Au contraire… sounds like he chewed and swallowed everything he bit. It’s less than 2 weeks since the England France qf. That’s quite a pie fest he must have been on. Unless he was stuffing his face on England duty. Which would be very poor. He always fought weight issues at Leeds… and bielsa’s fat targets (which were brutal) probably turned him into an England player. For a guy coming back from injury it’s pretty unprofessional unless he has a very good reason.
We know he loved Leeds and probably put everything into promotion including strict diets training etc. maybe now he’s at the ultimate plastic club that he has no connection to, he’s struggling to go the extra mile required
I get the impression KP is a far better suited mentally for his move than Smith was, something went in Smiths head and I guess that’s a lot harder to fix than diet and exercise. Suddenly the fitness levels required by Bielsa don’t seem too bad, we still have lots of injuries.
So Llorente stays to 2026 right or wrong we can't do anything about it. We have to support him and get behind him no point making a scapegoat of him as the lad needs to get some confidence back not just for himself but for our club. Over the moon to see the Prem back and us back in action but worried as hell as the hard graft has to begin. We got a tough run to New Year but we have to believe. Need some luck against City really have to look for 3 points against bogey team West Ham and we need a Liverpool type mentality at the Bar Codes. As on new signings we all know what we need as Fans but the club hold all the cards on what we do. 2 players we were very close too have gone. Cunha gone to Wolves and Gapko now out our reach. Jan a very hard window unless you got plenty of dosh. I just hope the club know what they are doing and remember how close it was last season and lets be honest nothing seems any different this season we look a major relegation candidate do we roll the dice? or do the club again believe in what we have is enough? the ball is in their court.
We haven’t done any business in the January windows for years. Last deal was a loan deal for Big Kev…. We need to spend this time without doubt and don’t want Kinnear saying well it’s like signing 2 new players with Diego and Pascal…
Struijk and Llorente sign new contracts to 2026. Llorente is now valued at £12m but Robin Koch valued at £18m and his contract ends in 24. Will we or have we offered him a new deal or are we flogging him in the summer? Why the stories about Mason Holgate? Clickbait bollix or do we know Koch wants to leave. No deals offered to Forshaw or Ayling yet which is wise I think
Llorente is a good player, so as @SIDDAS says everyone needs to help him get his mojo back. The key for me is he needs to play right side centre back and not be asked to fill in on the left side where he looks uncomfortable. It's a different side for tackling and he struggles to play out on his left foot, whereas in first season he was sublime at times with his forward passing. As it stands he might have to wait for that opportunity, Koch couldn't displace him last season and only took his slot because Jesse moved Llorente to fill in for the injured Coops which lead to Llorente losing form and confidence.
My opinion on the Llorente contract extension is that it's a calculated gamble. No matter what happens he's worth more under contract than not and I'm guessing he didn't pull their pants down since he's not even in the team. Just because they've tied him down doesn't mean they can't sell him. I'd like to see how he does on his favoured side like Jammy says.
Posting this because I see it as another example of how our money-slanted Prem ruins British players. I bet if he’d been coming back knowing he was one of the key / first choice players at Leeds, rather than a city bench warmer, he’d have been in shape.
I always liked Diego but hes at his worst when he gets left as last man standing when his protection has been breached. I think the way Marsch has been setting up can leave him exposed. He started to take a touch too many when playing out against the press which caused him to lose the ball, he also started missing his long range passes giving the ball to the opposition. We have all seen him like a Rolls Royce at the back but he needs to have confidence in what’s going on around him. Too much chaos and mayhem has been happening since last winter. Square pegging, different defenders, suspensions, injuries and wide open spaces behind our midfield and flanks. He and Firpo have taken the blame…
He came to us as a right footed CH who was happy to play either side (he played loads as left CH for sociedad) and dm. I recall sociedad fans describing him as error prone and we’re largely happy to take the money. When I first saw him play for us (Chelsea?) I remember thinking he’s a good footballer… looked comfortable in the ball… but made some stupid decisions that I put down to being new the side. For the most part although those ‘llorente moments’ kept happening they didn’t always cost us and I thought he was largely decent the first season. There’s a but coming… He still did something stupid every game. Dicking about on the ball… and he was a set piece marking disaster. Last year I think he was statistically the worst CH in the air in the entire premier league. I get he has a preferred side and it’s definitely some mitigation, when he doesn’t play there… but my view is he’s technically a good footballer who’s error prone and wants too much time on the ball for the premier league… and he struggles with the physicality defensively. like everyone, I hope he recovers some form and confidence and agree that’s most likely to happen playing on the right side with probably coops with his organisational skills alongside him. I’m not singling him out… I don’t think any of our centre halves are decent premier league standard.
Hello 606ers I see Pep has had a dig about Phillips and his weight. Why do I get the feeling Man City will be moving him on it the summer?
