They are leaving because the club is broken. All those that can find a club will leave. We will be left with the rubbish like Cathcart, Cleverley, Ngakia, Fletcher, WTE and Bachmann. Survival in the Championship has to be the first aim of Edwards. Though l understand that Promotion is expected by the board. This to be obtain next season or within two seasons for the Survival of the club. There will be very interesting times ahead.
So we are going back to Austria again for our pre-season camp. Will be interesting to see who we have lined up to play.
Based on Kayembe being utter droppings and being limited to short sideways passes with only 1 foot. I don’t rate TDB that highly - but I know which I prefer of the 2 players.
Anyone see Kalu and Kayembe in any of the videos so far? Weren't playing internationals so should've been back. Unless already been put in the "Rule of 11" bin...
WTF WTE ? Can't we find some desperate club in Holland to take him off our hands. We have accumulated so much dross no one wants. On long term contracts as well.
Wonder if it will be like the one last time when the players treated it like a holiday and never managed to get fit until late in the season.
That's a point, haven't seen Kalu yet. Mogi is probably looking for a loan deal in Belgium for him with us paying his wages still.
So bad. There is a reason no-one wants him yet some of our fans are literally starting him. Anyone that has Ekong in their starting lineup is an idiot. Statistically and visually by far our worst CB and there is no argument, it’s fact. If we had any sense we would pay him off and cut him loose. Before anyone throws Kaba under, here you go. This is Per 90. Kaba has better possession, pass accuracy, didn’t concede a single foul from an attempted tackle, Ekong commits nearly 1 foul every game from an attempted tackle. Kaba wins more fouls and gives away less fouls, he also has nearly 80% aerial success rate compared to Ekong’s 51%. Kaba is much better at ground duels per 90, reads the game better and puts his body on the line more.
Troost Ekong is 3 years younger and outperformed Kabasele in the Championship last time out. I think it’s much of a muchness between the two of them but Troost is homegrown and is captain of his country and is 3 years younger so I’d prefer to bin off Kabasele if we had to pick one. You’re also only comparing one year of stats (in which both players didn’t play very much) which presents sample size issues. I don’t think if you look across their careers it’s clear that Kabasele is superior in the air. In 19/20 (I don’t have data for the championship) Kabasele’s aerial win rate was 57% and WTE’s was 63.4%. In 18/19 59.5% versus 68%. Given age, homegrown status, presumed wage, injury records, and leadership qualities, I’d rather keep WTE around than Kabasele, personally (though whoever can get a move can leave, thanks).
Wrong. Absolutely wrong. Age doesn’t matter at all. Bottom line is Ekong is worse than Kaba and it’s a proven fact. You’re also using stats from Udinese for Ekong in that season vs Kaba in the Prem. Also the sample size is large enough for conclusive evidence. Most professional data analysis and scouts, especially scouts, will watch a player for about 3 games at most before making a decision. I also posted their comparison for the season in the championship last summer in another thread, and again Kaba outperformed Ekong in nearly every aspect. It was the same debate last summer. People have it in for Kaba when in reality anyone with a pair of eyes that watches Ekong will know what a massive liability he is compared to Kaba. A Watford fan around Christmas time made an “error chart” for goals conceded and points lost. Guess who topped it, yep Ekong, with Masina in second. Not going to argue with you about it because I will never agree with anyone who wants Ekong in our squad and I’ve proven my point sufficiently. It truly baffles me how fans though are so quick to forget how bad Ekong really is, yet they hate on Kaba when he has been far more consistent than Ekong for the past 2 years.
This debate reminds me of the South Park episode where they had to vote for a Giant Douche or Turd Sandwich as the new mascot. Fact is they're both awful and both need upgrading ASAP. The fact Kabasele's pass accuracy happens to be 1% better than WTE's makes no real difference to anything.
In the Championship last time, Kabasele had a 58.1% aerial win rate, winning on average 3.3 per game. Troost-Ekong had a 51.6% aerial win rate, winning on average 3.0 per game (though whoscored has his win rate slightly lower than wyscout at 49% and 2.7). I don't know why you're talking about 19/20 season for WTE given that was in Serie A. For the two seasons they've both been here, Kabasele has a better aerial win rate than WTE, albeit the difference isn't huge. WTE's aerial stats for sure aren't very good though, while Kabs' are nearer to verging on acceptable. I'd be concerned that Kabs' legs might go at some point though; his pace is a key aspect of his game and there were times at the end of last season his running didn't seem quite right.
All our centre backs are absolute dogshyt in the air, save Sierralta, who appears to have been disappeared for reasons unbeknownst to anyone including those who did it. It's hilarious to even consider them in that context, really - they're all a Benny Hill sketch in the attempting of it.
“Anyone with eyes” - I have eyes and I think Kabasele is similarly unreliable to Ekong. Don’t know why your tone is so rude when I have expressed that I have a different preference from you. Also age does matter - lots on here have correctly complained about the extension of old players because players decline when they get old. Look at Foster or Cleverley in recent years and tell me age has no bearing on performance. I referred to his Serie A 19/20 stats because a) I had them readily available and b) they play football in Italy too and football didn’t start in September 2020. I recognise that that data might be less valuable than the data from their time together in the same team/league but it still has some value which is why I shared it. Prior to joining Watford, WTE consistently had a much higher aerial win rate than Kabasele. Look, my underlying point was this: they’re both crap and I hope neither plays. But if we can only bin off one, certain off field factors (injury record, age, homegrown status) mean that Kabasele’s exit should be prioritised. Is this really such a disagreeable remark?
