15 Dec 2017 10:39:04
Discussion point.

Does anybody else think Solanke and Origi would work as a 2 man strike partnership? Both are very young, technically good, powerful, direct, but both also look better with a strike partner.

Could be a real battering ram option for next season.

{Ed002's Note - You think Origi will be back then?}


1.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 10:56:18
Yeah, they'd be great together.

For West Ham.


2.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 11:24:15
Bit harsh Ron? Origi was excellent at times.


3.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 11:21:16
I'm not sure Ed002, it was just a point for discussion to be honest. I think there will be a lot of teams willing to offer him first team football. He is a decent striker and people forget how young he is. It would be a shame for us to lose him. Especially as Sturridge, Ings and Brewster will all probably leave, as he might get more chances then. He's doing well in Germany though. He got nominated for rookie player of the month last week, so i expect Wolfsburg will want to make it a permanent deal.

Ron, i think that's a bit harsh. Solanke got nominated for the European Golden boy award and fired England u20's to a victory at a World Cup. Origi has already scored for us and Belgium in massive games. Has your account been hacked? You're a savage nowadays 😂 I'm not suggesting they're ready to be first choice, but if a team was sitting deep and stifling Salah, Firmino and Mane it would be great to throw Origi and Solanke on for half an hour to cause havoc. They're both powerful and direct.

{Ed002's Note - Wolfsburg will want to keep him and he wants to stay in Germany. I doubt he has any future under Klopp.}


4.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 11:41:36
Origi and Solanke have great potential, I just can't see them working together personally but would be interesting to see it. How is Origi's loan spell doing?


5.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 12:11:09
Personally I think Ings is more suited to our play than Origi and should be ahead of solanke as he’s proven although hopefully solanke fulfills his potential.


6.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 12:41:02
I don't disagree with that to be fair Pegleg. Though i think Solanke is a better prospect, Ings is the better player currently based on what I've seen from him in the u23's.

I think Ings and Sturridge will leave though, maybe as soon as January. At their age, they should be playing regular football and that just won't happen for us.

I think it'll be up to Origi and Ed002 has now told us he wants to stay in Germany so i expect that will happen. To answer the question, Origi has been impressing steadily in Germany. They are a country who know how to nurture young talent as well so it would be a good career move for him.

If we lose Sturridge (West Ham? ), Ings (Newcastle? ) Origi (Wolfsburg? ) and Brewster (Dortmund? ) in the summer/ January then i think we might cause ourselves problems. Although they're not regulars, we'd need to replace them with at least one player for squad depth. Firmino, Solanke, Salah, Woodburn, Mane and Chamberlain looks a little bit light to me. We'd forever be one injury away from a crisis. Perhaps Wilson or Ojo could step up though to be fair.


7.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 12:44:00
I’d rather see Solanke play with someone like Firmino or Salah - someone who can feed off his hold up play, has clever movement and also pull into the wide areas as required.


8.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 13:02:16
I'd love to see him playing regularly alongside Firmino, Mane and Salah to be fair Grobs24. Coutinho isn't exactly trying right now so he has games where he just can't be bothered, like West Brom. Solanke will put in a shift in every game though. He's not as good, but at least we won't have players relying on a Coutinho who only shows up when he feels like it!


9.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 13:10:45
Grobs24, with Ings he’s the closest player to firmino with his work ethic although he’s not at the same skill level. But but where Ings will make up for it he has an eye for goal which is the only thing lacking from firmino’s game. For me if I was rotating firmino with anyone it would be Ings as from what I’ve seen of him, and I watched him at Burnley he’d fit in if he can stay fit.


10.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 14:00:38
It's all about expectations MKS. A front 2 of Origi and Solanke next season is not going to help us challenge Man City for the title.

We need to upgrade our first team, not stick some 20yr olds with potential in.


11.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 13:52:05
The only player ever to score a hattrick without trying?


12.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 14:13:01
I'm with MK I really like Origi, scored some impressive goals (remember the 2 against Dortmund) he has good qualities, pace, good finishing, shame to see him go, hope he does well.


13.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 14:34:29
I see your point Ron. However, Messi, Owen, Fowler, Jesus, Rashford and Kane all got their chances at 18-21 years old and never looked back. As others have pointed out, Origi has already scored big European goals for us, a hat trick, a Derby goal, and even a world cup goal for Belgium. He's not as bad as you are suggesting. Solanke was nominated in the top 25 kids in Europe according to the Golden Boy award shortlist so he can't be a bad player either!

Plus I never suggested they be first choice. Just an alternative "option" to the complicated and intricate play which doesn't seem to work every time against banked up defences.


14.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 14:54:01
Ok, well I'll repeat, if we're using them in the first team together we are not going to be challenging for the league.

Apart from Messi, how many of the players you mention have been contributing to title winning teams as youngsters? Jesus at a stretch.


15.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 15:13:16
At this point I'd love the kids to be given a couple years to develop as a team In the hope that we'd improve season on season, not to mention our finances would start improving. That said, it would simply never happen for many many reasons but throwing money at our deficiencies hasn't brought us great success.


16.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 15:13:45
Jesus at a stretch? How very Christmassy of you.


17.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 16:29:58
Whilst you are correct that none of them played in title winning teams, I'm not sure you can pin the lack of success on them. Fowler scored 36 goals at 19 years of age. We didn't win the league with him because the other 10 players weren't good enough. It was nothing to do with Fowlers age.

I think you're being close minded about this. Age is irrelevant. If you're good enough, you're old enough. You keep banging on about Derby games. Well City won the Manchester Derby with Sterling, Jesus and Sane starting up front. They are 22, 19 and 21.

Dortmund took the league title off of Bayern Munich with a 22 year old Lewandowski supported by an 18 year old Gotze as well.

Age really is irrelevant mate. If we don't give Solanke a fair chance, we'll just ruin his career and have wasted our chance at developing a top talent who could potentially lead our line for a decade. Solanke and Gomez are the best u21 players I've seen at Liverpool in my life time. I will be infuriated if we waste their talent because we're impatient or scared to give them a chance.


18.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 17:57:34
Very well said MK - sometimes you need to give special young talent the opportunity to settle, not just a game here and there. It’s painful in the short term as they’ll be inconsistent but you’ll reap the rewards later once they are integrated and the confidence is up.

I think Solanke and Woodburn are two of these, just like Gomez was a few months ago and now our best defender. Brewster may well be another in time.


19.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 22:02:52
MKS : they are not good enough, that's the point.

They are good enough at a certain level but they are not at the level we need to progress - yet.

If you think they are then ask yourself if you think Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Man City, PSG would sign them?
Solanke has been let go by Chelsea ( KdB, Lukaku and Salah were sold, not let go) and Origi is missing open goals from 1 yard out.


20.) 15 Dec 2017
15 Dec 2017 23:15:59
Ron, football esp. with youth does not work that way as it is not an exact science. If you think the kid is the real deal, then you have to play him and give him time to progress as inconsistency is part of the learning process. We are doing the exact thing with Gomez and TAA and they are improving w/ every passing day. Whether they would make it at RM, Barcelona or whatever is irrelevant, IMO.

We will never know if they are good enough until you actually play them. Saying they are not good enough cos they are young and inconsistent, is wrong and slating Origi (I watch Origi a lot in Germany and I have not seen him do that this season and he has scored 5 goals already) and Solanke (who many were happy with at first BUT are now getting on his back) does not help either. If you don't allow a young player time to settle and improve, you don't deserve the player you want him to become, plain and simple.


21.) 16 Dec 2017
16 Dec 2017 03:01:53
Mk you need to look at this a different way mate! . Yes big Dom might be rated this and that but understand that is against other kids it's a whole different story when your playing with men pal.
Up to now solanke has done nothing when playing against men, imo mate ron is right you need to stop bringing his daft accolades up ad the really are pointless mate.
This has surprised me as you tend to write good stuff and your points of view are usually bang on but this well the less said the better unfortunately bud.


22.) 16 Dec 2017
16 Dec 2017 09:55:56
It was against RB Leipzig BRover.

It's on the BBC website under the title
"Origi's embarrassing miss for Wolfsburg"


23.) 16 Dec 2017
16 Dec 2017 10:08:10
We need to look at why we are so inconsistent and what other teams are doing better than we are.
Are City developing young players in their first team?
Are Chelsea developing young players in their first team?

If you want to continue, as we are, as Spurs and Arsenal are, then by all means do it.
If you want to win things, you have to look to improve. You have to sign players to improve the first team.
Continuously "developing" young players in the first team is something we've done for the last 25 years with no success in the league and with continuing lack of consistency. It's no coincidence.


24.) 16 Dec 2017
16 Dec 2017 11:17:34
Ok Ron, I stand corrected as I did not watch that game (I know I missed something) . Strikers miss open goals all the time even the best ones, so not to bothered with that esp. with a young player still learning the CF position which is hardest to learn as a youth player. We are already better than City and Chelsea in developing young players into the first team. We are now progressing towards making them mainstays in the team and that is the next step.

Signing players to improve the first team is what every team/ manager tries to do so preaching to the choir on that one. As it stand, we are in the Spurs and Arsenal category as we will NEVER be spending 300m every season like City do or 200m every season like Utd do. Those are the facts and if anyone has issues with that then yeah, they are supporting the wrong club. We are doing a Spurs right now and they seem to be improving every season since Poch was there. Klopp and the owners are trying to do the same here and there will be bumps on the road. You keep the faith and believe in what you are trying to do. That is the reality.


25.) 16 Dec 2017
16 Dec 2017 12:12:39
The reality is Spurs, like us, have gone over 2 and a half decades without winning the league.
What have Spurs won by developing players in the first team?
What have City and Chelsea won by not developing young players IN THE FIRST TEAM - a lot!

Chelsea and City have realised that if you develop players by playing them in the first team you will not win anything.
Last player we successfully developed in our first team was Sterling. What happened there? He went to City when we'd finished "developing him" and won loads.
A team that develops young players in the first team is a "stepping stone" club. That's why we've got Solanke.