Asier Illarramendi (Real Madrid)

Apparently, according to some well informed journos, we are in for him.
Link below.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/liverpool-lead-asier-illarramendi-transfer-5707858

£8.5m... Seriously they're writing this sh*t?

He signed for them only 2 years ago for about £25m and that was reported a 6 year deal. He's been used a lot as a sub so maybe he's after more game time but I'm sure there'll be plenty more out there trying to snap this lad up if he's available.

I'd expect his fee to be nearer £20m myself.

Thing is, having watched him, are u that impressed by his ability?
What do you think he could bring to us?
Honestly. Because u have watched him about 5-6 times this season and he has been ok. Nothing special in any area.

Thing is, having watched him, are u that impressed by his ability?
What do you think he could bring to us?
Honestly. Because u have watched him about 5-6 times this season and he has been ok. Nothing special in any area.

He is a very good footballer very technical would be an improvement on Lucas and Allen in the DM role.

He is a very good footballer very technical would be an improvement on Lucas and Allen in the DM role.

Agree exactly the sort of player we should be looking at.

Thing is, having watched him, are u that impressed by his ability?
What do you think he could bring to us?
Honestly. Because u have watched him about 5-6 times this season and he has been ok. Nothing special in any area.

Honestly I've only really seen him come on as sub this season and that's been to defend leads. I can't judge him too much on those appearances but I will say he's an excellent passer of the ball and not afraid to get his foot in.

We need a strong DM and by all accounts he's better than Lucas (although I do feel Lucas is still undervalued), so that would be perfect in my book.

£8.5m... Seriously they're writing this sh*t?

He signed for them only 2 years ago for about £25m and that was reported a 6 year deal. He's been used a lot as a sub so maybe he's after more game time but I'm sure there'll be plenty more out there trying to snap this lad up if he's available.

I'd expect his fee to be nearer £20m myself.

If it helps, the Metro has us interested with a possible 15m bid . I think we'll pay 25m for their kit man instead though.

Honestly I've only really seen him come on as sub this season and that's been to defend leads. I can't judge him too much on those appearances but I will say he's an excellent passer of the ball and not afraid to get his foot in.

We need a strong DM and by all accounts he's better than Lucas (although I do feel Lucas is still undervalued), so that would be perfect in my book.

We could probably put in a loan bid with an option to buy. But will Real let him go on loan is another question. Also, the last time we loaned a Real Madrid player, we know how that turned out.

Still feel Sahin would've been a good addition to the side had BR played him frequently in a deeper position

We could probably put in a loan bid with an option to buy. But will Real let him go on loan is another question. Also, the last time we loaned a Real Madrid player, we know how that turned out.

Still feel Sahin would've been a good addition to the side had BR played him frequently in a deeper position

Agree on Sahin and he was wrongly used at the time but leads me to think does Brendan even want that type of player?

Agree on Sahin and he was wrongly used at the time but leads me to think does Brendan even want that type of player?

Sahin was more lightweight than Aspas. Some players just can't cut the physicality of the PL. Sahin was one of them.

Sahin was more lightweight than Aspas. Some players just can't cut the physicality of the PL. Sahin was one of them.

Yep, I watched him some games after that at Dortmund and he's not set the world on fire there either.

Yep, I watched him some games after that at Dortmund and he's not set the world on fire there either.

Yea he's barely kicked a ball for Dortmund this season. Not sure if he's been injured but he seems to have really regressed as a footballer the last three years.

Sahin hasn't returned to old form since he joined Real, he picked up an injury just before he joined them, tore his knee ligaments and seems to never fully recovered. He had knee surgery earlier this season, and my guess would be it's the same knee as his earlier knee injury. And now, even though he had surgery at the start of the season, he is out injured again at the moment with a related injury. So yeah, I'm afraid his knee just prevents him from fullfilling his potential.

Think I accidentally deviated off-topic by bringing in Sahin's name. The intention was to discuss if we really need a 'defensive-minded' deep midfielder or a deep-lying playmaker.

Someone whose priority is to protect the back-4 but can also contribute to the attack (Matic-type)

Illarramendi was class at Real Sociedad. That's why Real paid big bucks for him. If I'm not mistaken, Illarramendi broke Real's record transfer fee for a Spanish player.

He is a very good passer of the ball and would be an instant improvement on what we have here. I'd be pretty pleased if this is a legit link and we sign him.

Illarramendi was class at Real Sociedad. That's why Real paid big bucks for him. If I'm not mistaken, Illarramendi broke Real's record transfer fee for a Spanish player.

He is a very good passer of the ball and would be an instant improvement on what we have here. I'd be pretty pleased if this is a legit link and we sign him.

Yup, they paid £30m for Xabi, £34m for Illara

I was checking some stats just out of curiosity and some of Illarramendi's numbers are actually quite similar to Xabi Alonso's stats in his last season at Real Madrid, while some are better.

The number of passes Xabi makes for Bayern are unreal (100+ passes per game) but at Real, where the style of play is different, he made 72.91 passes per 90 minutes, 64.01 of which were successful (87,79%), while Illarramendi made a bit over 70 passes per 90 minutes and had an accuracy of 88,77% in his first season for Real and 91,55% in the current season. Xabi passed forward 70% of the time, while Illarra had approx. 65% of forward passes. The average pass length was 18.92m for Xabi and 16.55m for Illarramendi, who had an average pass length of over 19m at Real Sociedad.

In the tackling department, Illarramendi seems to have had an off year this season with only 1.71 per 90 minutes (compared to Alonso's 2.21 for Bayern and 2.18 in his last season in Madrid), however in his first season for Real he averaged 2.58 tackles per 90 and 3.23 in his last season at Real Sociedad - in that respect, he seems to be more of a presence than Alonso. Indeed, apart from the current season, Illarramendi seems to have a considerably higher % of duels won in the comparison between both players (57.07% in 2012/13 for Sociedad and 53.37% in 2013/14 for Real Madrid).

Tackling was never Alonso's greatest strength so on that point I've added another player to the comparison - Morgan Schneiderlin - and what I have found is that Illarramendi's numbers in his final season for Real Sociedad are similar or better than Morgan's in terms of number of successful tackles and duels won. Schneiderlin averaged 3.25 tackles per 90 this season and 2.83 last season, with 44,73% and 49,34% of duels won - as noted in the previous paragraph, Illarramendi compares rather favourably here, although his numbers have seen a significant dip in the current season where he's played only 1160 minutes.

I've spent like 5 minutes at most looking at those numbers and I'm not by any means suggesting that's a comprehensive analysis of the player,  however I think there are some interesting indications here that he's not simply a deep lying playmaker who can't defend as some seem to believe - indeed there's no reason to think a DLP is necessarily a midfielder lacking in the defensive department.

I was checking some stats just out of curiosity and some of Illarramendi's numbers are actually quite similar to Xabi Alonso's stats in his last season at Real Madrid, while some are better.

The number of passes Xabi makes for Bayern are unreal (100+ passes per game) but at Real, where the style of play is different, he made 72.91 passes per 90 minutes, 64.01 of which were successful (87,79%), while Illarramendi made a bit over 70 passes per 90 minutes and had an accuracy of 88,77% in his first season for Real and 91,55% in the current season. Xabi passed forward 70% of the time, while Illarra had approx. 65% of forward passes. The average pass length was 18.92m for Xabi and 16.55m for Illarramendi, who had an average pass length of over 19m at Real Sociedad.

In the tackling department, Illarramendi seems to have had an off year this season with only 1.71 per 90 minutes (compared to Alonso's 2.21 for Bayern and 2.18 in his last season in Madrid), however in his first season for Real he averaged 2.58 tackles per 90 and 3.23 in his last season at Real Sociedad - in that respect, he seems to be more of a presence than Alonso. Indeed, apart from the current season, Illarramendi seems to have a considerably higher % of duels won in the comparison between both players (57.07% in 2012/13 for Sociedad and 53.37% in 2013/14 for Real Madrid).

Tackling was never Alonso's greatest strength so on that point I've added another player to the comparison - Morgan Schneiderlin - and what I have found is that Illarramendi's numbers in his final season for Real Sociedad are similar or better than Morgan's in terms of number of successful tackles and duels won. Schneiderlin averaged 3.25 tackles per 90 this season and 2.83 last season, with 44,73% and 49,34% of duels won - as noted in the previous paragraph, Illarramendi compares rather favourably here, although his numbers have seen a significant dip in the current season where he's played only 1160 minutes.

I've spent like 5 minutes at most looking at those numbers and I'm not by any means suggesting that's a comprehensive analysis of the player,  however I think there are some interesting indications here that he's not simply a deep lying playmaker who can't defend as some seem to believe - indeed there's no reason to think a DLP is necessarily a midfielder lacking in the defensive department.

Thanks for doing the research on this!

This is the type of player we need. No way is Hendo getting dropped, so a secondary midfielder like Pjanic, Modric, Rakitic etc is not what we need to spend big on. Hendo really lacks in the passing & technical department, so having Illarramendi sit deep and cover those deficiencies would allow Hendo to basically do what he does best, box-box play. I think he'll cost 20m-25m, but it would be worth it! I rate Illarramendi highly and believe with confidence and games, he'll be just as good, if not better than Kroos.

Our midfield will end up something like this

Henderson       Milner

            Coutinho

 

Our midfield will end up something like this

Henderson       Milner

            Coutinho

 

Wouldn't be surprised if Rodgers played Coutinho as the deep lying playmaker...

Can't help myself. Gollum pronounces his name perfectly!

https://vine.co/v/OtXUiZgH72D

Can't help myself. Gollum pronounces his name perfectly!

https://vine.co/v/OtXUiZgH72D

What a tit.