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Overall summary

Name	Club	Apps: starts (from the bench)	Minutes played	Goals	Assists	Clean sheets (GK only)	Note
Matej Kovar	Swindon Town (League One)	21 (0)	1890	0	0	1	Loan ended: recalled back to Man Utd
Joel Pereira	Huddersfield Town (Championship)	1 (0)	90	0	0	0
Jacob Carney	Brighouse Town (Northern Premier League)	4 (0)	360	0	0	1	Loan ended
Jacob Carney	Portadown FC (NIFL Premiership)	0 (0)	0	0	0	0
Max Taylor	Kidderminster Harriers (National League North)	10 (0)	841	1	0	-	League suspended until February 1st
Di'Shon Bernard	Salford City (League Two)	14 (1)	1322	2	2	-
Diogo Dalot	AC Milan (Serie A)	11 (4)	1077	1	1	-
Ethan Laird	MK Dons (League One)	2 (1)	210	0	1	-
James Garner	Watford (Championship)	13 (8)	1248	0	1	-
Dylan Levitt	Charlton Athletic (League One)	5 (0)	386	0	0	-	Loan ended: recalled back to Man Utd
Aliou Traore	SM Caen (Ligue 2)	4 (10)	531	0	0	-
Andreas Pereira	SS Lazio (Serie A)	3 (14)	478	1	1	-
Max Haygarth	Brentford B (-)	7 (4)	628	3	0	-	Loan ended: moved to Brentford on a permanent deal
Tahith Chong	Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)	5 (10)	534	1	2	-
Amad Diallo	Atalanta (Serie A)	0 (2)	41	0	0	-	Permanent deal to join Manchester United

Diogo Dalot (AC Milan)

Played 90 minutes in 2:0 win against Cagliari in Serie A. Was unused substitute in 0:3 loss against Atalanta BC in Serie A. Was selected to Serie A WhoScored Team of the Week.
Selected highlights:
Individual highlights vs Cagliari
WhoScored.com rating vs Cagliari: 8.1/10 (team average: 7.08) (3rd highest rating on the pitch)
Stats vs Cagliari:
Shots (on target): 2 (1)
Possession: 4.8%
Touches: 72
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 39/46 (85%)
Key passes: 0
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 2/3 (67%) (joint most dribbles won on the pitch)
Dribbled past: 1
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 4/5 (80%) (most tackles won on the pitch)
Clearances: 4 (joint most clearances on the pitch)
Interceptions: 4 (joint most clearances on the pitch)
Corners (accurate %): 2 (100%)
Dispossessed: 0
Errors: 0
Fouls: 4 (most fouls on the pitch)
Offsides: 1
Fans' opinion after game vs Cagliari:
“- Dalot: Meh. He's ... "OK *shrug" 85% of the time, 15% of the time he tries to go forward and attack. But the difference between him and Theo seems to be, when Theo plays, his teammates just know he's going to bomb up and down like mad the whole time; that energy rubs off and the rest is also forced to go forward. Dalot by being rather passive in the majority of the time, doesn't spark this energy to go forward for the rest of the team.”* ~Nickenator85 on /ACMilan
“2 seasons ago this current Dalot would be our best fullback, now we're spoilt with Theo, Calabria and soon Kalulu. He's decent, but nothing spectacular in comparison” ~Gaverini on /ACMilan
“Dalot was inconsistent, we're used to the best left-back in the world and it's obvious that the Portuguese can't be at that level.” ~Lambro on AC Milan Forum
“I don't think he's performing bad as people make it out to be. Clearly being right-footed playing on the left is hindering him. All season we've been funneling our attacks through Theo so it's almost like a baptism of fire for the team to adapt to Dalot who'll have to take that extra second to cut inside.” ~fray on The Red&Black Forums
“5/10. Not a convincing performance. Is he an AC Milan player? As a left-back he seems to struggle and not just a little. In the end, when Conti came on, he was advanced to midfield and the outcome seemed to be better.” ~@RedellePagelle on Twitter

Tahith Chong (Werder Bremen)

Was unused substitute in 0:1 loss against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Bundesliga. Was unused substitute in 4:1 win against Hertha Berlin in Bundesliga.

James Garner (Watford)

Was unused substitute in 1:0 win against Barnsley in Championship. Was unused substitute in 2:1 win against Stoke City in Championship.

Ethan Laird (MK Dons)

Played 57 minutes and got an assist in 3:1 win against Fleetwood Town in League One. He has been selected to League One Team of the Week.
Selected highlights:
Assist
WhoScored.com rating: 7.7/10 (team average: 6.91) (3rd best rating for MK Dons)
Stats:
Shots (on target): 1 (0)
Possession: 1.6% (joint least possession on the pitch)
Touches: 27 (3rd least touches on the pitch)
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 8/13 (62%) (3rd worst passing accuracy for MK Dons)
Key passes: 1
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 1/2 (50%)
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Clearances: 0
Interceptions: 1
Dispossessed: 2
Errors: 0
Fouls: 3
Offsides: 0
Russell Martin (MK Dons manager): "[Ethan Laird getting kicked a lot and coming off?] Yeah, I think he's just getting used to life in League One. I'm sure he will be fine. But I was pleased, really pleased with him. We need to get some work into Ethan so that he understands fully what we're doing, but he shown real glimpses of what he's about. So yeah, I've been pleased with Ethan and he's got a lot of improvements to make as well."
Fans' opinion:
“Ethan Laird is absolutely unreal. Too good for league one. Bossing it on the right so far tonight, got an assist too” ~@KieronDay03 on Twitter
“Unreal. Is it me though or do you sometimes watch him go in to defend and initially he’s slow and then shows he has she acceleration and you think why didn’t you just get there quicker from the statt.... dons it a few times tonight.” ~@pdmkd on Twitter
“Laird is my new God. All Hail!” ~keyser soze on The Concrete Roundabout Forum
“Laird has a lot of swagger and a more natural option on the wing.” ~cornerdon26 on The Concrete Roundabout Forum
“Thought the defence looked shaky second half once Ethan laird came off” ~Donsduck on The Concrete Roundabout Forum

Jacob Carney (Portadown FC)

Matthew Tipton (Portadown FC manager): "The goalkeeper position is so important, if the foundation is right then everything else works better - defenders can move higher up the pitch and the attacking players get the ball in better positions to hurt the opposition, with the overall play a lot sharper. The distribution is vital and that can be having a goalkeeper comfortable with the ball at his feet playing it out from the back or having the speed of thought to identify opportunities playing it upfield. We know what Gareth can bring given his Irish League experience but Jacob has come as a 19-year-old on loan from Manchester United and settled really well, looking very sharp. Both goalkeepers are working hard and have adjusted to our training and gameplan.”

Joel Pereira (Huddersfield Town)

Was unused substitute in 0:1 loss against Millwall in Championship.

Aliou Traore (SM Caen)

Came on from the bench and played 31 minutes in 3:1 win against EA Guingamp in Coupe de France. Was not selected in matchday squad in 1:2 loss against Rodez AF in Ligue 2.

Andreas Pereira (SS Lazio)

Played 59 minutes and got assist in 2:1 win against Parma in Coppa Italia. Was unused substitute in 2:1 win against Sassuolo in Serie A.
Selected highlights:
Assist vs Parma
Good through ball resulting in a chance for Lazio
Corner followed by a good scoring chance that hit the post
SofaScore.com rating vs Parma: 7.0/10 (team average: 6.81)
Stats vs Parma:
Shots (on target): 1 (0)
Hit woodwork: 1
Big chances missed: 1
Touches: 37
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 13/17 (76%) (worst passing accuracy for Lazio)
Key passes: 3 (most key passes for Lazio)
Big chances created: 2
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 1/4 (25%)
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials: 0
Tackles: 0
Clearances: 0
Interceptions: 0
Corners (accurate %):
Fouls: 0
Offsides: 0
Fans' opinion after game vs Parma:
“I was sorry to see him go off so early, he wasn't playing great but he wasn't that bad either. I still think his role is as a midfielder and not as a second striker, I'd try him there from the start with Sassuolo. It's true that he's a bit too fond of the ball, but I don't see him in the middle of the pitch as a second striker. He's a very technical player, the kind who has to touch lots of balls to make an impact.” ~Stock on SS Lazio Forum
“It's a shame about Pereira, he could have played a bit more because he has unquestionable quality, although I don't see him as a replacement for Correa but more as a replacement for Luis Alberto.” ~@GladiatorFabry on Twitter
“Would really like for him to be a part of this team. Both parties want to stay together so I expect United to get a fee for him regardless of what the price is. Lazio and United usually have good business together so I expect permanent move at the end of the season.” ~TheSoccerguy124 on /soccer
“For me, at this moment Pereira in midfield you can't put him. Not along with one of Milinkovic or Luis. Tactically he struggles so much.” ~HummingBard on Lazio.net
“Andreas Pereira a player of the highest calibre.” ~Saymyname on Lazio.net

Di'Shon Bernard (Salford City)

Played 90 minutes in 2:2 draw against Harrogate Town in League Two.
Selected highlights:
Error leading to goal
Wonderful long ball pass
Poor marking in the box which leads to a chance for Harrogate Town
WhoScored.com rating: 5.5/10 (team average: 6.49) (worst rating on the pitch)
Stats:
Shots: 0
Possession: 6.2% (2nd most possession for Salford City)
Touches: 63 (2nd most touches for Salford City)
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 41/56 (73%)
Key passes: 0
Dribbles: 0
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 4/8 (50%) (joint most aerials won for Salford City)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 1/1 (100%)
Clearances: 5 (most clearances for Salford City)
Interceptions: 1
Dispossessed: 0
Errors: 1 (most errors on the pitch)
Fouls: 3 (joint most fouls on the pitch)

Next up

January 26th:
At 7 PM Garner's Watford plays Millwall and Joel's Huddersfield Town plays Bristol City in the Championship. Laird's MK Dons play Charlton Athletic in League One. Bernard's Salford City plays Cambridge United in League Two.
At 7:45 PM Carney's Portadown FC plays Crusaders in NIFL Premiership.
January 27th:
At 5 PM Dalot's AC Milan plays Inter Milan in Coppa Italia.
January 30th:
At 2 PM Dalot's AC Milan plays Bologna in Serie A.
At 2:30 PM Chong's Werder Bremen play Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.
At 3 PM Joel's Huddersfield Town plays Stoke City in the Championship. Laird's MK Dons play AFC Wimbledon in League One. Bernard's Salford City plays Oldham Athletic in League Two. Carney's Portadown FC plays Warrenpoint Town in NIFL Premiership.
At 6 PM Traore's SM Caen plays FC Chambly in Ligue 2.
January 31st:
At 2 PM Andreas' SS Lazio plays Atalanta in Serie A.
^{*All times are GMT.}

Artist: BLACKPINK
Album: THE ALBUM
Label: YG Entertainment / Interscope
Tracklist and Lyrics: Genius Page
Release date: October 2, 2020
popheads [FRESH] thread: Here
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

• THE PRELUDE
• PART 1. THE GROUP
• PART 2. THE MEMBERS
• PART 3. THE ERA
• PART 4. THE TRACKS
• PART 5. THE CONCLUSION
• THE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
• a note from the author

THE PRELUDE

My first memory of Blackpink was around the summer of 2017 when someone in the Popheads Plug.dj room played “As If It’s Your Last”. That song was stuck in my head ever since I first heard it. It had everything I wanted from a K-pop song at that time - a fire rap verse, beautiful vocals, an upbeat production that had an addictive pop bubblegum melody in the chorus. The gorgeous music video definitely played a huge factor on the song’s memorability.
A few months later, I was watching Justice League with my relatives when Barry Allen aka The Flash arrives at his Flash secret den, only to be surprised to find Bruce Wayne aka Batman waiting for him. Why am I mentioning this scene? Behind Batfleck (a portmanteau of Batman and Ben Affleck) is the TV screen of the “As If It’s Your Last” music video and the song can be heard for a few seconds before fading into focus on the dialogue between Batman and The Flash. Being in a Southeastern Country where the influence of the Hallyu wave is huge since the early 2000s, everyone in the theater were pleasantly surprised by the fact that a K-pop song, let alone a song from a group with only 5 songs at that time, was featured in a Hollywood superhero movie. At that moment, I had a huge feeling that the song being featured in Justice League will increase the presence of K-pop in the West to the point that a K-pop song actually charts in Billboard Hot 100 soon and BLACKPINK is going to be one of those groups.
To my surprise, I was actually right.
BTS and Blackpink are the most popular K-pop groups right now thanks to their success in the West, which was the place that is quite hesitant to accept K-pop as a dominant force in pop culture despite its popularity outside the West, especially in Asia. The groups’ appearances in the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Charts definitely made Western labels realize that K-pop is a dominant force globally.
As part of the Popheads Album of the Year 2020 series, I take a look at Blackpink's first full album appropriately titled “The Album''. Their debut full album was highly anticipated as it took four years since their debut in 2016 to finally make this happen. With this post, I deconstruct Blackpink’s history and their legacy, how the tracks fared as an album, and why “The Album” deserves its place as the “Popheads’ Album of the Year”.

PART 1. THE GROUP

When Blackpink made their debut on August 8, 2016, the anticipation was high as they were YG Entertainment’s second girl group after 2NE1. The high anticipation is also because the group was supposed to debut in 2012 after YG’s founder and now-former CEO Yang Hyun-suk teased a possibility of a second girl group back in 2011.
The name for YG’s second girl group wasn’t even called Blackpink in the first place as the group was initially named “Pink Punk”. “Pink Punk” was supposed to be YG’s answer to SM Entertainment’s Girls Generation (SNSD) as the initial number of members were supposed to match the number of members of SNSD, which is nine members. YG even uploaded videos of some trainees who were likely to be members of Pink Punk to build public interest before the group’s supposed to debut.
And then, Pink Punk never happened. Yang Hyun-suk’s indecisive, premature decisions during his time as CEO of YG is the reason why he earned so much infamy within the K-pop community, along with other things. But let’s not delve into that.
Between 2011 and 2016, it was clear that this second girl group went through drastic changes. The line-up of members changed from nine to seven, then to five, to just four. Besides Pink Punk, the group had other possible names such as “Baby Monster” and “Magnum”. I honestly wonder what kind of crack did the people in YG Entertainment smoke to think that these are legitimately good names for their second girl group. Did they get that crack from Senguri? We may never know.
Blackpink’s debut was an instant success as they released their debut double singles “Whistle” and “Boombayah”, compiled as a single album “Square One”. “Whistle” and “Boombayah” debuted at #1 and #7 at South Korean Gaon Digital Charts respectively. The group also became the fastest girl group to earn a win in a Korean music show as Inkigayo gave the group a trophy win for “Whistle”. Looking back, the group said that debuting with “Whistle” as their first single was risky at that time due to it having a “weird country vibe” and its minimal production, which led many people at YG against its release.
They followed “Square One” with the next single album “Square Two” with singles “Playing with Fire” and “Stay”, which both aim to show Blackpink’s softer side, compared to the chaotic, party-vibe of “Square One”.
While most K-pop groups usually have at least two to three comebacks per year, it seems like Blackpink only has one comeback per year based on the release pattern of when the group has their comebacks.
On June 2, 2017, they released their comeback standalone single “As If It’s Your Last”. The following year, they finally released their first mini-album (which is basically an EP) “Squared Up” on June 15, 2018. “DDU-DU DDU-DU”, the mini-album’s title single (K-pop equivalent to lead single) propelled Blackpink to global popularity especially in the West as the single debuted at #55 and #78 in the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart respectively. This marks their first appearance in these charts. Additionally, the song’s music video is currently the second most-viewed K-pop music video with 1.4 billion viewers, being only behind Gangnam Style by former fellow YG artist Psy with 3.9 billion viewers.
In 2019, Blackpink released their second mini-album “Kill This Love” on April 4. The release of the mini-album was significant as it’s the group’s first release under Interscope Records, which distributes their music and handles their promotions in countries outside Asia. The titular track peaked at #41 on Billboard Hot 100 and #33 on the UK Singles Chart. This era is best remembered for the group’s promotions in the West as a result of their increasing popularity, specifically their iconic Coachella appearance that made them the first K-pop girl group to perform in the festival. Their Coachella gig highlighted the group’s stage presence and high energy as performers, backed with a live band that complimented the group’s electronic-style music. It’s Blackpink like we never saw before and it’s definitely a refreshing contrast to their more calculated promotions in their home country of South Korea.

PART 2. THE MEMBERS

A huge part of Blackpink’s appeal are the members. Their beauty and charismatic personalities are some of the reasons why the group has a huge fanbase of Blinks, which is the fandom name of the group. Obviously, K-pop idols are trained to be charismatic. But there is something about the dynamic of the members that feel unmatched and they harmonize well together as a group.
It’s sort of a relief that YG didn’t stick to their plan of having a nine-member girl group. During training, Jennie said that the female trainees are shuffled to different groups every two months and there would be “little fights” on who gets assigned to positions in the group such as vocals, rapping, and dancing. When grouped with Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé, Jennie said it was already clear on who gets the parts.
Each member of the group carries the whole group in their own different ways. They all have different backgrounds, different motivations on why they wanted to become idols and trainees under YG, and different skills that make Blackpink as a whole.
I will be describing the members in the order they were revealed before their debut.

Jennie

Jennie Kim was the first member to be revealed as part of Blackpink on June 1, 2016. She is the group’s assigned main rapper and lead vocalist.
Jennie was born as an only child to wealthy parents on January 16, 1996, in Seoul, South Korea. Jennie moved to Auckland at the age of eight after she was asked by her mother if she liked the place during their visit there. Jennie seemed to adjust her life well in New Zealand and she was featured in a documentary titled “English, Must Change to Survive” for South Korean broadcaster MBC about her experience as a Korean kid living in a foreign land.
Jennie moved back to Seoul in 2010 after not being interested in taking up law in the United States, which was suggested by her mother who eventually supported her daughter’s decision. While Jennie didn’t have any formal musical background growing up, she was interested in K-pop during her stay in New Zealand. She auditioned for YG Entertainment as a vocalist, in which she performed “Take a Bow” by Rihanna. While Jennie was accepted as a trainee under YG, the judges advised her to train for the role of a rapper as she is the only trainee who can speak English.
A trainee for five years, Jennie was one of the most popular trainees in YG and has already gained recognition before her eventual debut as a Blackpink member. YG uploaded videos of Jennie covering “Strange Clouds" by B.o.B. featuring Lil Wayne and “Lotus Flower Bomb” by Wale while she was a trainee. She also appeared as a featured artist for Senguri’s “GG Be” and G-Dragon’s “Black” in their respective solo albums, which she performed with the latter in Inkigayo making it her stage debut Because of her early popularity, Jennie was highly speculated to be part of the original line-up of Pink Punk before the idea was scrapped.
After the release of “Square Up”, Jennie became the first member of the group to debut as a soloist. She released her debut solo single aptly titled “Solo” on November 12, 2018. The music video is the most-viewed music video by a Korean female solo artist with 600 million views on YouTube.
Just recently, she launched her own YouTube channel on her 26th birthday where she intends to create vlogs about her everyday life. Her first vlog served as an introduction to her channel which included a cover of Tangled’s “When Will My Life Begin?” by Mandy Moore. The vlog has already gotten 10.9 million views two days after its release.

Lisa

Lalisa Manoban, known by her stage name Lisa, was revealed as the second member of Blackpink on June 8, 2016. Lisa is the assigned main dancer, lead rapper, and sub vocalist of the group. She is also the “maknae” of the group, meaning she is the youngest member of the group, as well as the only non-Korean member in the group.
Lisa’s birth name is actually different as she was born under the name “Pranpriya” before legally changing to Lalisa. She was born in Thailand on March 27, 1997.
Lisa took dance lessons at four years old and often competed in dance competitions. She was part of the Thai dance crew “We Zaa Cool'' with childhood friend and fellow K-pop idol BamBam from GOT7. She also competed in a singing competition where she represented her school, ending up as a runner-up.
Inspired by her idols and eventual YG labelmates BIGBANG and 2NE1, Lisa had her eyes on the K-pop industry. She auditioned for YG Entertainment when the agency visited Thailand. Out of the 4,000 Thai applicants, she was the only one accepted to be a trainee under YG. Lisa began her 5-year trainee journey in 2011 as she is YG’s first foreign trainee. Like Jennie, she was speculated to be part of the original line-up of “Pink Punk”. Her highly impressive skills as a dancer have always led her to be assigned as the main dancer in different groups that she designs most of the choreography herself. While still training, YG released a video of 16-year-old Lisa performing “Turn Up The Music”, albeit she was nameless in the video.
Lisa is the group’s most popular member as she is the most followed member on Instagram with 45.2 million followers. Her widely-shared dance performance of “Swalla” in the Blackpink In Your Area tour and the “Did It Work?” memes that surrounded her legs contributed to her worldwide popularity.
In 2020, Lisa released a limited edition photobook on her birthday aptly titled “0327”, which consisted of photos she took with her film camera that included some shots of her fellow members.
Outside of her Blackpink duties, Lisa is a dance mentor of the Chinese survival show “Youth With You”. She was dubbed as “Mentor Lisa” by Blinks as her strict mentoring style in the show surprised everyone since it was the opposite of her shy personality. Her fellow members have teased Lisa over her strict mentoring style.

Jisoo

Kim Ji-soo, more commonly known by her first name, was revealed as the third member of Blackpink on June 15, 2016. She is the group’s lead vocalist and “visual” member, meaning she is the most attractive member according to Korean beauty standards. She is also the eldest member of the group, making her the “eonie” of the group.
Jisoo was born on January 3, 1995, in South Korea and she grew up with a close, extended family. Despite being a visual member, Jisoo was bullied as a kid about her appearance by her relatives who often called her a monkey.
Being an idol was not on Jisoo’s radar growing up. She wanted to involve herself in the arts as she considered wanting to become an actress, a painter, or a writer. She developed her acting skills by joining a drama club during her time as a student.
Despite not knowing about YG when she auditioned, Jisoo was accepted as a trainee and began her 5-year trainee journey. Like Jennie and Lisa, Jisoo was speculated to be part of the original line-up of Pink Punk. Before her debut, she made appearances in commercials for Samsonite, LG, and Nikon.
There is always one member in a K-pop group that would likely become actors later in their careers and Jisoo is one of them. It isn’t surprising as she has openly shown her interest in becoming an actress and the members even remarked that she would win an Oscar for her “acting face” alone. Before her debut, she had a cameo appearance in an episode of the KBS show “The Producers” with labelmates Dara of 2NE1. Now a K-pop idol, Jisoo appeared in a role in tvN’s fantasy-drama “Arthdal Chronicles” where she played her first fictional character. Jisoo will be starring in an upcoming JTBC drama “Snowdrop” that is slated to premiere later this year.

Rosé

Park Chae-young, more commonly known as Rosé, is the fourth and last member to be revealed as part of Blackpink on June 22, 2016. She is the assigned main vocalist and lead dancer in the group.
Rosé’s English name is Roséanne Park as she was born outside Korea and grew up living overseas. She was born on February 11, 1997, in Auckland, New Zealand. Her family moved to Melbourne, Australia when she was eight years old.
While Lisa’s musical background is more on dancing, Rosé’s musical background is more on singing as she grew up singing in a choir and has played the guitar often in school. When YG went to Australia to look for potential trainees, she was advised by her father to try auditioning. After being accepted as a YG trainee, she had to drop out of school and move to Seoul within two months. Rosé said it was difficult to be separated from her family during training. Despite feeling homesick, she was determined to become a K-pop idol.
Rosé had no formal experience with dancing, which caught her off-guard when she first trained. She definitely had a lot of time to hone her dancing skills that she eventually became the lead singer in the group. Before her debut, Rosé was a featured artist in G-Dragon’s song “Without You” in 2012.
Given her position as the main vocalist, Blinks have been anticipating her solo debut. She has released covers of Halsey’s “Eyes Open” and Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song”, which really showcased her unique vocals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she covered a series of songs in a jam session that was live-streamed on her Instagram page. Rosé will finally make her debut as a soloist early this year and teasers are expected to pop-up as reports say that she finished filming the music video of her solo debut. Given YG’s well-recorded unreliably on their commitments, we could only hope this would finally push through.
While I have described every member of Blackpink, there’s one more person that needs to be mentioned as he plays a crucial factor in Blackpink’s success.

Teddy Park

Teddy Park is a former member of YG’s boy group “1TYM” and now an in-house producer for YG Entertainment. He wrote and produced many iconic tracks for BIGBANG and 2NE1 such as Fantastic Baby and I Am The Best respectively.
Teddy produced the majority of Blackpink’s discography and has received songwriting credits of Blackpink’s collaborations with Dua Lipa (Kiss and Make Up) and Lady Gaga (Sour Candy). According to the album’s production credits, he is credited as the album producer and creative director for the group.

PART 3. THE ERA

When YG announced on May 4, 2020, that Blackpink finished recording their first full album and will shoot a music video for their pre-single later that month, the news was met with cautious optimism. YG has a track record of promising things that didn’t come to fruition so this announcement was understandably taken with a grain of salt.
It’s worth pointing out that the group was previously featured on “Sour Candy” by Lady Gaga as a promo single for her album “Chromatica”, which indicates that Blackpink might be coming out with their new material. Also, Interscope is capitalizing on the increasing popularity of K-pop in the West by investing Blackpink in their roster. With this, YG has to commit to its schedule. And so they did by dropping a teaser poster a month later that revealed that the pre-release single will drop on June 26.
The pre-release single would later turn out to be called “How You Like That?”, which was met with huge anticipation as teaser posters and videos of the members were revealed until its release. The single became an instant success the moment it dropped as the music video’s premiere was watched by 1.66 million simultaneous viewers on YouTube, making it the highest-rated YouTube Premiere. It was also the fastest music video to hit 100 million viewers in just 32 hours before BTS’ “Dynamite” took over the title two months later, beating Blackpink with 24 hours The song itself was a hit in the charts. It debuted at #32 on Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the UK Singles Charts.
Blackpink then teased the release of their second pre-release single featuring an unnamed artist on July 23 that will be released a month later. It was widely speculated that Ariana Grande is the unnamed artist that the hashtag “#AriPink” trended on Twitter. It was later revealed that Grande is actually one of the songwriters of the single and that Selena Gomez is the actual unnamed artist on August 11. The title would later be revealed as “Ice Cream” on August 22. The single’s music video, in which the scenes had to be shot separately in South Korea and Los Angeles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gathered 79.08 million viewers in 24 hours. The single is currently Blackpink’s highest-peaking single on Billboard Hot 100, debuting at #13.
Throughout the hype of Ice Cream, YG announced on July 28 that Blackpink will FINALLY release their first full album titled “The Album” on October 2. The name was met with mixed reactions, calling it “lazy”. However, Rosé said that they have worked on the album for so long that simply calling it “The Album” is the best way to describe their project because it’s so straightforward - “Blackpink: The Album”.
Accompanying the album’s release on October 2 is the release of the album’s title track “Lovesick Girls”, which became the sixth biggest 24-hour music video debut at 61.4 million viewers. While the song peaked at #59 on Billboard Hot 100, the new Billboard Global 200 showed that the song debuted and peaked at #2, with the song topping the separate Global Chart that excluded the US.
In-between the releases of the singles was Blackpink’s new reality TV show on YouTube called “Blackpink: 24/365”, which showcased various activities that the members participated in, such as pottery making and kart racing, as well as revealing behind the scenes footage of their music videos. The 16-episode reality series served as a way to promote the group and the album’s release. The series began on June 13 with a prologue until it aired its finale on October 24. It was supposed to have one more episode that was scheduled on October 31 before being pulled off after Chinese netizens were concerned over a clip of the episode’s teaser that showed the members touching a baby panda without gloves and masks during the pandemic.
To cap off the era, a Netflix documentary film about the group was made under the title, “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky”, which documented Blackpink’s first four years as a group featuring behind the scenes videos and footage during their training days. It also showed the friendship between the members and their producer Teddy, their retrospective look on their training days, as well as their struggles of keeping up the busy lifestyle as K-pop idols. The documentary film also showed the girls recording the songs for The Album, as well as Rosé preparing for her long-anticipated solo debut. The documentary received positive reviews, which critics liked the documentary for showing the members’ work ethic and their fun personalities.

PART 4. THE TRACKS

“The Album” is a pop album that has influences of hip-hop, R&B, and EDM, all of which compose Blackpink’s musical signature since their debut. “The Album” is composed of 8 tracks (including the three singles) with a length of 24 minutes and 26 seconds. This is somehow normal for a K-pop mini-album, but too short for a full-album. In comparison, Twice’s second full-album “Eyes wide open” has 13-tracks with a length of 43 minutes and 29 seconds.
As an eight-track album, it’s an equal mix of English and Korean songs as Blackpink attempts to market themselves in the West. All of these songs were recorded in The Black Label in South Korea, with some of the album’s mixing and additional input by producers made remotely due to the pandemic.
Teddy serves as the album’s main producer, along with YG’s in-house songwriters and producers Danny Chung, R.Tee, 24, Løren, Vince, and Future Bounce. Frequent Blackpink songwriter Bekah Boom also worked on the lyrics of “The Album”. New songwriters and producers include Victoria Monét, Tommy Brown, Steven Franks, Ariana Grande, Ryan Tedder, Melanie Fontana, Torae Carr, Jonathan Descartes, Brian Lee, Leah Haywood, David Guetta, Tushar Apte, Rob Grimaldi, Chloe George, and Steph Jones.
The featured artists in “The Album”, Selena Gomez and Cardi B, are also credited as songwriters in their respective tracks “Ice Cream” and “Bet You Wanna”. Additionally, Jennie and Jisoo received their first songwriting credits ever with “Lovesick Girls”.
For this section on the post, I will give my thoughts on each track. I will also include the line distribution statistics based on random_k’s lyric distribution videos (with the exception of Love to Hate Me which I will base on HEXA6ON’s lyric distribution video of the song) and input my thoughts on the distribution as well.

1. How You Like That?

We begin “The Album” with the first pre-release single. “How You Like That?” is an appropriate opener to the album as it’s your typical Blackpink clap-back anthem. The best way to describe my mood on this song is the way AJay reacted to the song, in which she said “This is how you open the album”.
Of course, many have criticized this song for being too familiar with the previous singles “DU-DDU-DDU-DU” and “Kill This Love” and I do agree that this song is definitely a rethread of these songs. However, I will disagree that this song didn’t serve anything new to the table. For me, “How You Like That?” basically re-defined Blackpink’s sound that complements the group’s pop and hip-hop tendencies that the previous singles haven’t reached before.
It feels redundant to talk about Blackpink’s music videos because it always expected that their music videos would always serve BUDGET regardless of the quality of the actual song. Like, look at the budget! And they shot this music video during a pandemic!

Lyric Distribution Video

• Lisa: 37.12 seconds | 29.51%
• Jennie: 33.89 seconds | 26.93%
• Rosé: 31.00 seconds | 24.64%
• Jisoo: 23.82 seconds | 18.93%

While the line distribution is not totally equal as Jisoo is missing out on ten seconds compared to other members, I feel like the line distribution is justified. You can definitely hear each member contributing their own lines in the song. Lisa being the member with the most lines also makes sense as she basically she slayed the entire second verse

2. Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez)

When Normani released “Motivation” as a single, you can definitely tell that Ariana could’ve sang this song since she is credited as a songwriter. It has the Grande fingerprints all over it. Yet, with Normani’s strong vocals that complemented the 2000s-inspired production, she owned this song with ease. My expectations for an Ariana-penned Blackpink track are quite high based on my feelings on “Motivation” alone and Selena Gomez’s contribution as the co-artist of the song propelled that higher. And oh boy, I wish I wasn’t this excited.
The most disappointing thing about Ice Cream is that it felt like Blackpink attempting to sing an Ariana reject with no sense of originality. I know it’s ironic to say this since Blackpink is basically “2NE1 Part 2” for longtime YG fans, but this song lacked that distinct Blackpink sound that made me a Blink in the first place. It’s so uninspiring and sometimes jarring to hear, even with multiple listens.
Also, the sexual overtones in the lyrics are just too fucking awkward for Blackpink to sing. With their music video that had a cute concept, this is sort of uncomfortable to go through with the sexual undertones in mind. This is the same group that had them bragging how good their bodies look in “Boombayah” and they showed their “sexier side” way better in their cover of Wonder Girls’ “So Hot”.
The only saving grace of this song, which was the reason why I could barely tolerate “Ice Cream”, is Lisa’s rap verse. I could imagine Jennie slaying if she had her own rap verse too. Honestly, Selena would have owned this song by herself without the autotune. But it’s nice to hear Selena in an upbeat song like this in a while.

Lyric Distrbution Video

• Lisa: 38.59 seconds | 27.08%
• Selena Gomez: 36.02 seconds | 25.40%
• Jennie: 29.07 seconds | 20.40%
• Jisoo: 22.21 seconds | 15.59%
• Rosé: 16.44 seconds | 11.54%

Immediately, I can’t help but think about how Jisoo got only two English lines in the song despite having more seconds than Rosé. Half of Jisoo’s lines are just “Ice cream chillin chillin”. Ugh. I know Jisoo is not a fluent English speaker but many K-pop idols who are not English speakers can sing the language well with enough practice. Thankfully, Jisoo had more English lines in other songs, but I’ll tackle that a bit later in this post.
I am honestly surprised Selena had more lines in the song than I thought because I feel like I heard more of Jennie and Rosé, which funny enough I thought Rosé had more lines.
This is definitely not the worst line distribution I have seen. It’s just that Jisoo could have sung more lines.

3. Pretty Savage

Remember the distinct Blackpink signature sound that made me a Blink in the first place? Now, this is what I am talking about.
This is the quintessential Blackpink sound that I have been waiting for since Kill This Love. I would’ve imagined that Pretty Savage as a pre-release single would've fared better than “How You Like That?” but somehow, I am sort of glad it didn’t. This is the song that Blinks needed to hear as antis have constantly dismissed Blackpink as “influencers with no talent” in response to their constant lengthy hiatuses.
Of course, with this kind of song, it’s already expected Lisa would definitely slay this song. It's nice to hear Jennie rap again after she wasn’t given those parts in the pre-release singles. The way she rapped “F bois, not my bois' ' is just too damn iconic. However, the star of the song is Jisoo who has the second verse to herself and her talking rap flow surprisingly works here. The best part is definitely her saying “Blackpink in Your Area” after being the only member not to say the iconic catchphrase for years. And of course, Rosé’s vocals in the bridge are just as amazing.
Pretty Savage is definitely one of my top favorites in “The Album”. Let’s just forget the messy choreography though.

Lyric Distrubution Video

• Lisa: 40.69 seconds | 30.21%
• Jennie: 34.42 seconds | 25.40%
• Rosé: 31.86 seconds | 23.65%
• Jisoo: 27.72 seconds | 20.58%

This is definitely one of the best lyric distributions of Blackpink so far. While Lisa exceeded ten seconds, every member can be heard equally with their outstanding lines given to them.

4. Bet You Wanna (feat. Cardi B)

Coming off from the success and controversy surrounding WAP, Cardi B and Blackpink is an odd, yet exciting collaboration. I can’t imagine any of the members taking the second verse other than Cardi. It would have been nice to hear the “supposed” explicit lyrics she had to tone down for obvious reasons. If she was allowed to swear, she would’ve sung “I bet if you make me wet, I’ll still be fire”, which plays in my head now when I hear the tone-downed version lyric (“I bet if you make me sweat, I’ll still be fire”).
Bet You Wanna could’ve been the next single after Lovesick Girls to capitalize on Cardi’s success from WAP. The entire production is so chill, yet so catchy which makes sense considering Ryan Tedder and Tommy Brown’s involvement. The song is completely in English so that this could’ve been a Top 10 hit with the right push. Unfortunately, the promotional cycle for “The Album” ended so I guess this is going to remain as a fan-favorite track for many Blinks and not a huge hit outside the fandom.

Lyric Distribution Video

• Jennie: 40.75 seconds | 28.58%
• Rosé: 38.28 seconds | 26.86%
• Jisoo: 26.78 seconds | 18.79%
• Cardi B: 25.19 seconds | 17.67%
• Lisa: 11.55 seconds | 8.10%

Not a perfect lyric distribution, but not too bad either. Each member can be heard just fine and Cardi didn’t dominate the song too much, which is fair since she is a featured artist. Lisa could’ve gotten a bit more lines, but this is also fine considering she has topped the lyric distribution in the previous songs.

5. Lovesick Girls

Considering that Blackpink’s single releases have always been upbeat clap-back anthems, the release of Lovesick Girls as a title track is quite refreshing as it aims to show the group’s more melancholy side, both in the lyrics and the production.
The most striking lyric is from the chorus where the girls sang “We are all born to be alone/But why are we still looking for love?”. This isn’t the most groundbreaking lyric at all, but it does feel a bit weird hearing that from the girls. It brings me back to the documentary where Teddy said that the songs they made for “The Album” are going to show a bit of themselves a bit more as a group.
Living as a K-pop idol is quite difficult as it is and we don’t know a lot about them since their image is very calculated by their agencies. It’s not to say they can’t be in a relationship because of the infamous “no dating” rule in the industry. The girls were probably asking themselves if they could really find love in an industry that is obsessed with perfection. Again, it’s not a very groundbreaking lyric but it does give me a bit of insight into the girls’ psyche a bit on their perspective of love.

Lyric Distribution Video

• Rosé: 58.61 seconds | 39.00%
• Jennie: 48.65 seconds | 32.37%
• Lisa: 21.90 seconds | 14.57%
• Jisoo: 21.12 seconds | 14.06%

Rosé taking up the top spot in this lyric distribution makes complete sense since this is the song that is best suited to her vocally. I have a feeling “Lovesick Girls” was a brief glimpse of what kind of song that Rosé will be releasing for her solo debut. Jennie taking up second place is quite surprising, especially her English rap verse didn’t take too long as well. The distribution on Lisa is fine, but Jisoo could’ve slightly sang more lines.

6. Crazy Over You

There’s isn’t much to talk about this song other than its production, which best utilized oriental instrumentals to hip-hop production. This isn’t the best song on “The Album”, but it isn’t as bad as well.

Lyric Distribution Video

• Jennie: 40.26 seconds | 34.03%
• Jisoo: 29.60 seconds | 25.01%
• Rosé: 26.09 seconds | 22.05%
• Lisa: 22.38 seconds | 18.91%

The lyric distribution could’ve been fair if Lisa was given more lines to rap. But I think this is fine since Jennie didn’t have a lot of rap lines in this album. It’s definitely nice to hear more of Jisoo in this song as she perfectly nailed the pre-chorus with her vocals.

7. Love to Hate Me

For some reason, Love to Hate Me reminded me so much of Ariana with the way the lyrics are sung by the girls, especially in the chorus and the ad-libs. This song serves as an appropriate penultimate track as the song delivers its final clap-back before “The Album” comes to a close with a softer pop ballad.

Lyric Distribution Video

Rosé: 28.7% Lisa: 28.1% Jennie: 26.4% Jisoo: 16.8%
Honestly, seeing lyric distributions like this where three of the members had equal parts except Jisoo makes me sad. She was close to having an equal lyrical distribution and this could’ve been done if she sang a bit more lines in the song.

8. You Never Know

We finally reach the end of “The Album” as it closes with a soft power-pop anthem that feels very in-character with Blackpink. This song already gained some attention when it was revealed that Teddy had no involvement in the song, making it the first Blackpink song without him. It’s worth pointing that out because Teddy has a mixed reaction as a main producer of the group. While I personally don’t mind Teddy as a producer, it’s quite refreshing that he isn’t involved so that the group can experiment with other producers.
This is definitely the group at their most sincere in this album, in which they address the message of not judging people based on how they look outside. This particular message rings true to the members personally and Blinks can see why.
Getting hate comments is nothing new in the K-pop industry. But Jennie seems to be the most bullied member as she was often villainized in the public eye, from her alleged “lazy dancing” scandal to the intense coverage of her short dating life with Kai from EXO. She was also unflatteringly called “YG Princess” because of accusations that the agency has favored her over other members.
With this context in mind, it was so painful to hear Jennie sing “But you'll never know unless you walk in my shoes / You'll never know my tangled strings / 'Cause everybody sees what they wanna see / It's easier to judge me than to believe” because she has faced so much criticism over nothing.
Other members have gone through similar scrutiny as well, but it’s not as bad as Jennie’s situation. All of the members worked so hard and sacrificed so much to be where they are now, so having this song that asks people not to judge them as a closer feels like the perfect ending statement from Blackpink.

Lyric Distribution Video

• Jisoo: 59.01 seconds | 28.75%
• Rosé: 55.47 seconds | 27.01%
• Jennie: 54.20 seconds | 26.39%
• Lisa: 36.66 seconds | 17.86%

It’s so nice that most of the members almost got the one-minute worth of lines and having Jisoo at the top feels satisfying after the limited line distribution she got with “Ice Cream. Vocal wise, this is their best song to date as they get to showcase their most emotional, sincere vocals in this track. The only problem is that Lisa should’ve gotten more lines, especially since her vocals sounded amazing that gives the song a more “heartfelt” feeling.

PART 5. THE CONCLUSION

Now that I have given my thoughts on each track of “The Album”, here are my overall thoughts on “The Album” and the era itself.
In the [FRESH] Popheads discussion thread of “The Album”, a lot of users were disappointed with how short the album is. Yes, the album is unfortunately quite short given that this is their first full album in Blackpink’s fourth year as a group.
Users are also disappointed with how “outdated” the songs felt. To be fair on Blackpink, K-pop tends to be a bit behind when it comes to trends. It isn’t surprising that “The Album” would have some kind of outdated production in Wester music standards. The most obvious one would be “Lovesick Girls'', which sounded like an Icona Pop song.
Sonically, the entire album isn’t even revolutionary at all. “The Album'' is produced on what’s popular in the charts right now and even the biggest Blink here (not me) would know that.
So with all these criticisms pointed out, why is “The Album” even considered as one of the Albums of the Year? Especially as someone who had Taylor Swift’s “folklore” as my own personal AOTY?
For my case as a Blink, a huge part of the reason why I am a Blink is that not only their music makes me feel alive, but also because the group has such a charismatic personality that it’s easy to see why they have a huge Western appeal.
Along with BTS, Blackpink is leading this new Hallyu wave where the West has finally taken K-pop seriously as a dominant force, not as a gimmick. With “The Album” debuting at #2 in the Billboard 200, it's the highest-charting album by a female girl group since Danity Kane in 2006. On top of that, they have sold approximately 1 million copies worldwide (estimated 319,300 copies in the US and Europe according to Pinkvilla as of October 27, 2020), which is a rare thing to achieve in the streaming era unless you’re Taylor Swift. This huge success for a K-pop girl group proves that Blackpink will always be in our area no matter what.
Even with the criticisms that “The Album” had over its short-length and its outdated production, you can at least still hear the huge amount of talent, personality and hardwork of the group in this album. It’s not the content of the album that makes “The Album” an AOTY, it’s the influence that it’s going to make to its listeners and pop culture as a whole.
You know what the Blinks will say, “BLACKPINK IS THE REVOLUTION”.

THE GUIDE QUESTIONS / a note from the author

<-- Previous thread

Overall summary

Name	Club	Apps: starts (from the bench)	Minutes played	Goals	Assists	Clean sheets (GK only)	Note
Matej Kovar	Swindon Town (League One)	21 (0)	1890	0	0	1	Loan ended: recalled back to Man Utd
Joel Pereira	Huddersfield Town (Championship)	1 (0)	90	0	0	0
Jacob Carney	Brighouse Town (Northern Premier League)	4 (0)	360	0	0	1	Loan ended
Jacob Carney	Portadown FC (NIFL Premiership)	0 (0)	0	0	0	0
Max Taylor	Kidderminster Harriers (National League North)	10 (0)	841	1	0	-	League suspended until February 1st
Di'Shon Bernard	Salford City (League Two)	14 (1)	1322	2	2	-
Diogo Dalot	AC Milan (Serie A)	11 (4)	1077	1	1	-
Ethan Laird	MK Dons (League One)	2 (1)	210	0	1	-
James Garner	Watford (Championship)	13 (8)	1248	0	1	-
Dylan Levitt	Charlton Athletic (League One)	5 (0)	386	0	0	-	Loan ended: recalled back to Man Utd
Aliou Traore	SM Caen (Ligue 2)	4 (10)	531	0	0	-
Andreas Pereira	SS Lazio (Serie A)	3 (14)	478	1	1	-
Max Haygarth	Brentford B (-)	7 (4)	628	3	0	-	Loan ended: moved to Brentford on a permanent deal
Tahith Chong	Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)	5 (10)	534	1	2	-
Amad Diallo	Atalanta (Serie A)	0 (2)	41	0	0	-	Permanent deal to join Manchester United

Diogo Dalot (AC Milan)

Played 90 minutes in 2:0 win against Cagliari in Serie A. Was unused substitute in 0:3 loss against Atalanta BC in Serie A. Was selected to Serie A WhoScored Team of the Week.
Selected highlights:
Individual highlights vs Cagliari
WhoScored.com rating vs Cagliari: 8.1/10 (team average: 7.08) (3rd highest rating on the pitch)
Stats vs Cagliari:
Shots (on target): 2 (1)
Possession: 4.8%
Touches: 72
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 39/46 (85%)
Key passes: 0
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 2/3 (67%) (joint most dribbles won on the pitch)
Dribbled past: 1
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 4/5 (80%) (most tackles won on the pitch)
Clearances: 4 (joint most clearances on the pitch)
Interceptions: 4 (joint most clearances on the pitch)
Corners (accurate %): 2 (100%)
Dispossessed: 0
Errors: 0
Fouls: 4 (most fouls on the pitch)
Offsides: 1
Fans' opinion after game vs Cagliari:
“- Dalot: Meh. He's ... "OK *shrug" 85% of the time, 15% of the time he tries to go forward and attack. But the difference between him and Theo seems to be, when Theo plays, his teammates just know he's going to bomb up and down like mad the whole time; that energy rubs off and the rest is also forced to go forward. Dalot by being rather passive in the majority of the time, doesn't spark this energy to go forward for the rest of the team.”* ~Nickenator85 on /ACMilan
“2 seasons ago this current Dalot would be our best fullback, now we're spoilt with Theo, Calabria and soon Kalulu. He's decent, but nothing spectacular in comparison” ~Gaverini on /ACMilan
“Dalot was inconsistent, we're used to the best left-back in the world and it's obvious that the Portuguese can't be at that level.” ~Lambro on AC Milan Forum
“I don't think he's performing bad as people make it out to be. Clearly being right-footed playing on the left is hindering him. All season we've been funneling our attacks through Theo so it's almost like a baptism of fire for the team to adapt to Dalot who'll have to take that extra second to cut inside.” ~fray on The Red&Black Forums
“5/10. Not a convincing performance. Is he an AC Milan player? As a left-back he seems to struggle and not just a little. In the end, when Conti came on, he was advanced to midfield and the outcome seemed to be better.” ~@RedellePagelle on Twitter

Tahith Chong (Werder Bremen)

Was unused substitute in 0:1 loss against Borussia Moenchengladbach in Bundesliga. Was unused substitute in 4:1 win against Hertha Berlin in Bundesliga.

James Garner (Watford)

Was unused substitute in 1:0 win against Barnsley in Championship. Was unused substitute in 2:1 win against Stoke City in Championship.

Ethan Laird (MK Dons)

Played 57 minutes and got an assist in 3:1 win against Fleetwood Town in League One. He has been selected to League One Team of the Week.
Selected highlights:
Assist
WhoScored.com rating: 7.7/10 (team average: 6.91) (3rd best rating for MK Dons)
Stats:
Shots (on target): 1 (0)
Possession: 1.6% (joint least possession on the pitch)
Touches: 27 (3rd least touches on the pitch)
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 8/13 (62%) (3rd worst passing accuracy for MK Dons)
Key passes: 1
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 1/2 (50%)
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 2/2 (100%)
Clearances: 0
Interceptions: 1
Dispossessed: 2
Errors: 0
Fouls: 3
Offsides: 0
Russell Martin (MK Dons manager): "[Ethan Laird getting kicked a lot and coming off?] Yeah, I think he's just getting used to life in League One. I'm sure he will be fine. But I was pleased, really pleased with him. We need to get some work into Ethan so that he understands fully what we're doing, but he shown real glimpses of what he's about. So yeah, I've been pleased with Ethan and he's got a lot of improvements to make as well."
Fans' opinion:
“Ethan Laird is absolutely unreal. Too good for league one. Bossing it on the right so far tonight, got an assist too” ~@KieronDay03 on Twitter
“Unreal. Is it me though or do you sometimes watch him go in to defend and initially he’s slow and then shows he has she acceleration and you think why didn’t you just get there quicker from the statt.... dons it a few times tonight.” ~@pdmkd on Twitter
“Laird is my new God. All Hail!” ~keyser soze on The Concrete Roundabout Forum
“Laird has a lot of swagger and a more natural option on the wing.” ~cornerdon26 on The Concrete Roundabout Forum
“Thought the defence looked shaky second half once Ethan laird came off” ~Donsduck on The Concrete Roundabout Forum

Jacob Carney (Portadown FC)

Matthew Tipton (Portadown FC manager): "The goalkeeper position is so important, if the foundation is right then everything else works better - defenders can move higher up the pitch and the attacking players get the ball in better positions to hurt the opposition, with the overall play a lot sharper. The distribution is vital and that can be having a goalkeeper comfortable with the ball at his feet playing it out from the back or having the speed of thought to identify opportunities playing it upfield. We know what Gareth can bring given his Irish League experience but Jacob has come as a 19-year-old on loan from Manchester United and settled really well, looking very sharp. Both goalkeepers are working hard and have adjusted to our training and gameplan.”

Joel Pereira (Huddersfield Town)

Was unused substitute in 0:1 loss against Millwall in Championship.

Aliou Traore (SM Caen)

Came on from the bench and played 31 minutes in 3:1 win against EA Guingamp in Coupe de France. Was not selected in matchday squad in 1:2 loss against Rodez AF in Ligue 2.

Andreas Pereira (SS Lazio)

Played 59 minutes and got assist in 2:1 win against Parma in Coppa Italia. Was unused substitute in 2:1 win against Sassuolo in Serie A.
Selected highlights:
Assist vs Parma
Good through ball resulting in a chance for Lazio
Corner followed by a good scoring chance that hit the post
SofaScore.com rating vs Parma: 7.0/10 (team average: 6.81)
Stats vs Parma:
Shots (on target): 1 (0)
Hit woodwork: 1
Big chances missed: 1
Touches: 37
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 13/17 (76%) (worst passing accuracy for Lazio)
Key passes: 3 (most key passes for Lazio)
Big chances created: 2
Dribbles won/Dribbles attempted (success %): 1/4 (25%)
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials: 0
Tackles: 0
Clearances: 0
Interceptions: 0
Corners (accurate %):
Fouls: 0
Offsides: 0
Fans' opinion after game vs Parma:
“I was sorry to see him go off so early, he wasn't playing great but he wasn't that bad either. I still think his role is as a midfielder and not as a second striker, I'd try him there from the start with Sassuolo. It's true that he's a bit too fond of the ball, but I don't see him in the middle of the pitch as a second striker. He's a very technical player, the kind who has to touch lots of balls to make an impact.” ~Stock on SS Lazio Forum
“It's a shame about Pereira, he could have played a bit more because he has unquestionable quality, although I don't see him as a replacement for Correa but more as a replacement for Luis Alberto.” ~@GladiatorFabry on Twitter
“Would really like for him to be a part of this team. Both parties want to stay together so I expect United to get a fee for him regardless of what the price is. Lazio and United usually have good business together so I expect permanent move at the end of the season.” ~TheSoccerguy124 on /soccer
“For me, at this moment Pereira in midfield you can't put him. Not along with one of Milinkovic or Luis. Tactically he struggles so much.” ~HummingBard on Lazio.net
“Andreas Pereira a player of the highest calibre.” ~Saymyname on Lazio.net

Di'Shon Bernard (Salford City)

Played 90 minutes in 2:2 draw against Harrogate Town in League Two.
Selected highlights:
Error leading to goal
Wonderful long ball pass
Poor marking in the box which leads to a chance for Harrogat Town
WhoScored.com rating: 5.5/10 (team average: 6.49) (worst rating on the pitch)
Stats:
Shots: 0
Possession: 6.2% (2nd most possession for Salford City)
Touches: 63 (2nd most touches for Salford City)
Accurate passes/Total passes (success %): 41/56 (73%)
Key passes: 0
Dribbles: 0
Dribbled past: 0
Aerials won/Aerial attempted (success %): 4/8 (50%) (joint most aerials won for Salford City)
Tackles won/Tackles attempted (success %): 1/1 (100%)
Clearances: 5 (most clearances for Salford City)
Interceptions: 1
Dispossessed: 0
Errors: 1 (most errors on the pitch)
Fouls: 3 (joint most fouls on the pitch)

Next up

January 26th:
At 7 PM Garner's Watford plays Millwall and Joel's Huddersfield Town plays Bristol City in the Championship. Laird's MK Dons play Charlton Athletic in League One. Bernard's Salford City plays Cambridge United in League Two.
At 7:45 PM Carney's Portadown FC plays Crusaders in NIFL Premiership.
January 27th:
At 5 PM Dalot's AC Milan plays Inter Milan in Coppa Italia.
January 30th:
At 2 PM Dalot's AC Milan plays Bologna in Serie A.
At 2:30 PM Chong's Werder Bremen play Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.
At 3 PM Joel's Huddersfield Town plays Stoke City in the Championship. Laird's MK Dons play AFC Wimbledon in League One. Bernard's Salford City plays Oldham Athletic in League Two. Carney's Portadown FC plays Warrenpoint Town in NIFL Premiership.
At 6 PM Traore's SM Caen plays FC Chambly in Ligue 2.
January 31st:
At 2 PM Andreas' SS Lazio plays Atalanta in Serie A.
^{*All times are GMT.}

And now for something completely different....
Howdy, travelers. Today I am trying something very different: trying to project what Catch Cup may end up looking like. Obviously fully covering such a diverse format is basically an impossible task, and to be perfectly honest, I had no intention even trying when the format was announced. But I'm in a rare lull between Silph Arena and GBL formats, and my writing hands don't like being idle for too long, so here we are!
This is not going to be like any of my regular articles. There is just SO much out there that you may encounter that posting a bunch of simulations and throwing numbers at you would be mostly a waste of time. So instead, I am going to guesstimate as best I can some of the things that players have likely encountered since the start of this GBL season and may use to cobble together Catch Cup teams. And hopefully inform you of some things to watch out for most as you wade through all those varied spawns and hatches and such. And as always, I will try to highlight the "thrifty" options so you can compete without having to break the bank; the vast majority of this article will be things with the cheapest possible second move unlocks (or don't need a second move at all!).
Some caveats up front:

• I have tried very hard to weed out things that should be impossible to acquire since the start of GBL Season 5. This includes most all Legendaries/Mythicals and things which seem to spawn only during certain events (like Cofagrius and Delibird and such). Some things which are extremely rare spawns/hatches I may leave in, but obviously not everything below is a common spawn!
  
• I am going to try to emphasize things that ARE commonly acquired during this period of time. Things like Seedot and Oddish and Hoothoot and Zigzagoon and many others are all over the place, and this week you have the event going on with its special spawns.
  
• I am also going to leave out anything with Legacy/Community Day moves (that can only be Elite TMed) since the start of the season. Not to say you won't see any, or that YOU won't be using any, but I am going to assume the vast majority of players are not burning Elites on a one-week format.
  
• I plan to skip many well-established top tier Great League options (though not all). Yes, there are people out there that will invest in a brand new Azumarill or Stunfisk or the like, but at this point you don't really need me telling you they're good, do you?
  

Basically, what this is probably going to be is me listing a bunch of 'mons with their best movesets, some familiar and some you have likely never considered before. But I believe, based on 200 articles and nearly two years of PvP analysis, that all of these can really give you a competitive edge.

10,000 Dust/25 Candy (to unlock second move)

IVYSAUR
Vine Whip | Power Whip & Sludge Bomb
Here is your Frenzy Plant Venusaur replacement. Power Whip is obviously no Frenzy Plant, but it's still a fine move, and Ivysaur carries Venusaur's other potent moves as well. It's not QUITE as good as Venusaur, but it's close and performs the same role without having to dip into the Elite TM reserves. Bulbasaur was all over the place during the Animation Week event that ran into the first few days of GBL Season 5, so check and see if you have a good one.
CHARIZARD
Fire Spin | Dragon Claw & Overheat
I've written this about Zard several times before, but as a refresher: Overheat can perform right on the same level as Legacy Blast Burn, if not even better in spots. You DO have to play it a little differently, as Overheat comes with a significant self debuff to Attack and you don't want to just be throwing Overheats out there willy nilly. But it most certainly can still work.
BLAZIKEN
Counter | Blaze Kick & Brave Bird/Overheat/Focus Blast
Obviously Blaze typically runs with Blast Burn (or Stone Edge in the era of Elite TMs), but it has a large suite of other moves that work well too. I mean, the three I have listed there (Brave Bird, Overheat, Focus Blast) all have very different coverage that can fit your team needs and put the opponent on their heels. Torchic is easily acquired during Sunny weather or as a GBL reward.
GROTLE
Razor Leaf | Body Slam & Energy Ball
Turtwig is a very common spawn, and all you need is one with a level in the high 20s to make yourself a super cheap and potent Razor Leafer. Body Slam is what really sets Grotle apart as a nice option.
SCEPTILE
Bullet Seed | Leaf Blade & Earthquake
A rarity among starters in that it's actually better without its Community Day move. Sceptile works best with Leaf Blade rather than Frenzy Plant, and beyond its blazing speed, its claim to fame is Earthquake, which ALSO comes much faster than you (or the opponent!) may expect.
BEEDRILL
Poison Jab | X-Scisssor & Sludge Bomb
While it's true that the Bee is best with Legacy Drill Run, it can still sting Grasses, Darks, Fairies, and Fighters just fine with currently available moves. Weedles are everywhere, and as tempting as it may be to ignore them, don't. A good Beedrill could end up a key part of your team.
WIGGLYTUFF
Charm | Ice Beam and/or Play Rough
Hopefully you found some good ones during the Jigglypuff spotlight hour, because Wiggly remains the best Charmer in Great League. If that's your style of play, Wiggly is one you can build a team around. The same is true to a lesser degree with CLEFABLE and especially TOGEKISS acquired through the current research breakthrough encounter; they are certainly viable too, and you may see a lot of Togekiss in particular as some are just getting a Great League sized on for the first time now, but they're just not as good as Wiggly in Great League, frankly. And Togekiss is more expensive to build too!
SWAMPERT
Mud Shot | Surf & Earthquake/Sludge Bomb
No Hydro Cannon, no problem? Yes, Surf is a strictly inferior move, dealing 65 damage for 40 energy as compared to Cannon's 80 damage for the same cost. But that does NOT mean it's a bad move, because it very much isn't. Swampert still has play even without Cannon, and whether you plan to use one or not, you CAN surely expect to run into them, so plan accordingly.
WHISCASH
Mud Shot | Mud Bomb & Blizzard
With this Mud Boy, there ARE no Legacy concerns. Whiscash will likely be even more common than Swampy, as it's half of one of the best-known cores in Great League PvP alongside Skarmory (more on that steely bird later). A right-sized Whiscash is leveled in the mid-to-upper 20s, and Barboach tend to be everywhere, so for once you can actually celebrate that fact by perhaps acquiring a key piece of your own Catch
PRINPLUP
Bubble | Icy Wind & Hydro Pump/Bubble Beam
No Empoleon with Hydro Cannon either, but if you enjoyed Seel in Little Cup, Prinplup plays similarly as a pure Water that deals good fast move damage and dishes out Icy Wind like Oprah dishes out prizes to her studio audience. It's better than you think.
RAICHU & ALOLAN RAICHU
Volt Switch | Thunder Punch & Wild Charge/Grass Knot
Pikachu (ones you can evolve, anyway) is not a terribly common spawn, but it's out there. Alolan Chu, however, is in raids and easy to acquire. Both are slightly underrated in open Great League, and both could have a lot of play in Catch Cup. Got a raid pass to burn? Go get a surfer dude Raichu!
ALTARIA
Dragon Breath | Sky Attack & Dragon Pulse
The candy can be problematic, but finding a good Swablu to evolve usually is not. It's a very common spawn in Partly Cloudy and Windy weather, so depending on where you are, the area could be crawling with them. Altaria probably needs no introduction... it's well established in Great League already. So this is just a friendly reminder that--candy aside--it can extremely cheap to build a brand new one, perhaps one even better than the one you've been using to this point!
GOLBAT
Wing Attack | Poison Fang & Shadow Ball
Zubat spawns are boosted during this week's event, so it should be easy to build a Golbat from the ground up. But should you? Well, it's a great killer of Grasses and Fighters and Fairies in particular, and a nice versatile threat with moves that can keep opponents on their toes. If you find a good one this week, take it for a test drive.
NOCTOWL
Wing Attack | Sky Attack & Psychic
Mr. Owl is a flying TANK. It feels squishier with a lot of Electrics, Ices, or Rocks around, but since those are usually less common spawns in general, Noctowl may have some room to really soar in this sort of format. Hoothoot is boosted right now, so finding a good one shouldn't be difficult if you're interested.
LINOONE
Shadow Claw | Grass Knot & Thunder
One of the best counters to the common Whiscash/Skarmory core and a nice versatile mon in general with far more bulk than its skinny frame would suggest. Linoone is cheap, flexible, and Zigzagoon is one of the most common spawns out there.
GALARIAN LINOONE
Snarl | Body Slam & Gunk Shot
Not much to say on this one, but Galarian Zigzagoon is still a GBL reward, no? And it's in 7k eggs right now too, so building the KISS fan version of Linoone is also easy to do if you're so inclined.
OBSTAGOON
Counter | Night Slash & Gunk Shot
This is an even cheaper way to build up a G-Zigzagoon, as Obstagoon wants to be around Level 21 in Great League anyway, so you can build one from scratch from a hatch/GBL reward with barely any investment at all.
AGGRON
Smack Down | ...doesn't actually matter
I know Aron is common, but this is a PSA: don't. Aggron is just not good in PvP. You'll probably see a couple, but it just doesn't really work. It's a trap!
CRUSTLE
Smack Down/Fury Cutter | X-Scissor & Rock Slide
Has holes (keep far away from Fighters, Grounds, and others) but Crustle can put in serious work, as shown throughout Halloween Cup. Dwebble isn't a boosted spawn now but it is still pretty common in Partly Cloudy weather. It's a thought.

50,000 Dust/50 Candy

Well I highlighted all the REALLY cheap builds already, but I'll list a few of particular note for this category and then to 75k and 100ks.
ALOLAN SANDSLASH
Powder Snow | Ice Punch & Bulldoze/Blizzard
A-Slash is currently tearing it up for some teams in Kanto Cup, and Alolan Sandshrew is one of the current event's boosted spawns. There has never been a better time to build one, as you can get use out of it in back-to-back GBL Cups if you want to, and it should continue to have relevance in future formats as well. Powder Snow into Ice Punch is just nasty, and while A-Shrew will never be called "tanky", it has a typing combination with a LOT of relevant resistances.
ALOLAN NINETALES
Powder Snow/Charm | Psyshock & Ice Beam/Blizzard
Not quite as good as A-Slash, but in raids right now, and can operate as a classic Ice or as a Charmer with a unique resistance set. Voted most likely to catch your opponent completely offguard... at least for a few moments.
WHIMSICOTT
Razor Leaf/Charm | Grass Knot & Moonblast/Hurricane
Yup, Cottonee is boosted during this event too, which is good because any Cottonee you built for Little Cup are likely about two levels too big to evolve to a sub-1500 Whimsie. Like A-Tails, it can take the opponent a few precious moments to figure out how to respond to it as they figured out what fast move it's running, as it has a much different profile when using Razor Leaf than when it's being used as a Charmer instead. It's not the greatest thing out there in either role, but it gets the job done and DOES have that element of (at least initial) surprise going for it.
OTHER RAZOR LEAFERS
Razor Leaf | Sludge Bomb & Leaf Blade/Moonblast
NO surprises here, but that doesn't mean it's easy to stop. With VICTREEBEL and VILEPLUME/GLOOM and others, you know exactly what you're going to get... [pain](). Their pre-evolutions are both out there and I THINK still in GO Rocket stops? Honestly it's hard to keep track anymore....
CRADILY
Bullet Seed | Stone Edge & Grass Knot
The Grass that can take down Flyers and Fires and Ices with a well-placed Stone Edge. Or should I call it the Rock that can blow away Waters? Either way, Lileep is a current event spawn, so you know what to do. Dilly dily!
MAGNETON/MAGNEZONE
Thunder Shock/Spark | Magnet Bomb & Discharge / Mirror Shot & Wild Charge
They play differently, but both fill a similar role as Electrics that tangle better than most with Dragons, Fairies, Grasses, and others thanks to the Steel subtyping. Magnemite is a boosted spawn during the current event.

75,000 Dust/75 Candy

Moving right along, I am going to continue to focus on event spawns and current reward encounters....
SKARMORY
Air Slash | Sky Attack
That's right, just one move. Because let's be honest... nobody wants to build a brand new Skarmory NOW, right after we all likely had a double moved one for Flying Cup. Who's excited to sink another 75,000+ dust into a new one just for this week? Thankfully, I don't think you have to. Just take a GBL reward one, level it up a few times, and just run it with Sky Attack. You lose very little by not double moving it... it was still one of the best Pokemon in PvP for well over a year before Brave Bird really became a thing. Even single moved, this is one of the very best things you can run out there in Great League play, and as I said, it's a relatively common GBL reward encounter. Go get one!
SNORLAX
Lick | Body Slam & Superpower
Unfortunately, you DO need to second move here. I mean, you CAN get by with just Body Slam, I suppose, but Lax is really hampered without the threat of another move. Snorlax is not boosted now, but it was in the initial days of Season 5 with the second half of the Animation Week event. If you found a decent one then, it's one of the best things to deploy in Catch Cup. Short of a dedicated Fighting type, Lax can grapple with almost anything you'll encounter even in a wide open format like Catch Cup.

100,000 Dust/100 Candy

MELMETAL
Thunder Shock | Rock Slide & Superpower
Not boosted right now, per se, but with shiny Meltan back, you can expect to see a fair number of players showing off their new Melmetals. It's not nearly as potent in Great League as it is in Ultra and especially Master Leagues, but it's still a force to be reckoned with that hits fast and hard. Whether or not YOU plan to use one, make sure you at least have a solid answer to it.
EDIT: The announcement for Catch Cup specifically said no Mythicals, which is likely to prevent players delaying their Mew or Jirachi research until now from getting unfair advantage more than it is to exclude Melmetal, but it seems a safe bet that Mel will be caught up in that and not allowed to be used. Sorry for the confusion (and my own memory!) and thanks to the players that reminded me.
I could go on and on about other things you can build up during this time: Fighters (Machamp from GO Rocket stops, Scrafty from GBL reward Scraggys, etc.), and relatively common spawns that are potent in Great League like Abomasnow (Snover), Dragonair and Dragonite (Dratini, which was boosted significantly during the Animation Week event), Scyther and Scizor (Scyther was also out in force during Animation Week), and of course, shiny Electivires and Magmortars and Slowbros that people want to show off (though they aren't all that great in GL). But I wanted to get this out there NOW, with as much time as possible before Catch Cup arrives, to help inform you on what to hunt for during this period of unusual spawns and rewards and raids, and what to hold on to from the tail end of Animation Week before you go clear them out of your bag! Sorry if this seems off the cuff, and it's certainly not a true deep dive "analysis" article like I usually try to get out there, but hopefully this proves just as helpful.
I'll leave it up to you HOW to assemble your team... it's YOUR team, after all! Build what you're comfortable with and try to have some fun with it. I WILL say that the SkarmCash core I mentioned is always a strong place to start--and a core you'll probably see on many opposing teams--but there are many, many ways you can go with your team. Good luck!
I know I always encourage feedback, but with this more than ever, PLEASE throw any other ideas you have into comments. I do this so all players can benefit, and I welcome a collective "group think" to get all our creative juices going. This list is just my off the cuff thoughts, and I'm just one guy. Let's discuss other options too and learn and prep together!
Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets, or Patreon. And please, feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll try to get back to you!
Thank you for reading, and good hunting this week!

I see a lot of text posts in this sub of 'previews' for matches, but they are always very low effort and essentially just ask "What do you think?" without providing much information or analysis. Since I have quite a bit of free time at work right now, I thought I'd do a bit of stat-accumulation and put together a little preview of this weekend's match.
_______________

Villa:

After a very entertaining 0-0 draw at home against Burnley, the side will make the daunting trek all of 3.5 miles to the Hawthorns to take on a West Brom side under new management.
Form: We have seemingly turned the corner on the poor run of form we suffered from the end of October to the start of December. After losing 4 of 5 (only beating a dismal Arsenal side), we showed extremely good spirit while earning a scrappy win at Wolves. We followed that up with a dominant performance at home against Burnley.
Burnley Match: Deano sent out a much changed side against Burnley. Not only did he bring in replacements for the suspended and injured lads, but he also "changed the shape a little bit today because of the way Burnley play." Yes, we only walked away with a single point, but the changes from Deano undoubtedly worked as we controlled the match and had ample opportunity to score. Although we couldn't finish any of those ~850 chances, it is 2 clean sheets in a row. As Deano said,

We had enough chances to win two games, maybe even three... my concern is when you're not getting chances. We look like a team unlikely to concede goals as well, when you do that you'll accumulate points. (Link to the interview)

Team News: This match also saw no new injuries (thank you Mr. Mee) or suspensions, so we will be at nearly full strength this weekend.
Douglas Luiz, Matty Cash, Bjorn Engels, Keinan Davis, and Ross Barkley should all be fit and eligible to start for the match this weekend. Trezeguet and Wes will likely be out beyond the end of the Christmas period.

West Brom:

West Brom have had a rough start to life back in the Premier League. Despite a stalwart defence against Man City earning the Baggies a point, they remain at the wrong end of the table and Slaven Bilić faced the axe on Wednesday. The managerial merry-go-round spun Big Sam into the spotlight once more - his first job since he was let go by Everton in 2018.
Form: West Brom have earned 4 points in their past 5 matches, including their first win of the season against Sheffield United and the hard fought draw against City. That first (and only) win this year came against a winless, bottom of the table, Blades side who have lost 12 of 13 matches this year. Although they have managed a few impressive performances and results this year, they have only earned 2 points from sides outside the bottom 5 this year (3-3 Chelsea & 1-1 City).
City Match: West Brom were once again without Matheus Pereira in the side, as he sat out the second match of his 3 match ban following his dismissal against Palace. The Baggies were very content to play for a draw, having just over 20% possession and only 1 single shot on target. Only 15% of the match took place in City's defensive third...
Team News: Pereira will miss his 3rd and final game of his ban following his violent conduct charge. Kyle Bartley could also miss the match after being ruled out of the Newcastle and Man City matches. Conor Townsend and Hal Robson-Kanu will both be out until the end of December.

Sam Allardyce

Big Sam was sacked from Everton, despite guiding the Toffees to a top half finish, mostly through the clamouring of fans about the boring style which had been instilled in the side. He has a phenomenal record of saving sides from relegation, having never been relegated himself from the top division.
Big Sam's Record as a new manager in the top flight (and with England):

Team	Opponent	Score	Year
Everton	Huddersfield	2-0	2017
Crystal Palace	Watford	1-1	2016
England	Slovakia	1-0	2016
Sunderland	West Brom	0-1	2015
Blackburn	Stoke	3-0	2008
Newcastle	Bolton	3-1	2007
Total	4-1-1	10-3

STATS

1. Consistency in Minutes
   West Brom have changed their side up many times this season - only 3 players (Johnstone, Ajayi and Furlong) have played more than 75% of minutes this year. The 4th player with the most minutes is Conor Gallagher with 800 minutes (68% of available minutes).
   Villa have been the opposite. NINE players have more minutes than Conor Gallagher in 2 fewer matches. Even Trezeguet, with 720 minutes, has a higher percentage of minutes played (73%). Only Villa's last spot (barring injury and suspension) has been changing, as Barkley had not come into the side until a few matches into the year.
   
2. Style of Play
   As opposed to the match against Burnley, West Brom probably won't sit back and play for a draw. They actually have a fairly decent attacking style - in fact, it matches our own style of play pretty closely. Both sides play a similar range of passing and at similar rates, West Brom are just a touch worse than us at it.
   

   Team	Total	Long Ball %	Short Acc.	Long Acc.
   Villa	389.5	15.5%	83.9%	44.3%
   West Brom	381.6	15.1%	82.8%	42.9%

3. Where will the ball be?
   Looking at the average area of play for both sides this season, they match up quite well:
   

   Team	Off.	Mid.	Def.
   Villa	33%	41%	26%
   WBA	24%	45%	31%

   We may see a similar story this weekend.
   
4. History
   Outside of the traditional top 5 clubs, West Brom do not have a worse record against any side (5+ matches played).
   Villa lead this matchup across all of history with 25 wins to the Baggies' 14, while there have been 17 draws as well. In the Premier League era, Villa lead with 10 wins, 10 draws and 5 losses.
   
5. Open play - wide open
   No team has conceded more goals, or more from open play this year than the Baggies. They also have only scored fewer goals from open play than 17 teams - only Sheffield United and Burnley are worse.
   While West Brom are conceding 2 goals per game, Villa are scoring 1.9 per game. Villa concede 1.18 goals per game, West Brom score 0.77 per game.
   

So what are your predictions, concerns, thoughts and bets for the match this weekend? How will Deano set the side up, and will Barkley be fit enough to start?

Unfortunately, I do not have next gen so this is current gen only, but if even just a few people with it see this post and like my draft classes, I'd consider that a win. Also there doesn't seem to be a myleague flair? sorry if i was supposed to use mynba or something. Anyway, my gamertag is squeaktoad and the classes are named just Fictional Draft 1, 2, and 3. Without further ado
​
Fictional Draft 1

1. Genwei Li, SG: At the top of the draft is a star guard from China, Genwei Li. He's an excellent athlete, and uses it to be an elite defender, being able to cover any perimeter player fairly well. He also uses it in concert with his solid ballhandling to get to the rim and finish with ease. Genwei is also a capable passer, allowing him to play some minutes at the point guard. However, his mid range jumper is eh at best, and he hasn't shown a consistent ability to hit the 3 at all, and with a free throw percentage in the 60s, he looks unlikely to become a good shooter in the future either. At best, we could be looking at the next dwyane wade though, and with potential like that and a good shot of reaching it, it's hard to pass up Genwei with the first pick
2. Shawn Stone, C: Picking the big man when in doubt is an old school piece of advice, and Shawn Stone is a pretty old school type of player, so it wouldn't be absurd to pick him first either depending on your feelings. Stone projects to be a defensive anchor, with great size and already being fairly filled out at just 19. He's also shown himself to be an elite rebounder on both the offensive and defensive boards, and has shown flashes of a post game. However, being old school isn't all good. Stone provides no spacing on offense and is barely effective outside of the paint. This could also leave him a liability to get hacked late game. In addition, while he is incredible at defending the paint, and even has solid defensive iq on the perimeter, he isn't quick enough to venture outside of the paint on defense very often.
3. Colin Person, SF: Colin isn't 19 like the majority of the players at the top of this class, but has used his extra college time to improve his draft stock. He is the complete package offensively, being an elite shooter from just about anywhere on the floor, a capable playmaker, and even having a decent turnaround jumper out of the post. In addition, Person is a good rebounder for the forward slot, allowing him to finish off defensive possessions. However, that's nearly the only defensive value he brings, as he's not very athletic, leaving him prone to getting cooked on the perimeter, and isn't especially strong to defend bigs. His iq on the defensive end, while not awful, isn't particularly good either, and leaves little room for him to become a particularly good defender. So long as his lack of athleticism doesn't prevent him from getting to his spots on offense though, Person should be a great pick even this high in the draft in order to help out an offense
4. Spencer Wagner, PG: One clear strength of this draft is the positional versatility seen, with all of the top 4 playing a different one. For Spencer Wagner, its point guard, he offers many of the skills you'd want out of the position. He's a slick ballhandler and super quick, allowing him to get to the rim and finish fairly easily even against good defenders. He also has good instincts on d for when to jump passing lanes for a steal. Finally, he's shown some good vision, and could is a good passer already, before even touching the league. Wagner is, however, a bit weak, and prone to be bullied by larger players, and lacks touch from 3 so far, though his money pull up jumper from mid range and acceptable free throw shooting point to those flaws being fixable
5. Wesley Bowden, PG: Finally, we get positional overlap. However, there isn't a ton of skill overlap. Wesley Bowden is similarly gifted at using his handles and speed to neutralize defenses, but in the end looks to score for himself far more. This isn't a bad thing necessarily though, as Bowden is a truly gifted scorer from every level of the floor, with a great jumper and very shifty finishing inside to keep from getting blocked. However, there's a reason Wesley has to try so hard not to be blocked, he's only 5'11, which will limit him at the next level, and when combined with his lacking defensive iq, leave him as a sure bet to be a defensive liability. This seems to make him borderline unplayable, but 2017 Isaiah Thomas was an all nba player, and the chance of Bowden hitting that level are high enough to justify taking him here
6. Barry Peters, C: Barry Peters looks to be one of the most nba ready prospects in the draft. He's a big with a silky jumper without being soft on the boards or on defense, and has even shown the ability to be a secondary passer. He can even switch to some degree. However, there are some doubts as to whether his ceiling is as high as many of the players in this draft, as he doesn't look to be able to be a first option or a defensive anchor on a contender
7. Andor Szomory, PG: While he still has a year left in his euroleague contract, that shouldn't dissuade you from looking at Andor Szomory, even this high. Despite not being especially big, he's shown an uncanny ability to finish efficiently at the rim, and has proven himself to have absolutely elite vision on offense. In addition, Szomory can lock down opposing guards and pick up steals, as well as grab boards at a decent rate to start up fastbreaks. However, he is a low volume scorer on offense, and poses little threat with his ineffective jumper, which leaves him dependent on other players to score off his (admittedly excellent) passes, and could hamper his ability to make those passes, with defenses able to sag off.
8. Otis Perrier, SG: In the modern nba, few player archetypes are more sought after than the "3 and D" wing, and Otis Perrier is practically the prototype. He has a silky jumper he's used to great effectiveness even at nba 3 point distance, and has shown his ability to play good defense on any perimeter player, while even able to hold his own against bigger players, which makes him a perfect complementary piece. However, with his lack of ability to create for himself or others, Perrier has little chance to be anything beyond a complementary piece, and needs to rely on teammates to get him the ball in position to succeed.
9. Jackie Kerr, PF: Jackie Kerr is a big man who doesn't conform solely to the modern nba while still being perfectly at home within it. He is a capable defender in the post and of the rim, and can stretch the floor a good bit, but also has a fleshed out post up game. However, he struggles a bit on switching onto the perimeter, which might force him into a center role, and he doesn't have a true hook to him, he's simply solid at a lot of things.
10. Abraham Long, SF: Defense wins championships, so any contender would be happy to land Long. He is incredibly athletic and combines it with great defensive instincts to be able to lock down players all over the court and be a threat in transition on offense. However, he doesn't have much shooting ability, and isn't very good at creating for himself or others on offense, leaving him just as a cutter in the half court.
11. Pavlo Semenko, C: Pavlo still has a year left of his overseas contract, and represents the most exaggerated version of the center role, starting with his immesnse 7'7, 350 pound frame with an even larger wingspan. He is already, at 19, an incredible inside defender and rebounder, as well as incredibly strong and possessing a solid touch around the rim. However, he is also incredibly slow, gets cooked by any perimeter player when he leaves the paint, and shoots a ghastly 30% from the free throw line. He could easily excel in a very specific role, but asking him to do anything else will leave his team very disappointed.
12. Lamond Drew II, SG: Lamond Drew has essentially the perfect basketball body, 6'7, long arms, incredibly fast, and can jump out of the gym, which is a big part of why he's seen as such a high potential player despite being fairly raw at this point. Beyond that, he's shown flashes of just about any skill, giving teams hope that he can develop into someone they'd be proud of. He's not a great shooter yet, but has hit some nice looking 3s, has a decent handle and has pulled off some great passes, and utilizes his body well finishing at the rim, guarding multiple positions, and racking up steals, blocks, and rebounds. It will take patience to get Drew to play useful minutes, but it could easily pay off in spades for any team that picks him
13. Tyler Brown, SG: Tyler Brown is a weird player, being a guard who blocks a ton of shots, thanks to his long arms and great help side instincts. In addition, he's a very capable playmaker, and is very good at the rest of defense, and has even shown a solid ability to score in the mid range. However, his range has not shown up to the three point line, and he is pretty passive on offense, leading to his role likely being of a defensive specialist and offensive role player.
14. Radoslav Jovanovic, PF: The final scouted euro, Jovanovic clearly fills a very popular role, of an energy big. he's got great athleticism and instincts, allowing him to rack up boards, and giving him some value on defense. However, his offensive game will rely almost entirely on putbacks and lobs due to his inability to shoot, and his defensive instincts are far worse than his rebounding ones, leading to him being disappointing on that end of the floor
15. Ian Brown, SF: Brother of Tyler Brown, the two boys have distinct skillsets. Ian Brown has his 3 point shooting as his biggest selling point, especially above the break, unlike many shooting wings. He also has great instincts on the boards for a small forward, letting him get lots of offensive rebounds when he's not behind the line. His final skill is is above average passing vision and extreme unselfishness. However, Brown is pretty poor at scoring inside the 3 point line, has shaky handles that keep him from serving a point forward role on offense, and though he tries, he has neither the athleticism nor the instincts to be a particularly good defender.

Fictional Draft 2

1. Theo McNeal, PF: Theo is the type of player that wouldn't have existed a few years ago. He's 6'9 and fairly stout, giving him a pretty prototypical forward's body, and his rebounding, while not a particular strength, seems to be around average for his size. However, McNeal also has incredible guard skills, being able to bring the ball up the court, take defenders off the dribble, and having among the best vision in the draft. He also is a floor spacer, shooting often and fairly well from 3 and mid range. He is still a power forward despite this, because he isn't quite athletic enough to play the point guard, but for a 4 he's pretty solid. His defense is his main drawback, but even then he has fairly average iq, just not quite athletic enough.
2. Milos Vugrenic, SG: Milos still has a year left on his euroleague contract, but is just so enticing that there's a legitimate argument for him to go number 1 overall. He's an absolute athletic specimen, being able to absolutely jump out of the gym while also being incredibly fast. He's also got some great size for a guard at 6'7 with long arms. He utilizes this to be an already good defender, and as he continues to mature he has the potential to be an all time great. Those long arms make him great at getting into passing lanes, and an amazing shot blocker out of the guard slot. Offensively, he's more limited, but far from a liability. He has some nice dribble moves and the vision to function as a primary playmaker in a pinch, and uses that and his body to be a very good slasher. However, milos is a poor shooter from outside, despite showing some promise from mid range, and is a disappointing free throw shooter for a guard.
3. Vlado Olic, PF: This draft is very much stacked in the rest of the world's favor, with Olic being the second top 3 player who still has another year left overseas. While Theo is a new school guard skills forward, Olic is more old school, being an elite rebounder and operating much more out of the post than on the perimeter. He has great touch in the paint, as well as from mid range, and when combined with his free throw percentage, gives some hope to him developing a three point shot at some point. However, Olic is flawed on defense. He uses his big frame and strength on opposing post of players, and has fairly active hands, but he is unable to defend in space while not being a particularly good help defender or rim protector either, leaving him prone to getting cooked by most players who can speed past him
4. Christian Holloway, PG: Despite being the first player listed at point guard so far, holloway may be the worst passer as well. He has some solid vision, but is much more interested in scoring for himself, which he has proven to be elite at. He has a silky smooth jump shot, elite handles and speed, and is able to score craftily around the rim despite his size. In addition, he is adept at getting into passing lanes to steal the ball. Unfortunately, he's helpless on defense, not putting in much effort while also not possessing much smarts on that side of the ball. If you need someone to put the ball in the basket, Christian Holloway is an excellent choice, but if you're looking for more, you probably will be disappointed.
5. Chad Chase, C: Like Olic, Chase represents a more traditional big man, only Chase takes it even farther. He is also an elite rebounder and plays well in the post, but while Olic can shoot and pass, Chase is a great rim protector, using his elite height to get blocks and prevent perimeter players from driving into the paint. Unfortunately, he still isn't very able to defend in space, leaving him as a target perimeter players want switched onto them, and while a non shooting big man isn't the end of the world, Chase likely spends too much time working in the post and not enough being a pick and roll partner.
6. Chip Cage, PG: Unlike the players above him, and even some below him, it's unlikely Cage will ever be a star. However, it's also unlikely he'll end up as anything short of a good role player, making him a quintessential high floor low ceiling prospect. He has great defensive instincts and very solid size for a guard, allowing him to cover either guard slot very effectively and even some wings. He also is a willing passer, and a good shooter. However, even his shot isn't special, and he hasn't shown much ability to create for himself, while his creation for others isn't particularly notable either.
7. Ernest Patton, SG: Patton is a great shooter who can create for himself effectively and get to the rim fairly well, making him a great, well rounded scorer. However, beyond that, he doesn't offer much value. He isn't strong enough to effectively guard bigger wings, while lacking the lateral quickness to keep up with quicker guards, and he is only average at best at passing, and offering little rebounding. He could be a very good spark plug off the bench, or even an elite scorer alongside a more well rounded true star, but likely not much beyond that
8. Ed Haston, SF: Haston is essentially just a bigger Patton, in that they're both great scorers but fairly one dimensional beyond that. In Haston's case, he's a bit better at guarding forwards, scoring in the paint, and rebounding, while a bit worse at guarding guards, shooting, and passing. Other than that, second verse, same as the first.
9. Erik Hunt, PF: Erik Hunt is the type of player to get some extra hype from draft twitter as a result of his unicorn potential offered by his good shooting and shot blocking/general defense. He isn't elite from 3, but has shown a great mid range shot and free throw percentage, and has been pretty eager from 3, leading many to see the potential, while being able to get a decent amount of blocks despite not playing much center, and has generally shown good defense on a variety of players. He even has shown some ability as a passer, being able to see the open man and hit them where they need the ball. However, hunt does lack some aggressiveness on offense, and the inability to create for himself that may have caused it.
10. Brevin Butler, PF: Butler is probably the best defensive big in this draft, and has a good argument over Vugrenic for best overall defender as well. He's wide with long arms, allowing him to defend the paint, while being just athletic enough to hold his own on the pick and roll, with good hands to poke the ball loose or steal an errant pass. He's also quite a good rebounder, and a fairly willing passer. However, Butler has little value on offense outside of rim running and a developing baby hook.
11. Caron Goodman, SG: Goodman represents one of the most coveted role player archetypes in the league, the 3 & D wing. As of now, he's not an elite three point shooter, but he's always been confident in shooting them, and has good form and free throw percentage to give hope he will be good with more practice. In addition, he's got long arms and great defensive instincts to help him cover all sorts of players, and he's surprisingly good at getting weakside blocks. Unfortunately, Goodman is a very two dimensional player, unable to create for himself or others, being unremarkable at finishing in the paint, and not being particularly good at rebounding either.
12. Esteban Navarro, SF: Navarro is one of the absolute most one dimensional players in any draft, but even with that and the year he still has left in his euroleague contract, that one dimension being shooting at this point in nba history still makes him a lottery pick. Navarro takes the vast majority of his shots from 3, and he's excellent at converting them, which is a skill all teams could use. Every other part of his game projects to be about average at best, though he is sneakily good at drawing fouls, but the spacing and scoring he can bring just in his shooting is valuable enough on its own

Fictional Draft 3

1. Wil Hicks, SG: The other two drafts have some sort of argument for other number 1 picks, but Wil Hicks is undoubtably the gem of this class. He is the complete package on offense, being able to score from any level, possessing an elite control of his acceleration, a surprisingly polished post up game, and incredible passing game. However, on the other end, he is flawed. He's not particularly fast to begin with, and laterally he's even less impressive, and he's also prone to getting lost when not defending the ballhandler. He is, however, weirdly solid at defending the post, and he can get a solid amount of steals and blocks, keeping him from being a total liability.
2. Loren Strong, PF: While Hicks is a player that looks able to be great from the jump, Strong is a much more raw pick, but with some tantalizing potential. He's got some great size at 6'11 with long arms, though he can get bullied pretty easily by the many stronger players out there. In addition, he is incredibly athletic, allowing him to easily switch onto most perimeter players, as well as sky up for blocks. He has also shown a solid ability to find the open man, giving him some ability to act as a secondary playmaker. In terms of scoring, he's yet again very raw, with his immediate role being likely just a roll man, but he has shown a surprisingly smooth mid range jumper that many scouts feel he can extend to the three point line, in spite of his strange form and disappointing free throw numbers
3. Martin Long, SF: Long is another polished scorer available in this class. He isn't an elite three point shooter yet, but has shown plenty of ability from there, while also making the mid range his area of expertise, and being able to post up and score on many smaller wings. He has an effective handle which lets him work well in isolation, and is a very solid rebounder. Unfortunately, while he can create for himself incredibly well, Long doesn't do much creating for others, and his defense leaves a lot to be desired.
4. Oscar Peters, SG: Yet again, we have a 3 & D wing in the lottery, as they are always hot commodities. For Peters, he is an absolutely elite three point shooter, probably the absolute best in a class with plenty of shooters. Defensively, he isn't quite elite, but even so he's very solid and can guard a variety of players 1-3 effectively. Unfortunately, his dribbling leaves a lot to be desired, and he's next to useless when it comes to passing and rebounding. Still though, elite shooting will always have a place in this league, especially when paired with good d.
5. Donte Peeler, SG: Yet another shooting guard in a guard heavy class, Donte likely could've gone even higher in year's past. He's a serviceable at best three point shooter, but is elite at the mid range, and in general is great at isolation scoring, using his handle and speed to get to whatever spot he wants, as well as finishing craftily in the paint. However, he's pretty undersized for a shooting guard, and doesn't have the passing instincts to play point full time, plus his defense outside of nabbing steals is pretty poor. If he can improve his 3 point shot and get his overall efficiency up as a result though, he could be one of the top offensive players in the league in no time
6. Blake Blair, PG: Blake Blair is a pretty nontraditional point guard. He's got great size at 6'6, and his passing, while solid, is nothing to write home about, especially considering his worrying amount of turnovers. But, he still is absolutely at the best with the ball in his hands, and is capable of being a team's primary playmaker. He's also an elite finisher, using his great speed and size to blow past bigger defenders while easily finishing over smaller ones. He is not a particularly good shooter, however, which may limit him on offense, and while he's big and athletic, he doesn't quite have the iq to be a truly great defender.
7. Darren Beasley, PG: In contrast to a lot of the other guards so far, Darren Beasley is an elite passer, making some great leads and being a steady hand in his team's offense. In addition, he's shown a great shooting touch, and despite not being very big, has great defensive instincts to keep him relevant on that end of the floor. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the speed or aggressiveness to be a particularly good scorer at the next level, which will hold him back from being a true star, and he could still get beaten on defense by the elite guards of the nba
8. Julian Bowden, SF: Bowden is another raw player near the top of this draft. He has amazing size for a forward, and yet has solid guard skills as well, being able to handle the ball in a pinch, drive, and shoot off the dribble, especially from the mid range. He's also shown himself to be capable of using his frame on defense to contest shots and get his arms wherever the ball is. However, he hasn't shown much touch from past the 3 point line, and is pretty weak, allowing him to get bullied even by wings
9. Howie Howell, C: Howie is a pretty traditional Center in the energy big mold. He always puts in maximum effort, while combining it with great athleticism. This allows him to put in work on the boards, especially on the offensive end, as well as switch onto the perimeter surprisingly well, while he still uses his strength on the inside. Unfortunately, he is a little short for a center, and hasn't shown much touch on offense outside of pick and rolls and put backs, but a bit of rebounding can always help a team, so I'm sure Howie will find a place in the league.
10. Maurice Ramsey, SG: The final guard, of the class, and final player of this scouting report. Ramsey is one of the most confident players out there, launching contested threes with little hesitation. This attitude is a double edged sword, as while he has shown himself to be surprisingly competent with this sort of shot, most coaches and fans will rip out their hair having to watch it, and feel vindicated when he inevitably misses a few. He's not just a shooter though, as his jumping is incredible, allowing him to pull off some spectacular dunks. Looking at his highlight reel, it would be easy to assume Ramsey is the best player in the draft by far. In terms of less flashy stuff, he's also been a decent defender, and if a coach can teach him to better utilize his athleticism there, he could truly blossom. Unfortunately, Ramsey does have some tunnel vision, and a surprisingly mediocre mid range game in spite of his sometimes ridiculous shooting from 3