It isnt just about the eye test and I am talking about our players, but stats especially for defenders
can be often misleading and can depend on the team you play for and the style you play.
Also, we might have access to all the games, but the cameras follow the ball so you don’t see the full picture. You don’t see how a player communicates, organises players around him or his positional sense off the ball the metrics.
Seein OUR players train, run, practice and communicate on and off the pitch helps build a total picture of the person and the player and also whether a player can adapt to play in a different system and style.
Except by all reports, that is not how the transfer decisions happened.
The data guys (and Edwards) ran the rule over the players - yes, definitely but it also involved A) Klopp giving his approval and B) also analytics on how the squad was performing under him and where it needed to be tweaked.
Data is a key part of the equation but you can’t make it everything when it wasn’t.
I don’t see where in the team we have a massive issue, that would require a player to be signed and be starting in three weeks. We need some strengthening in some places for sure, but I fail to see a gaping hole. As others have said, any new signing is unlikely to be thrown straight in, bedding in period etc. I’d rather we sign the right player(s), even if later in the window.
This isn’t the last few years though. Under Klopp we had a clear direction of travel after the first 2-3 seasons, and the playing style etc was set, the leaders set, the holes in the squad clearer. The biggest fuck ups appeared to come when Edwards left/Klopp pushed for renewing ageing players contracts and missing out on the CDMs we’ve been craving - all post Edwards. Now Edwards is back, new gaffer, new SD - it’ll come.
As I’ve said earlier - under Edwards, the stealthy approach is likely back in the fold, with no fucking about.
I’m remaining patient on it all…wouldnt want my dick to fall off
You think they only have access to the main broadcast TV angle?
We’re talking about a multi-billion pound industry making decisions worth hundreds of millions of pounds and you reckon the footage available to clubs is no better than what your average YouTube compilation maker can get their hands on.
Didn’t say it was everything but it’s the main thing. Or it was when our transfer business was the envy of football. Hardly a coincidence that as people heavily involved in that side have moved on that our success rate has come down a bit despite the same manager and coaching staff being in place.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, 25, wants to stay with Liverpool despite the English full-back attracting interest from RealMadrid. (Mirror), external
Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay has denied there are any talks ongoing with Liverpool over a potential deal for Japan winger Takefusa Kubo, 23. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
Liverpool’s Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg is set to leave Anfield this summer amid interest from Hoffenheim and Mainz. (Florian Plettenberg)
Given Van Dijk’s and Quansah’s respective ages and Konate’s susceptibility to injuries, he can find himself first choice at Liverpool quicker than expected…
We have lost every person meaningfully involved in the decision making process for players. Yes we still have the data, but it’s incredibly reductive to think just having the model and the output it produces automates your decisions for you. We also don’t have simple decisions to make given this is already a very good squad that was very competitive last year. People may identify areas they personally believe we should do work on this summer, but in every one there is a reason we wouldn’t have the new guys just come in and immediately get to work on buying the player the model puts at the top of our stack ranking.
Is there a new contract to work out before we decide if the player we want to buy is a young guy with big potential or a player we need to be ready to be a big star this year?
Is there a player you have identified who you think can play a certain role but you need to see them in person to get a better sense of it that is true (e.g. Gomez at CB? Is Baj ready to play DM?) or if it is an adaptation they are willing to make if you ask them to (e.g. Jones in a deeper CM role).
None of these are decisions the data can make for you. I am just trying to understand what moves people think we need to make that can justified by a group totally new to the set up coming in and just looking at the spreadsheet and I dont see it.
Let’s imagine we know everything there is to know about our players, and Slot is fully up to speed on all that. Now let’s take it a step further, let’s imagine decisions have already been made, on outgoing and incoming.
Perhaps that’s where we are, and now it’s just a matter of negotiation… which can take a long time, because there are numerous permutations around any deal.
As an analogy, buying and selling a house is a pain in the arse, especially if there’s a chain. You may have identified the one you want, you may have the money, and it’s all good to go… but a chain of events needs to come together before you are actually in your new house.
I would imagine signing a player is even more complicated, so I’m chilled and waiting to see what happens. If we do not make any signings, I think that will be remiss of us. Let;s see.
Oh, and to address another point, I think Slot will know all there is to know about all of our players, but let’s imagine some other qualities, that cannot easily be quantified by data, such as chemistry.
I hire people in my work and I see their CV and if they have the skills we need and the track record etc. it will likely progress to a conversation and interview. By that point other intangible factors are coming into play for me - do I like them? How do they carry themselves? What’s their fit for the team here?
I’m happy to give Slot the latitude he needs to run the rule over players in a similar sort of way. It’s his team, and even if he knows everything there is to know about all of them from all the data, he will still want to meet them and get to know them a little, before finalizing decisions on some that will presumably be borderline.
Sometimes new signings are imperative to refresh a jaded squad… With Slot and his new approach to training/tactics, it is probably having an invigorating impact in much the same way…
If we go with what we have… it will soon become apparent which type of player/s, will become invaluable additions
