I’d divide it into two phases. The first more important than the second.
Additions and plugging gaps.
improvements and replacements to what we have.
Additions.
Looking at the squad, we have two great big fucking holes that need urgent attention. The first on the left where Gakpo plays and the second on the right were Salah plays. Both these players have absolutely security in their position, with no competition to push them or replace them. At this point neither should be a nailed on starter and we desperately need wide options off the bench.
At this point our squad would be
Alisson
Marmadashvili Bradley Konate Van Dijk Kerkez
Frimpong Jaquet Leoni Tsimikas Szoboszlai Gravenberch
Jones Mac Allister Winger 1 Wirtz Winger 2
Salah Elliott Gakpo Isak
Ekitike
Some caveats…
The biggest assumption is that Konate gets a new deal. If that doesn’t happen we’ll need a Centre Back
I’d retain Gomez as home grown cover across the whole back line. We’ve seen this year that injuries can pile up in defence. We might as well let him see out his contract and let him go on a free.
Assuming Kostas comes back and takes the squad role from the departing Robbo
Assuming that Ali gets another year, but that isn’t guaranteed
I’d reintegrate Elliott. Nobody is buying the poor lad at this point, so why not have him deputising Wirtz.
Don’t take the first/second choice implications here two serious. It’s a squad game, and I think all these players should be rotating and getting loads of minutes.
But If we had to go into 26/27 with that squad, I’d be broadly OK as a bare minimum level of business, but would hope we’d be able to do a bit more - which is phase two.
Improvements.
There is a chance we get an offer for Salah that is too good to turn down, and he doesn’t want to be seen as a back up. In which case there are two options open to. 1) buy another winger 2) go all in on Frimpong as wide forward, and buy a reliable right back (maybe Geertruida). I’d do number two, as I think it is a concern going into the season with Bradlet and Frimpong (hope this season was an aberration for Jezza)
If we want to bring another midfielder in and bring some increased presence and physicality, that would be sensible (Adam Wharton is liked by the club, but would not come cheap). But in that case you probably have to move on Jones or Mac Allister or you are just carrying too many. Mac Allister would get my nod - he looks a shadow of the player he was last year, and Jones is more versatile and home grown.
Ngumoha is a conundrum. I would really love to be convinced that he can back up the right wing, to enable us to let Gakpo go while there is still likely to be some interest. But I’m aware we heard this last year. I could see a scenario where Ekitike can do some of his work off the left, and we go with him, a new winger and Rio as the left sided attacking options. But it would make me nervous.
So if all these moves play out, you might be looking at.
Im mostly with you on that, but also think accommodating Wirtz is a small headache as well. He doesn’t fit with our old 4-3-3 model really. He leaves us lighter in midfield or not having a direct striker up top. He looks a trad 10 to me in a 4-4-2, but going to 4-4-2 is going to complicate what wingers and midfielders we can have. Obv we need more players, and I’m beginning to think the club new that on 1 Sep last year, we were the last to work it out. Its not as if they could have come out and said, Hey lads, just stand down your expectations this year, yeah we know we are Title hoiders, but we are having a transition season, maybe 2.
I don’t think he needs to be able to ‘tackle’ definitely needs to at least slow players down and hassle them so we can gang up on them or organise correctly to be able to defend better.
I do. I have some specific disagreements of some of the specific changes and decisions we made in the summer, but I dont think that really amount to leaving us with a lack of depth. We have 19 senior outfield players, so 22 with the 3 goalies, and a couple of kids outside of that expected to play some role. That is absolutely plenty. Especially when several of them have shown a decent degree of versatility.
Looking past the numbers, I think we left ourselves short at CB with the choice of players we entered the season with, but I don’t think that has had much of an impact on how our season has played out. Separately I think the situation we’ve had at RB is beyond what anyone could have planned for. But the biggest issue is exactly what Kopstar says, squads always look smaller than they are when key players are off form and a manager shows a reluctance to bring previously effective players into contention. That is my assessment of one of the challenges we have had this season. Any retort that he doesn’t fancy those players so shouldnt be expected to use them is ignoring what the criticism/concern is as the point is there are too many players he inherrited that he views that way who he should have been able to get something out of and expand the effective size of the squad.
IMO it is precisely this limitation that has paradoxically seen him end up having to keep Chiesa and Endo despite having little intention of using them. In Kelleher, Trent, and Nunez we had 3 outgoings that were either out of our control or pretty much locked on. We then had the Jota situation. I would not imagine that Hughes came into his role in the spring of 2024 thinking that by the following summer he’d be selling Harvey or Quansah, let alone both of them. But that is the position Slot’s refusal to use either put Hughes in. You will always have players on the fringes of a 19 man squad who dont play much, but its much better to have experienced veterans play those roles. You can expect them to cope with the infrequent appearances better, but you’re also not having to worry about them rapidly depreciated as a sellable asset the way you would with younger players. Not to mention the hit to the reputation for not doing right by young players. So we’ve got 4 moves pretty much forced on us, 2 more Slot has backed his DoF into making…Is it really reasonable to then expect he be given replacements for those veterans with “players he rates”, when the difficulty in getting to him view players that way is part of the challenge itself?
The quality of the side he inherited has become a bone of contention given the way it being “klopp’s side” has been used as a stick to beat Slot with, but the reality is this was a very good side he inherited. It was a young one that was top of the league after 30 games. We were still genuine challengers until maybe as late as the 34th game. We also won a domestic cup with essentially a reserve/youth side in the latter stages demonstrating a really exciting level of talent emerging to supplement the established players. There will always be players in a good squad a new manager doesn’t jive with, but I think the number of players that have run a foul of this with Slot is I think a bit of an indictment on him. This is a big part of what has shaken my faith in him being able to figure out what went wrong in the early part of the season.
As long as Wirtz is doing well (like recently and obviously he can do better), he’ll always find a place in this team, he’ll be a protagonist.
Whether he plays as the single #10, or slightly off the sides in half spaces, he still ends up in the same zones when in possession, so nothing changes really. He’s done it in the past. It’s not like he’s only played the single #10 role for Leverkusen, Germany and Liverpool so far.
Now… if we are talking about potentially shifting our midfield structure to more of a single pivot one in a 4-3-3, there is a question whether he’d be able to play as let’s say the most advanced #8/#10.
Could have a Coutinhoesque situation from his last one and a half year here, when Klopp used him between playing on the left of a 3, but not expected to play as a winger or as the most advanced (left sided) midfielder in a 4-3-3. Wirtz could do that, especially with more time.
Another question for the 4-3-3 structure with the current players whether any of them is good enough to be a single pivot and that’s mainly aimed at Gravenberch.
That structure would be good for Szobo though, as I don’t like him neither too high nor too deep. He’s best when he has the liberty to express his strengths by having an in between role. We’ll see if he ever evolves into a midfielder who can regularly start as one of the double-pivots in a 4-3-2-1 midfield.
It’s all part of questions that will have to be answered and proven on the pitch, by whoever the coach is. We have more than one or two, there’s more.
Which is sort of illustrated by the comments above as there is little agreement in what we need (forward/winger, midfielder, fullback, centre back)
I believe one of the biggest issues was the amount of change all at once. This is reflected in our postive results frequently individual brilliance rather than team performance.
Bottom line is a major rebuild of the team occurred this season. Beyond what was needed and not with like for like players. I don’t think adding several more new players is the solution as too much change all at once has been our problem.
2 reasons they slice through midfield, 1st one is an incoherent press, where our 2 best players on the ball Wirtz and Ekitike end up running round like headless chickens with no midfield backup and an easy out option either centrally or out wide.
2nd is where I agree with you Macallister is too slow and several times each game he over commits and gets beaten too easily and doesn’t have the recovery pace to get back.
For Macca to work defensively is when the 2 widemen help by tracking back and pressuring their playeys and then Macca picking up the pieces by winning the ball.
Which is around the time contract extensions would be taking place. Ward leaving and not being properly repkaced is what led to Salah Virg and Trent ending up going into the final year of their contracts
Wharton gets mentioned a lot on here, obviously a very capable player technically but I’m not sure he solves the issue of our midfield getting walked through at will.
Elliott Anderson would be better to meet our current deficiencies
Also, and I cannot emphasise this point enough, we should never do any more deals with the current ownership of Crystal Palace FC. There are a bunch of numpties.
Yes, I had forgotten how we accommodated Coutinho, still leaves us a little imbalanced if you ask me.
What about Wirtz, a la Beardsley, or Bergkamp, Saviola type support striker, with Hugo or Isak up top? We’ve not seen that model for some time, possibly early noughties, since the 5 man MF with 1 striker up, came into vogue. In what used to be really, a complete free role. Wirtz is certainly good enough for it.
Sometimes I wish Slot would take that as an advice too.