Rafa?
Kenny, Joe and Bob didnt have any managerial experience when the stepped into the breach, does that count? Or is it too long ago?
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Also I am sick of Carragher. He needs to shut the fuck up
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I donât limit it to only management experience. Playing, assistant roles, etc. all count.
Rafa had managed Valencia to La Liga title.
No mean feat even back then.
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If it is Iraola then supporters will need to be patient because his frantic high-pressing style is not going to be easy to create with the current squad. Ekitike doesnât press and neither does Isak. Cody can press and, if we get him, then Diomande can maybe be coached to be a pressing monster. But itâs not going to be plain sailing for Iraola.
Isak showed his pressing ability at Newcastle. Did you forget the nightmare Newcastle has always given us the last few seasons? He isnât at Firmino or Nunezâs level, but heâs far more capable of doing it.
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Ekitike had the 7th highest pressures in the final third of all players in the Bundesliga when he was at Frankfurt (15.3 per game).
Isak was 4th in the league for possession won in the final third when he was at Newcastle.
Both are elite pressers when they are allowed to be.
Also Iraolaâs tactics arenât frantic, theyâre based on traps. Isakâs role will be the funnel play to one side - then the trap springs and the high press starts.
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I keep hearing people - not necessarily here, but more generally - talking about how Wirtz will be unsuited to a pressing system.
But werenât his stats coming from the Bundesliga absurdly high for pressing ability, or am I misremembering?
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He led the Bundesliga in both pressures per game and possession won per game. Heâs a pressing machine. It was actually key to how Leverkusen played.
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Half of his value is his football brain and off-ball work â something he hasnât had a chance to show off under Slot.
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Valencia wasnât a big club, like Madrid, Barca or Atletico though
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At the time we werenât either. In getting Rafa and later Jurgen we definitely punched above our weight in landing them.
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They actually were more than they are now at that time. Easily on par with Athletico. Valencia were CL runners up in 2000 and 2001.
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we were âsleeping giants of the gameâ,
i dont think Valencia have ever been considered giants of the game,
23 trophies won in their entire history according to Wiki
I donât think those Ekitike and Isak possession winning stats are particularly impressive and I shudder to think of Isak tracking down defenders and putting in tackles. Ekitike looked uninterested in pressing this season but that may be down to Slot rather than him. We will see. I think Rio can be taught to be a very effective presser.
Welcome to the conversation. @Sweeting has literally just posted how effective all of our previous summer signings are at pressing.
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Hmmm, I seem to recall Isak being a good presser when Newcastle had a couple good seasons. My jury will be out on Isak re work ethic. No pre-season, unfit all season, broke his leg and other niggling injuries. I think he can get better.
Ekitike, I agree on. Gonna be honest, good player but I think he needs to work on his attitude which in-turn, also affects pressing etc.
In both those situations with Ekitike and Isak you have to frame it in the team they played for. Frankfurt were one of the most passive teams in Bundesliga and usually played in a mid-press (albeit an aggressive press in their own half, but rarely in the oppositions) and similarly Newcastle had one of the lowest team pressing stats in the league last season.
So those players were 7th and 4th in pressing across their league despite playing on teams that didnât do much of it.
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Some Reds fans not impressed.
David: Iâve got nothing against Iraola but this seems like a backwards step for us. Iâd want a manager who has a proven track record of winning trophies, not one who delivers mid-table positions at the end of the season.
Paul: Iraola would be a big risk. Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford just seem to be brilliantly run clubs and that no matter who comes in they punch well above their weight. When supposedly top managers leave these clubs they donât do as well as is expected of them and this could also be the case for Iraola. I think we need to try and get a more experienced coach who will immediately command the respect of the dressing room.
Ken: I want Liverpool to take a bit of time to get this appointment right. Sporting director Richard Hughes needs to redeem himself by doing everything he can to persuade Luis Enrique to swap Paris for Liverpool.
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Do you remember what happened when we played Rafaâs Valencia?
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