Can we source this please?
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I see thereās no mention of Gakpo in there. He always gets overlooked.
IMO Gakpo is Diazās replacement and maybe Rio could be Gakpoās stand-in. Bringing in someone like Fonfana would only block Rioās development.
I think Nunez and Chiesa are certs to leave and maybe their exits will lead to Elliot wanting to stay. Let him be the back-up on the right. And before anybody interjects, I know Harveyās not a forward but he has the makings of one. Possibly.
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I do think Gakpo is the first choice and Diaz was the backup last season.
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I think there were several games when DĆaz was on the left and Gakpo was on the bench.
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That points to a tactical shift. We want our wide forwards to be inside forwards and not wingers. Gakpo suits the system more.
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It is sourced in the screenshot. Gregg Evans is a Liverpool journo at the athletic.
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Iād say so. I have regarded Diaz as our best dribbler for a while, and he is certainly a handful, but I think Gakpo is the more creative player overall. If we are moving towards dedicated strikers then itās that creativity that you want.
They are different types of players, but Cody probably offers more going forward.
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Last season, Diaz started ahead of Gakpo and showed he deserved to be. Mid-season, more or less, we found a new way with Diaz up top and Gakpo then hit really good form on the left. Gakpo had his first injury and I was interested to see how much does it take him to catch rhythm again, because heās a big boy. His first games back werenāt great, but Gakpo overall made a step forward and I donāt think Slot will change his position anymore. Heās a LW, he can continue focusing on what he does best, to kick on further. He may not start every game, but heās one of our better and proven forwards now. Shows it also at international level, heās one of their key players and provides numbers on a consistent basis.
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By the end of the last season. Fitness permitting etc. Gakpo seems more in line with what we want our left sided forward to be rather than Diaz.
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How can Gakpo be Diazās replacement when heās already here and played 2,700 minutes last season.
Iām expecting him to be our primary LW option for sure but to think a 16 year old is going to provide that depth behind him in a season where weāll be looking to play 50+ games is pretty mental.
As for Elliott, he had the chance to back up Salah last season and barely got a kick. Heās even less chance of finding minutes in midfield this year too so I canāt see him hanging around. Not as if Chiesa or Nunez had any impact on his minutes anyway.
You could have a lot of games where Szobo is still our #10 (our main presser and Iām interested to see how the likes of Isak and Ekitike press) and Wirtz plays in that inside left half-space. If Ngumoha is on paper behind Gakpo, it doesnāt mean heāll be on the pitch every time Gakpo isnāt.
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I meant the article, is it from the athletic itself?
You suggested getting a ātop drawerā replacement for DĆaz. My point was that we donāt need to as his āreplacementā is already here.
To be honest we arenāt really sure how we will look once the changes take place. I trust Hughes isnāt just randomly buying and hope Slot can make it look like a team.
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But this is the point I keep making about double counting players. If Wirtz is playing LF and Szobo at 10 then the rest of midfield is picking 2 from 3.
I like the flexibility and I donāt necessarily think you need 2 elite players for every position but we do need to be conscious of the depth of the squad. Last season we were crying out for more players Slot trusted to start. What we surely need to avoid is a better but smaller squad and still risk that fatigue we saw at times.
Iād also really hate to be spending Ā£100m+ on a new number 10 and then deciding heās our cover in a role heās not really played before.
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Okay, then we need a replacement for Gakpo if Gakpo is now replacing Diaz.
I said the same you said this morning in another thread, that flexibility has itās limits. But with someone like Wirtz, I donāt think itās problematic if heās used in two positions. It wonāt be more than that. His zone of operating will more or less be the same. Diaz was used in two positions last season, even if we perfectly had on paper 6 forwards, two per position. There was hierarchy, merit, certain players ahead of others. Neither Gakpo nor Wirtz have to be branded each otherās cover. Certain things I bet even Slot doesnāt know yet, who will merit to start the season, who will be in form, what combinations will be best to form our new first XI.
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Yes
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I think thereās a bit of a difference though, We went into last season with two great options on the left, two for the middle and then Salah on the right with Chiesa a bit of a swiss army knife (that ended up getting left in a draw).
This season weāre looking at replacing the two central options, having Salah on the right and then Gakpo on the left with Chiesa leaving also. This in an AFCON season where we know Salah will be missing too,
It just feels light to be reducing the number of out and out options for those front three places in a season we know weāll have a period without Salah. Itād essentially be four primary options and then some flexi options. It doesnāt feel enough to me and the casual attitude some have of āRio will step upā is very risky given his age and experience. Yes he looks very good but say any of them goes down early in the season with a significant injury, all of a sudden weāre pretty thin.
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Iām fine if we go with 5 seniors instead of last seasonās 6.
Iām of the opinion that of course, 6 is ideal. 5 is very doable. But 4 is certainly not enough.
I was very happy with our forward depth last season, regardless of the fact that I was never a fan of Nunez and I was suspicious how good of a transfer Chiesa was (it was presented as a deal we āhad toā take, while sometimes you have to think twice and there are good reasons why something looks cheap - in fact, with his wages until his age of 31 - it wasnāt that cheap).
But such 6 forwards is not easy to keep happy, even if you go deep into competitions.
5 seniors also depend first and foremost on their quality, so we first have to see how the likes of Wirtz, Ekitike and Isak do. Plus, if we bring another one. I believe Chiesa and Nunez are gone almost surely, while a little question mark remains over Elliott.
The coaching staff know much better than we do how ready Ngumoha is. I wouldnāt put the āyouāre Gakpoās direct backup and competitor, be ready sonā type of pressure, but if heās showing progress and merit, sometimes, wellā¦ you canāt ignore it. Even if it means playing 10-15 games, in whatever capacity in terms of minutes. It wouldnāt be the first time in football that a very young player shows heās already at a level meriting of a place in the first team squad. And no, that doesnāt mean itās only Lamine Yamal whoās done it.
I just donāt want that in our 22 players, we āneedā to have Nyoni, Ngumoha, Danns and whoever else. That would be too much inexperience in a squad/team that want to defend the PL title, attack the CL, attack all games and all competitions.
So with the remaining question marks, weāll see if Elliott stays or goes, whether we even add someone like Fofana and what are our 22 players on paper by the end of the window.
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