I tend to agree too much is made of it, but it can be relevant to how well you play out from the back - a right footed CB on the left side who closes his body down to half the pitch to keep the ball on his right foot is going to be far easier to pressure into giving the ball away by a high pressing team. So I think where we are tactically in this increasingly homogoninzed world for tactics with more games being played between a team that high presses vs a team that wants to play out from the back even against a high press, means its a consideration that has become more important.
The issue exists almost exclusively because the relative lack of top level/elite left footed CBs means most side have to find a right footer who is comfortable on that side. But it isnt really much of an issue defensively, and certainly isnt a problem to move a right footer back to the right side if the team adds a quality left sided CB they can pair him with.
So, there were stories about how the club were willing to sell Doak last summer if the price was right and now all the reliable guys are reporting that Crystal Palaceās bid fell well short of clubās valuation, meaning that they are willing to sell him. Whatās the deal here? Is he not as talented as it was said? I canāt remember ever reading anything bad about his attitude, too.
Depends who do we mean when we say ātalented as it was saidā, we get nothing from the club on that and rightly so.
I think fans, media and general public will usually have talents like Doak higher in their minds than people at the club. Itās what I meant when I said recently that I think Quansah is not an elite talent.
Heās talented, but perhaps itās a combination of them thinking his ceiling isnāt as high as the outside world thinks (and I can see where theyāre coming from if thatās the case), getting an important offer, maybe the player also willing to continue with his path somewhere else (like Palmer pushed to leave City).
Might be an extra indication that Salah will stay.
Everyone has a price. We have two players in every position and fact is he isnāt part of our first team squad right now, if someone wants to come in and offer a price we feel is fair then a sale is always possible. Doesnāt mean we want to sell him, just that we would in certain circumstances.
Buying a 17 year old for half a million quid and selling him for 30 million after 3 senior appearances in 3 years is a 99th percentile outcome for the academy.
He still has an enormous way to go from where he is currently (contributing well for a decent championship side) to getting ahead of any of the 7 players the squad already has who play as forwards, and that is what they will be weighing the 30 million up against. The fact we are seemingly willing to turn down a 15 million offer for him already speaks a long way to what we think of him.
Youāre a long-time member here, I would have sworn you were among the folks here who could tell when Iām in gallows humour mode! That said, I have always been inclined to think negatively but these boards have always been a great platform to air my thoughts, regardless of how serious they were.
In fairness, the expected departure of Trent and Salahās latest comments about this being his last season at Liverpool (regardless of whether itās a negotiation tactic) put me in a really bad mood when it comes to football. I kind of expected Doak to break through here (heās young, talented, Scottish, club have never won the league without a Scottish player etc.), so thatās another news I perceive as downer.
Iāve mainly seen Doak playing for Scotland, and he looked pretty good on those occasions. However, games against a middling Poland and aging Croatia arenāt a perfect test for him.
I wonder if the club would consider Ā£30m with a buy back clause? Someone else acts as the finishing school and we potentially get a top rated 21 year old in a couple of seasons.
We have done this before. For some reason we never took up the buy back option on Rhian Brewster.
Also donāt forget that Doak is not the only young attacker we have coming through the system. Ngumoha, Danns, Morrison, Koumas, Gordon (albeit having a hard time getting back to fitness), Nyoni, Kone-Doherty, Bradshaw - even Elliott if you really think about it. Itās a crowded field to get game time.
Doak may be ahead of most of those but as Limie says you have to weigh 30m against how often he is going to get chances amongst the other 7 forwards in the first team squad. Edwards and Hughes have a track record of shopping in the 30-40m market also, so if selling a 19 year old winger who is, at best, 8th on your depth chart allows us to go and get another player who can come straight into the first team squad, for example a long term solution at LB, then I donāt think that is a negative.
Mo stays: Doak remains at best 8th among players who can play in one of the forward line options, or 4th on the right side specifically making it very difficult to see where he gets games. And that is before we consider the other kids looking for opportunities
Mo goes: Doak is not considered ready to for the responsibility of replacing him, even as a minor part of a collective, and so we decide we have to buy a replacement. That keeps him still 8th at best among players, but now raising 30 million by selling him can go a LONG way towards finding Moās āreplacementā
It is ruthless and lacks romance. But thatās the premier league.
Having watched a few of his Boro matchesā¦Doak can absolutely beat his man all ends up. Consequently he frequently gets doubled up as he nears the opponentās box which is a compliment to his ability.
It was noticeable though that his crossing isnāt consistent in quality. Didnāt see him take too many shots on goal. And there were times when a simpler option would have kept the attacking move goingā¦but he decided to take too many defenders on and lost the ball, or simply picked the wrong option.
In the PL, if you lose the ball like that, when a lot of the team are upfield and attacking, youāll get turned over. Kind of like what happened to us for Leicesterās first goal.
So yeah, heās not ready yet.
To my mind Doak will be a player around the level of a Harry Wilson. He will carve out a decent Prem career but will fall short of what a high flying Liverpool needs in its first team squad.
We should protect our interests if we sell him, hopefully with both a sell on percentage and a buy back clause.
In the meantime, no need to panic. Heās doing well at Boro and nobody has offered a sum that moves that dial. Yet.
Iāve seen everything he has done in a Liverpool shirt, and the thing in particular that caught my attention was the merry dance he led Gvardiol when he played for Scotland recently. That was the main thing that made me wonder if there was something of the level we need that is there.
I suspect his injury set him back a fair bit, and he is now building it up again at Boro and doing very well for himself.
I would protect our interests if we did sell, as it wouldnāt be a complete surprise if he went on to be a top class Premier League operator, but my suspicion is that he will end up below that.