Not necessarily a good news for the National Team. Doan is holding the fort at PSV but Nakajima is getting rusty and Minamino might (will) be in the same situation soon.
why would I be excited about a player I don't rate? even Saku rates or rated him higher than I ever did
I thought you will be excited at Hwang moving to a big European club given that you are a South Korea NT fan.
so? i'm also half japanese and support JNT. Hwang and Doan are in the same bracket for me. just runners. brawns.. nothing more.
If Minamino really joins Liverpool in a winter transfer window, I think he is used mainly as a backup at best. At first his main competitors are Shaqiri or Chambelain, not the beasts in the main front 3. (especially Shaqiri, if he's any good, Kloop doesn't need to by Minamino at the first place. And if Minamino couldn't compete with an aging Shaqiri for a spot in the bench, he should be worried) After that for longer future, he should be patient. Quality players like Fabinho, Naby Keita needed ~1 year to be fully integrated in Kloop's system. The interesting thing is whether Kloop sees Minamino as just a mere versatile player to backup for all positions in front 3, or does he actually want to 'update' his system. In current Liverpool team, the 3 midfielders are all workhorse type, in order to allow the front 3 and the 2 fullbacks to focus on the attacks. However, some fans are critics their midfield for being too rigid. If Kloop really wants to switch back to 4213 aka his early Dortmund style, Minamino is an ideal AMF behind the CF like how Kloop used to utilize Kagawa. But in this way, he risks to expose his fullbacks and has to modify his midfielders too much.
Klopp on Minamino: "There's nothing else to say about it. We only talk when any transfer is sorted. He's a very good player but there are a lot of very good players in the Salzburg team." #LFC— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 13, 2019
Assist for Okugawa in the last match before the winter break: 奥川雅也がダカのゴールをアシスト!! pic.twitter.com/wGKgD3ykJB— yukisanga (@yukisanga) December 14, 2019 Minamino wasn’t part of this match’s squad, as it was the case with Håland. Most probably they are being rested in fear of injuries that might risk their pending transfers in the January transfer window.
Minamino, Norway dude and Korean dude were not even on the bench. Maybe they simply choose to give the starters some day of vacation as a bonus for their good first half season? Anyway that Klopp's answer is a clear lye.
Here we go.. Minamino will undergo a medical today and he’s also going to sign his contract as new Liverpool player on next hours. Klopp is waiting for him. January is coming - Takumi to #LFC too.Totally confirmed 🔴✍🏻 https://t.co/rjMjTab20P— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 18, 2019
He passed the medical test at Liverpool: Takumi Minamino has passed his medical and will sign for Liverpool on January 1st for a fee of £7.25million. #LFC— TC (@TransferChecker) December 18, 2019
Klopp asked about the signing of Minamino: "Is it official yet? No. Oh, I can't speak about it. We have to wait for that one, sorry" #LFC— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 18, 2019
Jürgen Klopp on Takumi Minamino: "I would've felt really good today to be honest if we could have brought him on. He’s not yet our player so we have to wait"Official confirmation of the deal expected before the weekend...#LFC https://t.co/wn2AUpCEek— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) December 18, 2019
Okugawa scored again in the game against Salzburg's biggest contenders for the title, LASK, but they lost the game, and are now second with one point behind their rivals. 9 goals & 6 assists in 22 games for him this season so far.