The Leon King
- Thread starter LeTallecWiz
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We may well still need Grujic given our fixture schedule. He hasn't kicked on as I thought he might, but I haven't given up hope for him yet.
You're really setting yourself up for disappointment here...
We won't be playing with a DM you already know this. So on the assumption that by some miracle we got them both then they both will be chipping in with defensive and attacking duties.
Keita plays in a midfield 2 with either Kampl or Demme, the latter is a purely defensive player, but Kampl roams as much as Keita. Based on what I've seen, Keita can totally hold his own in the midfield 2 next to any of our CMs – he can roam or he can be disciplined if needed. However, I'm not sure Goretzka can do that – that's why I was asking @Holle about what he thinks.
It's a bit similar to Pogba situation at United – if he could hold his own in the midfield 2, that would free up a place for another attacker in the front 4, but since he can not do that, he has to play further forward and that in turn brings more pressure to deliver goals and assists. Unless I see evidence to the contrary, that would be my assumption with Goretzka.
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Interesting view - it will be interesting to see how our midfield 3 might work if both of those players come in.. To be it is kind of like the below
-----------CM1------------- plays the deepest and generall doesn't roam forward much
-----------------CM2------- generally aims to be circulate the ball, keep tempo up.
-------CM3------------------ link between midfield & attack - encouraged to run in ahead of Firmino
CM1: Hendo or Can
CM2: Can or Gini
CM3: Gini or Lallana or Coutinho
Add in these newbies (and assume Can is leaving)
CM1: Hendo or Keita
CM2: Keita or Gini or Goretzka
CM3: Gini or Goretzka or Lallana
I still think we need someone who can really own that CM1 role. Hendo tries to, but his game is really made to be free-er and have more of an attacking role. We are managing that out of him, but that is partly due to his chronic injury now.
I don't think our trop of Hendo, Can and Gini should line up together as Arsenal and Hoffenheim aside, they look pedestrian as a trio. But use two of them with Lallana/ Coutinho ahead and I think they look pretty fucking good.
Anyway - that is a rushed attempt at describing how I see it.. kind of.
-----------CM1------------- plays the deepest and generall doesn't roam forward much
-----------------CM2------- generally aims to be circulate the ball, keep tempo up.
-------CM3------------------ link between midfield & attack - encouraged to run in ahead of Firmino
CM1: Hendo or Can
CM2: Can or Gini
CM3: Gini or Lallana or Coutinho
Add in these newbies (and assume Can is leaving)
CM1: Hendo or Keita
CM2: Keita or Gini or Goretzka
CM3: Gini or Goretzka or Lallana
I still think we need someone who can really own that CM1 role. Hendo tries to, but his game is really made to be free-er and have more of an attacking role. We are managing that out of him, but that is partly due to his chronic injury now.
I don't think our trop of Hendo, Can and Gini should line up together as Arsenal and Hoffenheim aside, they look pedestrian as a trio. But use two of them with Lallana/ Coutinho ahead and I think they look pretty fucking good.
Anyway - that is a rushed attempt at describing how I see it.. kind of.
I know that Demme plays with Keita.
Goretzka can be lazy in defence, but he more than covers for it in attack.
Like I said we need a Demme type.
The latest midfield line up from a Schalke game were Goretzka was last involved, was him, Harit and Meyer.
He seem to start about half the game in a midfield 2 and half the games he plays as an attacking midfielder.
Havent seen him enough to know how he handles the defensive side of the game. But he's nearly 6"3 and will add some height to our midfield at least.
Very good in the air.
He seem to start about half the game in a midfield 2 and half the games he plays as an attacking midfielder.
Havent seen him enough to know how he handles the defensive side of the game. But he's nearly 6"3 and will add some height to our midfield at least.
Very good in the air.
Maybe but at least I'm not dull and mean. You are a massive twat. That's a fact. Funny (sometimes) it's true. The sycophants on here that fawn over you are equally to blame. Bullying and snide remarks behind that smirk you conceal behind the keyboard does not hide the fact what we all know. I'm still staggered you are here at all. Every other LFC site has banned you and rightly so. As a final retort - You're a massive cunt - Now put me on 'ignore' I double dare you 🙂
You've already responded to this post once, you fucking mad twat. Now you're just embarrassing yourself.
Do we all have to suffer your obvious and tortuous descent into full-on padded room sedation?
I'll respond again then. You're a massive twat. You know it. You've been told it. Repeatedly. On pretty much every LFC site there is. Get the message you massive cunt and FUCK OFF. Can't say it any clearer than that. I'll keep posting just to annoy you if you stay though.
Oh Christ. Have a word with yourself.
Sorry, yourselves.
Call a meeting, have an intervention. Is there a dominant personality who can lead the discussion?
Sorry, yourselves.
Call a meeting, have an intervention. Is there a dominant personality who can lead the discussion?
I love the deniability that you possess - It's extraordinary actually. To know you behave like a massive cunt and then side step it with equally cuntish remarks is quite the talent. It takes a particularly weird bellend to do that to his own LFC buddies. I bet you support United or Everton. Weirdo.
No idea whether this bloke is any good or not but we need to sign a whole new midfield so am happy with any rumour. Get it done Klopp.
When Goretzka came through the ranks at VfL Bochum, the biggest names from all around Germany, including the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern München and obviously, his current club Schalke 04 were lining up to sign him. With his contract at Schalke running out at the end of the 2017/18, there is supposed interest from some of the better clubs in Europe like Juventus, Bayern München, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
Back in 2012, when he just broke into the Bochum 2. Bundesliga First Team at the young age of just 17, comparisons were drawn between him and some of the best German Midfielders of recent history such as Michael Ballack or Sami Khedira and not only Schalke fans were surprised that he got called up for the German U21 instead of the First Team but his future very much lies with Joachim Löw’s “Die Mannschaft”.
He made the Schalke starting XI on 15 occasions in the 2013/14 season, his first year at the club. With Neustädter and Boateng being nailed down starters in the centre of midfield, the young German played a lot of his games in the three behind Huntelaar, mainly on the left and on the right highlighting one of his many strengths: His versatility. Even at a young age, he was already a player who could play in several positions and who had a complete game. In the current 2016/17 season he has mainly played as one of the two Box-to-Box midfielders in a 3-1-4-2 and as an Attacking or Central Midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 and apart from Sead Kolasinac he has been the best player in a – domestically – disappointing Schalke side. According to whoscored, the young German played 17 games as a Central Midfielder, 8 as an Attacking Midfielder and one as a Right and Defensive Midfielder each.
He did have some injury problems in 2014/15 and in 2015/16 that gave him the label of an injury prone player, but considering he has now played 82 Bundesliga games, 32 2. Bundesliga games and 20 games in Europa League and Champions League this isn’t very fair.
There are countless examples of games that show exactly why Goretzka is that complete midfielder that I was talking about but the best one is probably the game against Leverkusen in the first half of the 2016/17 season. Schalke Centre-Back Naldo got sent off for a professional foul just four minutes into the game meaning Johannes Geis had to drop back into the back three. This left Goretzka and Bentaleb with a lot of work to do in the midfield and it’s fair to say that Goretzka stepped up to the occasion.
The 22-year-old won the ball back on several occasions and he was the driving force in the direct Schalke game and contributing with 3 Key Passes and he was one of the key factors why Schalke managed to match up Leverkusen in terms of xG on that day, just losing to Kießling-Header in the dying embers of the game. However, the fact that he had no shots on this day also highlights one of his major weaknesses. Goretzka’s decision-making in the final third and his composure in front of goal are often not quite ideal and it is something he will have to work on if he wants to be on the level of the aforementioned Michael Ballack one day. His shooting technique however, is quite good for a Central Midfielder.
These two goals highlight that. The goal against Hertha was also one of the typical attacking moves of the Schalke side in the 3-5-2 (that Weinzierl decided to drop after realising that he a) doesn’t have the DM for that and b) with the injury of Naldo not the right Centre Backs for that). One of the two Box-to-Box players shifts towards the ball carrier and in this case Goretzka is in space to receive the ball. He isn’t quite as pacey as an Aubameyang but for someone who plays a position that probably values technique and strength over pace, he is quite quick and is a great player to have in an attacking transition.
Off the Ball qualities
When Oliver Burke joined RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest, Leipzig manager Ralph Hasenhüttel said that his Off the Ball hard drive was almost completely empty. It is has received one or two updates by now but players who came through the ranks in Germany – like Goretzka – tend to be a lot more versed when it comes to working Off the Ball. When Schalke plays in the 4-2-3-1 with Goretzka as the AM it turns into a 4-4-2 out of possession with Goretzka and the striker leading the Press. When he does that, he is very good at using the Cover Shadow to keep the opposition Defensive Midfielder out of play.
In this one Goretzka forces Javi Martinez into the turn backward in order to find passing options because he is under Pressure and the passing line to Xabi Alonso is cut off. In the end, the ball is just played sideways to Hummels. Most teams in the Bundesliga – Schalke including ( you can already see heavy man orientation in this picture) – play a heavily man oriented Pressing but Goretzka does possess the footballing intelligence to play any style of Pressing.
Winning the Ball
Goretzka might not look like the most physical person on Planet Earth his playing style is very much a physical one. With 2.5 tackles per 90 minutes, he is only second to Sead Kolasinac in the Schalke rankings (of players that played more than 900 minutes).
As these clips show he does have a slight tendency to dive into Tackles but his timing is usually good so he is not someone to collect a lot of Bookings. However, diving into a Tackle always adds a bit of randomness to the whole situation because you never know where the ball may bounce so you rather avoid that.
Defensive Recovery & Work Rate
Goretzka is a very versatile player but there is one thing that is always on his mind and it is contributing in defending phases and transitions. At both of his senior clubs he quickly got branded as a work horse and as a fighter. While these are obviously loose terms fans tend to use, they give you an idea .
Here he uses his acceleration to quickly shift over to the right side to create a 3v2 and break up the opposition attack and out of the three German U21-Players he is actually the one to win the ball back to then restart the attack. Thanks to his height of 1.89m (that is 6’2”) Goretzka is not only a threat in the air but he can also win Aerial Duels in the midfield. Something that could especially be important should he decide to leave Schalke and Germany for the Premier League.
Conclusion
When Schalke signed Goretzka in 2013 he was a very rough diamond. In the following 3.5 years, he has matured into the most important part of one of Germanys biggest teams and if it wasn’t for the high-quality Midfielders that Germany keeps producing the 22-year-old would probably have more than just two caps for Germany. He might get called up for the Confed-Cup but it is to assume that he gets tasked with captaining the German U21 to their first title since 2009.
There are a few things he has to work on: His final third decision making is not great and he has to improve his passing range and it remains to be seen how much he can contribute to a possession focused team. If he does that at Schalke or anywhere else is to be seen but if he decides to leave Schalke it is probably going to be this coming summer because his contract runs out in 2018 and Schalke don’t want to see another key player leave on a free transfer.
Video clips here:
https://www.esdfanalysis.com/player-analysis/leon-goretzka/
Back in 2012, when he just broke into the Bochum 2. Bundesliga First Team at the young age of just 17, comparisons were drawn between him and some of the best German Midfielders of recent history such as Michael Ballack or Sami Khedira and not only Schalke fans were surprised that he got called up for the German U21 instead of the First Team but his future very much lies with Joachim Löw’s “Die Mannschaft”.
He made the Schalke starting XI on 15 occasions in the 2013/14 season, his first year at the club. With Neustädter and Boateng being nailed down starters in the centre of midfield, the young German played a lot of his games in the three behind Huntelaar, mainly on the left and on the right highlighting one of his many strengths: His versatility. Even at a young age, he was already a player who could play in several positions and who had a complete game. In the current 2016/17 season he has mainly played as one of the two Box-to-Box midfielders in a 3-1-4-2 and as an Attacking or Central Midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 and apart from Sead Kolasinac he has been the best player in a – domestically – disappointing Schalke side. According to whoscored, the young German played 17 games as a Central Midfielder, 8 as an Attacking Midfielder and one as a Right and Defensive Midfielder each.
He did have some injury problems in 2014/15 and in 2015/16 that gave him the label of an injury prone player, but considering he has now played 82 Bundesliga games, 32 2. Bundesliga games and 20 games in Europa League and Champions League this isn’t very fair.
There are countless examples of games that show exactly why Goretzka is that complete midfielder that I was talking about but the best one is probably the game against Leverkusen in the first half of the 2016/17 season. Schalke Centre-Back Naldo got sent off for a professional foul just four minutes into the game meaning Johannes Geis had to drop back into the back three. This left Goretzka and Bentaleb with a lot of work to do in the midfield and it’s fair to say that Goretzka stepped up to the occasion.
The 22-year-old won the ball back on several occasions and he was the driving force in the direct Schalke game and contributing with 3 Key Passes and he was one of the key factors why Schalke managed to match up Leverkusen in terms of xG on that day, just losing to Kießling-Header in the dying embers of the game. However, the fact that he had no shots on this day also highlights one of his major weaknesses. Goretzka’s decision-making in the final third and his composure in front of goal are often not quite ideal and it is something he will have to work on if he wants to be on the level of the aforementioned Michael Ballack one day. His shooting technique however, is quite good for a Central Midfielder.
These two goals highlight that. The goal against Hertha was also one of the typical attacking moves of the Schalke side in the 3-5-2 (that Weinzierl decided to drop after realising that he a) doesn’t have the DM for that and b) with the injury of Naldo not the right Centre Backs for that). One of the two Box-to-Box players shifts towards the ball carrier and in this case Goretzka is in space to receive the ball. He isn’t quite as pacey as an Aubameyang but for someone who plays a position that probably values technique and strength over pace, he is quite quick and is a great player to have in an attacking transition.
Off the Ball qualities
When Oliver Burke joined RB Leipzig from Nottingham Forest, Leipzig manager Ralph Hasenhüttel said that his Off the Ball hard drive was almost completely empty. It is has received one or two updates by now but players who came through the ranks in Germany – like Goretzka – tend to be a lot more versed when it comes to working Off the Ball. When Schalke plays in the 4-2-3-1 with Goretzka as the AM it turns into a 4-4-2 out of possession with Goretzka and the striker leading the Press. When he does that, he is very good at using the Cover Shadow to keep the opposition Defensive Midfielder out of play.
In this one Goretzka forces Javi Martinez into the turn backward in order to find passing options because he is under Pressure and the passing line to Xabi Alonso is cut off. In the end, the ball is just played sideways to Hummels. Most teams in the Bundesliga – Schalke including ( you can already see heavy man orientation in this picture) – play a heavily man oriented Pressing but Goretzka does possess the footballing intelligence to play any style of Pressing.
Winning the Ball
Goretzka might not look like the most physical person on Planet Earth his playing style is very much a physical one. With 2.5 tackles per 90 minutes, he is only second to Sead Kolasinac in the Schalke rankings (of players that played more than 900 minutes).
As these clips show he does have a slight tendency to dive into Tackles but his timing is usually good so he is not someone to collect a lot of Bookings. However, diving into a Tackle always adds a bit of randomness to the whole situation because you never know where the ball may bounce so you rather avoid that.
Defensive Recovery & Work Rate
Goretzka is a very versatile player but there is one thing that is always on his mind and it is contributing in defending phases and transitions. At both of his senior clubs he quickly got branded as a work horse and as a fighter. While these are obviously loose terms fans tend to use, they give you an idea .
Here he uses his acceleration to quickly shift over to the right side to create a 3v2 and break up the opposition attack and out of the three German U21-Players he is actually the one to win the ball back to then restart the attack. Thanks to his height of 1.89m (that is 6’2”) Goretzka is not only a threat in the air but he can also win Aerial Duels in the midfield. Something that could especially be important should he decide to leave Schalke and Germany for the Premier League.
Conclusion
When Schalke signed Goretzka in 2013 he was a very rough diamond. In the following 3.5 years, he has matured into the most important part of one of Germanys biggest teams and if it wasn’t for the high-quality Midfielders that Germany keeps producing the 22-year-old would probably have more than just two caps for Germany. He might get called up for the Confed-Cup but it is to assume that he gets tasked with captaining the German U21 to their first title since 2009.
There are a few things he has to work on: His final third decision making is not great and he has to improve his passing range and it remains to be seen how much he can contribute to a possession focused team. If he does that at Schalke or anywhere else is to be seen but if he decides to leave Schalke it is probably going to be this coming summer because his contract runs out in 2018 and Schalke don’t want to see another key player leave on a free transfer.
Video clips here:
https://www.esdfanalysis.com/player-analysis/leon-goretzka/
We don't deserve posters like @rurikbird
THere is no way Rurik wrote that ... and if he did, let's get him hired and take a % of his earnings to fund the site! 🙂
An observation following from the fightin tawk in some posts in here.
Posters often call each other names that are slang for genitals (twat, cunt and bellend as recent examples). And they often pair it with an adjective (massive, weird, etc). But I notice certain pairings are more common than others. For example the ubiquitous "massive twat". Barba's recent posts are a good example. He also called Brendan a "weird bellend" but one would never call someone a "massive bellend". Also I notice men tend to pair female genitalia (twat, cunt) with adjectives related to size or scope (massive, total) but much more rarely do so when deploying an insult involving male genitalia (e.g. You are a huge dick).
Anyway. What is it about large female genitalia that's so negative in people's subconscious minds? Are they afraid of being gobbled up?
Posters often call each other names that are slang for genitals (twat, cunt and bellend as recent examples). And they often pair it with an adjective (massive, weird, etc). But I notice certain pairings are more common than others. For example the ubiquitous "massive twat". Barba's recent posts are a good example. He also called Brendan a "weird bellend" but one would never call someone a "massive bellend". Also I notice men tend to pair female genitalia (twat, cunt) with adjectives related to size or scope (massive, total) but much more rarely do so when deploying an insult involving male genitalia (e.g. You are a huge dick).
Anyway. What is it about large female genitalia that's so negative in people's subconscious minds? Are they afraid of being gobbled up?
I think I use "massive" and "huge" as adjectives with both male and female bodyparts. The point being that the bodypart is pejorative, so a "massive" attached just means they're even worse.
In this case, I called Barba Red Astaire whatever a "mad twat" and that seemed quite perfect, especially given that straight afterwards he decided to write two different responses to the same post, almost as if that, as well as me joking about him having a mental breakdown, he actually is having a mental breakdown.
He seems to have an amusing nervo at least every couple of weeks and staggers around like a ranting tramp shouting at the traffic.
I think I am less likely to use "massive dick" though. Maybe because it seems to be too close to a compliment? And having a massive cunt isn't?
I dunno. It's getting too Freudian.
I dunno. It's getting too Freudian.
I think bellend doesn't need any adjective, it's fine enough by itself. Weird bellend I can understand, although I can't say I would ever use it.
I'm certainly not afraid of being gobbled up, I reckon I would enjoy it.
There is a link to it at the bottom of the post!
Ive had to un-like @rurikbird 's post , i felt mislead.
'video clips here' ?
PSH. @King Binny would never pull that shit
'video clips here' ?
PSH. @King Binny would never pull that shit
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