5 Nov 2014

Euro Star raves: €12m 'monster' could be a 'truly great player for LFC'. January deal?

The gross hype over €12m summer signing Divock Origi continues to spiral out of control. In recent weeks, the 19-year old has been hailed as potentially 'world class' by Brendan Rodgers, and a 'monster' talent by Man City captain Vincent Kompany. Well, the overwrought praise just keeps on coming, and Origi's manager, Rene Girard, and team-mates, Simon Kjaer, have also now jumped on the Origi bandwagon.

Speaking to reporters this week, Girard raved:

“He's going to continue improving year on year, and next year he's going to show he's one of Europe's greats. He's a boy who has the makings of a great player. He has all the attributes."

Kjaer - once an alleged transfer target for Liverpool - went even further with his lionisation, claiming that Origi is 'one of the greatest talents' he's 'ever played with', and insisting that the Belgian is 'the complete package'. He further fawned:

"He [Origi] could be a truly great player for Liverpool. He has got great potential and could become on of the best players in his position. A special thing about him is that he has no real weak spots. Instead he can just work on the things he's already good at. That's a huge advantage".

So - at the ripe old age of 19, Origi is the 'complete package' with 'no real weak spots'? Amazing! he should just sit back and take it easy as there's clearly no need for him to work hard to improve his performance.

I've said it once (okay, more than once!), and I'll say it again: this type of sycophantic overpraise is counter-productive, and arguably irresponsible. Origi has achieved absolutely nothing in the game, yet according to Kjaer, Rodgers, and Kompany, he's already a world-beater.

Origi will almost certainly read some of these comments about his ability, and there's a danger that he might start to believe his own hype, just like Raheem Sterling did in the early stages of his career.

I see no benefits to the constant deification of young players, and in my view, constant ego-massage only leads to negative outcomes (such as teenagers demanding huge salaries before they've even achieved anything in the game).

On a related note - Rodgers recently noted that he'd like to have Origi at Anfield this season, but speaking to reporters this week, Girard ruled out any possibility of a January deal to cut-short Origi's loan spell. He told RFTB:

"It's only a rumour. There have been no approaches, as far as I know. It was agreed that Divock spend the year with us. There's no reason he should leave midway through the season,"

If the Reds sign another top-class striker in January (Cavani, perhaps), and keep Balotelli, I don't see how there's room for Origi next season. Yes, he can come back and sit on the bench, but he's much better off getting regular first-team football elsewhere, so another loan deal is definitely a possibility.

Plus, Origi is only 19, and there's no guarantee that he'll develop at the rate everyone seems to expect. And let's not discount the worst case scenario: injury. One bad injury could derail Origi's forward progress. Fellow Belgian Christian Benteke is a prime comparison, here - a barnstorming season in the Premier League, but one injury later, and he's struggling to consistently reproduce the same form.

Whatever happens, if Origi returns to Liverpool next summer, the constant ridiculous praise means there will be intolerable pressure on him to perform next season. It's impossible for him to live up to all the irresponsible superlatives being thrown around, and if he can't handle the pressure, he may crash and burn, just like so many others before him.

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25 comments:

  1. What are his hi stats so far for this season?

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  2. Cavani ain't coming, Reus ain't coming either... Origi ain't coming till next year, christ I'm bored... When we gonna get something to cheer about... and last night isn't worth cheering either.

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  3. Well…we do have more points in the CL than Citeh! :)

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  4. 3 of our 'scouts' have left and another has gone to Villa I believe- hope this ends up as good news

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  5. I stand by 2008. last season was his only season of note since we came second under Rafa. Lets put it this way how he is playing right now is how he has represented the shirt over the past 5-6 years with the exception of an odd performance here and there. He is a worldy of a right midfielder and scored/assisted for fun out there but he wanted to be in the middle where there was 'less running'. He for me, Rafa, Cappello and Mclaren was never a good central midfield player.

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  6. that means bring back stewart downing

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  7. He was actually quite good last season. I always saw him as a defensive midfielder who was defensively and tactically weak. BUT also as a player who could pass, shoot and tackle. He was never able to ghost into the box like Lampard and has never been, with the exception of last season, consistent with assists and pens from the middle of the park. He biggest and best goals returns have come playing either as a striker or right mid. Like this season Gerrard got found out playing no.10 the season after we finished 2nd. He went from scoring 24 in 44 in 2008 to 12 in 49 playing the exact same role. He has done the same thing this season going from the sublime to absolute decline.

    Im not denying he has scored some crucial goals for us, but at the same time has cost us crucial goals to. Our Champions league 0-3 at half time was mainly due to SG playing in the middle of the park and unable to get near to Kaka. Even our FA Cup win over west Ham had SG lapses in the center that cost us goals. He was a good player and we extracted every last ounce of ability out of him....... but he was never a Suarez, a Zidane or even a Keane. He wasn't technically or tactically good enough to be a world legend. But your right he is a Liverpool legend. I hope he bows out gracefully without forcing us into more decline by having to play him.

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  8. Agreed. A decent signing who is there on the bench to offer something different. He clearly has some degree of quality and although it won't stand up against the top tier it's still likely that he'll contribute in some way for the club against lesser teams. I suppose the reality is that we were hoping to see a bit more from him than what he's shown so far and maybe overall it's disappointing, but you could put that down to wishful thinking.

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  9. It could also mean more departures are on the way.


    FSG might be sending out a message...

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  10. Big decision for the club - is Balotelli good enough or do we need someone else in January? I wonder if this all comes back to the fee. Mario was a risk but we all knew, Rodgers and the owners too, that he might not be good enough. The owners will have accepted that risk, not just put it on the manager's head. It does nothing to say "it was the manager's fault" and play a blame game and I can't imagine a scenario where Rodgers has publicly said that Mario is a risk and yet the owners didn't know that and refuse accept their own share of responsibility. So if it turns out that Mario isn't the player we need, the risk has developed into a failure, then everyone needs to accept that, move on and buy someone else. Given that it was only 16 million (still a lot of money but not obscene in the current market) maybe this isn't such a bad thing. We went for a gamble. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Go back to the market in January and find someone else. Mario can hang around and push for a spot on the bench and then Origi comes next season. I would have no problem if this was our strike force next year:


    Sturridge, Cavani, Balotelli, Origi, Lambert


    It's an awful lost of money just to sit on the bench but if it works for Man City then it will work for Liverpool too.

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  11. If we play with two strikers then they should all get decent game time. I'd like to see Borini given an actual run in the team before we cast him off, too, but maybe he would be better served at an Inter or Napoli.

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  12. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:42 am, November 06, 2014

    kjaer is keeping a lot of clean sheets and looks composed like agger
    if sakho leaves which i think he will this liverpool fan might be one to buy

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  13. Cavani is wishful thinking. To be fair, you were correct about Di Maria's price, so how much would Cavani realistically cost?


    Rodgers has blown 215m and the owners have seen little return on investment. I wouldn't be surprised if they take a hard stance and demand that the likes of Markovic et al start proving their worth. Rodgers would be a very, very lucky manager to be handed a sizeable transfer kitty in January.


    Next season we could sell some of the flops out on loan, maybe Borini and Lucas will be too. Toure, Johnson and possibly Gerrard will be off the wage bill. There's some room to manoeuvre there, but January is too soon for Rodgers to ask for some cash.

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  14. Any links to that story please?

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  15. Remove Cavani-he aint coming, Remove Lambert-he aint good enough. Maybe Sturridge, Origi, Balo, Borini . I dont see how FSG will give BR even 5mil to buy anyone after the disasters of this past window

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  16. Was yesterday's Express- Michael Mc Glynn Mel Johnson Alan Harper have left and Paddy Reilly gone to Villa

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  17. Are these the scouts who recommended the "sensational" Markovic for 20M???

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  18. Good question not sure they will ever tell us but something broke down and they're gone

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  19. Thanks. Hope we get new ones who actually scour the world not just England, for talent. Would love it if we could sign players playing in Costa Rica, Paraguay, Brazil, Nigeria, Russia before they are bought by French, German, Italian or Spanish sides. I hate that we really havent been able to buy raw talent thats is not being sold to us at inflated prices because they have been signed by other teams in these big leagues

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  20. Highly likely. But I think Markovic will come good albeit playing from the left not the right like what he is being forced to to by BR who has that tendency a la Sahin

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  21. It went on to say Michael Edwards head of performance/ analysis Dave Fallows head of scouting and Barry Hunter chief scout will have a stronger influence. Maybe hinting these guys took their eye of the ball by allowing their assistants too much say in signings- or maybe trying to give BR some support by suggesting it's not all his fault.

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  22. I wish they could allow me to do some scouting for them here in Africa, laughing my head off

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  23. That comment from Hamann is completely unnecessary. No one expected him to lead the line in the Champions League. He was brought as a back up, we know it, Rodgers knows it, heck Lambert knows it.

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  24. Next time me and JW and the boys are out on the lash will put it to him

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  25. Sturridge on bench v ski apparently if true then good news- hope if fit Hodgson doesn't pick him for international

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