It's the only place I was cool. Orchestra retreats.
Hugo Boss
- Thread starter Brizzle
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It's the only place I was cool. Orchestra retreats.
I accept that I am a novice in regards to Thread titles. However, I can’t help feeling an opportunity was missed with ‘Victor Hugo’ the writer of the Hunchback of Notre Dame - set in Paris.
Maybe he is the One“Hugo Weaving His Way to Liverpool” could also have worked.
He's rated pretty highly in the Bundesliga.
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-DcIEYyh5Dc
See the comments on the video from 10 months ago. Many believe he's got the potential to be one of the best CFs in the world.
This isn't cope from missing out on Isak, who already is one of the best. But it's understandable what Edwards and the recruitment team see in him.
As long as he has a brain to take on instruction, I think with our training facilities, better players around him and Arne Slot, we will turn him into a goalscorer.
He strikes me as a player, a bit like Luis Suarez. He looks ungainly and a lot of his skills rebound off heels and ankles, but somehow he finds his way past defenders. Much of his finishing right now is instinctive.
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-DcIEYyh5Dc
See the comments on the video from 10 months ago. Many believe he's got the potential to be one of the best CFs in the world.
This isn't cope from missing out on Isak, who already is one of the best. But it's understandable what Edwards and the recruitment team see in him.
As long as he has a brain to take on instruction, I think with our training facilities, better players around him and Arne Slot, we will turn him into a goalscorer.
He strikes me as a player, a bit like Luis Suarez. He looks ungainly and a lot of his skills rebound off heels and ankles, but somehow he finds his way past defenders. Much of his finishing right now is instinctive.
Hey at least I'm not a fascist, you eternally optimistic cheery old fascist you.
Does not vaguely look like Trent or a giraffe. Isn’t fashion-curious.
As much as I was excited about the possibility of signing Isak, I had little voices of doubt over going for him instead of Ekitike:
1. The price - Newcastle were never going to accept £120M, but imagine they dragged it out and we eventually worked out something in the £145-150M range. This would mean no replacement for Diaz and cutting back in other areas. While Ekitike is expensive, signing him does not preclude a possibility of getting another attacker this summer or in January. Signing Isak probably would.
2. Injury record - maybe he is over his issues from seasons past, but for that price you would want Messi/Salah like durability and I’m not sure we could trust Isak’s fitness 100%.
3. And finally, as amazing as Isak is as a finisher and all-around footballer, there is one area where Ekitike is clearly superior - his ability to press and win possession. I was excited about Isak, but genuinely felt a tinge of regret when it looked like we decided to pass on Ekitike, because that Firmino-like ability to defend from the front has been such a defining feature of our style of play under Klopp and potentially losing that felt like severing an important connection to that great Klopp team. Isak is not lazy by any means, but harassing opponents is simply not his forte - whereas Ekitike is statistically very much in the Firmino mould in terms of intercepting and winning possession high up the pitch and generating a good % of goal-scoring chances that way. I feel like the fear factor of having a defensive monster striker up front is hard to quantify but we saw its devastating effect during Klopp’s team’s peak (and largely lost it with Nunez). I’m excited to see this element come back.
1. The price - Newcastle were never going to accept £120M, but imagine they dragged it out and we eventually worked out something in the £145-150M range. This would mean no replacement for Diaz and cutting back in other areas. While Ekitike is expensive, signing him does not preclude a possibility of getting another attacker this summer or in January. Signing Isak probably would.
2. Injury record - maybe he is over his issues from seasons past, but for that price you would want Messi/Salah like durability and I’m not sure we could trust Isak’s fitness 100%.
3. And finally, as amazing as Isak is as a finisher and all-around footballer, there is one area where Ekitike is clearly superior - his ability to press and win possession. I was excited about Isak, but genuinely felt a tinge of regret when it looked like we decided to pass on Ekitike, because that Firmino-like ability to defend from the front has been such a defining feature of our style of play under Klopp and potentially losing that felt like severing an important connection to that great Klopp team. Isak is not lazy by any means, but harassing opponents is simply not his forte - whereas Ekitike is statistically very much in the Firmino mould in terms of intercepting and winning possession high up the pitch and generating a good % of goal-scoring chances that way. I feel like the fear factor of having a defensive monster striker up front is hard to quantify but we saw its devastating effect during Klopp’s team’s peak (and largely lost it with Nunez). I’m excited to see this element come back.
Frankfurt reporter says a bid of 90 million Euros all in expected today. Previous bid was 80 million Euros
View: https://x.com/AdlerNews/status/1946076344556671414?t=KsmUEjaxC8XjN-00KvNpdw&s=19
View: https://x.com/AdlerNews/status/1946076344556671414?t=KsmUEjaxC8XjN-00KvNpdw&s=19
Isak's perceived value is double that. £150m and even then they don't want to sell
It’s definitely a weird one.
He’s not played much football for a 23 year old so the sample size is quite small.
Clearly he’s highly regarded within football circles but near enough 100M for a striker with this kinda record is nuts.
There has got to be the next gen right around the corner, right? Surely this can’t be it.
He’s not played much football for a 23 year old so the sample size is quite small.
Clearly he’s highly regarded within football circles but near enough 100M for a striker with this kinda record is nuts.
There has got to be the next gen right around the corner, right? Surely this can’t be it.
We haven’t signed a striker since 2022. He was 20 then and moved to PSG.
And this has been our way of working for a while. Sign players at his age (23+) that has proved they are developing at other clubs.
Sadly the striker market is heavily inflated due to lack of options.
I agree though. Hopefully we move earlier for some of these players and take a chance with some younger prospects.
I have a feeling we may see Endo get most of his minutes at CB this year in case Konate leaves.
Isn't moneyball meant to avoid this exact scenario; where you are forced into the same obvious set of choices as everyone else?
By the way, I don't expect it to, but I don't think we have any special sauce.
Not sure even moneyball can surpass the lack of striker options in the current market.
Yep
Ekitike
Fofana/Rodrygo
Guehi
And thats the 10/10 summer never to be surpassed in our life time.
My overall feeling is that I’m fine with it. I’ve always thought he looked like a good fit for us on the pitch. Off it, I do have some doubts. I always do when they're heavily into fashion, cars, and everything else. That might be the emerging old man in me, but it's hard not to draw comparisons to how how Rashford was dressed whilst attending an NBA game when he had a game/training a few days later and look at his career. I don’t know the man so it’s hard to say for sure, but that's a niggling worry. We do refuse to sign dickheads and do a deep-dive on players beforehand, so maybe it's unfounded. I just hope we haven't compromised that because the options are limited. I also accept there was always going to be a sense of being underwhelmed with the fee/quality ratio, no matter who we brought in. All that said, tend to side with Hansen - when our data team gets going and everyone at the club is on the same page, we tend to get it right more often than not. Better than most clubs in Europe. That counts for more than our shared YouTube scouting efforts. We're still right to feel a bit flat/underwhelmed by it all, but the club has earned a degree of faith, especially given our recruitment so far this summer.
Sesko excites me more, but given Isak was our top-target, Ekitike is more in that mould of player. He's very much the Isak we wished we signed instead of Nunez, combined with a better injury record, so I can't fault the logic in moving for him over other targets. He will have to deliver and prove that he wasn't just a 'Plan B', more a Plan A that's earlier on in their journey. What I do know is that the club and the fans will give him a very good environment to develop and prove himself over the duration of his contract. He will need to get his head down, focus on football and seize the chance that Nunez has pissed away. I do think the lower fee also gives us the chance to move for Rodrygo , if Diaz does depart, which could strengthen the attack for the next six years and beyond. We've been talking about a need to overhaul the attack number of years, because whilst it's been performing in terms of numbers, it's never really clicked or looked cohesive or as fluid as the best attacking teams. As Slot always re-affirms it's hard to find players that improve us, so when opportunities like Rodrygo, or others, present themselves, it's better to strike when you can. The lower fee does give us a better platform to do that and potentially create a more threatening attack as a whole. We'll know either way by January. In a perfect world Hughes/Edwards create a concoction so hot that Isak is kicking himself he ever signed for the Geordies.
Sesko excites me more, but given Isak was our top-target, Ekitike is more in that mould of player. He's very much the Isak we wished we signed instead of Nunez, combined with a better injury record, so I can't fault the logic in moving for him over other targets. He will have to deliver and prove that he wasn't just a 'Plan B', more a Plan A that's earlier on in their journey. What I do know is that the club and the fans will give him a very good environment to develop and prove himself over the duration of his contract. He will need to get his head down, focus on football and seize the chance that Nunez has pissed away. I do think the lower fee also gives us the chance to move for Rodrygo , if Diaz does depart, which could strengthen the attack for the next six years and beyond. We've been talking about a need to overhaul the attack number of years, because whilst it's been performing in terms of numbers, it's never really clicked or looked cohesive or as fluid as the best attacking teams. As Slot always re-affirms it's hard to find players that improve us, so when opportunities like Rodrygo, or others, present themselves, it's better to strike when you can. The lower fee does give us a better platform to do that and potentially create a more threatening attack as a whole. We'll know either way by January. In a perfect world Hughes/Edwards create a concoction so hot that Isak is kicking himself he ever signed for the Geordies.
80% of footballers have a terrible fashion sense though.
In all seriousness this lad is an intelligent and dedicated professional. Our no dickhead policy will continue.
I saw this earlier this summer and was impressed:
View: https://x.com/benbocsak/status/1942936525206941810?s=46
In all seriousness this lad is an intelligent and dedicated professional. Our no dickhead policy will continue.
I saw this earlier this summer and was impressed:
View: https://x.com/benbocsak/status/1942936525206941810?s=46
Sesko is a no for me, unless we can get him for dirt cheap.
Isak is a brilliant footballer and incredible finisher, and I would prefer his signing as he's mature, but I do think we get defensively weaker with him up top because Salah isn't getting any better defensively, and Wirtz (as good as he is defensively) is unlikely to match Szobo's workrate in the 10 role.
Ekitike needs to improve his calmness and composure in front of goal, as he's still a bit chaotic in 1 v 1s. But where he's better than Darwin is he can dribble (not kick and run), press intelligently/intensely and has better link-up play in/around the box. If given similar minutes, I think he improves on Darwin's G/A by at least 30%.
Isak is a brilliant footballer and incredible finisher, and I would prefer his signing as he's mature, but I do think we get defensively weaker with him up top because Salah isn't getting any better defensively, and Wirtz (as good as he is defensively) is unlikely to match Szobo's workrate in the 10 role.
Ekitike needs to improve his calmness and composure in front of goal, as he's still a bit chaotic in 1 v 1s. But where he's better than Darwin is he can dribble (not kick and run), press intelligently/intensely and has better link-up play in/around the box. If given similar minutes, I think he improves on Darwin's G/A by at least 30%.
My shagging days are behind me dude. The most exciting sexual encounters I have these days are when I wake up having a panic attack because I've just been caught whacking off in a park. I'd like some analysis of this dream if there are any takers.
You don't want to go there, it's riddled with shame.
if minority report were a real thing you’d be getting a visit from tom cruise
I think we've needed a powerful striker for a long time, the only real strong runner we have in attack is Diaz and he's not direct enough, we've also missed hold up play and someone who can be an aerial threat (and defensive help from setpieces). So he ticks all the boxes in that sense. It is a risk, because we've been here with Darwin, but we know with him it's a mental/intelligence thing. That's the difference.
As much as I am gutted to be missing out on Isak, I did have concerns over his fitness record. We might fair better with someone who's always available and is a bit more of an all rounder. The big questions marks are obviously finishing and workrate in terms of pressing. That's where there might be some frustrating transition.
As much as I am gutted to be missing out on Isak, I did have concerns over his fitness record. We might fair better with someone who's always available and is a bit more of an all rounder. The big questions marks are obviously finishing and workrate in terms of pressing. That's where there might be some frustrating transition.
Agreed, but he also has elite pace which neither Bobby or Benzema had, but the two others do/did have.
Makes him an even better prospect.
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