Every player has a price tag on him, the lot of you slated Nunez for his price tag so don´t expect leniency on Isak or Etikite for that matter. You slated Carroll as well, some of you even slated Anelka during his short time at Liverpool. Price tag does not matter, are you having laugh lads? It´s the biggest transfer of the premier league and there is pressure on both the management and the lad himself to perform, he needs to start and start delivering. There is no excuses, the fans do not care about him not having a pre-season and it was down to Isak himself to forfeit the pre-season. He needs to deliver and he needs to start delivering as soon as possible. I got no doubt in my mind that he will but that transition needs to happen where the players stop delivering to Salah´s best qualities and start delivering to Isak´s key attributes. We need more crosses into the box, we need to deliver the ball to Isak who can both finish and deliver a assist from inside the box but he is pretty useless if he nowhere near the box! The one striker that has shown any appetite is Etikite. I still think Gapko is overrated for his one basic move, I´ve only seen him approach the byline twice during his career here! He always cuts inside and that´s where the majority of his goals come from, it´s always against inferior teams. Diaz just wanted a contract to reflect his ability which is twice that of Gapko! I am happy with Etikite as a replacement but he needs one or two seasons from being ready for a season of 50 games. We sold our 2nd best player last season! It has not happened since FSG took over, the closest player was maybe Sakho and that was under a totally different scenario! This is the first time the club has sold a player entering into his prime instead of investing into him since FSG took over. I don´t even think Slot had anything to do with the decision as it was a moneyball decision for the other hierarchy at the club. I just think it was the wrong decision as I don´t think there has been a finer export from Colombia than Diaz for 30-40 years, he was a warrior on the pitch that could dribble past anyone, came up with more key moments for us than anyone else beside Salah during his time here.
Slot is still up against it, he will be under pressure for the rest of the season until he secures the champions league, he might even be sacked then if he fails to get out of the group stages again.
I think Nagelsmann after the World Cup is a prime target for the club, especially with less than 2 years on Slot´s contract. He seems to be the one man Klopp has pointed out as a predecessor in the case Slot goes and frankly unless Slot manages to win another title this season his job will be shaky at the start of next season. It´s a transition period for the club, the biggest one we have ever seen, the biggest one the league has ever seen actually. That transition is not up to Slot, it will happen no matter what! If he can´t manage the situation he will be gone next season, as I can only see a care-taker manager coming in to start with.
I just think it´s about time we trust our new forward line to come up with the goods, it has to happen sooner rather than later and if Isak can´t hack it then he can´t and Slot´s job will be on the line. He needs to play both Isak and Wirtz, he is under pressure to do so and both players are under pressure to perform as well.
Isak reminds me of when Crouch joined, Wirtz reminds me of when Bobby joined… You can see why we bought them, they are good players but they are not functioned yet.
That´s why I say until Salah leaves there will be a battle upfront between the players for the top striker position, it´s up to Wirtz to find that balance but we can not play to Salah´s strengths anymore. Especially with a new front line that needs a new direction… Isak needs to lead that new formation, Etikite needs to step up and be his rival while Wirtz balances it out… Salah is not in that picture and I doubt he will be happy as a squad player with limited game time so I would expect him to roll out in the summer time on happy terms with the whole fanbase, with oil money paying a minimal fee for him while he gets paid top dollar there.
No price tag… lol
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