We asked our regular Football League columnist to write up his thoughts after attending all three of the play-off finals held at Wembley late last month, and after reviewing the automated Team of the Season producing by the FotMob player ratings in each division.
It was 249 minutes into the EFL Playoff Final trilogy when my mind cracked. I found myself enchanted by three blue and yellow balloons which, through the power of physics, had found their way to the upper echelons of Wembley Stadium, floating towards the roof. Filled solely with air, the warm currents emanating from the AFC Wimbledon fans had caused them to whirl towards the heavens rather than bob along to pitch side. We were approaching the interval after a non-event of a first half in the League Two Playoff Final but thankfully I (and a few others among the 50,947 present) was snapped out of my reverie by Myles Hippolyte’s strike from the edge of the box and the ensuing Wimbledon celebration.
Are these finals actually any good? It’s a question I’d arrived at after Charlton’s cagey 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient the day before, but then I remembered Tommy Watson’s last gasp Sunderland winner and the wall of noise, sea of red pyro powder and the all-round Mackem madness that had accompanied it as they reached the Premier League.
The stakes are high – it’s all or nothing and it allows players and fans to have their Wembley moment. We can’t take it away, even when it descends into a live sequel to Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 classic, The Red Balloon.
All three promoted sides will need to bolster their squads and Sunderland will have to work hard to make sure they don’t lose any more of their talented stars in the same way that they’d already lost Tommy Watson to Brighton before the final even kicked off. But now’s not the time for me to be bursting any promotion party balloons.
Let’s have a look back at season 2024/25 and what better way than picking out some key players from the various FotMob Teams of the Season.
Top performers in the Championship
Ok, ok, yes, I know. Josh Maja up front is a bit of anomaly. If anything, it’s quite fitting that out of the top 13 scorers in the division, Maja is one of only five recognised strikers.
His inclusion with a 7.2 rating is down to an electric start, in which he scored seven goals in seven games, including an opening day hat-trick before a calf injury saw him miss West Brom’s remaining 21 games from January onwards, leaving him the joint-seventh top scorer with 12 league goals. It was a season of ‘what could have been’ for the 26-year-old and for the Baggies, after Carlos Corberán left for Valencia and their season petered out under the now-departed Tony Mowbray.
Joel Piroe on 19, as the division’s top scorer, is the name that should therefore be included up front, with the streaky Borja Sainz on 18 being capable of scoring the spectacular, as well as completely disappearing, who is another that could have made the starting XI. I’m a ‘wait and see’ on Piroe next season – perhaps his cuteness will find a way in the Premier League but he does not have that conventional forward physicality – but then again, will Leeds even need that?
Brownhill and Tanaka is a fantasy pairing in midfield.
Josh Brownhill’s outstanding campaign eclipsed anything he’d achieved so far in his career, and that of all his midfield peers. The 29-year-old has been a revelation since being given the Burnley captaincy by Scott Parker. 18 goals and 6 assists speak for itself – let’s see how he does with another crack at the Premier League.
The elegant Ao Tanaka has been a fulcrum for Leeds this season. He seems to be able to read the game quicker than anyone else and whether it’s picking out passes or nicking the ball from an opponent, everything looks easy to him. Even his slide tackling is aesthetically pleasing. Get ready for some beautifully crisp 4K Premier League slow-mos.
Junior Firpo – FotMob star man may soon be gone?
Our top performer may well have played his last game for Leeds. Out of contract this summer, the left-back’s performances have caught the eye of a host of clubs, with reports around a move to AC Milan swirling. The left-back has been vital in overloading opponents, turning up in the box with vital goals and the former Barcelona man has been unstoppable when marauding forward, setting up 10, despite missing chunks of the season through injury.
FotMob’s star man in League One: Lewis Wing
Stop me when you’ve spotted the pattern in Lewis Wing’s shot map pitch graphic (below). Yes, you’ve got it. Give him just a moment on the ball and he’ll try and bop one in from distance. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 30 yards out or the halfway line, he’ll give it a go. And seven of his nine goals completely befuddle the xG stats. All of this has been whilst Reading have been in turmoil, with their future hanging in the balance.
News of Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair’s takeover is a huge relief for its fans and indeed for the EFL, and one of the new ownership’s first acts was to give him a new three-year contract. A thoroughly deserved reward for standing up for the club when it needed him the most and one that the fans didn’t see coming.
Their captain is hard-working defensively too and Reading will be aiming to re-build the team around Wing but given how well their young squad did in such challenging circumstances, The Royals will be challenging for the Championship next campaign. What wonderful news to see out the season.
‘Wonder-unc’ David McGoldrick – League Two’s FotMob Star
It was a Thursday night, and I was shattered, slumped on the sofa, the kids had taken my last ounce of strength. And then I see another bald bloke with a beard, in his late 30s who has yet again pulled off the seemingly impossible. Even by his standards, David McGoldrick’s vital equaliser from distance against Bradford was incredible. It actually made me just burst out laughing. McGoldrick is doing it for all of us tired dads. He’s showing us that there’s world out there beyond lower backpain, overpriced craft beer and reminiscing about the starting XIs from the 2006 ‘Gerrard’ FA Cup Final.
The Irishman has 17 goals from 35 games and each one of them is a work of art. With his instep, does he arc a ball into the top corner, or does he simply bend time and space to his whim to achieve the same aim? This is a question that even FotMob cannot yet articulate. But, for Notts County, his injury before their semi-final second leg with Wimbledon was terminal. Could we have seen Notts County go up instead of Wimbledon otherwise? We’ll never know. Once a ‘wonderkid’, now a ‘wonder-unc’, McGoldrick will, surprisingly, be looking for a new club after turning down a new contract at Meadow Lane.
And there we have it; I’ve ventured into the surreal towards the end of this. Perhaps the season has finally caught up with me. But we’ll be ready to go again, and I wonder what colour balloons will be floating around Wembley, this time next year…?
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from the EFL on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.