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Football: Final thread of the season. Start delayed.


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10 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

All of our tier 1s tweeting about Darwin makes me think we may actually get him. 

As Joyce said, it'll come down to price. Portuguese media were reporting a few months ago that Benfica would not accept less than €80m. That asking price either seems to have increased or the English press are using € and £ interchangeably again because the price being reported now is £80-85m. I think that's a bit too much for Nunez because right now he has pretty much the same weaknesses as Lukaku but with a worse scoring record and only one good season under his belt. Klopp could develop him to be worth the price though.

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Keane wasn't first choice end of season, so I doubt he's thinking a Burnley duo as a start.

Godfrey I hope will be back firing next year, and Mason Holgate showed signs of improvement at the end there. Mina too is ahead, though he will be injured a lot. Branthwaite we'll have to see. Coleman can play right side if needed, but that means we play Iwobi as a wingback, and I want him at 10 or not at all...

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It's very uninspiring. And while Mina may very well be first choice, he'll be too often injured, so we can't rely on him.

I'd think a lot also hinges on what formation he envisages. End of this season saw us playing three CBs. If so, we need to play what we have. Tarkowski is more of a vocal leader than our previous players (bar, perhaps, Mina), so that might (might!) help with organizing the defense, which has been an issue. 

Anyway, RB is problematic too. Coleman isn't getting younger or better, Kenny while on a new contract won't be the long term answer (I think) and Paterson hasn't really played anything but a couple of cup games. And has been injured. Maybe he's the long term answer, if not, we have an issue on our hands there.

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Keane is, hands down, the worst centre back in the Premier League. One of the worst I've ever seen. And adding Tarkowski to the mix is almost a guarantee of disaster. 

Lampard, though. LOL.

 

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1 hour ago, Consigliere said:

As Joyce said, it'll come down to price. Portuguese media were reporting a few months ago that Benfica would not accept less than €80m. That asking price either seems to have increased or the English press are using € and £ interchangeably again because the price being reported now is £80-85m.

He was excellent against us so I wouldn't be surprised if we're interested but, yeah, apparently Benfica paid a record transfer fee for him so they're definitely not going to let him go on the cheap.

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33 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

He was excellent against us so I wouldn't be surprised if we're interested but, yeah, apparently Benfica paid a record transfer fee for him so they're definitely not going to let him go on the cheap.

My Benfica supporting buddies tell me he's really dangerous when given the space to counterattack but is much less effective right now when facing low blocks because his hold up play, first touch (especially with his back to goal) and passing ability is poor while his movement is one-dimensional. His aerial ability is not as good as one might expect of a player of his size either.

 

I really hope United aren't going to try to outbid Liverpool. Benfica's asking price is way too high for a player of Nunez's current ability imo. At least Liverpool has Klopp who could develop Nunez to a point where the transfer fee doesn't seem so bad. Given the instability at United, Nunez is much more likely to end up as another expensive flop here and it's a coin toss whether Ten Hag will still be here in two years time.

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All the top journos for Liverpool are reporting about Nunez but none, as far as I've seen, reported on Danjuma so it seems that Nunez is Liverpool's top target to replace Mane. They will most likely get him but, given the reported fee and the current weaknesses in Nunez's game, he would represent the biggest risk Liverpool have taken in the transfer market thus far during Klopp's reign.

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Interesting kicker produced the results of their annual anomynous player survey.

167 Bundesliga players shared their opinions on football topics.

Ballon d'or Winner: Benzema (44.9%) is their clear front runner. Mbappe (16.2%) and Lewandowski (9.6%)are trailing him by quite a bit.

Bundesliga POTY: Nkunku (42.5%) Lewandowski (11.4%) Wirtz (10.2%)

Asked about the idea of deciding the title in a play off format: 80.2% rejected that idea, and what to keep things as they are. 12.6% want play-off. And 7.2% apparently want a system similar to the one practiced in Scotland, with a champions and relegation round in a league format.

Super league. Only 0.6% are in favour. 

WC every two years: 97.6% are more or less strongly opposed to that idea.

VAR: 77.6% of the players would like to see ex-players/coaches getting involved in those teams.

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1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

But for those 80m they could also Danjuma, if I am not mistaken. And he looks genuinely good.

I’d rather have a proper 9 for a change than a winger. Diaz is already the true replacement on the left. 

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4 hours ago, The Sunland Lord said:
Some interesting names in this thread.

I'm a little surprised Harry Kane's that low down on the list.

Liverpool have announced the players they're releasing this summer. Origi and Karius aren't particularly surprising but that they're letting Ben Woodburn go is a little bit, maybe it shouldn't be since he hasn't looked great for some time. The wheels really have fallen off for him, he looked like such a good prospect at one point.

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3 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

To be fair him and Salah are the only two who weren't established first teamers 10 years ago: both started really getting going in 14/15.

Yeah, Salah wasn't really a top goalscorer until he came Liverpool so it doesn't surprise me he's down towards the bottom. Kane's pretty much always been a player who's around the top of the goalscorers lists since he became a Spurs regular but I suppose he did spend quite a bit of time working his way through loan spells before he made it to Premier League level.

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5 hours ago, ljkeane said:

...Origi and Karius aren't particularly surprising but that they're letting Ben Woodburn go is a little bit, maybe it shouldn't be since he hasn't looked great for some time. The wheels really have fallen off for him, he looked like such a good prospect at one point.

I would really like to know what his story was, as he really looked like the future at one point.

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On 6/8/2022 at 10:36 AM, Consigliere said:

My Benfica supporting buddies tell me he's really dangerous when given the space to counterattack but is much less effective right now when facing low blocks because his hold up play, first touch (especially with his back to goal) and passing ability is poor while his movement is one-dimensional. His aerial ability is not as good as one might expect of a player of his size either.

 

On 6/8/2022 at 10:47 AM, A Horse Named Stranger said:

But for those 80m they could also Danjuma, if I am not mistaken. And he looks genuinely good.

Nunez is a risk at this fee, although Jota was perhaps just as big a risk — less fee at stake but much fewer goals previously scored — and Diaz was a risk too because his goal scoring stats had improved a lot only in the year prior to signing.  The reality is that Liverpool have to take risks on transfers in order to compete with City — who IIRC have several failed signings for 40-50m, even before we question whether Grealish will eventually be worth 100m.

Liverpool’s scouting has been very good so far, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.  The real is question is: even if new players prove to be worth their fee and more, will they be quite good enough to push us to trophies?  Nunez could be a very successful signing but fall short of the impact of Salah or Mane.

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14 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I would really like to know what his story was, as he really looked like the future at one point.

Woodburn struggled to make any impact in his loan roles over the past few years.  He hasn’t been a success at the Championship level.  Different loan teams each year could be factor, as could a different playing style than Liverpool, but by contrast Harvey Elliott was a huge success in the Championship at a much younger age and Harry Wilson has been a more consistent contributor for several years at that level too.

Development rates are unpredictable.  

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