Men's Soccer (Football) Thread Soccer • Page 316

gakpgoat

 

That jink and pass from Schouten in the build up was top class.

Bad goalkeeping though.

 

It's definitely not Koeman who has put Gakpo in his favoured LW role!

 

Yo, another guy from Munich on chorus??

 

I don't really begrudge Klopp for trying to get more tactical flexibility out of Gakpo by trying to recreate the Firmino false 9 role at times or shoehorn Gakpo into midfield (particularly early last season) when Jones was injured and before we brought in Gravenberch and Endo.

We know Klopp loves pacy wingers and values workrate, which Diaz decisively has over Gakpo. Diaz is closer to Sadio Mane than Gakpo is in terms of energy expenditure. And Gakpo unfortunately has a tendency to ghost games and look knackered without explanation. But I am a certified Diaz doubter with respect to final third decision-making and goals/assist output. For my money (and without looking at the data, so maybe I am catastrophically off), Gakpo is one of the better finishers at the club. And if he doesn't finish a chance, at least his shot isn't way over the bar. His shot selection is better, keeps the ball more on target.

Looking at the decisive goal in the 4-3 win against Fulham last season, Gakpo takes a shot at the edge of the box that he keeps low, causing the keeper to parry away, which Darwin follows up with a floated cross across the box, falls to Trent, who puts it away for the win. Gakpo's ability to keep a shot low and on target is a stand out trait for me. Diaz, for all his ability to carry a ball and dribble, skys shots way too often and, imo, is just not a killer when it comes to putting away chances.

My biggest gripe with Gakpo (and Gravenberch, coincidentally) is that he does not use his size effectively. He's huge but seems to be get bullied off the ball, particularly when receiving the ball with back to goal, way more than I'd like.

This is probably more of a response than desired lol. Koeman is a name I've heard of but know really nothing about

tldr: I'd love to see more of Gakpo on the left for Liverpool

 

Nah, I enjoyed your insight. As an Everton fan, I obviously won't be wishing him too well lol, but as a football fan I hope he finds his feet and is used properly by Slot. I catch quite a few PSV/Feyenoord games as they are usually early kick-offs on a Sunday that don't clash with Premier League games (this is the major reason I miss a lot of live Bundesliga fwiw) so I've seen a bit of BOTH Slot and Gakpo over the years.

 

i wish! just a bayern fan. i did get a chance to visit munich this past december and absolutely LOVED it. got to catch two games as well, one at allianz and the other in wolfsburg. what an awesome city and country.

 

I am glad u enjoyed my hometown! Most beautiful city in the world

I am a fan of tsv 1860 munich though :-D (third league). My father in law is a die hard bayern fan and it took him years to accept me haha

 

That was an absolutely terrible yellow and stoppage of play. Maybe the break wasn't on for Romania as much as it looked because everyone stopped, but that was not even close to contact, let alone a high boot.

EDIT - and now Netherlands have their 2nd. Not they haven't been the better team but it only takes a moment for things to turn.

 

Romania defenders sleeping

 

Damn, poor from Dragusin but that feels unfair coming after that decision.

 

I'm also now just realizing it could be be Austria Netherlands again... I thought that group opponents were kept away from each other until a final. I guess that whole 3rd placed thing really messes things up. (Assuming Turkey don't get an upset). I mean it was obvious from the bracket but just didn't click.

 

That's the Branthwaite replacement sorted in shirt sales

 

Watching the rest of the knock outs, England were the worst team by far to win and it's a low bar for Austria or Turkey to clear. 3 games in a row with little to no improvement. 70% possession and a single shot on target in stoppage time means you're not even trying to fix what's not working which is chance creation.

Netherlands looked very good here, so have Austria, so if England somehow get past the Swiss, danger ahead. I had genuine hopes against Slovakia for a different type of team, but I have none of that for Saturdays game. Especially going in as an underdog on form. Yes - the Swiss don't have tournament pedigree, but they have always been a decent side that's playing very well at the moment.

 

Fab doing that thing where he only mentions specific clubs for a player when there are definitely other big clubs in for said player. In this case it’s Calafiori.

Only mentioned Chelsea for a bit. And it was really odd reporting. He said there was zero approach, no talks, nothing. Just interest from Chelsea. Now he’s lumped Arsenal into the mix. Still very vague reporting overall.

Meanwhile, multiple reliable reports out of London that Spurs are interested. Have been for the past year. Ben Jacobs even saying that Spurs are the most interested and have done most legwork so far. Nothing from Fab.

Obviously, it’s going to be a race for him. And no telling where he ends up. But I’ve just noticed this kind of stuff from Fab in recent windows. Messi to Miami was the biggest example. Refused to acknowledge it as a possibility until it happened.

 

Romano really isn't top tier anymore, these days he's assured given his wealth and therefore his standards have slipped. If I were you, I'd just view him as a transfer influencer (something he confirmed on Linekar's podcast) that gets fed info by agents to be promoted to his legion of followers. Stick to the local, indiependent types in London for Spurs (namely Gold and O'Keefe). Ornstein for the big stories.

 

What a start!

 

We're feasting tonight.

 

I’m terrible at predictions.

Hungary was my sleeper team at the start. They were knocked out of groups.

Then I pick Austria as my team to make a deep run out of the “weak” side. They give up a goal in first minute.

 

the braids are not a good look on my man Sabi

 

Just dawned on me I saw my local Turkish barber carrying a crate out of the store I was at today. I bet he's leathered already.

 

Didn’t he then go on to basically tweet “Yeah but he’s going Juventus” lol? I wonder if Bologna are trying to simply get more cash from Juve. If an Italian player wants Juve, and Juve want him, it's a lost cause for anyone else.

I can’t stand Romano. He’s VERY clearly paid by certain clubs, Chelsea being one of them, to sway opinion and hype up young players they have signed.

 

Those fans who look depressed on TV but suddenly chirp up when they see themselves are bipolar, right?

 

Talking of TV, is this really not on free-to-air TV in Germany? @orangehorizon

 

I’ve seen a lot of talk about Juventus being out due to financial stuff. But that’s hard for me to believe. Calafiori to Juve seems like the easiest move for all involved. And I won’t be surprised at all if that’s where he ends up. But there’s definitely some chatter that it isn’t a slam dunk.