Liverpool have released nine players, per the Premier League’s official retained and released list, and this day has been in the works for some time now.
That doesn’t make it any easier to swallow seeing Kolo Toure’s name on that list. R.I.P. the Kolo Toure years at Liverpool (2013-2016), gone but never ever forgotten. Moment of silence, please. Have some respect.
As far as a footballing decision? Almost certainly the right thing to do. The 35 year old had a good year though almost certainly has to be passed it at this stage. Who knows what his wages are, but his role in a footballing sense could certainly be filled by a young player making a fraction of what he’s on, if that role was even needed with the consolidation of matches this season without Europe.
BUT the lovable Toure always seemed to be a bright shining light of happiness. Every time he played and the production team for the television feed decided to give him a close up on camera, I couldn’t help but smile. Something innate that I couldn’t figure out why but I knew it made me happy so I never questioned it. Even when he made mistakes that led to goals, all they had to do was pan to a close up on just the player and I’d feel alright again.
Other than Kolo, the other players of note are Jose Enrique, Ryan McLaughlin and Samed Yesil. Enrique had already been confirmed to leave and there was no news on Yesil because nobody cared, ditto for McLaughlin, who had a few first team appearances.
Unfortunately, a pair of year-long knee injuries robbed Yesil of a chance to reach his potential, one that had him scoring nearly a goal a game at every youth level, including on the international stage, being moving to Liverpool for £1million from Bayer Leverkusen.
The rest are: Tom Brewitt, Dan Cleary, William Marsh, Alex O’Hanlon and Kristof Polgar. Good luck to all in the next stage of their careers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment