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Happy to swim against the current on this one because as much as I like him, he’s just overrated.

Magnificent… ok, in what category? I don’t have a problem with him, I’m just not delusional enough to say he’s ’magnificent’. He’s just a good, above average player and there’s nothing wrong with that. It just irritates how much he’s put on a pedestal when he’s created less chances than JDS… So...

The point is that Sakamoto isn’t that successful… Jay Dasilva has created more chances than him this season, as has EMC, MVE, Torp and Grimes. He’s marginally better than Rudoni who has been below par. In 3 games, Esse has half of Tats’ goal tally for this season and even the entirety of last...

You’re judging a player you’ve never seen… The club probably rate him higher if they’re willing to spend that sum on him after securing 2 wingers already. Statistically, he’s a strong dribbler and crosser so there’s good attributes to work with.

For some perspective, Sakamoto was signed from a relegated Belgian team for £2m, having only scored 1 goal all season. Pretty sure that transfer was greeted with consternation initially when it was announced. Signing an exciting attacking winger from the Swiss league who is amongst the best...

Get a grip man! It’s not even been a single transfer window! 😂

The last time I checked, he was joint top with Moore this season too and they were ahead by 2 iirc so at worst, Simms probably 2nd in the league.

I included him as a comparison to Sakamoto…

I don’t think Lampard want his winger’s first priority is covering their WBs when they get forward… Besides, if what you say is true, why has MVE got more assists without Sakamoto than with this season? Sakamoto is an above average winger in this division so he’d comfortably start for most...

If the eye test was that conclusive, why does the data not support that and on the contrary, why has MVE got more assists without Sakamoto? MVE and Sakamoto have played together close to 100 games together (probably more), there’s been a lot of good moments between the two. Statistically, MVE...

The obsession is more with Sakamoto being untouchable for many people. He is overestimated by most of our fanbase. To be clear, that doesn’t mean he’s bad, it just means he’s not as good as some people think he is. Apparently MVE is prime Cafu when he plays with Sakamoto and Stephen Wright...

People were crying for it when he was out injured. Yet, football fans have amnesia because the narrative was that without Rudoni, we were too open with BTA with Haji… 😂 Frankly, BTA needs to work his way back into the 11 and it was a mistake not starting Eccles imo who should’ve scored again...

Why would Ipswich sign Sakamoto?! 😂

Possibly, with Rudoni and BTA there, it’s quite hard to have Esse there too. Esse and Merkalo’s shot maps are v similar, both like to cut in from the right hand side to their left foot. When Esse plays AM, it’s mostly at Palace who play a system similar to ‘the box’ under MR, it’s somewhere in...

Disagree on MVE, that point gets parroted without any supporting data. Most of MVE’s assists this season have been without Sakamoto playing… Esse is first choice and not buying the idea we’ve spent €5m on a winger to not be in around the starting 11 so Sakamoto either drops down the pecking...

Have you ever considered that it’s Sakamoto who’s probably falling down the pecking order? It’s quite funny because even when we brought Esse in, people were insisting it was competition for Sakamoto and until recently the idea that we was ‘arguably’ better than Esse… Sakamoto is a cult hero...

It’s an intensity thing, for the first 50-60 minutes last night, he was good and won the ball high up the pitch. If we had a more physically dominant player than Allen, that’d suit the system v well. The tactical instruction is to clearly try to win the ball high up the pitch and if the...

It’s just a ridiculous thing to say. Neil is a good player but 2 goals and 3 assists last season doesn’t necessarily strike me as being a huge game changer. He’s better than Jack Taylor imo, so upgrades their options. Looking at Grimes v Neil head to head in 24/25, Grimes is the better player...

I’ll reserve judgement for now but you’d think we have a plan for him and potentially other players. My gut feeling is that I can just see Sakamoto being moved somewhere else. Maybe LW or even AM, why else sign 2 RW? Since Sunderland away (2-2), I’ve wanted to see him play LW (or even LWB in...

When you have 3 strikers in double figures for the season, that’s probably a constraint…