Football: Final thread of the season. Start delayed.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

6 hours ago, ljkeane said:

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.

How many games has Woodburn played? He is turning 23 this year. He has failed to really leave a mark, so letting him go makes perfect sense to me.

[ljkeane]

2 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

How many games has Woodburn played? He is turning 23 this year. He has failed to really leave a mark, so letting him go makes perfect sense to me.

Well, yes, clearly. My point was that for someone who looked so promising at one point to have ultimately failed to leave a mark feels a bit surprising but I suppose it happens.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Personally, I think Kent was the more surprising miss. 

He was really highly regarded as a youngster. He managed to establish himself as a proper player in Scotland during the past couple of seasons (and might still find his way to the EPL as a late bloomer). He is a bit older than Woodburn. So Woodburn might still play a good role on a lower level. But EPL at Liverpool was obviously a bit above their abilities. Transitioning from junior level to mens' game is tough, and can take a while, esp. for the more gifted youngsters. At youth level their talent was often times enough to beat other youngsters. At senior level, the resistance is simply tougher. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Kent has done pretty well at Rangers, and may yet make his way to the lower half of the PL (although it doesn’t look likely).

It’s just tough to make that jump from dominant youth player to senior player.  Liverpool have youngsters who score huge amounts of goals in the youth divisions but I could not project that any of them will make it into the senior team.  Just look at Rhian Brewster.

Curtis Jones was a dominant talent in the youth leagues but it meant that his  game now includes too much over-carrying the ball, dribbling too far and taking shots from distance.  That worked for him all through the youth leagues but it left him with bad habits that are holding him back at the senior level.  He has technical skills close to Thiago’s level but he doesn’t move the ball along quickly enough.  His instinct is to take ten touches and then look up.

[Consigliere]

On 6/4/2022 at 7:46 PM, Iskaral Pust said:

So all of those Zidane rumors for PSG were a tad premature?  Some outlets were treating that as a fait accompli months ago.

Looks like PSG have not given up on Zidane. Some reliable journos from RMC have reported that talks have been ongoing and PSG are now close to reaching an agreement with Zidane.

RMC also reporting that Pogba has not yet accepted Juve's offer because he is waiting for Zidane to be officially appointed at PSG before his representatives start negotiations with them.

[The Sunland Lord]

 

[ljkeane]

It seems like Darwin Nunez is basically a done deal for Liverpool pending the medical. Apparently there's a verbal agreement with Benfica and he's left the Uruguay squad (presumably to have said medical). So it looks like the longterm future for the front three is going to be Diaz, Nunez and Jota with Carvalho maybe in the mix.

[Spockydog]

Scotland have been dismal. I think this might be the end of Steve Clarke. 

[Soylent Brown]

2 hours ago, ljkeane said:

It seems like Darwin Nunez is basically a done deal for Liverpool pending the medical. Apparently there's a verbal agreement with Benfica and he's left the Uruguay squad (presumably to have said medical). So it looks like the longterm future for the front three is going to be Diaz, Nunez and Jota with Carvalho maybe in the mix.

Paul Joyce has reported that we're not quite in complete agreement about the initial fee, but hopefully things should be sorted quite quickly.

ETA- And don't forget, we'll need to replace Salah with Saka next season too.

[Rorshach]

Rumors flying, it seems, that Richarlison will be a target for Spurs. 

So ... we will sell him and get Tarkowski, makes perfect sense.

(As it happens, I know we have to sell to buy, so this is just me complaining since I really want to).

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, ljkeane said:

It seems like Darwin Nunez is basically a done deal for Liverpool pending the medical. Apparently there's a verbal agreement with Benfica and he's left the Uruguay squad (presumably to have said medical). So it looks like the longterm future for the front three is going to be Diaz, Nunez and Jota with Carvalho maybe in the mix.

Isn'T Carvalho a midfielder? 

[ljkeane]

36 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Isn'T Carvalho a midfielder? 

He mostly played 10 for Fulham from what I saw so potentially either midfield or the front three for Liverpool in a 4–3-3. It probably depends how Klopp sees him but given he scored 10 league goals last year I’d probably lean towards expecting them to play him in a more advanced role.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

I think he will be joining the competition for a midfield job.

As in I think, this signing is bad news for Curtis Jones.

[Soylent Brown]

Perhaps, but having a decent season in the Championship isn't a guarantee of anything. (Fingers crossed he can make the jump, of course.)

The biggest bit of bad news for Curtis Jones is that he's just not good enough for a club like Liverpool.

[Iskaral Pust]

3 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

Perhaps, but having a decent season in the Championship isn't a guarantee of anything. (Fingers crossed he can make the jump, of course.)

The biggest bit of bad news for Curtis Jones is that he's just not good enough for a club like Liverpool.

Carvalho seems closer to Elliott’s role than Jones’’.  But I share the concern that Jones needs to step up a lot to show he’s worth a place in MF.

[Iskaral Pust]

7 hours ago, Rorschach - 2 said:

Rumors flying, it seems, that Richarlison will be a target for Spurs. 

So ... we will sell him and get Tarkowski, makes perfect sense.

(As it happens, I know we have to sell to buy, so this is just me complaining since I really want to).

The good news for Everton is that they have several of those expensive contracts expiring this summer, and most of the others next season.  They still have FFP challenges but it is getting better.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

5 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Carvalho seems closer to Elliott’s role than Jones’’.  But I share the concern that Jones needs to step up a lot to show he’s worth a place in MF.

Arguably yes. But there are three spots in LFC's MF, he's no candidate for the deepest role (at least, I don't think so). So he is a player to fight for one of the more advanced spots.

There he is competing with: Keita, Thiago, Henderson (who could drop into the deeper role), Jones and Elliott (let's leave out Milner, who will only chip in the odd game in whatever position is needed). If I am forgetting somebody, feel free to complete the list. With Carvalho that's six players for two spots. I know Keita's contract is expiring next year, but I think Liverpool will extend (just making soylent rage is reason enough, well, at least for me. But I am not doing contract talks at LFC), so for the sake of the argument let's assume Keita stays and LFC won't try to offload him this year. Personally, I think that's too many, and the weakest player of them right now is Jones (thus this signing being bad news for him). On the other hand, two of those players are Thiago and Keita, so fair chance the squad will be down to a more manageaeble 4 players for two positions due to injuries (not to mention Henderson not getting younger and there being chance he will start to miss a few more games). So that might be the rationale to bring in another player for those fairly crowded positions. But when the squad is healthy, Jones either has to up his game, or he will not see that much game time. 

[Rorshach]

8 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

The good news for Everton is that they have several of those expensive contracts expiring this summer, and most of the others next season.  They still have FFP challenges but it is getting better.

We're releasing Sigurdsson, Delph and Tosun (and Kenny electing, it seems, to seek challenges elsewhere, though he won't be part of those expensive ones). That's three players who have contributed nada this season. So good news there.

I'd like, given our financial constraints, to move Iwobi to 10 for a season and see if it doesn't work out. He's miles better there than mostly anywhere else. If Richie leaves, put Gordon and Gray on the flanks, Iwobi at 10, and go back to 4-2-3-1 with Doucoure and Allan at the back. 

If DCL has an injury-free season, or close to it, we'll look ok. Probably climb a bit. But we'll have to see how Lampard does when trying to build rather than trying not to get relegated.

[Consigliere]

 

[Iskaral Pust]

4 hours ago, Rorschach - 2 said:

We're releasing Sigurdsson, Delph and Tosun (and Kenny electing, it seems, to seek challenges elsewhere, though he won't be part of those expensive ones). That's three players who have contributed nada this season. So good news there.

I'd like, given our financial constraints, to move Iwobi to 10 for a season and see if it doesn't work out. He's miles better there than mostly anywhere else. If Richie leaves, put Gordon and Gray on the flanks, Iwobi at 10, and go back to 4-2-3-1 with Doucoure and Allan at the back. 

If DCL has an injury-free season, or close to it, we'll look ok. Probably climb a bit. But we'll have to see how Lampard does when trying to build rather than trying not to get relegated.

That’s probably close to the plan, although it seems like some back-ups would need to be recruited.

I think Allan and Doucure are both out of contract next summer.  Would you renew them now?  Would they re-sign?

I think Gomes’ contract is up next season too but I expect he’ll be let leave.  He had some purple patches but then disappeared.