All his qualities won’t help us if/when he’s on the treatment table.
Lessons in positivity…Hope in your heart!!
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I’m all for being positive, but look up his injury record. It’s frightening, and quite frankly, I have difficulty to see Edwards and Hughes sanctioning such a transfer, with such a huge amount of money involved. If this backfires, their heads might very well be on the line… I find this puzzling to the point that I’m wondering if all the noise around Isak isn’t a cover-up for another player we are currently approaching? I don’t know, it seems weird to me…
And yet, they seem very keen to sanction it.
As with most things in football you have to look beyond the surface level data, and into the detail.
I remember posting about his injury record, and a few posters replied that it was actually overstated. Wasn’t his main injury this season a broken toe?
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Yes out for 7 games
Having brought in Ekitike as well I think it basically mitigates any concerns about Isak’s availibility. If anything having proper competition and the chance to manage his minutes more than Newcastle have done should benefit it.
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Which was also a period where Howe publicly called him out for sulking over the contract situation (I dont recall if we knew at the time the situation about the backtrack over the contract or what Isak was causing Isak to not be in the right headspace)
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Only for the 24-25 season:
- Broken toe, out for 35 days (seven games)
- Harmstring injury, out for 4 days (one game)
- Groin injury, our for three days (one game)
24-25 is his most favourable season in terms of injuries since 21/22. Sorry, but this isn’t a £120m+ player.
I realize that this discussion has drifted a bit off-topic, as my main point (and the question asked in this thread) was that too many changes at once might be bad for a continuity in success.
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Booking marking this for the end of season when he’s scored 50+ goals, helping us to win the PL + CL 
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Nikola must have hacked your account 
I have no idea about his injury record in depth and whether the above is entirely correct but for the sake of the comments let’s take it at it is. So basically over the course of the last season he has had two minor muscle injuries that has kept him out for two games. That doesn’t sound too bad at all and if we’re judging him on a broken toe then that’s a bit harsh as impact injuries can happen to any player at any time regardless of how injury prone they may or may not be.
I’m surprised at some of the naysayers around here, tbf. Understandable since this is something we really cannot say we’re used to at all but enjoy it while it’s here. We’re shopping at the high end of the market and the we still legitimately have the spine of the team from back to front still in place while adding on. If we get him, which is an if still, we’d be looking to replace Salah and VVD in fairly short order two years running while this gives us leeway for when the time comes to replace Virgil.
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Mo, the measure of availability and fitness, played only 2 more games than Isak did in 23-24. Last season it was 10 games more, but that is largely a difference of games available between the two clubs (only 8 other appearances alongside his 34 in the league). Isak arrived with an injury that impacted his start and his first year, but it’s been fairly unremarkable in terms of absences since then. In context, he’s had about 15 more appearances in that time than Jota had.
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To be fair, Jota was terrible in terms of injury absences. I wouldn’t use him as a comparison when the question comes if Isak is worth a 120m+ outlay. I take your point about Mo last season, but Mo was 32 then, not 25.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The above should be in the Isak thread.
There’s definitely going to be an adjustment period, especially when it comes to our forward line. A great forward line almost operates as a single hive mind, where players form enough patterns through repetition that their teammates can anticipate where they’ll be. That’s going to take some time to develop, which is why the team tried to get as much transfer business done early in the window.
You could see a bit of that disjointedness versus Milan. There were a few occasions where Flo wasn’t quite in sync with everyone else - where Flo was looking for a return pass or a through ball that didn’t come from Mo or Dom, or where Mo passed the ball when Flo wasn’t anticipating it, etc. Those kinds of things will improve the longer they play with one another.
Ekitike still needs to be worked in, and if Isak is brought in, that’ll be another player to bed in as well. That’ll take time and the supporters will have to be a bit patient.
But this is a team in transition, from the old guard to the new, and the club is trying to set itself up for years to come. Making significant changes now will have some awkwardness at first. But it will pay major dividends once it comes together. And Flo and Mo, in particular, are going to be exactly the right kinds of forwards to help bring the best out of their teammates.
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If the comp is Isak replacing Nunez, it is a definite upgrade, even with some injury absences thrown in. Isak is the best striker in the market. The money is silly, but if we can do it, we should.
One of the nice things about Slot’s approach, and the team behind the team, is how we manage the workload and the energy of the players. We are only one season in, but games missed through injury has definitely gone down.
Isak will presumably benefit from being at Liverpool on that count. We could also manage his load with a bit of rotation too, as Ekitike can either play with him, or in his place.
I think we (I) can change him.
I thought his injuries were more muscle related but the broken toe is the big one and that makes me less concerned.
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