Easy to say after today but looking at our starting lineup and out of the whole defence and midfield only the two CBs regularly win headers. Trent, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Elliott, Thiago are all none factors aerially.
Before anyone says Fabinho is good in the air, I am aware that he is in the 75th percentile for headers won per game but thats against all other CMs including attacking players. Compared to other quality DMs, such as Casemiro, he is nowhere close. (1.33 v 3.39)
We need at least one midfielder who is strong in the air.
Last clean sheet in the league came on 19th October, 8 games ago. Playing mostly bottom half teams too.
Scary stuff.
If LFC can’t make it top 4 this season, FSG might sack Klopp and Pep Ljinders which will undoubtedly turn SoS and the Supporters board against the owners. I can foresee massive protests outside Anfield if the manager who ended a 30 odd years wait for a PL title is sacked.
It’s ain’t gonna end well for FSG if they are going the way of Peter Moore MK II.
They won’t, that’s why they want to sell up and they will sell up.
They know no manager can come in under their tight budget and replicate what Klopp has done.
Thing is who they sell to will also cause protests outside Anfield. Just look at this board and you can see it happening.
Sell it to the Saudi-Qatari Consortium and you have fans saying they wouldn’t support Liverpool anymore due to the sportswashing that may come.
Sell it to the Americans and you have fans saying that the owner will just treat Liverpool as part of the franchise with no real passion in it just like FSG.
Sell to it to Mukesh Ambani but that ship has somehow sailed away with him looking at Arsenal instead.
For me, it is simple. Any prospective custodians of the club needs to pour in money and/or effort to ensure the following:
1.The club has a top-class personnel in management staff ( from coaches, scouts to the sporting director) that can fufill the philosophy of this club where standards are kept high ruthlessly.
2 .Improve LFC’s marketing visibility so that revenues can be increased to a point where we can be at the scale of the Madrid and Catalan Cunts.
3. Ensure that any contract renewal of the playing staff who is 30 years old or older will need to be reviewed between the Manager and Chief Data Analyst with inputs from the Chief Medical Officer in terms of playing availability. If there is any dispute between the Manager and Chief Data Analyst , the tie-breaker will lie with the Sporting Director.
4. Similarly, for any potential incoming transfers above 28 years old,it has to be reviewed between the Manager and the Chief Scout with inputs from the Data Analytic team. Any tie-breaker for a dispute will lie with the Sporting Director.
Hopefully, this might help the entire team to look out for each other’s blind spot and prevent a Manager from taking on too much power and fucking up the investments poured into this club coz’ this is what the club is looking right now.
There is no situation in which Klopp would be sacked.
I wouldn’t put too much faith in FSG in their understanding of the game.
Nothing to do about their understanding of the game.
They as owners acknowledge the achievements Klopp has delivered under their ownership, they’re also well aware of ownerships at other clubs around us who invest far more and achieve far less. No other manager does that for them. So effectively without Klopp, FSG don’t stand a chance.
I’ve looked at our availability this season (missing different players at different times), focusing on what’s on paper our strongest XI (the one we viewed as such before the start of the season), more or less.
I mean, I know it’s not so often these days that you have your strongest XI available a lot of the time, but I really wanted to draw a line and see.
I’ve decided not to make much of a difference in 3 positions; RCB, LW and ST.
So; Alisson, Trent, Matip/Konate, vDijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Salah, Diaz/Jota, Firmino/Nunez.
Went through our games so far this season and we had 1(!) game when we lined up like that, Fulham away in the first league game.
So frustrating.
Thanks for posting. Wanted to post similar the other day but did not have the numbers.
Frustrating is the right word.
Used to win CL and PL basically with
Alisson, Trent, VvD, Robbo, Fab, Hendo, Gini, Mo, Bobby and Sadio.
Those ten players started almost all games.
Gomez and Matip shared the CB position next to Virgil.
Milner and Keita provided midfield cover
Origi did that in attack.
Klopp needs this consistency to for his football.
We were close in some games.
Sometimes it was Gomez, Tsimikas (we could make a case for LB, since Tsimi is basically our “3rd” proper full back), a lot of times it was Elliott and/or Milner. The odd “Carvalho” here and there.
But so, so frustrating.
We get some players back, we lose some. And round and round we go.
Really need to sort it out next summer with a free summer and build a better base. Although easier said than done, players will not totally start from zero.
I think this is the biggest problem. Sans disruption, I think that we would have got by just fine, but it’s the stop and go nature of it all that’s problematic. 21 players missing at least 1 game due to injury this season. I think that’s had a massive impact thus far.
Still have faith in this squad.
- went into the season with 5 CBs. Great options in quality and quantity.
Not concerned at all about Virgil’s injury because the other 4 are available.
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had 3 FBs + Milly and Gomez and added Ramsay
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Salah, Bobby, Diogo, Diaz and added Nunez + Carvalho. Even before signing Gakpo that’s a great attacking department in quality and quantity.
Long term injuries to Luis and Jota (+ Nunez suspension) fucked us up here. Shit happens.
- a lot has been said about the midfield.
I think one of Jürgens biggest regrets in the 7 years was not signing a midfielder last summer because you know we have 6 senior CMs (+ Curtis) and should be fine easily.
Pretty sure Klopp will now have learned his lesson after Kabak and Arthur and we will never see similar desperation signings again.
I’m personally not convinced it was a desperation signing so much as he was someone we were looking at but didn’t have that much interest to push us into signing permanently at the price that might have been demanded. A loan with an option to buy however gives us the ability to mitigate the risk.
Liverpool have completed the signing of midfielder Arthur Melo from Juventus on a season-long loan deal.
The Brazilian flew to England to complete the deadline day move after an injury to captain Jordan Henderson during Wednesday’s Premier League win over Newcastle left the Reds light in midfield.
Henderson was the latest midfielder to suffer injury as he joined Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the sidelines.
100% panic and desperation.
Isn’t that a matter of interpretation?
I’m not sure we would have made a move if they insisted that he was only available for a permanent transfer, even at the price in our option to buy. He was probably already on our radar as an option, but he probably became more crucial a signing when the midfield crisis (as it was back then at least) escalated.
You think of it as panic and desperation, but I just think of it as the hedge that we had already planned out and had to execute because the eventuality that he was meant to hedge against did occur.
Are our sickies anywhere on the way back…
Think the update was that the only changes were that Virgil was injured and that Henderson was on his way back?
Geez…when is Diaz back…been off sick for ages…