Liverpool man is two games in and already ‘best midfield buy of the summer’
This is Liverpool so this means more. Forget Sandro Tonali or James Maddison, Dominik Szoboszlai has been crowned after dominating Bournemouth.
This means more giddiness
A week on from his rigorous defence of Liverpool’s transfer dealings, the Daily Mirror‘s David Maddock is back to tell us – two games in – that Dominik Szoboszlai’s performances have ‘suggested he could be the best midfield buy of a simply insane Premier League summer transfer window’.
Hmmm. Sandro Tonali, James Maddison and James Ward-Prowse already want a word.
Szoboszlai was excellent against Bournemouth but even the gloriously partisan Liverpool Echo admitted that the second half was a ‘slog’ against Chelsea the week before. It doesn’t sound like enough evidence to make him the midfield buy of the summer.
Like Haaland, a release clause in Szoboszlai’s contract allowed him to leave RB Leipzig for below the current market value for a world class midfielder.
Chelsea paid almost twice as much for Enzo Fernandez and then Moises Caicedo, Manchester United almost half as much again for the ageing Casemiro.
Now we have previously had a little fun with the concept of Scouse maths but this takes things to a new level; Szoboszlai cost £60m, Caicedo cost an initial £100m and Casemiro cost £60m, which maths fans will note is exactly the same as £60m.
Yet within two games of joining Liverpool, he has already shown the rich promise that has every coach who’s worked with him raving about his talent…and suggested he could be the best midfield buy of a simply insane Premier League summer transfer window.
Mediawatch eagerly awaits the explosion when he contributes a goal or an assist.
Insane in the membrane
Elsewhere on the Mirror, who have no qualms about leaning into Liverpool fandom in the knowledge that no true Reds fan will read The Sun…
Chelsea’s “insane” reaction to Liverpool’s Moises Caicedo transfer bid speaks volumes
Did Chelsea have an “insane” reaction? Nope. Did they think that Liverpool’s Moises Caicedo bid was “insane”? According to the Athletic then yes. Which is a very, very different thing,
Just don’t even attempt to understand how any of this ‘speaks volumes’; it’s just a catch-all phrase that the Mirror have taken to including in football headlines. Presumably because it ‘works’.
From the last few days alone:
Chelsea’s “insane” reaction to Liverpool’s Moises Caicedo transfer bid speaks volumes
Ivan Toney admission speaks volumes after he mocked Arsenal and Mikel Arteta responded
Alexis Mac Allister’s reaction to red card speaks volumes amid “dream” Liverpool claim
David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale’s unseen moments speak volumes during Arsenal win
Inter Miami manager’s comments on Lionel Messi’s mood speak volumes after star’s PSG rant
William Saliba’s gesture to Jurrien Timber after injury blow speaks volumes
Ange Postecoglou’s verdict on Richarlison speaks volumes after Antonio Conte row
Literal volumes of sh*t.
This means <
‘Jurgen Klopp set to make £106m move as new Liverpool direction becomes clear’ is the headline on the Liverpool Echo that you are absolutely supposed to believe is about a transfer ‘move’ (*click*) when actually, the ‘£106m move’ is that Liverpool could field an all-new midfield against Newcastle on Sunday. Duh.
It’s all largely harmless filler content but this angle really did make Mediawatch lose its coffee…
Despite having only signed on Friday – and appeared for around half-an-hour the following day – Endo is the sole proven defensive midfielder in the Liverpool squad and can expect a full debut on Tyneside.
But he won’t be alone in still adapting to his new surrounds. Szoboszlai’s excellent home bow against Bournemouth was only his second game in English football, while Mac Allister’s dismissal means that, while well-versed in Premier League competition, he has fewer than two competitive appearances for Liverpool, both of which were in an unaccustomed number six role.
‘Fewer than two’? He has literally played twice for Liverpool. Scouse maths is losing its effing mind.
Rash decision
Over in the Manchester Evening News, Samuel Luckhurst is bemoaning Marcus Rashford playing at centre-forward for Manchester United.
The ‘debate’ over Rashford’s role ended seven years ago. He had to fill in up front on high-profile occasions (the 2017 Europa League final and 2018 FA Cup final when Ibrahimovic and Lukaku were injured) but his shift to the left under Louis van Gaal and his denuding of Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold under Mourinho reaffirmed he was a wide raider.
And yet Erik ten Hag has persisted with him at the tip of a blunt arrow. Rashford claimed a career-best haul of 30 goals last season as a left winger. Now he is firing blanks as a striker.
It’s true that Rashford has looked poor in two whole games as a striker this season but Mediawatch has some pesky facts.
1) Marcus Rashford played 19 games as a centre-forward last season.
2) 11 of his goals came from that position.
The last of those 11 goals came in April against Tottenham. Is this you, Samuel?
Led the line impressively before he scored and his goal highlighted the variations he has added to his game. His switch to the wing to accommodate Anthony Martial was ill-advised.
It seems that the ‘debate’ over Rashford’s role hadn’t even ended four months ago, never mind seven years.
Blunder bust
You might remember that on Tuesday, England’s women were cast as villains when they did not go through the normal arrivals hall at Heathrow Airport, just like every other returning England side ever.
Now The Sun have a follow-up:
‘WE DIDN’T REALISE’ England Women’s World Cup hero Georgia Stanway breaks silence on FA airport blunder and says ‘it’s hard for us’
‘FA airport blunder’? It was literally standard protocol.