- 6 weeks ago
With Mohamed Salah gone, Liverpool's summer transfer window has been a chaotic scramble to find a replacement. We break down the tactics of new manager Andoni Iraola and analyse the wildly different profiles of their targets to figure out what the club is actually looking for.
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00:00Liverpool appear to be in chaos mode. Mohamed Salah leaving this summer seems to have left
00:04a massive gap on their right-hand side. But what is it they actually want on that right wing? Is
00:09Mila Saar's output and speed, Yankouba Minta's width and directness, or a superstar to replace
00:15a superstar? Well, I'm Jacob Hallsfall, 442's resident tactician, and this is why Liverpool's
00:21summer has been so chaotic. To understand why Liverpool have chased the players that they
00:32have, we first got to look at how Irayola has been looking to use that right winger. Against
00:37Newcastle, we saw the two wingers have wildly different roles. Here, you can see the right
00:42winger is wide by the touchline rather than coming into this inside space with the ball
00:46on the left-hand side. And in fact, we saw the left winger actually the one who would drift
00:50narrow with the ball in that wide left space. The goal was to ideally leave the striker
00:552v1 between the two Newcastle centre-backs whilst occupying the left back with the right winger,
01:00meaning crosses to the back post were a 1v1 battle or midfielders could arrive at a space
01:05on the outskirts of the box unmarked. However, Liverpool had a box entry problem down their
01:10right-hand side. When Rio Ingramoa received on that right-hand side, he was unfamiliar with
01:15the dribbling angles, and he doesn't have that proper burst of acceleration to hit the byline,
01:20which is what that right winger kind of needs to do for Iriola. In fact, Ingramoa actually
01:24registered the lowest touches of any Liverpool start-up, with just 21 in that game. And I don't
01:29think that necessarily falls on Ingramoa. He's a top talent, he's a top player, but he's a top player
01:35at left wing, not off the right. Now, when Munoz came on, he was a better fit. Yeah, he's still
01:41one
01:41of the widest players on the pitch, but he has that burst of acceleration to burst past his marker,
01:45gets the ball, and then his first intention is to go direct, straight forward toward the goal.
01:51And obviously, in this instance, he ended up winning a penalty. But Munoz is still young,
01:55and he's come off the back of his first ever full season in professional football,
01:59one in which he scored seven goals in 36 appearances across all competitions.
02:03So, that output isn't enough to replace what Mohamed Salah brought to Liverpool for so many years,
02:09which leads us to the Reds' recruitment. Liverpool have gone from Yandiyamande to Yankouba Minca to
02:19Ismaila Saar, who are all wildly different profiles. So, I want to really look into all three of them,
02:25and try and identify what Liverpool seem to actually be looking for. The player traits diagram of all
02:30three wingers are entirely different. Saar is a high-volume shooter and goal scorer. Minca is a hard
02:36worker who creates chances through take-ons, and Yandiyamande is a chance creation machine who
02:41fashions his own shooting opportunities. Ismaila Saar wants to get into these central areas between
02:46the opposition's full-back and centre-back, whilst his wing partner comes high to occupy the opposition
02:51defence, allowing Saar to remain on the centre-back's blindside and act as almost a poacher inside the
02:56box. But, when it comes to him, it seems that Liverpool have potentially left it too late, and
03:00Palace aren't going to be open to letting him go. Yankouba Minca is then a little bit different.
03:05Instead, he stays wide and uses body feints to engage his defender, then beat him and deliver
03:10early balls into the box. Again, this one feels like Liverpool have come in too late yet again,
03:15and therefore, it's unlikely that Brighton let him leave. Then, Yandiyamande, who drips relatively
03:20freely between the wings and the central space, but will try, receive, and carry inward toward goal,
03:25skipping past multiple players to find his own angle for a shot. In this case, Liverpool simply lost
03:30out because Real Madrid came in, and that's completely valid. There's no shame in losing out on a
03:34player to Real Madrid. However, there is some shame in the fact that all three of them targets that
03:39we've mentioned are entirely different profiles. So, finding the logic behind who they are trying
03:45to find is actually quite hard. Yankouba Minca would be perfect as this sort of wide withholder,
03:50as he is for Brighton here. Because of Irayola's football being so vertical, Minca would get
03:55himself into these 1v1s consistently, and he has the ability to skin his man and get into big
03:59spaces inside the opposition's box. However, the fact it's Brighton and we're in the stage
04:04window we are, means that Yankouba Minca would cost a ridiculous amount of money, or maybe Brighton
04:08wouldn't even sell. But I do think he would be worth it for Liverpool. Only Ily Manendiai and Jeremy
04:14Doku completed more take-ons than the Gambian winger last season, whilst only Spurs and City attempted
04:19more take-ons than Irayola's Bournemouth. So, off that right wing, holding the width and combining
04:24with Frimpong, or one of those midfielders, in a beautiful trifecta, would be lovely for
04:29Liverpool. Now, the other option that is realistic right now, because we know Yandy Amande went to
04:34Madrid, yada yada yada, but is Melia Sarr has come out today, as the time of recording, as the favourite
04:39for that move. And to me, it screams panic buy. As we've established, he's someone who finds himself
04:45on the inside, operating as a second striker, really. In fact, last season, for every 17 touches
04:50Sarr took, he had one shot on goal. And that's his bread and butter. Minimal touches, maximum
04:55shots. Now, Sarr and Salah have their own similarities, I think. Both of them find themselves in a sort
05:00of centre-forward poacher position here, where they can latch on to rebounds and score. But
05:05the problem is, and I'm not comparing them quality-wise, but we're saying in sort of those
05:08box instincts, the minimal touches, maximum shot sort of way of playing, Sarr and Sarr do
05:13have them similarities. But the problem is, Liverpool don't need a Mo Salah-type player
05:19anymore. And Onir Ayola's football is built for something different. Instead, we need
05:23someone who's going to be explosive, can be really, really secure with the ball, but
05:27also direct 1v1 threat. And obviously, the goals, the output, is also of importance as
05:33well. For me, Sarr in that right-wing position just doesn't make sense, because then they'd
05:36have him and Gakpo, who are both wingers who, for me, don't move the needle in possession.
05:41Instead, they're both basically second strikers, want to get in the final third. So it just
05:45wouldn't make sense. Which gives us the question of, well, what should they do?
05:53With the window closing shortly, I do expect Liverpool to wrap up a deal for someone in
05:58the coming days. Now, someone like Bradley Barcola has been consistently mentioned throughout
06:02this full window. And in fairness, I do actually think someone like Barcola plus Ismail
06:07Yassar would work really, really well. But I do get the feeling it's one or the other.
06:11Throughout Barcola's career, he's been a left winger, playing over 60 of his 128 games
06:16at left wing. But he has also featured at right wing 25 times. And with his technical level
06:22being so high, and his ability to either smash home on his left foot, or bend one into the
06:27corner on his right foot, it does mean he can be an asset off of either wing. And I think
06:31as a pure footballer, he would be one of the best attackers in the league. Now, this position
06:36would be slightly new to him, where he finds himself as the withholder on the right. But he
06:40can also identify the space that opens up the direct passing angles that Iriola loves to be
06:45played. Whilst also as we've established with Barcola by that touchline, we've seen it so
06:50many times, he can be almost anyone in the dribble. He's so secure technically, he's still
06:55got that burst of acceleration that I think he would really work out there for Iriola.
06:59However, Barcola is a left winger, and for what would be over 120 million euros, why would
07:05you play him out of position? Surely you want him as that left winger in his best position
07:09for that sort of feat? It just wouldn't make sense to throw him out on the right. Would
07:13it?
07:16The problem Liverpool have is that in the right wing market right now, trying to find a relatively
07:21young, pacey, goal-scoring, direct, good in the dribble winger is either impossible to
07:27find, or them players are costing you ridiculous fees. Clubs like Man City found market opportunities
07:34in Ryan Shirky. Arsenal invested in one of their own through Bakayo Saka. But Liverpool
07:39weren't necessarily able to do that, because I feel like they were almost blindsided, or
07:43maybe caught off guard, by what happened to their long-standing right winger. Before
07:47last season, Mohamed Salah was still on top of the world. His decline, combined with the
07:52off-the-pitch issues with Arne Slaughter, meant they probably were losing someone who they
07:58thought they would have for another 18 months yet, so their preparation for his departure was
08:02probably scheduled to start this summer. But because they thought he was staying, and he's
08:07left, they're now in no man's land. So now, this team, and the serious quality that it
08:12does have in certain positions, like Jeremy Jacqui and Van Dijk, if you want to talk about
08:15Dominic Sobber's line, I still think Florian Virts potentially has something to offer long-term.
08:20But it doesn't have a feasible right winger. It doesn't have a right winger that can get
08:24them competing at the top table again. And that makes them vulnerable. Palace and Brighton
08:29know that Liverpool are scrambling a little bit. They know that Liverpool are in chaos mode.
08:32So they're going to ask for more for Yankouba Minta or Ismail Assar. And at least Liverpool
08:36are in a tough position. So who do you think they are going to get before the end of window?
08:41Will it be Yankouba Minta through the door, Ismail Assar? Will it be Bradley Park goaler
08:44at right wing? Let me know. Because whoever it is, we'll more than likely be here on the
08:49442 channel to analyse them and let you know how they fit into Andoni-Irayola's plans.
08:53So if you have enjoyed today's video, leave a like and subscribe. We really do appreciate
08:57it. And as I say, we'll be back again next week with more...
08:59more good analysis.
09:02more good analysis.
09:02more good まず
09:03more bad in all
09:03more good analysis