Tectonic Takes

Max Arfsten scored, then got benched. Middlesbrough are wasting one of their best weapons. Sept 19, St Andrew’s. Max Arfsten starts at left wing-back, scores his first Middlesbrough goal and walks off with an 8.1 match rating. He hasn’t started a league game since. Five league appearances since then, all off the bench: 3 minutes, then 12, 16 and 21, and against Charlton he came on in the 77th minute. And his numbers are some of the best in the league. 3.50 successful dribbles per 90. That’s the best at Middlesbrough by a distance. Callum Brittain is second at 1.80, about half as many. Only four players in the entire Championship do better. 77.3% dribble success. Of the Championship’s top five dribblers, he’s the only one above 60%. Corey Blackett-Taylor completes fewer than a third of his. Elite chance creation. Arfsten sits above the 90th-percentile line for both open-play chances created and xA per 90. That’s the “high volume, high quality” corner where the league’s best creators live. Before the Charlton game, FotMob had him at 12 chances created and 1.53 xA in just 425 minutes. A fullback who beats his man more than three times out of four should be starting. Hellberg has a weapon. It’s time he used it. #USMNT #Boro #eflchampionship #EFL

With this Houston loss, the Quakes have virtually clinched fourth place and Game 1 of their first-ever home playoff series at PayPal Park since the stadium opened in 2015. With HOU facing STL next week, any result for SJ at MIN would get the job done. Even a loss by 7 goals or fewer would secure fourth place for San Jose on goal differential. #MLS #Quakes74