This week, Marko and Mark dive into the Premier League’s £3 billion pressure cooker and ask the question fans hate asking: Are we expecting too much, too fast from young stars? Using Florian Wirtz’s slow Liverpool start as the headline example - despite him shining for Germany with multiple goal involvements in their 6–0 win over Slovakia - the guys explore why the EPL chews up early hype and spits out “flops” before they’ve even unpacked their suitcases. Mark vents about instant-gratification culture. Marko pulls receipts on Henry, Vinicius, and Ødegaard - all slow starters who became world-beaters. Together, they look at the Bundesliga talent pipeline, Manchester United’s eternal “next Haaland” obsession, and why Liverpool’s rebuild might take longer than fans think. It’s smart, it’s semi-serious, it’s semi-informed - and very Premier League.
00;00;04;16 - 00;00;14;24
Marko
Welcome back to the Semi-formal Mob podcast, where we stand just informed enough to get ourselves into trouble. My name is Marco and I. Along with me, I have Mark. Mark, How's it going?
00;00;14;27 - 00;00;21;13
Mark
I agree. Defending Liverpool from all the slander.
00;00;21;15 - 00;00;40;16
Marko
We don't have Mateo on the show today. So again, nothing really kind of slinging at you for this reason with that. But with that, with that said, you mentioned Liverpool. Right. So we're going to actually take a look at a player on Liverpool right now and as a sort of a microcosm of what's happening in the world of football right now.
00;00;40;19 - 00;00;51;05
Marko
So let us kind of backtrack a little bit. So first of all, so EPL clubs, they spent a record of $3 billion in the 2025 summer transfer.
00;00;51;08 - 00;00;52;14
Mark
Crazy.
00;00;52;17 - 00;01;06;26
Marko
So a lot of it a lot of this money went to and I noticed this at the time because people a little bit older and get that but most of this 1 to 20 1 to 23 year old younger prospects. Right. And it was that was that that that was sort of like the big chunk of the expenditure category.
00;01;07;04 - 00;01;20;28
Marko
But so when a club spends like, say, 75 million, 90 million, 100 million on a kid, I think it's like fans are expecting instant stardom. But Mark, is that realistic?
00;01;21;01 - 00;01;45;27
Mark
No, definitely not. I mean, we could definitely see why the expectations there if you're going to, you know, put a lot of money into a player, maybe because they've they're up and coming, but they sparkled in another league or at another club. I guess the expectation is in our society, everything is instant. You need something. You're looking.
00;01;46;01 - 00;01;47;27
Marko
For instant gratification.
00;01;47;29 - 00;02;06;29
Mark
Instant gratification. But what we have to remember is that they're young players. Most of them are coming from other leagues where it's not as competitive as the EPL. Not to say that they're watered down, it's just the EPL. Is that much.
00;02;06;29 - 00;02;28;25
Marko
Stronger in Spain, and that's where the money is. So. Case in point is the one that we're going to take a look at is foreign where at the Liverpool so Liverpool in their off season they signed awards for initial £100 million. It rose to about £116 million with, with the add ons and everything like that at the time, like it maybe was what, 30 or 40 days.
00;02;28;25 - 00;02;51;24
Marko
It was the largest Liverpool signing ever. Right. So at the assault one, one of your, one of the people that you follow a lot on slot. He said it was transformative right. He compared it to say van Dijk or even Alisson which again if you went back a few years, people that brought him, the two players that actually brought the Champions League title and actually an EPL title.
00;02;52;01 - 00;03;13;21
Marko
So that's a big, big claim. Comparing them to van Dijk or Alisson. Now that put a huge spotlight him on or on them right away. Now with that said, it's like, is this setting him up to be a failure? Because at the point I was thinking I'm like, wow, first of all, the money coming in, all this expectations and comparisons, I'm like, this is probably not going to go the way people expected it to.
00;03;13;26 - 00;03;27;06
Marko
Like, what did you think had point like reset to your point to that point where they actually signed him after? I don't know. It was months and months of back and forth and months and months speculation. What were you thinking at that point?
00;03;27;08 - 00;03;59;08
Mark
Well, I thought at the time I thought it was an amazing signing. I still think it's an amazing signing On the previous pod. I did say when everyone was calling for Liverpool to win the title, it's there's all there's lose all. They're going to win it. They're going to win it. Their stock. Their stock. I kept saying that any time you bring in new players, they're going to need time to gel.
00;03;59;10 - 00;04;20;09
Mark
So I really thought it was going to take some time. How much time? I don't know. But I mean, just watching the way he played at Leverkusen, watching the way he played with Germany and continues to play with Germany right.
00;04;20;12 - 00;04;52;01
Mark
But with Leverkusen, he was there for a while. Bunch of young guys to with Germany. He's been with the squad, let's say, a little bit longer. I still think he's, he's adapting and again, EPL has some stronger players in all teams, right? I don't care if you're even on wolves if you're if you're playing in the EPL, on wolves, you're still a phenomenal player compared to a lot of players around and in some of the other big five leagues.
00;04;52;03 - 00;05;15;13
Marko
Yeah. So that so that's the thing that's saying a thing about the EPL of like how competitive and how tough that league is. So, so realistically, I'm going to throw out a few quotes that I that that I found today. Gary Neville, our buddy Gary Neville said this whole situation is becoming a problem for slot because he's had zero goals so far in the league and he has three assists across all competitions competition.
00;05;15;13 - 00;05;32;26
Marko
So that's pretty, pretty challenging. Liverpool forums are saying, Why isn't he creating more? Now this is a point that I said I think we talked about this on an earlier podcast is. And you defended it right away where, you know, the big rumor was he was going to Liverpool. But, but I was thinking I'm like, is this the right fit?
00;05;32;27 - 00;05;53;11
Marko
Like, do they need this type of a player? I know the quality he is. And I saw him at Leverkusen for two years just, just going crazy, you know? But like we was he better suited to be like a De Bruyne a replacement at Man City? Would that have made a lot more sense versus now? Like, is it the player they need?
00;05;53;14 - 00;06;04;01
Marko
So to your point, like, I think they think you mentioned that as well. It's not really about the now it's about the trajectory and where they want to be years from now. Right. But yeah so yeah.
00;06;04;03 - 00;06;30;12
Mark
On a previous podcast I did say it's a seven year plan. Yeah. They plan on, on not just competing now but in the future. But the more I reflect on, on what's been going on, I firmly believe it's not so much that he's not adapting with Liverpool. Is that he's still adapting to the way EPL players are defending him.
00;06;30;12 - 00;06;48;00
Mark
He's got, he's got a target on his back, he's is this £160 million transfer. Yeah. And you know, players who are looking to make a bigger name for themselves are going to clamp down everyone's on them. And why are they on him. Because they see the way he plays with Germany as well.
00;06;48;02 - 00;07;12;06
Marko
So that's a point. So that's what I'm going to run off with. So we just we just finished a weekend of international play, two, two games Germany did play. So the most recent game that that I watch was Germany with a six to nothing drubbing over Slovakia. You could say that it was full squad itself. I think he factored into maybe two maybe three of those goals and it was great.
00;07;12;06 - 00;07;31;03
Marko
It was like maybe a touch or a direct assist, but like he factored into those like, so he is playing great. Like he's playing great with the German team. It's just like, what? Like what do you think the disconnect is where, you know what, Like he's playing good with the Germany, but just it's just not working in Liverpool, Is it the positioning?
00;07;31;08 - 00;07;36;17
Marko
Like is it sometimes I see orange stop playing him kind of like, what is it a wide right? Or like, I don't know.
00;07;36;18 - 00;07;39;28
Mark
Why Why wide left leg history. He's trying him in different spots.
00;07;39;28 - 00;07;40;20
Marko
Yeah.
00;07;40;23 - 00;07;48;04
Mark
But. But going back to what you're saying, the drubbing of who who did Germany play again?
00;07;48;07 - 00;07;49;05
Marko
Slovakia.
00;07;49;07 - 00;08;22;26
Mark
Yeah, Slovakia. And so with the national team, they are playing some weaker defenders or weaker nations. Right. And the EPL is just that competitive. And I think that in time, once he learns more about the opposition and the EPL, I think once he learns how to navigate through that, then I think we really will start to see him click.
00;08;22;28 - 00;08;33;16
Mark
But I think it would be absolutely disastrous. Like I know a lot of fans there, instant gratification. It would be absolutely disastrous to give up on him.
00;08;33;18 - 00;08;52;06
Marko
Yeah. So it's it's it's a point. Right? Let's, let's move on to like sort of onslaught. So we mentioned a lot about him earlier on a few quotes that I pulled from him is that with respect to the pressure of coming to Liverpool, because I don't think it's something that intimidate them with respect, a sort of adaptation to the Premier League.
00;08;52;06 - 00;09;12;17
Marko
And this is something that I even thought about way back when he said it takes time. The Premier League intensity is different from the Bundesliga and he, in reassuring them, he said, because he has a right mentality to handle this step. So you're in agreements with with our slot with this that, you know what, let's just give them time to adapt to the game.
00;09;12;19 - 00;09;25;15
Marko
It's just hard seeing that Liverpool winning the EPL last year, but going to something where now as a team they're struggling. So maybe that's really kind of elevated.
00;09;25;17 - 00;09;43;29
Mark
Yeah. And I mean, I think it was masked earlier on in the season when we were winning games that probably we shouldn't have been winning. Some of our wins were very narrow wins. And at the time I said, Listen, we got to win these garbage games because a win is a win.
00;09;44;01 - 00;09;44;25
Marko
Yeah.
00;09;44;27 - 00;10;17;21
Mark
Now a number of games into the season, we can see how other teams adopt as well. But no team has undergone so much change to their starting 11 than Liverpool has. So the same can be said not just about words but about Isaac to some degree, about Katich, right? Definitely about Kirk. As in Frimpong. So why do we talk so much about Wirtz?
00;10;17;24 - 00;10;27;24
Mark
Because of that transfer fee. But I think all those players I mentioned are really adjusting.
00;10;27;27 - 00;10;53;03
Marko
For sure now. So again, a lot of the a lot of the ideas behind this, this topic of this episode was hearing rumors about a January transfer of, you know, straight up. Probably it's not going to be as easy as that. But Rodrigo, for worse, meaning like Joby Alonzo, being former coach of Leverkusen, really, really liking words. What do you think about those rumors?
00;10;53;05 - 00;11;13;19
Mark
I don't put much weight into them simply because words Wirtz is worth is in that central med, and that's not what would Rodrigo would bring to our team. So from a positional standpoint, I don't think it makes any sense.
00;11;13;22 - 00;11;42;25
Marko
Okay. Okay. Let's move on to the next player again. We like picking on Manchester United, but Benjamin Fiasco at mentioned Manchester United coming in for about 73, £74 million. They compared him early to Holland, but I think they did the same with Hoyland or comparing him to Holland. But again, the reality here is that he's had two goals earlier on this season and really kind of slowed down a whole lot with respect to that.
00;11;43;02 - 00;12;06;20
Marko
Now, if there's any ever a team that really has the pundits going nuts, it's Manchester and Manchester United. So yeah. What do you what do you think about how he's adapting and maybe like be within within mind of, you know, like how work is adapting to Liverpool, like, do you think that he was overvalued? Do you think it's just taking time or do you think it's something else?
00;12;06;22 - 00;12;34;03
Mark
Okay, so I'm going to go back a couple of seasons on our podcast, maybe two years ago. And Marco, just so our listeners know, you myself, Matteo, were part of this fantasy soccer pool where we pick players from the five big leagues. And I used to always say that I thought Benjamin Sisko was always overrated. I'm not sure really what the scouts see in him.
00;12;34;06 - 00;12;47;07
Mark
And sometimes we have eras or years where we hear so much hype about a player because Benjamin Sisko wasn't tearing it up in the scoring in the Bundesliga.
00;12;47;07 - 00;12;48;07
Marko
No, no, it wasn't.
00;12;48;07 - 00;13;34;07
Mark
It wasn't even top five for a couple of years. So I don't know what the big deal is about him paying £73 million for the potential. Yeah, I guess. I guess potential. But I mean, he's still a kid. Maybe with time. I think what Manu got right was getting him Wham-O and Mattel has Kuna, and those two might contribute to Cisco's success in the future, but I was never sold on him the way we heard all these rumors.
00;13;34;07 - 00;13;43;08
Mark
Just like I was never sold on Chavis Simmons. Right. These were two names are always bounced around. Always bounced around.
00;13;43;10 - 00;14;15;04
Marko
Yeah, but it's funny, it seems like United actually looks to sign a future superstar striker every two years or so. So it it just ends up being like a little bit of like Groundhog Day. Right. So did a little bit of research for this one. And what's really what's interesting is we like in comparison this topic, we're talking about, you know, players coming in and being overhyped and people giving up on them and good stories of actually players that, you know, stuck with it.
00;14;15;11 - 00;14;33;28
Marko
And now they're they're looking at as legends. So the first one they actually looked up was Terry Henry at Arsenal. So this is funny. So you don't think of this as it is, but he went eight games without a goal when he arrived and everybody wanted his head on a platter. But he ended the season with 26 goals.
00;14;34;00 - 00;14;55;09
Marko
So, you know, like saying like if they had, you know, what formally Twitter at the time would, they've ripped him a new butthole for that like this is how challenging it was like what do you think about a player like that? And I guess this this is a whole idea of, you know, sticking with the player and just kind of building on the trajectory, correct?
00;14;55;11 - 00;15;12;00
Mark
Yeah, I think modern Twitter really would have ripped him apart. The expectations are so high. I don't know if it's because as the rest of the society, they produce so little, so they expect so much from others.
00;15;12;03 - 00;15;12;26
Marko
Yeah.
00;15;12;28 - 00;15;19;11
Mark
But yeah, eight games without a goal for sure. We would have heard about it.
00;15;19;13 - 00;15;43;17
Marko
Yeah. A few other players that and I'm not going to make this, you know, Mattel's not on here, but I'm going to make a Real Madrid kind of reference on this one here. But Vinny Jr, first, two or three years at Real Madrid, I don't even know if he produced anything, but he was just there. I think he was he's being subbed on like I know we had some superstar front line at Real Madrid at the time, but he was just he was just going there.
00;15;43;17 - 00;16;05;29
Marko
But in 2021 he had a breakout, 2122 he had a breakout year 17 goals. And just last year he was a finalist for Ballon d'Or. Right. So that type of a player just kind of, I guess the what I'm trying to say is that it's it's the patience that you're spending with them. And that's really going to what's what's going to pay off.
00;16;06;01 - 00;16;36;04
Mark
Yeah. I mean, in Madrid's case, they normally like to sign these young Brazilians prior to the 2021 season. Obviously in Madrid, like you just said, they always have superstars upfront. You're Renaldo. When Ronaldo's time came and went, Benzema had been waiting in the wings for a long time, too. Right? There's another one we could talk about, right? Benzema just waited patiently until Renaldo was gone before he turned it on.
00;16;36;06 - 00;16;38;22
Marko
So, yeah.
00;16;38;24 - 00;16;58;14
Mark
On this note, Marco, I'll just throw in something off script here. But Hendrick came. Madrid made a big play for Andric. He's getting no playing time. Does he become a future star either at Madrid in the future or at another team? What do you think?
00;16;58;17 - 00;17;26;07
Marko
I honestly think they have the patience with him to let them develop again. Watching him for Brazil wasn't very encouraging. Like I remember watching him a lot during what was it, the America of America? Yeah, he was not great. And again, he wasn't very convincing. But I think that like if if you're going to take a look at Vinny as an example, yeah, you can wait some time on that one.
00;17;26;14 - 00;17;40;09
Marko
And if scoring isn't as much of an issue because you have such a strong front line at Real Madrid, although they do like their big striker, I think they can they can take some time and see how he develops.
00;17;40;11 - 00;17;42;28
Mark
And if the players willing to as well, Right?
00;17;42;28 - 00;17;58;20
Marko
Yeah, that's true too. That's true too. But but staying on the topic of Real Madrid, though, Martin Road, Martin Odegaard, you know, they brought him in at 16 years old. They all gave him up. Gave him up. And I think what did they do? They the loaned him out to Arsenal first. Then Arsenal did end up signing him.
00;17;58;28 - 00;18;10;25
Marko
But now he's Arsenal's captain and he's considered one of the best midfielders in the world. What would you say? Like, is that is that sticking with the player and it actually working out?
00;18;10;28 - 00;18;55;04
Mark
Yeah, I remember when they first signed Odegaard and yeah, when he was 16, 17, 18, he was really heralded as the world's top prospect right? And then Madrid, it's a crowded team, right? Right. Those many years ago Madrid's midfield was Modric, it was Toni Kroos so I think he actually might. And Odegaard got lent out to a couple of Spanish teams, first straight couple of La Liga teams before finally, finally making his way to Arsenal.
00;18;55;06 - 00;19;12;13
Mark
And yeah, Arsenal sort of knew, I think the world knew what kind of player he was. Top prospect yes. Is the of the Toni Kroos Modric level. No. Could he be. I don't know.
00;19;12;15 - 00;19;13;08
Marko
Right.
00;19;13;11 - 00;19;37;04
Mark
My my guess is going to be he won't end up being those guys because Toni Kroos and Modric are absolutely legendary. But nevertheless Martin Odegaard is a phenomenal player who did pen out eventually, right? When given the opportunity he panned out.
00;19;37;06 - 00;19;55;07
Marko
Yeah. So again we heard, we heard on slot saying that, you know what, this wasn't for say five days, it was four or five years. Right. Or something along the lines of that. So what do you think clubs should do differently when bringing in these players? Because, you know, they're coming in with all this money, there's all these expectations and everything like that.
00;19;55;15 - 00;19;58;00
Marko
How do they handle this? A little bit better?
00;19;58;03 - 00;20;18;17
Mark
This is a catch 22 right here, Marco, because if you don't spend the money to get the player you want, who is a prospect, if you don't sign them, someone else will. It's as simple as that. Sorry, Let me correct myself If you don't sign, Chelsea will.
00;20;18;20 - 00;20;44;25
Marko
Right. And then and that's that's the truth about it, because it's almost like it's a bidding war. Right. And you almost have to you almost have to go on the offensive in the final. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's what happened. Like, I don't like around that time where Chicago went to Manchester United, it was right before that Bucharest and Arsenal, and it just seemed like they were one upping each other and you know, who's going to end up winning the sweepstakes.
00;20;44;25 - 00;20;58;13
Marko
Right. And that's what that's what it seems to be. It's like I think anybody that has a player on the market, if they know there's EPL interest, all of a sudden they're, you know, rubbing their hands together and saying, yo, you know, the money's coming now, right?
00;20;58;13 - 00;21;01;21
Mark
You know, as Frankfurt, right?
00;21;01;24 - 00;21;23;18
Marko
Yeah. No, no, seriously. There are teams that are built themselves up on kind of just, you know, taking that low level talent, developing it and just selling big. Right. So that that that's fair. And, you know, and it's crazy that teams like Frankfurt, like Dortmund used to do before that, but also just really effectively do that and use that as being part of their sort of financial model.
00;21;23;18 - 00;21;23;28
Marko
Right.
00;21;23;28 - 00;21;29;08
Mark
So actually, I think there's a lot of German clubs who have learned from Dortmund, right? Would you agree?
00;21;29;10 - 00;21;34;10
Marko
I don't know. I think Frankfurt is probably your best, best element. You know, looking at maybe.
00;21;34;12 - 00;21;36;21
Mark
It wasn't too.
00;21;36;24 - 00;22;05;17
Marko
Late for it. Leverkusen had a big, big fire sale this this summer. But yeah, that that's the point is that being able to scout late so this is very interesting. Mark So being able to scout maybe talent from South America maybe. And I think I think where they're really effective too, especially at the Bundesliga clubs, is scouting talent from like the lower realms of like Liga in France, just getting that young, the French critique being one of those examples.
00;22;05;21 - 00;22;32;04
Marko
Right. But being able to kind of develop that and say, you know, recognizing that talent, putting in a few years and then selling big. So ultimately and I don't think I'm going to take credit for saying this, but I think I've heard this summer before, it's almost that like the EPL is almost outsourcing its development to leagues like the Bundesliga, where they're saying it's like, you know what, let's buy them when they're a little bit closer to being a finished product.
00;22;32;06 - 00;22;38;12
Marko
But let's let clubs like Dortmund, like Eintracht, like Leverkusen, develop these players.
00;22;38;14 - 00;23;09;14
Mark
Absolutely. And at the end of the day it is a business and other leagues cannot compare with the money that it has. Like you just said, 3 billion in one transfer window. There's no way other teams can compete with that. So that's the model that the Bundesliga seems to be going and it's working. I mean, years ago used to be the Dutch league, right?
00;23;09;16 - 00;23;29;19
Mark
Players would come out of iron ore. Yes. The Eindhoven. I mean, that's that's where the Brazilians went. The Brazilians, you know, your real Marios went there, started their that's where they used to go before. But now I think these German teams have been wise to work on development.
00;23;29;21 - 00;23;55;02
Marko
Yeah, perfect. Okay, so let's kind of wrap things up in our closing thoughts. So I want one point. EPL spends and it spends big, right? Yeah. Florian Wirtz, Benjamin Sasko, they're all under a microscope. That's right. But what's interesting is when you see their national team performance, you do see that potential out there. But what we're what's interesting right now is kind of following what Scott has been saying is that patience is a virtue.
00;23;55;08 - 00;24;07;12
Marko
Let's wait this out. They are going to be better because there's historical evidence, like I mentioned, like on three and Odegaard and Vinny Jr, you know that saying that that this actually does work out.
00;24;07;14 - 00;24;27;17
Mark
Yeah. And I think if Wirtz wasn't doing well in Germany, that to me would have been a bigger red flag. He's not doing well at club and country right. But he's really, really been shining for country, which means he hasn't lost a step.
00;24;27;19 - 00;24;28;10
Marko
Yeah.
00;24;28;13 - 00;24;33;23
Mark
Just needs to figure out defenders in the EPL. That's it.
00;24;33;25 - 00;24;43;01
Marko
That's true. Okay, cool. That's a wrap for us today. Premier League pressure cooker isn't going away, but maybe, just maybe, patience is the secret ingredient.
00;24;43;03 - 00;24;45;17
Mark
Especially if your name is Florian. Words.
00;24;45;20 - 00;24;49;02
Marko
As always, we're keeping you semi informed.