I found it fascinating that the right-back version of Frimpong was essentially Bradley according to the data. But does this make a deal more likely or less likely?!
Wow ... I forgot about his time pre-Alonso at Leverkusen. Great idea to compare his data from 2021-22 when he played mostly at RB in a back 4 (apples to apples). Thanks Andrew for the effort that went into this ... very insightful!
The data do indicate that he's a less active defender at RB but that what we're all expecting. I'm hoping that the influence of 10 years in City's academy means that he has to be comfortable on the ball and press resistant when in possession. If he's a capable contributor in the build-up phase, his electric pace will be a tremendous new weapon in attack (especially opening up the space to the right of Mo that has been ignored for the past few seasons). He should enable us to get more out of Mo (Trent seldom over or underlapped) as defenders will have to respect his threat.
It's still surprising that Edwards/Hughes would invest £30 million in a full back ... if they do, it might be an indication that they see him as something extraordinary at full back
I broadly agree. It's similar to the situation with Ryan, whom everyone had pegged as an 8 who COULDN'T POSSIBLY play the 6... I'm more interested in those physical attributes of Frimpong that you cite and, even if he does play more as a wingback, who says that Arne can't adapt to that system if he thinks it really works? The only hang-up in that respect is that he's clearly told Mo that he's largely without defensive responsibilities and we can't have two guys on the right side in that mode. We already had one before, which was usually Trent, as Hendo was there to cover for him when he moved forward (and which contributes to the "Trent can't defend-!" memes) but two is non-functional. I don't want to detract from Mo's newfound freedom so there would have to be something else involved unless, as you say, Frimpong switches back to playing a more traditional fullback role.
I found it fascinating that the right-back version of Frimpong was essentially Bradley according to the data. But does this make a deal more likely or less likely?!
Wow ... I forgot about his time pre-Alonso at Leverkusen. Great idea to compare his data from 2021-22 when he played mostly at RB in a back 4 (apples to apples). Thanks Andrew for the effort that went into this ... very insightful!
The data do indicate that he's a less active defender at RB but that what we're all expecting. I'm hoping that the influence of 10 years in City's academy means that he has to be comfortable on the ball and press resistant when in possession. If he's a capable contributor in the build-up phase, his electric pace will be a tremendous new weapon in attack (especially opening up the space to the right of Mo that has been ignored for the past few seasons). He should enable us to get more out of Mo (Trent seldom over or underlapped) as defenders will have to respect his threat.
It's still surprising that Edwards/Hughes would invest £30 million in a full back ... if they do, it might be an indication that they see him as something extraordinary at full back
I broadly agree. It's similar to the situation with Ryan, whom everyone had pegged as an 8 who COULDN'T POSSIBLY play the 6... I'm more interested in those physical attributes of Frimpong that you cite and, even if he does play more as a wingback, who says that Arne can't adapt to that system if he thinks it really works? The only hang-up in that respect is that he's clearly told Mo that he's largely without defensive responsibilities and we can't have two guys on the right side in that mode. We already had one before, which was usually Trent, as Hendo was there to cover for him when he moved forward (and which contributes to the "Trent can't defend-!" memes) but two is non-functional. I don't want to detract from Mo's newfound freedom so there would have to be something else involved unless, as you say, Frimpong switches back to playing a more traditional fullback role.
I like the idea of having two players in the same position, of potentially the same level, who both offer different ways of achieving the same result.