro and Rodri, Partey had a terrible end to the season and got supplanted by Jorginho.

With Kai Havertz on board and the imminent arrival of Declan Rice, the pair, along with with Martin Odegaard, looks like the starting trio in midfield in Arteta’s stoic 4-3-3 system. This unit brings the star power, creativity and goal scoring threat behind a productive front line headlined by Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

However, between Rice, Havertz and Odegaard, there isn’t much defensive cover for an Arsenal backline that is encouraged to push high up the field as possible with Oleksandr Zinchenko also dropping into midfield. Elite opposing teams and teams with effective counter attacking game plans can easily overwhelm Rice in the pivot position and run over the Gunners.

Partey is an easy fix here but it is difficult to envisage the former Atletico Madrid playing his way into a prominent role and it isn’t necessarily because he is a bad player; far from that. In fact, despite the downturn in form to close out last season, Partey is still a top quality midfielder who can start for practically any elite team in the world. So with Rice in play, this is why Partey is in the Siberian region of Arsenal’s roster.

Marcus Rashford of Manchester United and Thomas Partey of Arsenal (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Partey’s high salary

Commanding a high wage is a statement and shows how important an individual is to an organization and per Spotrac, Partey was the second highest paid player at Arsenal in the past campaign. Partey netted a gross sum of 10.4 million Pounds annual salary via a 200,000 pound weekly wage, and posting these numbers alongside what is sure to be hefty wages for Rice and Havertz, makes Partey a very expensive substitute.

This situation is tough to fathom considering Partey is very likely to play a reduced role for Arsenal next season and such limited minutes don’t warrant wages of a player who is looking at playing a bit-part role.

Playing limited minutes and contributing just enough quality to make up for the loss of regular starters is the job for Fabio Vieira, Mohammed Elneny, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith-Rowe. Arsenal of course, can make Partey’s huge salary less of a problem should it successfully move Nelson and Smith-Rowe off its books.

In this instance, Partey and Jorginho can serve as quality backups with the former filling the role of a sub substitute Arsenal needed at several points at the backend of last season when the Gunners excellent run started to slow down.

Emile Smith Rowe (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

With fewer bodies battling for midfield minutes and taking more money from the coffers, Partey’s wages become less of an albatross on Arsenal’s ability to continue improving its team.

Partey’s injury woes

Injuries haven’t been kind to Partey, especially since he moved to the Emirates Stadium, and those ailments could ultimately be his undoing. Two opposites can be true at the same time and for Partey, the injury-forced absences hurt but also highlighted his importance to Arsenal as the Gunners were never the same in his absence, especially earlier on last season. Such a situation expedited Arsenal’s pursuit for a replacement and alas, that replacement [Rice] is nigh.

Declan Rice (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Compared to the best defensive midfielders in the EPL, Partey has played the fewest minutes to those of Declan Rice, Rodri, Casemiro and Bruno Guimaraes. Since joining Arsenal, Partey played the most games ever in his third season in the 2022-2023 campaign as he made 40 appearances in all competitions while playing 2,694 minutes in total.

Rice, on the other hand, played 50 games in all competitions while playing 4,148 minutes and Rodri played 56 games in all competitions while playing 4,476 minutes. Availability played a big part in Rice generating better numbers than Partey. By getting Rice, Arsenal is getting a guy who won the most possessions (334) and made the most interceptions (63) in the Premier League.

His interception rate was seven more than the closest players- Idrissa Gueye and Moises Caicedo. On top of that, he was dribbled past just 20 times all season in the league; this statistic translates to getting dribbled past at a rate of 0.6 times per 90 minutes. This rate ranks higher than Casemiro (2.1), Guimaraes and Rodri both on 0.9 and ahead of Thomas Partey who chalked a rate of 1.0.

Partey’s Age & Background

By signing Havertz [24 years] and being on the brink of signing fellow 24-year-old Rice, Arsenal continues its youth revolution at the club. As a 30-year-old, Partey is an odd fit in the timeline of the Gunners and this is a problem beyond the face value of being an elder statesman in the middle of younglings.

Thomas Partey battles Christian Eriksen (right) for the ball

Moving off young players in Reiss Nelson and Smith-Rowe is tough to fathom considering both players are viewed as having more upside, mainly due to their age, than Partey.

Very closely connected to this point is Nelson and Smith-Rowe’s connection to the club with both players graduating from the club’s academy into the main team. Shipping them off rids the club identity somewhat and considering Partey isn’t “one of Arsenal’s own”, it is tough to see the Ghanaian getting the edge over the young duo.

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