10 Nov 2014

'We're in contact': BR confirms 'monster' €12m star will sign-in at LFC 'next summer'

After a decent start to the season, €12m summer-signing Divock Origi now seems to be struggling to consistently score/create goals for Lille, but the ridiculous hype just keeps on coming, and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers seems undeterred by the young striker's current barren spell.

In recent weeks, the 19-year old has been hailed as:

* Potentially 'world class' by Brendan Rodgers.

* A 'monster' talent by Man City captain Vincent Kompany.

* Potentially one of 'Europe's greats' by Lille boss Rene Girard.

* The 'complete package' with 'no weak spots' by Simon Kjaer.

Wow. Origi must be tearing it up in Ligue One to attract this kind of messianic praise, right? Well, no, actually. His stats this season:

* 4 goals/2 assists in 17 appearances.
* Goal every 324 mins (1 every 3.6 games)
* 7 games without a goal (last goal: 2 October)

Origi's stats are fine for a developing 19-year old striker, but the ongoing hype - which is counter-productive, irresponsible nonsense - makes it sound like he's some kind of prodigious goal-machine, which isn't the case at all.

Still, Rodgers continues to bang the drum. In an interview last week, he hailed Origi as a 'wonderful' player, and outlined how he keeps tabs on the youngster's progress. He noted:

“He's a big talent, and we’re in contact, which is great. I get all of his games downloaded, analyse them and then feedback to him on areas he can improve, so when he comes into here next summer he’s prepared".

The improvement tips don't appear to be working as Origi has now gone seven games without a goal. Perhaps Rodgers should scale back to the advice, and just allow Lille's management team to guide his development?

Also, Rodgers specifically states that the Origi will come in 'next summer', which appears to rule out any chance of a heavily-mooted January return.

There's an obvious parallel here with Raheem Sterling, who is also struggling to maintain top form at the moment. Like Origi, Sterling (also 19) is in the midst of a barren spell (no goals since 20th September), and he's also the subject of endless sycophantic praise, much of which originates from Brendan Rodgers.

In my view, part of Rodgers' job is (or should be) to take the pressure off the likes of Sterling and Origi, but with his endless overhype, he ultimately achieves the exact opposite.

Author:


39 comments:

  1. is it just me or has the standards in premier dropped.... chelsea have the title in the bag they are the only team with a game plan this will be the easiest title ever well before you say "anyone can beat anyone in this league" look at the champions league places no other team but chelsea have realistic chance of winning it there is no tactics, strategy just run will the ball 100mph and shoot teams will out think and out play with good tactics in europe and i am including arsenal and man city in this!!!

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  2. I think you're right. This seems to be one of those years where all top teams bar one are under-performing. Kind of like Fergie's last season, when a poor Man United team still managed to win the league.

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  3. I liked what I saw of him against Everton(the first game, I didn't see the second).
    I don't think there is anything wrong with saying something like "He is a big talent". But some of the praise is a bit OTT.

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  4. I can't see how praising young talent has led to there dips in form. It's normal for this to happen to young players no matter how good they are. Only the mentally strong can make it at top clubs and if the praise is too much for them then they were never going to make it anyway. The praise that has come for Origi has come from many different sources. They were asked a question and gave their honest opinion. What's wrong with that?

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  5. If you can't see the potential problems relating to inflated egos, entitlement, complacency, and inflated sense of self-worth (in terms of development), then there's no point discussing the issue.

    Rodgers et al should be more responsible with their public comments about teenage players.

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  6. spot on mate! i agree with diti hamann when he says in this country they over hype players who have done nothing in the game

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  7. Hope the media stop branding him look like our savior !

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  8. southampton, west ham and chelsea seem to be the only teams who have improved on last season, i agree,

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  9. Also, we already know this player is ours next summer, we own him, lol he is out on loan, it's quite well known so what are they trying to make it news for?

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  10. Please stop it alright the kid is 19 for gods sake.......let him just play and he will eventually come good cauz the talent is definitely there

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  11. BR hyping Origi will not make him a very good player. Ive watched Origi many times and hes not anything extra.Hes 19 y/o and wont set the roof on fire next season. Think many fans are in for a shock next season because they think he will be the new star. Signing Origi is another blunder for BR. Many wont agree but time will tell. Hes just another regular player, nothing special.

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  12. cannt believe we are even talking abt him leading our line after spending 120m pounds......and all this pressure on a 19 old kid will not do good to his confidence

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  13. I do agree to a certain extent. I think there is nothing wrong with the occasion public pat the back, something like "he has all the making of a great player if he continues to work hard etc etc but at the moment BR is going way way over the top.

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  14. There is no doubt that origi is talented, with the right coaching he will become a top player.


    The other player I am really hoping to see back at Anfield next season is Tiago Ilori. He unfortunately has been out with a hamstring injury since October. Very quick player, something that will be beneficial to our defence.

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  15. It baffles me why a young 'potential world class' player was so cheap to purchase, just as it did when Ngog came at 19 for £1.5 million with a very similar goalscoring record. Lille know something we dont.

    on another note I was reading Yuri Sahins comments today

    “After scoring a few goals the manager started playing me behind the striker which does not suit my game.

    “Despite my love for the club and the fans, I had to leave due to the managers insistence on playing me in that role.”


    Ring a bell? Take a round player and stick him into a square position. Just as Gerrard was guilty of forcing the play as a player BR forces the play as a manager. He's a baffling little man.

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  16. You know I've been thinking for awhile that the standards have dropped a fair bit since we were last in the champions league. Remember the all English semi's in the champions league? United, Chelsea and ourselves were a real force back then

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  17. BR Said:



    “We know what targets we wanted and what was out there, but for one
    reason or another they are not here and gone elsewhere. We work with
    what we’ve got and look to improve what we’ve got and get back to
    somewhere near the level we’ve shown over the last 18 months.


    So now just as in his first and second season "the group still need support". To say "we work with what we've got" is taking his £100+mill summer signings straight to scapegoat-ville. If he didn't feel the players he bought were good enough why dine out over the summer and make panic buys? I say panic but BR did conclude a lot of his transfer dealings fairly early.



    "the group needs a little help" NO YOU need a little help in stress management. BR needs to MAN UP and accept just a wee bit of responsibility. His choice of words and his overall body language are all over the place. He is all about himself and covering his arse.

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  18. i actually think the other teams have also got better on both recruitment and tactics ...there was a time when you looked at a so called lesser and they had one or two player that you wouldn't mind now its more like 5 or 6 the saints is classic example we have cherry picked there team but there are still several players who would walk into the liverpool team

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  19. Origi should be here next season, shame Rodgers wont be here to welcome him.

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  20. its a burden that they dont need ,its got very little to do with mental strength its all about human nature in any walk of life sport or otherwise if someone is constantly praising you brilliance for no real reason it can psychologically affect you, If you are told you are brilliant then cock up its a burden

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  21. if he can kick a ball it will benefit our defence

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  22. Our defence is really a joke......I sometimes think even championship team defenders are better than ours

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  23. You just wonder what FSG are doing about all of this? Hopefully having a word...

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  24. Having watched Origi play for Lille a few times this season, it should be noted that on not one occasion have I seen him play as a central striker. He always plays wide in a 3.

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  25. He's normally a bit smarter in his interviews than that. That doesn't read well at all. Think he'll regret putting things in those terms. He has always said he has the last word on transfers. He has got what he was willing to accept, for whatever reason, so he need to at least accept some responsibility.

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  26. Steve Peters has his work cut out this season- maybe needs to work on Brendan too- he's still evidently got the touch as O Sullivan beat Trump in style yesterday

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  27. i really cant make sense of Rodgers ....in effect hes saying we couldn't get the players we wanted so we just wasted all the money. It really is a bizarre way to run a business,

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  28. Clearly far to many players were signed in the summer and it also is now becoming clear that the committee/Rodgers signed players who were not needed. I have been very happy with Can, Moreno and Manquillo and also think Markovic who is still very young too could turn out to be a really good player. Origi will only be with us next season and is another top talent.

    Balotelli, well I was not for signing him from the word go but you cannot blame the guy for the fact that Rodgers is trying to put a square peg in a round hole. I would have much rather gone for someone like Alexandre Lacazette but it is what it is. If Rodgers continues to play Balotelli as a lone striker then there really is no hope for him. Rather count our losses and get rid then.

    Lambert well, £4m and a plan B. He only has a 2 year contract so no real train smash there.

    Two of the biggest mistakes IMO have been Lallana and Lovren. There are many who wanted Lovren before he went to Southampton. Clearly playing for a club as big as LFC is on a completely different stage compared to Southampton. He was one of the best defenders in the league last season and now is looking like one of the worst. Lallana has not managed to win over his manager for some reason. He is a very good player but looking at it now, did we actually need him?

    These players are here now and fact is that Rodgers has a much better squad than the one he took over from Dalglish. Unfortunately our manager is full of excuses, stubborn and just will not retreat from a plan that clearly has not been working and is not using the new signings to their strengths and asking them to fit in a system which has been awful to watch. None of the players seem to have a clue of what to do with the ball = Rodgers responsible for them following a system which is alien.



    IMO the new signings are not to blame. Rodgers is the one living in la la land.

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  29. you might laugh but i genunily think the taste of success coupled with his young girlfriend and his new teeth and suit makeover have made him quite delusional

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  30. I am sick of hearing buy him, buy that,loan x, axe y.There is no such magic stick. FSG is not going to grant BR any money now. He got his share of money that too shitload of it and if he were wise he should have brought some real class (that could have saved his arse) but instead he chose a brunch of average players because he relishes DEVELOPING young players!!(I still don't get it what he means by it, even though he fails in achieving this objective every single time).
    There is no denying the fact that this current LFC squad is nowhere near the level of likes of Chelski and mancs, but IMO this squad is still good enough if one puts it under a sane management(Mou,Pulis,Koeman,Van Gaal etc.)
    If a manager wish, he can turn a team of amateurs to an army of go getters. He has practically all the freedom of choosing the first team ,brainstorming a formation, and he can change these two aspects of game any number of time. If plan A doesn't work he should come up with plan B,C etc. That's his job !!. He shouldn't act like an arrogant th!_!G. It's very normal that players lose and regain form. There is no rocket science to it. If a player is in form , go and get the f@ck him in the playing 11. If a player is making repeated mistakes whip him(look at the top 3 managers in the league, they are harsh with the non performers).
    I believe BR is lacking this common sense. I don't say simply using this common sense would get him a title , well that needs a lot of character (and he certainly hasn't got it and I repeat he is not someone who has the credentials to manage a top 4 club) but there is lot of scope that team can perform way better/decently than it is performing right now(till the summer when FSG can come up with a new manager).

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  31. lallana really is a strange one even if he was on fire its hard to place him in a 433 system without displacing your current best players, we have in effect paid 26m for a position covered by several players all of which are younger and maybe better than him

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  32. spot on mate

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  33. But we have been playing 4-2-3-1 for most of the season.


    Southampton last season played 4-2-3-1 too so both Lallana and Lovren should fit in seamlessly.


    But then there is the fact that Lovren and Skrtel as a CB pair are a accident waiting to happen. Why persists? Why not try Lovren with Toure and see how it goes then. Lovren did not forget how to play football overnight. Skrtel has not been able to build a partnership with any other CB besides Agger. Agger was his safe house. Skrtel needs to go.

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  34. im basing the assumption on the hypothesis that when rodgers signed him he didnt envisage sturridge to be injured ...i like lallana but i just dont see where he plays when eveyone is fit thats a lot of cheddar for a sub

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  35. I would play him in midfield. He is a very clever player, links up well with those around him, can score and create. Wasted on the wing IMO.

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  36. Ya I get what your saying but I see it more as trying to prepare them for what's to come. The really great players aren't burdened by mistakes. It drives them on.

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  37. but is he that much better than say tino ...we could of just bought say a right back for arguments sake for 26m ...and said right we now have one of the best fullbacks in the world playing for us and instantly improved the team .Rodgers has paid 26m for a player and doesn't have a clue where to play him

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  38. Yeah, if you are not starting a player who cost £25m regularly then clearly the manager is taking the piss out of everyone.


    I think the failure to sign a CB who can lead our defence has been our biggest downfall this season and playing Balotelli up on his own of course.

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  39. thats why i have been sticking up for balo ,its not like im saying hes marradona its just that the defense is so shambolic to criticise any other area of the team without starting there is folly

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