gerd
Retired Footballer
A couple of day ago i stumbeld upon a book that i have overlooked for a couple of years: "Why England lose & other curious football phenomena explained" by journalist Simon Kuper and economist Stefan Szymanski. Iy's a thoroughly enjoyable, funny and very clever book. In the book there is a chapter about transfers and at the end of it they make a list of the 12 main secrets of the transfer market.
Here they are.
1. A new manager wastes money on transfers, don't let him.
2. Use the wisdom of crowds (i.e. don't let one person decide about transfers).
3. Stars of recent World Cups or European championships are overvalued; ignore them.
4.Certain nationalities are overvalued.
5. Older players are overvalued.
6. Centre forwards are overvalued; goalkeepers are undervalued.
7.Gentlemen prefer blonds: identfy and abandon 'sightbased prejudices' (i.e. in a match with 21 black player, the one Chinese player will stand out but isn't necessarily the best one).
8. The best time to buy a player is in his early twenties (i.e. most 16 year wonderkids never make it: Adu, Lamptey, Osundo, William de Oliveira, James Will and Mohammed Al Kathiri, where all named best player of the u-17 World Cup, none of them made an impact in international football).
9.Sell any player when another club ofers more than he is worth.
10. Replace your best players even before you sell them.
11. Buy players with personal problems and then help them deal with their problems.
12. Help your players relocate (help foreign players and their family to adapt to your cuntry, city).
Discuss...
Here they are.
1. A new manager wastes money on transfers, don't let him.
2. Use the wisdom of crowds (i.e. don't let one person decide about transfers).
3. Stars of recent World Cups or European championships are overvalued; ignore them.
4.Certain nationalities are overvalued.
5. Older players are overvalued.
6. Centre forwards are overvalued; goalkeepers are undervalued.
7.Gentlemen prefer blonds: identfy and abandon 'sightbased prejudices' (i.e. in a match with 21 black player, the one Chinese player will stand out but isn't necessarily the best one).
8. The best time to buy a player is in his early twenties (i.e. most 16 year wonderkids never make it: Adu, Lamptey, Osundo, William de Oliveira, James Will and Mohammed Al Kathiri, where all named best player of the u-17 World Cup, none of them made an impact in international football).
9.Sell any player when another club ofers more than he is worth.
10. Replace your best players even before you sell them.
11. Buy players with personal problems and then help them deal with their problems.
12. Help your players relocate (help foreign players and their family to adapt to your cuntry, city).
Discuss...