Joe Willock

[Dr.Spaceman]

I've convinced myself he's perma crocked tbh. Achilles injuries are absolute bastards.

[cubaricho]

11 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

He's not a bad player, yeah. Transforms our midfield? Nah. He's not on the level of Joelinton or Bruno. I've no idea how good Tonali is, can't remember anything he did other than his debut goal.

 

 

 

Of course he transforms it. It’s not about him being better than those who you mentioned, it’s about him bringing a completely different dynamic to the pitch than anyone else we have. No one in the squad touches him when it comes to being dynamic while running with/carrying the ball. Maybe Isak, but that’s not really where we want him most of the time. 

[BoSelecta]

That assist man, come on. His ceiling is right up there.

[Kimbo]

You can’t sell players that are injured all the time anyway. Look at Tierney, Arsenal would love to have sold him by now and everyone knows he’s a good player.

[Dr.Spaceman]

15 minutes ago, cubaricho said:

Of course he transforms it. It’s not about him being better than those who you mentioned, it’s about him bringing a completely different dynamic to the pitch than anyone else we have. No one in the squad touches him when it comes to being dynamic while running with/carrying the ball. Maybe Isak, but that’s not really where we want him most of the time. 

 

Jesus, I think you're going way overboard with praise there like. Like I say, he's not a bad player by any means and I like him, but he's not fucking Pele 

[cubaricho]

5 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

Jesus, I think you're going way overboard with praise there like. Like I say, he's not a bad player by any means and I like him, but he's not fucking Pele 

I’m not saying he’s Pele either?  I’m just saying what he brings is different, so of course it transforms us and how we play when he’s on the pitch. And no one else in the squad offers what he does. Not sure where that’s getting lost in translation?

[Dr Jinx]

Oh a match fit Joe Willock gets in the side ahead of pretty every midfielder bar Bruno.

 

His injury wasn’t just last season. He picked up the injury the season before towards the end vs Man Utd iirc. That was beginning of April 2023.

 

He’s been fucked ever since then. Like Shearer came back from an ACL in the 90’s quicker than it’s taken Willock now with the achilles issue.

 

Time will tell but this looks like something that they could have opted for with surgery but our good old medical team opted against.

[ATB]

9 hours ago, Mahoneys Tache said:

Willock = modern Gillespie (minus the gambling)? 
personally I think he’s fucking excellent and we’d be mad to get rid. 

 

 

 

Yeah I like him a lot too, when he plays.

[Geogaddi]

I like him but he's definitely a streaky player, I feel like him missing a lot of last season and us struggling at times has made people think he is better than he actually is . He's not on the same level as Bruno or Joelinton for example.

[Dr.Spaceman]

9 hours ago, cubaricho said:

I’m not saying he’s Pele either?  I’m just saying what he brings is different, so of course it transforms us and how we play when he’s on the pitch. And no one else in the squad offers what he does. Not sure where that’s getting lost in translation?

 

I somewhat agree with you, I just think we could find a better player to do what he does. Joe Willock doesn't get a game for anyone who finished above us in the league imo.

[Coffee_Johnny]

3 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

I somewhat agree with you, I just think we could find a better player to do what he does. Joe Willock doesn't get a game for anyone who finished above us in the league imo.

I know ‘availability’ is in the forefront of everyone’s mind after last season. However when he is fully fit, I think Joe is a better player than he was when he played for Arsenal and has nothing to prove as far as I’m concerned. He has everything you need capability wise to be an absolutely top drawer midfielder. He also seems a top man to have in your team. He turns 25 this year and the next two seasons or three seasons could/should be the peak of his career. 

[Ed210]

10 hours ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

I've convinced myself he's perma crocked tbh. Achilles injuries are absolute bastards.

 

I agree I have got tendinitis in my Achilles, not even a proper injury and it’s a right bastard. 

[Kid Icarus]

58 minutes ago, Dr.Spaceman said:

 

I somewhat agree with you, I just think we could find a better player to do what he does. Joe Willock doesn't get a game for anyone who finished above us in the league imo.

AFAIK it's common knowledge amongst Liverpool fans that Klopp wanted him to fill their Wijnaldum-shape hole at the end of last season. 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

AFAIK it's common knowledge amongst Liverpool fans that Klopp wanted him to fill their Wijnaldum-shape hole at the end of last season. 

Interesting I don’t even recall them making an offer for him. 

[aussiemag]

I'm sure there was an article that in season 22/23 statistically and stylistically, Willock was the closest player to Bellingham for those clubs that were after him. Obviously Bellingham went to a whole new level this season in a more advanced position and Willock barely played. 

[Novocastrian]

Willock was a better player than Gordon not that long ago. He has a high ceiling, he needs an injury free season in a settled team to continue progressing. No way I’d sell him.

[80]

The big development his game needs, assuming he can come back to being his old self, is consistent goals. The third at Old Trafford in the League Cup was a classic, as was his winner against Chelsea the season prior. 

 

From the positions he gets in, he's got a 15 goal season in him. He's like Longstaff with technique.

 

In my head, I'd pretty much written him off for this season as soon as I saw him go down like he'd been shot against Brighton. He'd pretty much run his legs off for us to help secure Champions' League and it looked like it would be a nightmare to recover from. 

 

The false starts this season were very unfortunate/disgustingly handled by our backroom staff (delete as appropriate). It was right to cleanly withdraw him until next season. Let's see how it goes.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2024 by 80

[Sibierski]

I’d love to keep Willock, but we need to be realistic and captalise on players that have value. This summer is probably last main window where he’s got a value and sellable, to bring in funds to generate the improvement in the XI.
 

When we’ve also got Joelinton/Barnes/Gordon who can play LW, he’s literally only LCM. Which unless you are a top talent, at the top end, you need to be able to play well in more than one position (talking CM and attack). 

[nufcjmc]

Unfortunately like Matt Targett there is a saleable asset there but his injury record last 12 months massively deflates his value. 

 

Plus we paid decent money for Willock was it around 30m? Not sure anyone pays close to that on him. 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2024 by nufcjmc

[Eveready]

Looks like most of this season he's been out with an achilles injury.  I thought it was his hamstring still causing issues from last season.

 

Achilles injuries are notorious for recurrence as they tend not to heal unless given a long recovery period.  If you keep playing with an injured achilles, it will tear eventually, which will then need surgery and ACL length recovery times.

 

It looks like we tried to rush him back during our midfield injury crises and he reaggravated it.

 

Don't think it's fair to call him an injury prone player, despite the last year.

[Beth]

3 minutes ago, Eveready said:

Looks like most of this season he's been out with an achilles injury.  I thought it was his hamstring still causing issues from last season.

 

Achilles injuries are notorious for recurrence as they tend not to heal unless given a long recovery period.  If you keep playing with an injured achilles, it will tear eventually, which will then need surgery and ACL length recovery times.

 

It looks like we tried to rush him back during our midfield injury crises and he reaggravated it.

 

Don't think it's fair to call him an injury prone player, despite the last year.

If the "experts" in our medical dept think he'll need till near the end of the year to get it right again then we should not risk him before then.

[The College Dropout]

5 hours ago, Sibierski said:

I’d love to keep Willock, but we need to be realistic and captalise on players that have value. This summer is probably last main window where he’s got a value and sellable, to bring in funds to generate the improvement in the XI.
 

When we’ve also got Joelinton/Barnes/Gordon who can play LW, he’s literally only LCM. Which unless you are a top talent, at the top end, you need to be able to play well in more than one position (talking CM and attack). 

Not true at all.

 

Unless he's a permacrock. Willock's value will increase next summer. A solid season and he's a £30m player or more - he'll be 25. We'd get £20m for him now due to the injury and people forgetting about him.

[80]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Not true at all.

 

Unless he's a permacrock. Willock's value will increase next summer. A solid season and he's a £30m player or more - he'll be 25. We'd get £20m for him now due to the injury and people forgetting about him.

Not even sure we'd get £20m this summer. Like you say, outside of the worst case scenario, the only way is up.

[TRon]

5 hours ago, Sibierski said:

I’d love to keep Willock, but we need to be realistic and captalise on players that have value. This summer is probably last main window where he’s got a value and sellable, to bring in funds to generate the improvement in the XI.
 

When we’ve also got Joelinton/Barnes/Gordon who can play LW, he’s literally only LCM. Which unless you are a top talent, at the top end, you need to be able to play well in more than one position (talking CM and attack). 

 

Why is that? He's still very young, and I would have thought selling him now would make the least amount of sense since his value will have gone down due to missing a season through injury. What would be the point of selling?

 

 

[Menace]

Smith Rowe/Connor Gallagher etc are being linked from £40-£60m, so why is Willock being touted at £20M? Smith Rowe is equally as injured as him