Schalke are bottom of the league & hes part of the an error filled defence.. But then I
think.. Andy Robertson was in a similar position at Hull...
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Turkish Kabak..
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Schalke are bottom of the league & hes part of the an error filled defence.. But then I
think.. Andy Robertson was in a similar position at Hull...
Let’s sign all 3.
We’re a bit short of sacrifices needed to resurrect Big Virg - we had to ceremonially sacrifice half the team to bring Thiago back to life.
We’ve already started treating poor Matip like a dissident journalist in a Saudi embassy and if Jota’s lucky we’ll get a picture of him holding a recent copy of the Echo, otherwise I think we buried him next to Naby, JoGo, Timmy-Takis and Adrian.
I think we may have overdone draining Neco’s blood to keep Fabs alive - now they’re both dead.
Milners ok - he died earlier in the season... but death to him, was just another team to turn out for.
The only one death isn’t going near, is Robbo - he’d get chibbed.
We’re a bit short of sacrifices needed to resurrect Big Virg - we had to ceremonially sacrifice half the team to bring Thiago back to life.
We’ve already started treating poor Matip like a dissident journalist in a Saudi embassy and if Jota’s lucky we’ll get a picture of him holding a recent copy of the Echo, otherwise I think we buried him next to Naby, JoGo, Timmy-Takis and Adrian.
I think we may have overdone draining Neco’s blood to keep Fabs alive - now they’re both dead.
Milners ok - he died earlier in the season... but death to him, was just another team to turn out for.
The only one death isn’t going near, is Robbo - he’d get chibbed.
i had the same thought, we may as well
Fixed
Surely we Mustafi chance of signing Kabak then?
poor schalke
That's what I was just thinking!
From what I have been reading over the months, Tapsoba has been performing better than Kabak.
This would be sensational and really give us a platform to go and win the CL and challenge for the league.
He’s superb from the times I’ve seen him play.
He’s superb from the times I’ve seen him play.
Can't see us signing another big name CB this summer
I mean , credit to the club for bringing in two defenders , because we certainly need them but it's just like why leave it till the last 12 hours of the window ? Surely these players were identified months ago?
Can't have been a month of getting told no by clubs prior to today surely ?
Can't have been a month of getting told no by clubs prior to today surely ?
Dated 2 years ago:
Ozan Kabak: Bundesliga's TAG Heuer Rookie of the Season for 2018/19
[article]"Role model isn't the right word," says Ozan Kabak when asked which fellow players he looks up to. "But Virgil van Dijk and Benjamin Pavard impress me."
There are certainly worse choices than Liverpool's UEFA Champions League-winning centre-back and Kabak's FIFA World Cup-winning teammate at VfB Stuttgart last season, now bound for Bayern Munich.
Impressed he may be, but it should not surprise anyone there is no hero-worship from the teenager, who strode onto the Bundesliga scene with a confidence that strongly suggested his steps at Stuttgart — like Pavard's — are just the first of many.
Parallels with Pavard can be easily drawn. The France international had just a handful of first-team appearances under his belt when he left Lille to move to the Mercedes Benz Arena in 2016. Stuttgart were in Bundesliga 2 at the time; Kabak was faced with the prospect of the second tier too, but has already proven that — at the age of 19 — he can compete with the big boys in their own back yard and has secured a move back to the top flight with Schalke.
"Ozan is one of the most promising young defenders in Europe and will be an important cornerstone of our squad in the medium term," said Stuttgart sporting director Michael Reschke when Kabak put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal in mid-January to complete a switch from Galatasaray.
He had already done enough with the Turkish giants, whom he joined aged 11, to convince iconic coach Fatih Terim to give him not only his first-team debut but also throw him into the deep end of the UEFA Champions League. Rather than drowning, Kabak repaid the man he calls "a father figure" by all but walking on water for the Istanbul outfit.
Terim got another present at the end of the season as Kabak sent him the shirt he wore on his Bundesliga debut when Stuttgart were beaten 4-1 at Bayern Munich in late January, tangible proof of just how far the Ankara-born defender has come in a short time.
His numbers harden up the suspicion that Stuttgart, and now Schalke, have snared another gem: 64 per cent of aerial challenges won, he came out on top in 60 per cent of challenges overall, and completed 84 per cent of passes. By comparison, Mats Hummels' stats were 66, 68 and 91 in the same categories.
But the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner was playing for the title-winners and is 11 years older than Kabak. It doesn't take too much stretching of the imagination to think the Turkey U18 international will be at least that good in a decade's time.
"He's got a lot of potential. He's still very young. You could see in the game against Hannover that he's got a lot of talent. He's very laid back, very calm and doesn't let the club's current situation [in a relegation fight] bother him," said Stuttgart's ex-Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Gonzalo Castro last season. "He's definitely got the talent to play at a big club."
Kabak can lay claim to outdoing Hummels and a good many other of his defensive counterparts in the goalscoring column for 2018/19. He tallied three strikes in just 15 appearances — a total beaten only by RB Leipzig's Willi Orban and his compatriot at Fortuna Düsseldorf, Kaan Ayhan, both of whom played significantly more games — and his brace in the 5-1 win over Hannover on Matchday 24 saw him overtake Hakan Calhanoglu as the youngest Turkish player to score twice in a Bundesliga game (aged 18 years, 11 months and seven days). Only Timo Werner and Horst Köppel were younger in scoring their first doubles for Stuttgart.
"It's incredible how worldy-wise he is for his age. It's astonishing. I see him every day and am amazed at how he mature he is," explained Stuttgart's current sporting director and ex-Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger. "He wants to know everything; he wants to learn German right away and understand everything. That's the kind of attitude we need. He's already a role model, despite his age."
"He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's not the kind of person to do crazy stuff," added Stuttgart captain Christian Gentner. "His greatest strength is how uncompromising he is in tackles."
That courage brings with it inevitable bumps and bruises, and the odd break, such as the nose fracture and facial wound he suffered in the play-off first leg against Union Berlin. Yet, he still lined up for the return, which sent Stuttgart down.
Kabak may have been down but he was not out. Dusting himself off after that broken nose, he has set his focus on the future and building on his burgeoning Bundesliga reputation with a move to heavyweights Schalke. A club known for its development of youth, expect to see Kabak truly take shape in the forges of Gelsenkirchen.
[/article]
Ozan Kabak: Bundesliga's TAG Heuer Rookie of the Season for 2018/19
[article]"Role model isn't the right word," says Ozan Kabak when asked which fellow players he looks up to. "But Virgil van Dijk and Benjamin Pavard impress me."
There are certainly worse choices than Liverpool's UEFA Champions League-winning centre-back and Kabak's FIFA World Cup-winning teammate at VfB Stuttgart last season, now bound for Bayern Munich.
Impressed he may be, but it should not surprise anyone there is no hero-worship from the teenager, who strode onto the Bundesliga scene with a confidence that strongly suggested his steps at Stuttgart — like Pavard's — are just the first of many.
Parallels with Pavard can be easily drawn. The France international had just a handful of first-team appearances under his belt when he left Lille to move to the Mercedes Benz Arena in 2016. Stuttgart were in Bundesliga 2 at the time; Kabak was faced with the prospect of the second tier too, but has already proven that — at the age of 19 — he can compete with the big boys in their own back yard and has secured a move back to the top flight with Schalke.
"Ozan is one of the most promising young defenders in Europe and will be an important cornerstone of our squad in the medium term," said Stuttgart sporting director Michael Reschke when Kabak put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal in mid-January to complete a switch from Galatasaray.
He had already done enough with the Turkish giants, whom he joined aged 11, to convince iconic coach Fatih Terim to give him not only his first-team debut but also throw him into the deep end of the UEFA Champions League. Rather than drowning, Kabak repaid the man he calls "a father figure" by all but walking on water for the Istanbul outfit.
Terim got another present at the end of the season as Kabak sent him the shirt he wore on his Bundesliga debut when Stuttgart were beaten 4-1 at Bayern Munich in late January, tangible proof of just how far the Ankara-born defender has come in a short time.
His numbers harden up the suspicion that Stuttgart, and now Schalke, have snared another gem: 64 per cent of aerial challenges won, he came out on top in 60 per cent of challenges overall, and completed 84 per cent of passes. By comparison, Mats Hummels' stats were 66, 68 and 91 in the same categories.
But the 2014 FIFA World Cup winner was playing for the title-winners and is 11 years older than Kabak. It doesn't take too much stretching of the imagination to think the Turkey U18 international will be at least that good in a decade's time.
"He's got a lot of potential. He's still very young. You could see in the game against Hannover that he's got a lot of talent. He's very laid back, very calm and doesn't let the club's current situation [in a relegation fight] bother him," said Stuttgart's ex-Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Gonzalo Castro last season. "He's definitely got the talent to play at a big club."
Kabak can lay claim to outdoing Hummels and a good many other of his defensive counterparts in the goalscoring column for 2018/19. He tallied three strikes in just 15 appearances — a total beaten only by RB Leipzig's Willi Orban and his compatriot at Fortuna Düsseldorf, Kaan Ayhan, both of whom played significantly more games — and his brace in the 5-1 win over Hannover on Matchday 24 saw him overtake Hakan Calhanoglu as the youngest Turkish player to score twice in a Bundesliga game (aged 18 years, 11 months and seven days). Only Timo Werner and Horst Köppel were younger in scoring their first doubles for Stuttgart.
"It's incredible how worldy-wise he is for his age. It's astonishing. I see him every day and am amazed at how he mature he is," explained Stuttgart's current sporting director and ex-Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger. "He wants to know everything; he wants to learn German right away and understand everything. That's the kind of attitude we need. He's already a role model, despite his age."
"He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's not the kind of person to do crazy stuff," added Stuttgart captain Christian Gentner. "His greatest strength is how uncompromising he is in tackles."
That courage brings with it inevitable bumps and bruises, and the odd break, such as the nose fracture and facial wound he suffered in the play-off first leg against Union Berlin. Yet, he still lined up for the return, which sent Stuttgart down.
Kabak may have been down but he was not out. Dusting himself off after that broken nose, he has set his focus on the future and building on his burgeoning Bundesliga reputation with a move to heavyweights Schalke. A club known for its development of youth, expect to see Kabak truly take shape in the forges of Gelsenkirchen.
[/article]
Dated Jul 2020
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesn...who-and-why-behind-the-story/?sh=461a497d22d2
[article]Born in Ankara, where his father worked in a prison, but hailing from Derik in the Mardin Province of southeast Turkey, Kabak is highly rated across Europe, not least at his current club who will see him as one of their most valuable assets as they look to escape financial trouble.
Like many rounded defenders, Kabak started out as a striker before dropping back to use his talents in defence. His performances at youth level for both Galatasaray and Turkey soon made scouts from across the continent sit up and take notice, or at least write a little less casually in their notebooks.
He is likely to have been on the radar of clubs such as Liverpool since captaining Turkey during qualifying for the 2017 UEFA European U17 Championships, and his quick ascent to regularly donning the royal blue of Schalke 04—one of the biggest clubs in Europe, albeit a struggling one—is testament to a strong mentality at a young age.
Kabak has cited the legendary Galatasaray defender Bülent Korkmaz as one of his idols. Korkmaz was nicknamed the ‘Great Captain’ and ‘Warrior’, which gives some indication as to the qualities the youngster is striving to emulate.
“I want to become one of the greats like my idol the legendary Galatasaray captain Bulent Korkmaz,” Kabak told Tam Saha magazine in 2018.
“I want to play for Galatasaray but I have a soft spot for the Premier League and in particular Manchester United.”
As well as the similarities with Korkmaz, Kabak has also been compared to Sergio Ramos by none other than the Bundesliga’s own website, which also reveals that another of his idols is Virgil van Dijk. The popular football database/video-game, Football Manager, has him down as the next Alpay Özalan. All of this paints a picture of a player who is as tough as he is talented.
Though Liverpool are well known for the use of data in their recruitment, their process goes well beyond the numbers. They delve deep into the character and background of any player they think may have what it takes to join Klopp’s collective, and it would be no surprise to hear that Kabak ticks the right boxes.
The most detailed scouting and character report may well have come from Klopp’s close friend, David Wagner, who is head coach at Schalke.
At 6 foot 1, Kabak is slightly taller than Korkmaz, but still has that quickness and football ability that can make smaller defenders stand out, and often be more useful than a taller, more limited figure. These attributes will also be of use when playing in a high defensive line.
The Bundesliga has already released a showcase of his ‘Top 5 Tackles’, and while last-ditch tackles and blocks aren’t necessarily the things you first look for when judging a defender’s quality, they are handy tools to have.
Kabak is right-footed but can tackle with either foot, which can prevent the type of awkward positioning when going into challenges that can lead to fouls.
He averages just one foul per game for Schalke this season and has picked up just four yellow cards in each of the past two seasons, despite playing in busy defences. He is yet to be shown a red card.
He has played the majority of his short professional career to date as a right-sided centre-back, as shown in the graphic below from Smarterscout. Liverpool may see him as a potential partner to the left-sided Van Dijk, rather than as backup to the Dutchman.
His defending can be dogged, as his nod to Korkmaz indicates, but there is also a range of passing that can belie this, as well as a willingness to take players on and carry the ball out of defence. This will be tested further at Liverpool, but this is an area where the club’s recruitment team will have looked to the data as well as at the player’s technique.
He’s one of the best in the league when it comes to winning defensive duels, and this type of dominance is reflected in the radar below from FootballSlices. Kabak ranks above the 90th percentile for total aerial duels won as well as the percentage of aerial duels won, and also for tackles won.
He is strong in the air and on the ground, which can come in handy in both boxes. So far in his career, he has four goals with his head and two with his left foot.
He also shows up well for progressive passing, though this tendency to be proactive and forward-thinking in this area can result in a lower pass completion percentage and occasionally lead to him looking wasteful.
Though the number of duels won would drop in a team such as Liverpool who have much more possession than the likes of Schalke and Stuttgart, his passing stats should rise dramatically.
There is a willingness and ability to progress the ball, as shown by a medium pass (5-25 yards) accuracy of 90%, and a long pass (25+ yards) accuracy of 75% (FBref). Liverpool tend to mix their possession play with a fair few long balls, and Kabak has good aim when hitting upfield.
In terms of reliability, he played all but the final game of the season for Stuttgart after arriving in Germany from Galatasaray midway through the season, and ended up starting a total of 33 games across both clubs in the 2018/19 season—his first in senior football.
During the most recent campaign, he started 21 games, missing four through injury, He is generally reliable and also, perhaps surprisingly for a defender who only turned 20 in March, relied upon.
Kabak is likely to move to a Champions League club sooner or later, and Schalke’s financial situation means they would prefer it to be sooner. On making this move, he would need to adapt to being less active on the defensive side, improve his levels of concentration, and be more considered on the ball, but he has the tools to do so.
Whether this bigger club will be Liverpool remains to be seen, but in a market where the qualities needed to play centre-back at a big club are scarce, Kabak would be worth the gamble for Liverpool, where he would hope to become a regular partner for one of his idols, Van Dijk.
[/article]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesn...who-and-why-behind-the-story/?sh=461a497d22d2
[article]Born in Ankara, where his father worked in a prison, but hailing from Derik in the Mardin Province of southeast Turkey, Kabak is highly rated across Europe, not least at his current club who will see him as one of their most valuable assets as they look to escape financial trouble.
Like many rounded defenders, Kabak started out as a striker before dropping back to use his talents in defence. His performances at youth level for both Galatasaray and Turkey soon made scouts from across the continent sit up and take notice, or at least write a little less casually in their notebooks.
He is likely to have been on the radar of clubs such as Liverpool since captaining Turkey during qualifying for the 2017 UEFA European U17 Championships, and his quick ascent to regularly donning the royal blue of Schalke 04—one of the biggest clubs in Europe, albeit a struggling one—is testament to a strong mentality at a young age.
Kabak has cited the legendary Galatasaray defender Bülent Korkmaz as one of his idols. Korkmaz was nicknamed the ‘Great Captain’ and ‘Warrior’, which gives some indication as to the qualities the youngster is striving to emulate.
“I want to become one of the greats like my idol the legendary Galatasaray captain Bulent Korkmaz,” Kabak told Tam Saha magazine in 2018.
“I want to play for Galatasaray but I have a soft spot for the Premier League and in particular Manchester United.”
As well as the similarities with Korkmaz, Kabak has also been compared to Sergio Ramos by none other than the Bundesliga’s own website, which also reveals that another of his idols is Virgil van Dijk. The popular football database/video-game, Football Manager, has him down as the next Alpay Özalan. All of this paints a picture of a player who is as tough as he is talented.
Though Liverpool are well known for the use of data in their recruitment, their process goes well beyond the numbers. They delve deep into the character and background of any player they think may have what it takes to join Klopp’s collective, and it would be no surprise to hear that Kabak ticks the right boxes.
The most detailed scouting and character report may well have come from Klopp’s close friend, David Wagner, who is head coach at Schalke.
At 6 foot 1, Kabak is slightly taller than Korkmaz, but still has that quickness and football ability that can make smaller defenders stand out, and often be more useful than a taller, more limited figure. These attributes will also be of use when playing in a high defensive line.
The Bundesliga has already released a showcase of his ‘Top 5 Tackles’, and while last-ditch tackles and blocks aren’t necessarily the things you first look for when judging a defender’s quality, they are handy tools to have.
Kabak is right-footed but can tackle with either foot, which can prevent the type of awkward positioning when going into challenges that can lead to fouls.
He averages just one foul per game for Schalke this season and has picked up just four yellow cards in each of the past two seasons, despite playing in busy defences. He is yet to be shown a red card.
He has played the majority of his short professional career to date as a right-sided centre-back, as shown in the graphic below from Smarterscout. Liverpool may see him as a potential partner to the left-sided Van Dijk, rather than as backup to the Dutchman.
His defending can be dogged, as his nod to Korkmaz indicates, but there is also a range of passing that can belie this, as well as a willingness to take players on and carry the ball out of defence. This will be tested further at Liverpool, but this is an area where the club’s recruitment team will have looked to the data as well as at the player’s technique.
He’s one of the best in the league when it comes to winning defensive duels, and this type of dominance is reflected in the radar below from FootballSlices. Kabak ranks above the 90th percentile for total aerial duels won as well as the percentage of aerial duels won, and also for tackles won.
He is strong in the air and on the ground, which can come in handy in both boxes. So far in his career, he has four goals with his head and two with his left foot.
He also shows up well for progressive passing, though this tendency to be proactive and forward-thinking in this area can result in a lower pass completion percentage and occasionally lead to him looking wasteful.
Though the number of duels won would drop in a team such as Liverpool who have much more possession than the likes of Schalke and Stuttgart, his passing stats should rise dramatically.
There is a willingness and ability to progress the ball, as shown by a medium pass (5-25 yards) accuracy of 90%, and a long pass (25+ yards) accuracy of 75% (FBref). Liverpool tend to mix their possession play with a fair few long balls, and Kabak has good aim when hitting upfield.
In terms of reliability, he played all but the final game of the season for Stuttgart after arriving in Germany from Galatasaray midway through the season, and ended up starting a total of 33 games across both clubs in the 2018/19 season—his first in senior football.
During the most recent campaign, he started 21 games, missing four through injury, He is generally reliable and also, perhaps surprisingly for a defender who only turned 20 in March, relied upon.
Kabak is likely to move to a Champions League club sooner or later, and Schalke’s financial situation means they would prefer it to be sooner. On making this move, he would need to adapt to being less active on the defensive side, improve his levels of concentration, and be more considered on the ball, but he has the tools to do so.
Whether this bigger club will be Liverpool remains to be seen, but in a market where the qualities needed to play centre-back at a big club are scarce, Kabak would be worth the gamble for Liverpool, where he would hope to become a regular partner for one of his idols, Van Dijk.
[/article]
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I'm fairly sure whatever deals we do in the summer have already been pretty much fixed up (unless the Mbappe story turns out to be real). There's absolutely no way we'd abandon a planned summer deal for a hurried January signing (unless it meant signing a 'summer' target early).
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