We have apparently sealed the deal to gain a striker with an amazing goals on pitch difference and let go of one who does not. I've written about what Loic Remy did for Newcastle last season, when he was on the pitch, they were a much better side. In fact, had he played all 38 matches for the Magpies, they could have possibly finished with 66 points and ahead of Man United. Instead, they finished 10th with just 49.
How we got him for £6m less than we sold Borini is beyond me. Borini does not have the pace to be a star in the Prem. Sunderland may be the perfect fit for him as their 'grind it out' style better suits his game. I understand he is still 'young' by many standards, but even at 23, he's had his chance to prove he can be of value to a 'big' club like Liverpool. If he was smart, he'd go back to Italy, where 'technique' is favored over pace. That's called sarcasm, Serie A is far from technically superior to the Prem and uses that excuse to make up for it's home grown snail's pace.
If the rumours are true and we've added Remy, that makes three solid adds and one which, at best, will go done as 'meh'. If Lambert will just let the game come to him like he did at Southampton, he'll be a great contribution, but if he tries to force things, he won't see the pitch much and will be gone after this season. He's not the one I'm referring to as 'meh' though, if Loic Remy is worth only £8m, Lallana should have come on a free. Speaking of additions, Can was apparently injured today in our 2-1 win over Preston North End, I really hope he it's just a niggling and he'll be okay, we need him to compete for minutes pronto.
Speaking of that match, Jordon Ibe was apparently quite impressive. I didn't get to watch it due to other obligations, but I did get to see some of the highlights. This first video shows Ibe finding Suso right outside the box, then the Spaniard does his magic with a fine curler. The second video shows Ibe hooking up Kristoph Peterson for his second goal of the pre-season. Will Rodgers take the latter on the tour of the US now? It looks like he'll have an open spot now that Borini is gone.
Showing posts with label Fabio Borini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fabio Borini. Show all posts
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Alexis Sanchez for £20m is too good to be true
Though it's hard to believe anyone would offer £26m for Adam Lallana, what's even more unimaginable is Barcelona letting Alexis Sanchez go for only £20m. Considering that they paid £22m for him from Udinese, it is probably only media-created rubbish. According to SkySports, Barça has come out and said Sanchez is not for sale. Juventus apparently offered £12m for him, that's just insulting, but I bet Barcelona would have second thoughts if someone came in for £30m and would probably jump to sell at £35m. But is he worth it?
The thing about Sanchez is that he's a goal creating machine, not only for himself, but for his teammates as well. His chances created per 90 is only a 1.8, which is not bad, but his goals created per 90 is a solid 1.1. For some perspective, Suarez' gcp90 is 1.3 and Sturridge's is the same as Sanchez at 1.1. Adding the Chilean would be devastating to opponent's defenses as those three could average 3.5 goals created per match just by themselves.
He is also a deadly shooter. 52.8% of shots were on goal and 20% overall found the back of the net. He bettered both Suarez (44.8%) and Sturridge (42.4%) in the accuracy department, but Sturridge bettered him on shot percentage at 21.2 with Suarez having a very respectable 17.1%.
Sanchez does have his faults though, his back pass percentage is a horrid 63.7%, which means even his meager 79.7% passing rate is not even that good going forward. Also his TTI90 is 13, which would put him behind only Suarez among regular starters for Liverpool. Surprisingly though, he's a decent tackler with a per match rate of 2.2 and a success percentage of 47.6.
The bottom line is that Alexis Sanchez will not turn 26 until December, which means he has plenty of productive years in front of him. I don't think we'll try and buy him, but I don't see how it would hurt to put £25-28m on the table to see if they budge. We can add Borini and Assaidi to the deal, so we can save face when they sell them to Sunderland and Stoke at a discount.
The thing about Sanchez is that he's a goal creating machine, not only for himself, but for his teammates as well. His chances created per 90 is only a 1.8, which is not bad, but his goals created per 90 is a solid 1.1. For some perspective, Suarez' gcp90 is 1.3 and Sturridge's is the same as Sanchez at 1.1. Adding the Chilean would be devastating to opponent's defenses as those three could average 3.5 goals created per match just by themselves.
He is also a deadly shooter. 52.8% of shots were on goal and 20% overall found the back of the net. He bettered both Suarez (44.8%) and Sturridge (42.4%) in the accuracy department, but Sturridge bettered him on shot percentage at 21.2 with Suarez having a very respectable 17.1%.
Sanchez does have his faults though, his back pass percentage is a horrid 63.7%, which means even his meager 79.7% passing rate is not even that good going forward. Also his TTI90 is 13, which would put him behind only Suarez among regular starters for Liverpool. Surprisingly though, he's a decent tackler with a per match rate of 2.2 and a success percentage of 47.6.
The bottom line is that Alexis Sanchez will not turn 26 until December, which means he has plenty of productive years in front of him. I don't think we'll try and buy him, but I don't see how it would hurt to put £25-28m on the table to see if they budge. We can add Borini and Assaidi to the deal, so we can save face when they sell them to Sunderland and Stoke at a discount.
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