If I followed up every rumour, it’d be a full time job in itself. That’s why Daily Cannon has people to do it for us, so we can see all the rubbish in one place with the truth about the rumour laid bare.
To scout or not to scout
The other truth is that it’s really hard to assess a player from statistics or YouTube videos anyway.
The latter only ever show a snapshot of a player, or a carefully edited highlights reel designed to show a particular strength or weakness.
No one ever compiles “Alexis Sanchez’ greatest goals and moments he shot when he should have passed”.
As for statistics, clubs find it hard to scout on the basis of numbers alone.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s clearly some value to be had – personally, I love xG statistics as a measure, but they’re still limited by model reliability and sample size. I’m a firm believer that there is no substitute for a good old fashioned eye test.
I’d rather withhold at least an element of judgment until I’m able to scrutinise the player themselves on the Emirates turf.
It certainly beats basing your opinion on their numbers on FIFA or football manager attributes…oh wait, that’s what sky sports now use as “actual reporting”.
The state of modern journalism.
Next, my way