Daka topscorer from Salzburg who plays in the Austria league a noch below the Dutch Mickey Mouse league, call me not impressed.
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I donāt think he necessarily needed to force his way into the lineup, he could have been a good option to replace Origi in the squad imo. A quick good goalscorer who could have been more useful than what we have now on the bench, and not too expensive. Ah well.
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For every Haaland Iāll give you a 1000 who are shite
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You wonder if the struggles Taki had with the step up might have influenced our thinking around him. Austrian league to Premier League is a huge step and I canāt think of any bar Haaland who have gone immediately from there to a top team that wasnāt Leipzig and been a success.
I doubt Mane would have become the player he has without the move to Southampton first where he was given more time and opportunities to settle and develop before taking the next step. Leicester is kind of the pinnacle of that rung below so will be interesting to see how he goes.
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The good thing about the Current Euro games is it boosts the rumours page. Every goal scored is another bullshit rumour of LFC bidding for joe blogs. Combined of course with joe blogs keen on moving to Anfield. Or Instagram a like of an LFC player. Just today Nielsum or what ever. An 18 year old kid from Sparta. Daka last week. Harland. The French lad from the other day. The list just gets bigger.
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Thereās been quiet links to him on and off for a while.
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He has been surprisingly good for Dortmund, but these days, the Bundesliga isnāt equal to the PL. The step up from Salzburg to Dortmund is lesser than the one to LFC for instance. Itās not a given that heād have been as good for us as for Dortmund, with a lesser status in the squad, and much lesser playing time. At the end of the day, his move to Dortmund was the perfect career choice for him, and will lead him to make his next step in the best conditions.
In contrast, Minamino, who was excellent at Salzburg too, had to go one step back, because he wasnāt able to establish himself as a first team player. Not that I blame him btw, itās really hard to establish oneself as a regular at LFC these days, especially when coming from a far weaker league like the Austrian one.
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I agree with your premise @rab . But I think it also varies with the individual players. The struggles of Takumi, in my view, is more to do with a different culture than the playerās technical or physical attributes.
Haaland have hit the ground running in German League which is a considerable step up from the Austrian League. Mane, with his characteristic fierceness, would have OK with a direct switch to Premier League. Yeah, he might have needed a bit time to adapt but he would have done OK.
Suarez took a huge step up and didnāt look out of place even on his early days.
Itās worth considering what Minamino had to deal with.
He got a move to Liverpool - The European Champions and English champions elect - was probably over the moon, and no sooner than he arrived, everything went mental. Heās stuck at a new home in a new city, heās not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. If heās got family, they probably canāt get here to join him, and heās trying to get to know his new colleagues on zoom.
When he can go and train again, the players arenāt allowed to mix or socialise and heās got no chance to bond with the fans as the stadiums are empty.
Poor guy. Never had a chance.
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Tbf, heās also scored 20 goals (+3 assists) in 16 Champions League games.
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And he couldnāt speak English. Add that into the mix and it was all a bit of a nightmare for him.
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From LFC yes not from Salzburg, just hoping thatās what you meant (EDIT: you did allude changed the word I used hope this one is better) it in the previous paragraph, I just want to be clear SFC is a few steps up from Salzburg imo).
Edit: another one, Didnāt we need to free a spot to bring in a foriegn CB as well? Was it really a case of him not adapting fast enough over a calculated sacrifice? (considering the patience Klopp often shows!).
Agree, Dortmund was the perfect move for Haaland. Perfect playing style for his strengths, a starting spot in the team, CL football. Couldnāt have found a better fit.
I think Daka is making a pretty good choice as well, although I thought Leipzig would have been better at the moment.
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Haaland is really an outstanding example, I believe top clubs already looked at him at Salzburg, but obviously he made the right decision, knowing that he has all the time in the world for next steps.
Taki was a low risk opportunity at the time, weāre likely to make a double profit on him now if the mentioned price of Ā£15m from Southampton is true.
No big deal, no need for drama, we move on.
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The other thing is Raiola doesnāt want his clients getting to a top club with just one transfer. He likes to make sure that the first move is a stepping stone so that when the time comes, he can move them on to the big boys and pocket himself another fat commission.
Itās probably good for the playerās development but itās definitely good for his bank balance.
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Plus that move, for precisely the reasons you state, was always going to have to include a clause of some type allowing that next move. We would never have done the Dortmund stage of the journey. Small chance of us being the āfinal destinationā big club next summer but not even that sure on that.
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Yeah, he has done exceptionally well, but thatās also because he played week in week out at Dortmund. At LFC for instance, heād have been on the bench more often than not. It could have hindered his super-quick development into a top player.
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