What about Henderson?
The injury is either more serious than was said or Klopp is done with him???
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Six games, 389 mins
I’m going to go with more serious.
Consider that the registrations are, unless I’m much mistaken, for the group stages only. The last group stage matches take place on the 2nd of November, which means that if he picked up a rather serious injury, for which we expect him to be out for a significant amount of time, there’s absolutely no point registering him, if we need the space for someone else, which we do, since we have already registered the maximum 17 non-homegrown players.
Even if he was off on a free transfer next summer, there’s absolutely no reason to not use him when we can.
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Yeah pretty much it’s a 2 month group stage even if Keita was ready to be back in a month it’s a bit pointless registering if you have issues and would have to leave those out who are fit now.
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Would love to know what he’s asking for in contract negotiations if things have indeed stalled as reported.
I know Klopp is loyal to players but even he must be getting frustrated at his lack of availability and the uncertainty around whether he’ll be here next season, if indeed he wants him to be.
If it’s clear a contract isn’t going to get signed then I can see Klopp preferring to use players that will be.
Interested to see what Klopp goes for with this one. I thought we looked more effective with Bobby on during the derby.
On paper this is our hardest group match so it’s worth getting it out of the way. Not losing would be a good result.
Anyone know who is showing this in Germany? Is it DAZN again? I may have to sell a kidney.
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I’d prioritise the Wolves game over this. We can recover if we lose this one but dropping more points in the PL in a game we should win would be a major problem.
I’d be playing Matip and Tsimikas in place of VVD and Robbo, a midfield 3 of Jones, Melo and Milner with (hopefully) Thiago and Elliott replacing 2 of them after an hour. Nunez, Bobby and Salah up top.
Finding it hard to be arsed after Paris. UEFA can fuck off.
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Total Sportek
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I think both have to be priorities another poor performance will mean even more pressure in the Wolves game.
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We need to find a way of playing a proper game of football, nevermind prioritising one game over another.
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Yes that would be nice, a proper game of football and by that I mean not someone like Bournemouth but playing a good side in a meaningful match and win with proper football, that would be nice.
Double pivot with Fabinho and Melo, and Firmino with them in midfield.
Fabinho will benefit from Melo, they will control the midfield, the ball should be carried well to the attack, and fullbacks will be able to advance wide more freely, so Salah and Diaz can cut in more.
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Not sure I get the thought process behind moving Bobby into midfield. If anything he’s been our most effective forward so far this season and does a better job of linking midfield and attack than anyone but only because he has licence to drop deeper or pull out wider.
Plonking him into an unfamiliar position and expecting him to a) have the legs to play in our midfield and b) to be able to do the defensive part of the game seems a bit presumptuous.
The call for a switch to 4-2-3-1 has been around for a while but not something Klopp has shown any signs of doing to start games. Situationally during games we’ve seen it, normally when he wants another attacker on but rarely, if ever to start. I see the appeal but not the likelihood of it happening.
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I had completely forgotten how early the CL group stage starts this year - I guess that is just a week earlier than normal? Feels earlier.
Napoli is atop Serie A, but they have only played one .500+ team (Lazio), and the one bit I saw them play this season against Lecce wasn’t great. Lots of possession, lots of Lecce fouls, but in the end not that forceful in the attack. If we can just stop giving up the first goal, we should be able to grind them down.
Go over there, win, no injuries, and any traveling fans come home safely too. That’s what we all want.
I like the team posted above. Get a double pivot alongside Fabinho. Maybe Melo for me. Elliott ahead of them. And three strikers in Salah, Nunez and Diaz, causing havoc. Not too spread out, not isolated, but linking up, with good movement and interplay. If we can get that going we won’t look back.
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It’s simple - we have few other midfield options.
Firmino improved against United when moved deeper and he did well there against Everton. Can he do the defensive work? Maybe not, but then his competition is Harvey Elliot, and he can’t either.
It’s not a long term solution but a potential quick fix until we get some players back.
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I think Arthur has to start, he’ll know Napoli well. We need a player who can control the game and especially need a left sided midfielder who will actually play in midfield.
I like the Firmino shouts, Elliott whilst playing very well can’t play every minute.
Peak Brazil midfield?
Alisson
Trent - Gomez - Van Dijk - Tsimikas
Firmino - Fabinho - Arthur
Salah - Nunez - Diaz
Whatever we lineup, get Salah back near the box, be that by starting position or movement instructions.
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The referee is Carlos del Cerro Grande, another egocentric Spaniard.
The only problem is that he hasn’t played football in months. He will have to train with the squad and be introduced gradually. Maybe he could get some minutes here but I don’t see him as a starter.
This is actually the problem that we have with injuries at the moment. Ideally new players need to be introduced next to experienced squad members playing a known formation but the level of injuries is preventing that.
I agree with Salah, though. His play has been perfectly adequate for where he is but he is not in the positions where he could make a significant threat on goal.