Opinion: Here is what Blackpool must do if they really need a top spot in League One

Blackpool need to press on and secure Carlisle United transfer

If Blackpool are going to push for the top spots in League One, getting the Carlisle United midfielder is the best chance they’ve got

HIGHLIGHTS

Blackpool have had a steady start to the season, but they’re going to need to be more of an attacking threat to try and get back to the Championship; that’s where Carlisle United’s Owen Moxon can provide that.

The Tangerines currently sit eighth, on five points, in the League One table, after the first three games of the season.

They’ve scored two and conceded none, but those two goals came in their first game against Burton Albion. In the two league matches following that, against Exeter City and Port Vale, they had a combined xG of 1.2. They created plenty of chances (15 in total across both matches) but the numbers suggest most of them can’t have been good ones.

This is where Owen Moxon could fit into their plans.

The 25-year-old was an EFL newbie last season, but he surprised League Two with 15 goals and six assists in his debut season for Carlisle United.

He led his hometown club to the play-off finals, won it, and was the Man of the Match at Wembley. Pretty impressive stuff.

What would Owen Moxon offer Blackpool?

Better chance creation is the simple answer.

hree of the Lancashire-based side’s top assisters from last season are now no longer with the club (Jerry Yates, Charlie Patino and Gary Madine). Even they only got four assists each in that league campaign. Yates and Madine were also their top two goalscorers last year. Having all that offensive load on your two forwards is unsustainable. But now that they’ve lost them both, it’s so hard to replace what they offered to the team.

Moxon created eight big chances last season, from central midfield, and his set-piece delivery was what made Carlisle one of the top scoring sides from those scenarios in England’s fourth tier, last year.

He’s also slowly started to become more of a goal threat, as his professional career has gone on. He’s scored in both of the games that he’s played for the Cumbrians this season; one was a long-range free-kick, the other was a Lampard-esque late arrival into the box to finish off a loose ball.

In his most recent game, against Wigan Athletic, there were a few moments where he gave the ball away too easily. But there was one moment in the match that summed up exactly what makes him so good. The ball was high in the air, just inside Wigan’s half. Most midfielders would’ve taken that safe, sensible option of trying to head the ball to his strikers. But that didn’t happen.

Instead, he turned to face almost towards his own goal, as if he was going to go back to his defenders, and, as soon as the ball bounced off the floor, he took it on the outside his foot, between the two pressing Latics midfielders, beating both of them, and immediately starting an attack when his side looked under pressure.

You hear the phrase ‘he can create a chance out of nothing’ usually being applied to strikers. It applies to Moxon as well, and that’s why Blackpool need him.

Can Blackpool get Owen Moxon?

They’ve already had a bid of £250,000 rejected by United, according to Sky Sports. Reports from Alan Nixon, on Patreon, suggest that Carlisle would want close to £1 million for their star midfielder.

Carlisle United said that he’s not for sale, in a club statement.

They’re currently working on getting Moxon to sign a new contract with the club, with his contract expiring at the end of the 2023-24 season.

With this in mind, Blackpool should undoubtedly look to push again to sign the talented midfielder.