From what I recall in the summer, the club were turning down offers for Endo only because they thought they would not be able to bring in a better option due to what they felt they needed and the realistic options available on the market at the time.
Weâre top scorers thanks to Salah, absolutely, but also whoever is playing LW as both Gakpo and Diaz have contributed plenty this season.
And maybe whoever has been playing as the number 9 is doing the role in a way that is accommodating the wide lads getting the goals, not unlike a Firmino Salah Mane setup.
Fwiw my opinion on transfers now is exactly what it was in summer; Iâd love us to be in the market this January but I donât think anyone comes in without someone leaving because frankly the squad is full and thereâs no room for an extra body. And I donât think heâll want to rock the boat midway through a season where weâre top of everything by trying to offload players.
I also think after half a season of Slot it was clear that he wonât rotate unless he HAS to or itâs a domestic cup. So the idea of signing another CB or another midfielder so that Konate or Gravenberch can have a rest doesnât seem to fit with what the manager has done so far.
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with the number of crosses we are swinging into the box these days, I question whether Slot would be looking at a target-man style #9.
We definitely arenât playing heavy-metal, end-to-end open football these days unless we are really chasing the game. This is a surprise to me, because so much of our success over the past 10 years has been that swift counter-attack style of play
Now, we seem much more methodical in our approach.
In all honest, Iâd like to find a player similar to Firmino in style. we really do miss his link-up play in how he can help an attack develop and operate in tight spaces.
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I answered the post.
Thatâs it
In normal condition you are right. But Konate always misses 20-30 games each season. No team has 4 superstar cbs, but most teams have 2 reliable one. We have only one.
Grav, Mac, Szoboszlai, Jones played 1741,1417,1222,887 minutes in Premier leagues . while Endo, Elliott, Morton numbers are 56, 43, 0. They are nowhere near Slotâs plans.
For anyone saying Klopp doesnât rotate, he does rotate Gakpo and Diaz, Robertson and Tsimikas, frequently substitutes Trent, and even Salah gets subbed. He does rotate when he has quality alternative options.
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We need another cb, Quansah is not trusted by Slot and donât look the same player that stepped up under Klopp. Tsimikas has to be first choice left back now, donât see us buying another with two senior ones here and three younger ones out on loan.
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I imagine that if we did have that lethal striker, MOâs numbers would not be nearly as gaudy. Why not move Mo inside? He has clearly lost a step of pace, and stats show him to be a lethal finisher, but then, that wouldnât fit your narrative.
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So, sell KonatĂ© then? Youâre still not answering the primary issue there.
You do realise that Elliott was injured until the end of November? By that point, the rotation had already been fixed. You can look at it in one of two ways:
- The way you already see it, which is that any player who isnât getting these minutes is definitively not in Arneâs plans (which would also eliminate Quansah and Gomez since they didnât get time until KonatĂ© got injured).
- The alternative proposition, that is he doesnât want to disrupt a winning combination. Why even retain Morton if he was ânowhere near Slotâs plansâ? If he gets sold or sent on loan then you may have more of a point. But if even Morton, whoâs effectively the last choice midfielder we have, is being retained, then perhaps the manager might just see them as part of his plans?
I can only presume youâre referring to Arne, not JĂŒrgen. As far as I can tell, Salah has been substituted a total of 5 times this season:
- Leipzig (DĂaz)
- Brentford (Elliott)
- Palace (DĂaz)
- City (Elliott)
- Spurs (Elliott)
All of which occurred when we were already leading, and therefore didnât need him to score another one. Heâs also not a key contributor to the defence.
Youâre also missing the fact that youâve named all the positions apart from the central positions. Perhaps itâs simply down to the importance that he places on central defence and midfield? I donât think itâs a coincidence that Jones didnât get much game time until the games started increasing in frequency, and that he didnât get to start until October.
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Which narative? Iâm not sure I have one on this topic. Salah is a brilliant footballer, Jota is unreliable and Darwin is, well Darwin.
Isak would be the dream striker for me and would help us cement the title. Donât see that happening though, at least not in January. If a Zubimendi or similar became available I think we do it as weâre thin at the 6. Left back is fine until the summer as we have 2 senior options there.
What a team we would have with Isak up front!
Will never happen but we can dream
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Ibou was unavailable for only 5 league games last season.
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Another you can pretty much guarantee will miss 10-20 games a season through injury. Would have to hope him and Jota donât sync up their inevitable absences.
Isnât it funny how times change? Once upon a time the question would be âWill the ownerâs sanction the bid?â Then it became âCan the owners afford the bid?â Now it seems to be âWill the ownerâs signing off on this bid put the club in jeapordy of failing financial tests?â
Weird isnât it, itâs all become about the money.
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Just watched the Redmen Unscensored match build up for the Brentford game and at the end they were discussing the owners.
One brilliant comment was when did the emphasis come about more what happens off the pitch than on it?
The new fan seems to only talk about who we are buying next, normally the biggest flavour of the month. Whereas, Old gits like me, are more interested in what we do on it, what the current players offer and how those players can improve to help the team.
Now it seems it is all about the shiny new toy, I personally love to see academy player coming through and that is why I enjoy the early cup rounds to see who looks a prospect.
Pajak, did reply that for him it was the onset of 24hr Sky news, Sky has a lot to answer for.
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Itâs the hype over the windows, the last minute news, the optimism, the crazed rumours and the slamming shut. A huge fuss over pretty much nothing to drive clicks, listeners and general traffic. Pretty much like florists clamouring for a second Valentinesâ Day / Mothersâ Day later in the year.
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Bro, I like VALENTINEâS day.
Even the unreliable rumours are getting unreliable. Nobody knows whatâs happening behind the scenes.
.
Actually, I like it that way. It doesnât help the rumour page but it is good from a club perspective. They are very good now at concealing their negotiations.
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However if we only had Rick Parry back, we would have a 100 rumours a day.
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Thinking about. You can lose ÂŁ30m every year for 3 years. So ÂŁ90m to spend assuming you are not making huge profits. ÂŁ15m a window. What do you get for ÂŁ15m? These are not the days of ÂŁ900k for a John Barnes!
It makes player trading and growing and selling academy talent super important. Thatâs why we might sell Doak, Morton etc. Profit!
All that means careful buying and finding gems becomes huge. Unless you stacked your squad before the rules came in - City, Chelsea.
So the clamour for cash from the owners is slightly misplaced. Newcastle have all the money but struggle to build.
So you have to be sure.
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