Agree, but it also shows we’re not prepared to be messed around.
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But its by Newcastle not Isak he hasn’t done a Caicedo.
He couldn’t be doing anymore to force the move.
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He could have ensured that what was supposedly an understanding between him and Newcastle was committed to writing. That’s why this is the mess it has become.
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He probably thought he was dealing with a honourable senior management.
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When you are dealing with 110 million plus. Not much is reasonable, thats a near business takeover.
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He looks really good but Ekitike is still young and pretty raw. Isak is proven and I think playing in a front two will be fine for both players. Ekitike did it with Marmoush and Isak has done it with Wilson and Gyokeres.
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then he is a bit slow. These guys are literally a branch of the carpet rolling up, journalist executing MBS. They are to honourable as Trump is to Einstein.
The agent should have made sure an agreement was in writing. Isak’s main job is to play. The agent’s main job is to look after his client’s interests.
Presumably if Isak gets his move the agent will be very well paid, but from the outside looking in, he has not performed well on behalf of his client.
A big deal will always have a few wriggles and some to and fro, but in this instance Isak has been hung out to dry as the bad guy, the agent didn’t get an agreement in writing, and the agent has not been able to engineer an orderly exit for his client, where all parties are satisfied, or at least somewhat satisfied.
And for such bad performance he will likely get a few million. Ugh.
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Eintracht played either 4-4-2 or their 3 at the back system last season, which allowed them to field more than one striker. Isak rarely played with another classic striker at Newcastle, but Sweden do play 4-4-2, which allows them to start both him and Gyokeres. Everything which is more or less different to what we do.
We might believe that Ekitike can play on the left (there simply isn’t much of an evidence so far, 5 games in which I don’t know if he set the world on fire, anyone saw any of those games?), but how often would that be and if we would be balanced enough if we would play 4-4-2 more often, remains highly in question.
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We reportedly do. You are free to say you don’t see it or are even skeptical of the reporting, but continually pointing out he has limited games there doesn’t argue against anything anyone is saying.
And it’s worth remembering this is precisely what our data analysis is designed to do. It allows us to build a profile of what a player can do and match it against a desired profile of a player in a specific role. It’s what allows us to identify that Robbo can work in our side despite having played in a much more defensive side or that Don can play in a different role than he did at Leipzig
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They reported it like he can or that he has serious experience playing there. Bloody Bobby Firmino had a few games for us on the left…
It surprised me because I couldn’t remember Ekitike playing anywhere but up top and I went to double-check if I missed a good portion of his career. I don’t have all the information online of course and he’s just started his senior career not long ago, so there isn’t much of a sample to discuss about.
It’s different to present 4-5 games in one position as one of the main arguments why we’re getting him and Isak and if the journalists have an inside information that our coaching staff believes he could play there more often. If it’s the latter, then they should report it as it is. Not invent/overrate information just to calm fans down.
I’m not arguing with anyone, I’m just curious and welcoming with open arms if there is something I’m missing, did someone watch these games with Ekitike on the left or whatever. Because, yes, we are investing a lot of money on two strikers who you would hope would function together not only when we’re chasing results and are throwing in the kitchen sink.
It’s a forum, the stuff we discuss about, this is not a small matter. Who doesn’t want to talk about it, can just wait and see how it evolves. I do both the waiting bit and the wondering/discussing bit, because there are a lot of questions. Like there often is, regardless if it turns out to be good or flop.
Or it’s a reverse Ray Kennedy situation, where Slot found out Ekitike was a left winger growing up and killing it there…
Spare a thought for Morecamb who would snap your hand for a izaks weekly pay.
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Do you mean Epstein?
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No they are peas in a pod, apparently.
The thing that gets lost with the talk of playing on the left. Its not like he would be expected to play like a prime Barnes and hog the touch line.
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If Ekitike plays on the left I see him in the half space, not too wide, Isak central, and Salah on the right, again not too wide.
Wirtz behind them, orchestrating it all. Fullbacks bombing on and offering width.
The double pivot behind it will have to be disciplined. And Gakpo would move to the bench in this set up.
It would blow most of the teams in the Prem away and we would pile on a lot of goals.
Arguably it would be tweaked against the best few teams to add more solidity. At that point I see a diamond four in midfield, Wirtz at the point behind two of Isak/Ekitike/Salah.
A direct quote from Slot earlier this week
“I see Hugo mainly as a number nine that could also play from the left
This is it. This confirms various reports from around the time of the transfer that we view him as capable of playing there. This is why some people are considering him as an option on the left when evaluating our options or what we still need to bring in. It’s as simple as that and the number of games he has played there is simply not relevant to why the argument is being put forward by people.
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I am not convinced he received any such assurances. It has been widely reported that he told them of his desires/intentions and most reports leave it as that and continue the story without explicitly referencing assurances from Newcastle that they’ll allow it, but still positioning the story as if they are required to. And obviously they are not. Reading between the lines I suspect he got little more than a “we’ll see what we can do” response and when it turned out the answer was “fuck all”, the position hardened.
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Yeah, that came after the initial reports that were like “it’s alright, fans, he can play on the left”.
I’m waiting to see it (if we bring Isak), fingers crossed.