Some may say I was being dramatic. I’d prefer to think they were reading this thread and thought, “hey, it never occurred to us that we need another defender. This fella has a point!”
Marc Guehi: Liverpool set to step up bid for Crystal Palace captain - BBC Sport
I like the additions of Guehi and Leoni. I can’t see any circumstances in which we sell Konate this window.
My one caveat is that I would have liked one more experienced defender in there. I would have left Leoni in Parma for a year on loan and looked at a loan deal ourselves. PSG are now stacked with players who can cover CB and some who can cover CB and FB.
I would have been eyeing a loan deal for one of them (I mentioned Lucas Hernandez previously - someone like him).
I think that would have given us ideal cover for attacking all competitions this season, keeping our main pair as fresh as possible for the league and champions league.
I was in favour of leaving him on loan at Parma for another year. I then read that if we keep him with us, rather than loaning him back, it means we can register him as a homegrown player in 3 years time.
https://x.com/BassTunedToRed/status/1956473503936328019
This could have as well gone to the midfield thread but still…
Not great, but we will get better defensively.
Tonight we paid our respects to Jota, then dug deep to get the three points.
We have a lot of firepower, with more to come, and we have a great crowd.
Hope we don’t go down the 13/14 route, 100+ goals in the league and 50 conceded.
I think we need a backup for Ryan Gravenberch more badly than we need new forwards or even a centre back (now that Leoni is here and Gomez is fit).
When it was first reported that Arne Slot was to be our head coach, I thought I’d watch some of his Feyenoord teams (with the sound off to better see what they looked like) to better understand what he was about. What really stood out to me was how his teams would arrive at the box in numbers. They would hunt in packs and arrive in the opposition’s box in fours and fives, pass it about between them and the fellow with the best chance at a goal would take the shot and score. Granted, I was watching highlights, but that has always stayed with me. This approach appears to be what he’s trying to achieve now, especially with the forward signings we have and are in the running for. However, for team balance you need an extremely mobile, agile and solid 6.
The number 6 position is extremely under-rated, viz:
It’s worth remembering that the first signing Slot wanted to make was a certain Martin Zubimendi. While (in a feat of phenomenal coaching) he has re-purposed Gravenberch into what Zubimendi was going to be for us, it’s now clear that Gravenberch is now so integral to the team that his absence is unconscionable and leads to losses (like the Community Shield) and near misses (like last night).
I think we need a Gravenberch-lite. If Isak comes, well and good, though the man with the same name backwards has started off very well. If we’re to get a left winger, personally I love how Rodrygo plays the game. Mesmeric at times. Guehi would be a great centre back addition. But I think a more than capable substitute 6 is crucial to our ambitions.
I think we need to be looking at more match time for Bajcetic as a substitute for Gravenberch.
It’s clear that Endo and Mac do not have the pace to sustain the fast breaks.