Bajcetic?
He was overplayed…? 11 appearances to date .
Well he got played to the point he had to take time out for an injury that is consistent with over playing.
Time and time again this board talks about injuries, time and time again it talks about a first 11. There is no such thing in modern football.
7 Likes
Presumably nothing to do with the host nation also happening to own the club that Messi plays for.
3 Likes
Its not the 11 game that did it, it was the 11 games in such a short period of time. If spread over a season that would have been ok.
2 Likes
The same club Mbappe plays for…?
The World Cup was so blatantly rigged in Argentina’s favour that France got two penalties in the final.
3 Likes
More like a donkey
We will still need him regardless of whether Jones can become more than a squad fodder. Someone must take Henderson’s place in the Starting 11 next season, since Hendo’s legs have gone.
Curtis has shown he has improved and matured and worthy of at least a squad role next season. No one is saying he is world class or even very good but at 22, he can be. But for a small group of fans, Curtis is just cannon fodder for their “shit player never good enough but had a few good games and thus owner will use that reason not to spend 130m to buy Jude” rhetoric.
The rest of us know Curtis is good enough and we will definitely need reinforcement and Macalister look like a great addition for the price rumored.
2 Likes
I am. I think he’s a very good, tidy player. Absolutely could end up the mainstay of midfield depending on how he and the team go over the next 2-3 years.
2 Likes
Some one needs to take Fabinho place and Thiago also. We need movement and energy.
1 Like
As mentioned before , this past season was an extremely challenging and short season due to the world cup in between. Games did come thick and fast both before and after the world cup and injuries do happen. Liverpool were caught out because we don’t play with an inflated squad (Klopp doesn’t want to play with that)
We did make mistakes with respect to the midfield. Hopefully that leads klopp to realise that we need guys who are injury resistant because numbers do matter at this point of time.
Bajcetic / Fabinho / one more - DM
Jones / Thiago / McAllister* / Henderson / Elliot / (one more big ticket signing )/ Morton (depending on what the team feels about him)
That should in theory atleast hold the fort for this coming season where atleast 1 out of Fabinho / Thiago / Henderson are faced out … (mostly Thiago) and two more signings the season after by when Henderson is possibly transitioning into the Milner role.
The DM right now is least of our worries especially with the hybrid formation with Trent shuttling to and fro the DM/RB positions. I’ve still got faith that Fabinho will thrive if he’s given some support and time on the ball(don’t ever right players off on one bad season)
Jurgen needs a proper pre season with all signings done before the summer camp. Things will change.
1 Like
And also the reason why I touted gundogan as a possible signing (even including that we get macallister
Ok Bajectic wasn’t over played he just went down with an injury that is consistent with playing a guy over so many minutes over a small period.
Especially as resting him looked like bringing on a drunk in Fabinho*
*he has improved since if anyone fancies jumping on that.
If we sign Macallister great, we need a squad not a first 11 but some on here seem to think it’s just a first 11 which is baffling look at our injury record.
3 Likes
Not sure what the debate is about, we need an almost totally new midfield from the one we saw most of the season. Trent and Jones have been a part of the rebuild, now we need to add more quality. Mac Allister is one player who will add something to the group, but he should probably be signed alongside somebody more physically gifted, and that would give the group a nice balance.
Having both Jones and Mac Allister would be a blessing after suffering through a season in which our midfield could barely keep the ball for longer than 2 seconds.
10 Likes
Agree.
Just that the rebuild will not be totally done in 1 season.
1 Like
Its not just the games but the intensity of training during that period too that puts his body under risk of injury.
The problem with Bajcetic is that he was clearly struggling after 60-70 minutes in most games he played, they were right at the edge of his physical limit.
1 Like
I’m not necessarily saying I believe it. I think there is a possibility.
Also, doesn’t that conveniently support the point anyway? The Qatari owners don’t care which one of them won the final, just that no matter what they win, right? The two crown jewels of their pathetic fiction…
1 Like
This 
We spend £50m-£60m on Mac Allister and we’re getting no more than two midfielders this summer, including him.
Only two ways I see that changing. One is if an established name goes, namely one of Fabinho, Thiago, and Henderson and in that order of likelihood I reckon. The other is if we don’t get a new defender and instead go all in on midfield and even then i’d expect the third to be in a much lower price bracket, perhaps even a bit of a punt like Kamada on a bosman.
We’ve always said we had the numbers just not the number of ones who could stay fit. Replacing Keita and Ox with Mac Allister and another of a similar level to him would be a massive step forward itself. Add in Bajetic and we’ve got pretty much three new options, all of who you’d hope would be available more often than two of the three midfielders leaving this summer (im not even counting Arthur given he’s not been involved).
Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Jones, Elliott, Bajetic, Mac Allister and a second summer signing is what I’d expect. Maybe Morton sticks about for the season as an emergency but I don’t see him competing for a place. A Nat Phillips for the midfield type at best. If we get a third then one of the older ones is gone, Morton is gone (sold, loan if not) and the younger lads have a real fight on their hands for game time outside of the domestic cups.
Next summer Thiago is out of contract and Fabinho will have two years to run on his deal so it’s the last chance to really cash out on him. If we do two this summer, I think we get two more next summer. Do three this summer and I think it’ll be one next summer with a defender to replace Matip the other major need as his contract will be up.
I honestly don’t think we’ll see huge numbers come in this summer. Probably three genuine first team types, four at a big push and then whatever we might need to do to address backup keepers on top.