im not that cold, his journey here has come to a natural conclusion, this season should put a full stop on some other players too, and give a chance to refresh the squad…
i think his 5 (is it?) years here were very successful and hes done a power of work to make that happen…i hope he goes on and makes a good legacy at Barca too
Filthy talk!
Completely impossible and unrealistic deal but I’d love it if Klopp could get Kovačić. I think he’d be the ideal replacement for Wijnaldum and an excellent partner for Alcantara. Simply incredible technique and ball retention ability, he’s in his prime but maybe Tuchel doesn’t fancy him as a starter.
I think Tuchel really likes him (going by his quotes a few times) and it’s an area where Chelsea could probably do with another option, not letting one of his main 3 go. If he was fit in last weeks, he maybe would’ve started the final. In the beginning it was Kante who was kept on the bench more as he returned from injury. Jorginho sometimes depends on whether the manager at the time likes him, but his different style and quality often buys him a place back. I don’t think he’s guaranteed though. We’ll see if they keep the double pivot next season when Tuchel has a full pre-season, I think he might becacuse it’s where you get the best from Kante. In that structure, I don’t think Mount is midfieldish enough yet to play in a deep two (more combine between the lines as a floating 10 and at times as a 3rd CM, but very advanced), so I see Chelsea keeping Kova.
I have hope but not expectation that we’ll do much more.
Not everything the club has done in recent years in respect of transfers has been super-duper and I still worry that LFC is the vehicle for FSG to grow their group into other sports and clubs, rather than the main priority in terms of success on the pitch.
For me the Gini decision is bizarre. He wanted to stay but clearly the contract on offer wasn’t enough.
So we’re stuck with players who rarely play because they’re injury prone or not good enough, yet a player who supplied a third of our midfield appearances year in year out, because of consistent performance levels and incredible availability, has been allowed to walk away.
The impact on the squad of relative wages is an issue, maybe a crucial issue in the case of his contract as the club negotiates new contracts for others.
But it sickens me to see the likes of Origi, Minimino, Shaqiri, Keita and even Oxlade picking up whatever they earn between them each week, yet between the five of them they probably supplied less appearances and certainly minutes than Gini last season.
Basic maths tells you were the value is.
Question:
If we could bring in just one more player would you choose a CF or a CM? What should be priority?
CM. Considering the fitness of Keita and AOC and the aging of Milner, we are somewhat thin in that area.
As things stand at this moment in time I would bring in a CM, purely because we have lost Gini.
There has to be the consideration to giving another 30 year-old a 4 year contract on some serious wage. We have Henderson and Thiago in that same bracket and realistically they have to consider the long term impact of that scenario.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have kept him but we do need to freshen that midfield up. I view it as Thiago was Gini’s replacement a year early because an incredible opportunity arose. Next I think they’ll take an offer for Keita, or Ox if they can engineer one and there are no takers for Keita. That would allow us to then bring in some younger legs.
We’ve seen they’ll be pragmatic when it comes to the market. I don’t think many wanted to see Brewster leave last summer but doing that allowed us to sign Jota. Letting Gini go perhaps allows us to bring in a replacement that’s on lower wages, can offer the same durability and performance on the pitch as well as then meaning we don’t have three players hitting that age point where they need replacing at the same point in time.
Find it funny people saying we need to do this or that or this or that will happen. So definitive. When the reality is we don’t know the why or wherefore.
First of all how do we know Gini wanted to stay?
I think Konate means Fabinho shouldn’t have to play as a CD next season. Meaning Thiago was the Gini replacement.
Harvey Elliott looks like he’ll be our 5th attacker.
Harvey Elliott will be the second choice for RW position, especially when Shaqiri will most likely be out this season.
Shaqiri replaced by Elliott.
Minamino leaving without needing to be replaced.
Same with Woodburn, Ojo and Awoniyi.
Origi upgraded.
If Firmino leaves Sancho or Goncalves brought in.
Mane or Salah only allowed to leave if it involves Mbappe arriving.
I’d also look at Oxs availability and contract situation and consider replacing him with Wilson for a season or two till one of the academy hotshots is ready to then replace Wilson.
Keita allowed to leave and a Wijnaldum replacement purchased instead.
Grujic allowed to leave.
Possibly consider a more attacking/creative 8/10 hybrid CM type if possible but can cope without if needed (if we do buy them Wilson and Ox sold instead of one being kept).
That’s what I think/hope we will do with attack and midfield.
Because Gini himself, said he wanted to stay, after the Palace game.
If he really wanted to stay he could have, there was a contract offer available. He decided that moving on was better for him than signing the contract offered. To me that’s not “wanting to stay” that’s PR.
This Gini stuff is a load of bollocks.
I think it’s nothing more than a fan PR offensive, which is completely understandable given how much shit players get when their contract expires and they leave a club.
This ‘one day fans will know the truth’ stuff sounds like shit to me. It feels like Gini and ‘his people’ trying to deflect any heat onto the club.
You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes with this one. He felt like he should have been a big earner and wanted a long contract. The club disagreed. You can take which ever side you want, but nobody is acting like a prick here. It’s just an impasse. It happens.
Whenever players leave on a free and say some variation of ‘one day fans will know the truth’ fuck all ever happens.
Been as obvious as can be for over a year that Gini wanted to run down his contract and leave on a free. If he really does join Barca for an unspectacular wage and shorter term deal then it’s even more obvious. Anything over LFC not doing enough to keep him is simply bollocks to try and make him look better and move some of the blame onto the club instead. He was never staying.
I think they will give him a 3 year contract, good for him, and yes that wanting to stay is a PR move.
Well…hello, this is interesting…
They want crazy money for him, but he would be a very good player to have. Already good, but will improve even more.
TBF, he is right. Gerrard was the best all-round player in the world for about a decade.