The "white rapper" referense was the peculiar one?
Minamino
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The "white rapper" referense was the peculiar one?
Considering their is strong argument for the greatest ever rapper being white it was a little left field unless he’s referring to word looking a little like Eminem.
Are we getting back in to the biscuit territory?
Standard Saturday night
That’s what I like about us now. We operate on stealth mode. It’s how we roll.
NOBODY saw that coming. Six months of watching Mina and not a single media outlet picked up on it.
I dunno how we do it but it’s almost a work of genius.
NOBODY saw that coming. Six months of watching Mina and not a single media outlet picked up on it.
I dunno how we do it but it’s almost a work of genius.
Has this ever happened before?
Bunch of fucking creeps on SCM talking about the opposition player after a game like a bunch of little girls.... "Owmagawd I would luurrrve that Minamino guy...", "Looks like a Liverpool player", "Maybe next summer"....then...
BOOM MUTHERFUCKAAS. MICHAEL EDWARD'S IN THE HOUSE!!!
Very good piece of business, even if he flops we will probably double our money on him. Style wise he has good technique, balance, good vision and quick feet, reminds me of Valeron who played at Depor a few years ago, could take ball past a couple of defenders in a phonebox.
Will need to see how he handles the physical demands of Klopps style and the frantic pace of the English game. He seems better suited to playing as an old fashioned no 10 than a striker.
Will need to see how he handles the physical demands of Klopps style and the frantic pace of the English game. He seems better suited to playing as an old fashioned no 10 than a striker.
I forget who it was at RBS said that MM had no problem handling the physical side of the game and could run all day (as his stats show) so I'm not worried about the later and with feet like his I'm not too worried about the former either. As for #10, he has played, literally, all over and his goal scoring/assists percentage hardly changes : RW, LW, AM (main position), #10, false #9, #9. He looks good cover for a lot of positions if he continues at the level we've seen in both CL matches against RBS.
Racist!
From Dave Maddock of the Echo:
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If Jurgen Klopp couldn’t hide a broader grin that usual in training on Wednesday, then it wasn’t just through Champions League satisfaction. One by one, senior players at the club sidled up to him to plant a suggestion that he take a closer look at the player who caused them so many problems for Red Bull Salzburg the night before. The Liverpool manager, of course, knew something the likes of skipper Jordan Henderson and defensive leader Virgil van Dijk did not. The subject of their admiration - Takumi Minamino - was already a Red.
In principle at least. For more than six weeks, the club’s Sporting Director Michael Edwards has been in amicable, progressive negotiations with his counterpart at Salzburg, their Director of Football Christoph Freund. “I can confirm that there are currently discussions with Liverpool. It is an honour which clubs are interested in our players,” Freund said on Thursday, with the player a done deal subject to a medical.
Yet that is only part of the story. The talks over the past two months are merely the conclusion of a process which has landed Liverpool one of the most exciting players in world football…for a steal. Edwards and his recruitment team - which includes a high-tech, high-powered analytics department - have actually tracked Minamino since 2013, before he left Cerezo Osaka in Japan (and playing alongside Diego Forlan) to join Salzburg.
During that long tracking process, Edwards and his team maintained regular scrutiny, through personal checks and extensive analysis of his data. In the past two seasons they have seen a huge leap in his development - and in his numbers in terms of physical progression, stamina and output - in Austria. In fact, most Premier League clubs saw him as a bigger prize that Salzburg’s other star, Erling Haaland. That was illustrated in the two games he has played against Liverpool this season, and his man of the match performance for his team at Anfield. But also in reaching the Europa League semi-final in 2018, and the fact that Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has built his international team around the 24 year old.
Crucially, Edwards has built up a relationship with Freund at Salzburg, and also with the wider Red Bull organisation, after delicate and again amicable negotiations with Leipzig over the sale of Naby Keita. That allowed his team to discover a priceless piece of information that rivals for his signature didn’t have - the fact that Minamino had a release clause inserted when the Austrians took up an option last February to extend his contract to 2021. Manchester United, AC Milan and Bundesliga leaders Borussia Monchengladbach were all tracking and regularly watching the Japan forward, but were unaware of the clause setting such a low price. It is a huge bargain for Liverpool, given the player fits Klopp’s profile almost perfectly. He has average around 12km a game distance covered this season, and has 20 goal involvements in 22 games for Salzburg - and those are elite numbers.
Edwards relationship with the Red Bull franchises is no coincidence. Klopp is a keen admirer of their work in finding young talent and developing it spectacularly, with both Sadio Mane and Keita following the path from Salzburg. Klopp himself has been an admirer of the player since he arrived in Austria, and his smile when Minamino scored against Liverpool at Anfield perhaps betrayed his feelings more than was realised at the time. He has got a player valued around the £30m mark for a fraction of that price, and there is an added bonus too - though it has no impact on the signing. Klopp sees Minamino as ideal for his team, with his ability to be creative and productive in several positions, and he will play a lot of Premier League games during the second half of the campaign, according the manager. He is there at Anfield by right, and in fact as a coup, given he cost what Liverpool sold youngster Ryan Kent for and a third of what they got for Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings.
But he is also a prize because of his status in the Far East as a true Japanese hero.
That helps in trying to crack that particular market, which was a stated aim of the club when they won a court case to switch from New Balance to Nike for their kit deal.
No wonder Klopp had a huge smile on Wednesday.
========
If Jurgen Klopp couldn’t hide a broader grin that usual in training on Wednesday, then it wasn’t just through Champions League satisfaction. One by one, senior players at the club sidled up to him to plant a suggestion that he take a closer look at the player who caused them so many problems for Red Bull Salzburg the night before. The Liverpool manager, of course, knew something the likes of skipper Jordan Henderson and defensive leader Virgil van Dijk did not. The subject of their admiration - Takumi Minamino - was already a Red.
In principle at least. For more than six weeks, the club’s Sporting Director Michael Edwards has been in amicable, progressive negotiations with his counterpart at Salzburg, their Director of Football Christoph Freund. “I can confirm that there are currently discussions with Liverpool. It is an honour which clubs are interested in our players,” Freund said on Thursday, with the player a done deal subject to a medical.
Yet that is only part of the story. The talks over the past two months are merely the conclusion of a process which has landed Liverpool one of the most exciting players in world football…for a steal. Edwards and his recruitment team - which includes a high-tech, high-powered analytics department - have actually tracked Minamino since 2013, before he left Cerezo Osaka in Japan (and playing alongside Diego Forlan) to join Salzburg.
During that long tracking process, Edwards and his team maintained regular scrutiny, through personal checks and extensive analysis of his data. In the past two seasons they have seen a huge leap in his development - and in his numbers in terms of physical progression, stamina and output - in Austria. In fact, most Premier League clubs saw him as a bigger prize that Salzburg’s other star, Erling Haaland. That was illustrated in the two games he has played against Liverpool this season, and his man of the match performance for his team at Anfield. But also in reaching the Europa League semi-final in 2018, and the fact that Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has built his international team around the 24 year old.
Crucially, Edwards has built up a relationship with Freund at Salzburg, and also with the wider Red Bull organisation, after delicate and again amicable negotiations with Leipzig over the sale of Naby Keita. That allowed his team to discover a priceless piece of information that rivals for his signature didn’t have - the fact that Minamino had a release clause inserted when the Austrians took up an option last February to extend his contract to 2021. Manchester United, AC Milan and Bundesliga leaders Borussia Monchengladbach were all tracking and regularly watching the Japan forward, but were unaware of the clause setting such a low price. It is a huge bargain for Liverpool, given the player fits Klopp’s profile almost perfectly. He has average around 12km a game distance covered this season, and has 20 goal involvements in 22 games for Salzburg - and those are elite numbers.
Edwards relationship with the Red Bull franchises is no coincidence. Klopp is a keen admirer of their work in finding young talent and developing it spectacularly, with both Sadio Mane and Keita following the path from Salzburg. Klopp himself has been an admirer of the player since he arrived in Austria, and his smile when Minamino scored against Liverpool at Anfield perhaps betrayed his feelings more than was realised at the time. He has got a player valued around the £30m mark for a fraction of that price, and there is an added bonus too - though it has no impact on the signing. Klopp sees Minamino as ideal for his team, with his ability to be creative and productive in several positions, and he will play a lot of Premier League games during the second half of the campaign, according the manager. He is there at Anfield by right, and in fact as a coup, given he cost what Liverpool sold youngster Ryan Kent for and a third of what they got for Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings.
But he is also a prize because of his status in the Far East as a true Japanese hero.
That helps in trying to crack that particular market, which was a stated aim of the club when they won a court case to switch from New Balance to Nike for their kit deal.
No wonder Klopp had a huge smile on Wednesday.
I noticed that smile of Klopp's when Minamino scored and thought it was a bit odd at the time. If what the article insinuates is true, then that makes much more sense.
Sweet Jesus, make it stop!
Does anyone else think Mina’s arrival will surely spell the end of the Shaq’s time with us ?
It’s a bit sad though cos I like the Shaq.
It’s a bit sad though cos I like the Shaq.
Yeah - Me too. Tidy player that did contribute when needed.
End of Lallana. I don't think Shaq will be moved on. We are building an elite squad and he's a valuable squad member.
I think Minamino is a #10, but not an "old-fashioned" one. It's interesting that you brought up Valeron, who is still one of the "purest" examples of a #10 due to the clear way Depor's attack was structured: a scorer/battering ram up front, two quick wingers and Valeron in the middle conducting the orchestra... Fast forward to 2019 and the era of the pure #10 is decisively over; the best representatives of this style – James Rodriguez, Ozil, Dmitri Payet etc – are all struggling to stay relevant. The new #10 are different. They are often hybrids between AM and another position: winger (Hazard, Coutinho), centre-forward (Firmino, Tevez, Dybala) or CM (Isco, De Bruyne), which allows them to find their niche in tactical systems not designed with #10s in mind. The biggest difference is the defensive contribution – the new #10s are expected to be the first line of defense and are given the sort of tactical assignments that would make poor Juan Carlos collapse with exhaustion after 30 minutes.
At Dortmund, Klopp had a perfect representative of this style in Kagawa – a player with the work-rate of a CM, aggression and movement of a forward and vision of a playmaker. Firmino epitomizes the same qualities at Liverpool, but he had no one to offer cover or alternative for him in this physically demanding role – until now. Minamino might not be an exact Firmino clone, but it's clear to me that his role will be similar – to facilitate and string together moves, release Salah and Mane in space and press, press, press. He can dribble and he can score, he can do a job on the wing if needed – but Klopp isn't buying him primarily for those qualities.
In the grand scheme of our attacking play, arguably his most useful quality will be the ability to hold up the ball, using that low center of gravity to put his body between the ball and defender, ride the challenges and use the threat of a quick turn to keep defenders from getting too close – very different from the likes of Valeron and Aimar who would tumble to the floor at the point of physical contact. If you look at his goals, Minamino actually scores a lot of tap-ins or other finishes from close range – that's because in the final phase of the attack he moves and thinks like a striker. He is a bit like Son in the way he is always willing to dribble and run directly at a defender, backing himself not only to outfox the opponent, but also to be first to any deflection and turn it to his advantage thanks to his quick feet, agility and again low center of gravity. And as for defensive work, I think he will "vacuum" the attacking middle third of the pitch just as thoroughly as Fabinho cleans up the heart of midfield.
So to summarize, bargain price aside, I'm very excited about adding a player with this kind of talent, drive and hunger in January – I think he will add fresh fuel to our title challenge. He looked every bit like a Klopp player from the minute I saw him and I am certain he'll become a popular figure at Anfield very soon.
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The same thing said about Keita, let's hope this one can deliver the goods without having to go to sick bay every now and then for a few months and take another month to get back to his groove.
Agreed, I think Minamino will play primarily as a more withdrawn Firmino - essentially the 1 in the 4-3-1-2 that Klopp has been toying with of late (with Mane and Salah up front).
He might play left-wing occasionally, but I do think a central role is what he'll have primarily.
A separate point is one of attacking versatility.
If there's one weakness we have is that we can't always outplay a team technically the way City can (thanks to the abundance of the very technicallly skilled CMs and AMs they have).
Primarily, our attacking philosophy is this:
1. Outwork the opposition in midfield
2. Use width of pitch through full-backs to supply a barrage of high quality crosses
3. Exploit open spaces and counter with pace
4. Rely on the synergy and combination play of our first-choice front three
There's a fifth aspect this year, which is the vertical passing of Fabinho and Henderson, though I'm not sure it's usual enough to be called a distinctive feature yet.
Now there is a drop off in our attacking play when you take out any one of these aspects. For instance, when Trent is absent, our wide play suffers badly because Gomez is simply not very competent going forward.
Similarly, take out any one of the front three, and there's a drop in quality because Origi is simply not at their level in terms of combination play. Also if any of the front three are off-form (which has been the case this year with Firmino and Salah), it's easy to stifle us.
The solution obviously is to find players who can help us play more technically through the middle, and try and 'outplay' the opposition.
Which is where I think you'll see Keita, Minamino and Shaqiri come in. They're all highly adept technically, can play through the middle, create things in tight spaces and help break down tactically astute and stubborn teams, which we'll undoubtedly face in the second half of the season.
Really looking forward to it.
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