Just makes you think how good this attack (and team overall would be) if it had a more suitable and a more reliable centre forward than Nunez. Or if Jota wasn’t so susceptible to injuries…
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But no teams have ever had 5 outstanding forwards. Even given the issues with those two, the options we have are amazing. Diaz went from scoring a brace to spending the whole next game on the bench
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I think we’ll be seeing Chiesa (when fit) and Diaz in more central positions too.
Chiesa’s got very good ball control. And he’s probably one of the quickest if not the quickest of our lot.
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True, I can’t remember a team having five but I do remember a team having four. 
That said, I don’t consider any of Liverpool’s current forwards outstanding bar Salah (in terms of sheer numbers at least) - but I hope that Gakpo and Diaz will get there.
Meanwhile, I hope that Liverpool will “invent” or buy a significant upgrade on Nunez next summer because even if Salah extends, he won’t be here forever and someone will have to take over the burden of scoring goals and assists from him.
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I hope so. Even if we look at the likes of Gakpo, Diaz, Jota, Chiesa being able to play across the front line. We would still probably need a big unit type Center Forward who’s going to be willing the aerials and has quite a bit more of goal scoring prowess. I don’t think Nunez (despite having the attributes) is that guy.
Diaz has had outstanding games but inconsistent. I’m pinning a lot of hope on Gakpo. He’s got outstanding attributes, seems a really level-headed guy and still only 25
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On our coverage Robbie Mustoe in the studio is surprisingly good. His take after the game yesterday was that there is a lot about our game that looks pretty basic, but it is all based on giving us the platform to employ incredible variety in the way we attack, in terms of the number and identity of players and the unpredictible positions some of them will get into.
Jones has scored 2 very similar goals in the last few games scoring from around the 6 yard box from a cut back.
Our last goal against Spurs started with Diaz picking the ball up in his normal LW position, but then as the play developed he followed the ball all the way across the pitch before popping up on the inside right channel to take his shot.
When Diaz and Gapko are on the pitch at the same time there would be the potential of them canceling each other out by competing for the same areas of the pitch, but instead what we see more often is wonderful swapping of positions and crisscrossing interchanges, which was something we saw in one of Mo’s goals against Spurs (the one he blasted home the rebound from a yard out)
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This is the kind of vacuous and meaningless analysis that renders “pundits” worthless.
What does it actually mean? You have a finite number of players, each of which is easily identified (spoiler: their names are on the back of their shirts). Their positions depend upon the development of the play.
Any fuckwit can come up with this bollocks.
That’s a bizarre response
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Not as bizarre as that supposed “analysis”.
I really like our attack. Options galore, and they are all contributing. Darwin Nunez needs more goals, and things haven’t clicked for him yet under Slot, but he still carries a threat, he still occupies defenders, he still shows for the ball and he still creates space for his teammates to do their thing. I’m not nearly as down on him as many other reds, as he is still making a contribution to the best attack in the league.
Hopefully there’s more to come from him, though, as there’s a chance that one of Nunez or Jota will be replaced in summer, for different reasons.
The variety and interchange we have in our attack is good to see. Salah is putting up ridiculous numbers, but it is not a one man show.
The obvious question, though, is who would play on the right if Mo were unavailable?
Chiesa is the obvious answer but his availability is an issue. Doak could be recalled from his loan. Or we play Elliott (if fit) out wide?
I would cross that bridge when we come to it, and see who the opponent is, and who is fit and firing.
Based on what I’ve seen so far, I would play Diaz on the right, Gakpo on the left, and either Nunez or Jota in the middle, if Salah was unavailable.
Elliott would be a secondary option to this, for me.
Chiesa was signed as a low cost, potentially high upside option. We’ve not seen it yet. He has missed a lot of football, but it wouldn’t be a total surprise to me if he started to make a few memorable contributions before the season is over.
If he does get up to speed, he would probably come in if Salah was out, but we haven’t seen enough from Chiesa yet to think that’s viable. Hopefully we will.
Doak is coming along nicely on loan. That’s the best place for him now, and probably another season after this as well, then we can see how close he is to staking a claim.
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I always think it best to plan in advance.
I would hope that Arne does too.
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I’d Chiesa bangs in three goals in 4 matches. He’ll be the best thing since sliced bread
We didn’t need a direct Salah backup a lot over the years and if we’re lucky, it will remain like that.
When we did need, it was usually picking from a few options.
That remains the same I think.
Could be anyone out of: Chiesa, Elliott… then the likes of Diaz (if he’s not up top), Jota (so far very much a striker). Not in any particular order. Perhaps Chiesa’s first or second position is RW, but right now he probably wouldn’t be the one.
We don’t need to have that guy on paper ready for whenever Salah isn’t on the pitch, but when it happens, it’s simply a combination of quality, form, fitness, style and opponent.
Yes we should plan ahead, and I’m certain we do. All the permutations will be known by Slot ahead of time, and then the best option will be selected at the time we need it.
I’ve laid several possible options out, in the eventuality that Salah is unavailable, and I would imagine Slot has even more contingencies mapped out.
If it happened now, and Salah was unavailable, I would play Diaz on the right, Nunez in the middle, and Gakpo on the left.
I might just as easily swap Jota in for Nunez, but I prefer Nunez… although I readily accept he needs to start scoring more.
We don’t know the variables of the situation at the time Salah is hypothetically unavailable. Maybe Jota is injured too. He is injured a lot. Maybe Nunez is completely out of confidence and form. Maybe Chiesa hasn’t got his body ready for Premier League football. So for all I know, Slot could play Diaz through the middle, Elliott on the right, and Gakpo on the left.
That’s what I mean by crossing that bridge when we come to it.
Everything is planned and prepared, as much as it can possibly be, and then we select the best combo at the time we make the decision.
We also didn’t see Diaz as a central option until it happened.
Me and another poster wondered who would be the one if we were without Jota and Nunez (when Danns was still out injured).
Gakpo (now heavily a winger, though he also had a period of a game up top in the League Cup) or maybe even playing with two false #9’s like Arsenal do at times with Odegaard and Havertz (we did it for a period in one game with Jones and Szobo).
Then came the Leverkusen game with Diaz up top and since then, in a few, including that one, it looked pretty good.
Slot also referred to Chiesa as a central option, someone who can play all 3 positions (the same if we had ended up with Gordon).
So really who replaces Salah… could be a few different options at different times, we judge who is best at that moment.
Has @Limiescouse hacked your account?
That’s a hell of a lot of words to state the obvious. 
Of course we plan ahead. And of course we have to cross that bridge when we come to it, as we don’t know the particular set of circumstances ahead of time.
Everyone in here could list out 5-6 possible set ups we might employ, if Salah was unavailable.