I think between the lines… Jurgen is not a fan of Pearce!
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Listening to Klopp I’m sure that if we sign someone it won’t be a midfielder.
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I might be completely wrong here, but wasn’t Wijnaldum pretty much played in the exact same role his entire time with us? I would suggest that we probably signed him because of particular traits of his that made him very suitable to play that role for us rather than a Gerrard, which I suspect is what most fans think of a goal-scoring midfielder.
It’s rather telling that his benchmark of goalscoring is Wijnaldum, considering we basically don’t have any other midfielders who score more. In our system goals from midfield seem to be a huge bonus more than anything else.
Position yes, role no.
I think initially, we viewed him as the more offensive of the two #8’s.
Since 2018, his importance grew as he really got converted into more of that deeper/safety first ever present hard working midfielder for us. Reacted brilliantly to us signing Fabinho, Keita and almost Fekir. Until then, I’m not saying he was bad, but it really didn’t turn out the way we probably had in mind. Even he said in his first interview with us that he wants double figures in his first season.
He went for something like 170 odd games (forgot the real number when this last season ended) in a row without an assist from open play, though that was exactly in this later/last period he was with us. Ox was maybe closest to becoming a more regular in goal involvement from midfield. I think more than number, we “always” looked for the next layer in someone who is more technical and can bring more control to our madness (as we can’t press like crazy all the time, there are also some other aspects as you become a better team), which we managed to do to a certain extent through different ways.
And yeah, our midfielders do play a bit differently and freedom is spread out differently than some other teams. It’s about constantly trying to get that balance right.
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What that press conference really needed was Mac_Red to respond with a list of 100 such players.
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I think we signed him predominantly for his resistance to pressing, his tactical intelligence in picking out the right passes and executing a game plan, and his versatility. The creativity and goalscoring was a bonus, and we have seen that he is indeed capable of those, he just doesn’t do it as often as we might like for us, even though he does it regularly for the Netherlands. I can only presume it’s a combination of them playing against weaker opposition, and the simple fact that he’s given very different tactical instructions for us.
Was happy with our depth midfield even before today’s game and wasn’t even considering Harvey a 'real option‘ already - now I do.
But I really hope that we will add a CM in his prime next summer and Jude Bellingham in 2023 (am sure Dortmunt won’t sell next summer).
Our midfield for the 23/24 season would be
Henderson, Saul (for example), Fabinho, Keita, Jones, Elliott and Bellingham.
How about that for a midfield?
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Sure, that would be sweet and luxurious. And yes, next summer it could perhaps be time to act, I wonder if we follow up the supposed interest in Neuhaus. A lot could change in a year though. Maybe our guy Clarkson does enough at Blackburn to get into the squad, who knows.
For this season I’m pretty happy with the options as well. It’s only a matter of fitness now. Hoping we can get Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago on the pitch relatively often.
Doesn’t have to be all three together. Maybe stagger it to manage their fitness even when all are available, have two of them in there with a +1. And like we saw vs Norwich and Burnley, against lower half teams it’s maybe no disaster if only one or even none of them play, as long as we’ve got a strong lineup in other areas. Then hopefully we get all three on the pitch for as many big games as possible.
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I think what needs to be introduced next is a DM equivalent to Elliott (offensive 8) and Jones (box to box 8). Then you have Fabinho/new guy, Henderson/Jones, Thiago/Elliott. For instance (although a lot more flexibility on roles and places than it looks on paper). As they get older one or both of Thiago and Henderson will move on or step down over the next few years. I’ve always suspected Thiago will go to Italy after winning a league or two with us (touch wood) and try to add Serie A to his collection. He’d then be just about young enough still to add Ligue Un in France before entering semi retirement in MLS. In 3/4 years Henderson will have dropped down to a Milner style role if he’s lucky with injuries or maybe even moved on/hung up his boots. Keita and Ox are kind of in last chance saloon coz of their availability, if things don’t go well this season I see them both moving on for whatever we can get next summer. That leaves Fabinho being the bridge from one generation to the next. So over the next couple of years we need Elliott, Jones and possibly one or two others coming in (maybe as many as 3 if Ox and Keita both leave) to get ready, develop, step up and become our future midfield along with veteran Fabinho and possibly old man Hendo. I’d say first one in should be a player who can play DM and defensive 8 roles. Then see who leaves next summer maybe a similar player then too.
Basically, buy buy buy.
Yes, yes and yes!
Not necessarily, I think Balagazi has given me hope. Elliott and Jones should become mainstays. I’ve even toyed with the idea of Gomez moving forward into DM to do a very Fabinho style job. We could hit a situation where our midfield in 5 years is Elliott 23, Jones 25, Fabinho 32, Keita 31, Gomez 29, Balagazi 22 and Henderson 35. In which case we wouldn’t have needed a new CM over a 5 year period but could still have something world class. But potentially over the next few years we need people coming into that midfield, they may come from the academy (my main hope but I’m not sure on any of the more defensive options) or from other areas of the pitch by Players settling into new roles, but usually players do get bought.
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Why not Konate or Curtis or Elliott?
i still think we need to start looking into this position in view of having a ‘specialist’ to initially cover Fabs. Might already be there in the youths however we’re not seeing it yet.
(Now I will sit back and wait for the tirade to come my way for even suggesting such a thing, something to do with having Hendo and Thiago both of which are better in other positions and older).
Bissouma!!!
I personally don’t understand why people are so eager to shove players into different positions so often. It works for the occasional game, and for some players can work long term, but I don’t want to see any of our current defenders playing as a CDM for any length of time.
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In my head there’s a blue print of what Klopp needs and works for his tactics at CB, despite that Gomez is actually my second favourite CB after VvD it’s undeniable that he doesn’t quite fit the blueprint as well as the CBs Klopp has signed in VvD, Matip, Konate and even cheap/loaned options like Klavan and Caulker. The only ones were the “them or nobody” duo of Kabak and Davies and in this context its not surprising we haven’t followed up on Kabak and it doesn’t look like Davies has a future. I really don’t think we would bring Gomez in for CB if he was some other clubs player and available to us when we were looking to buy one. However! He does match up really well for what made Fabinho a stand out option for us. A DM with recovery pace, reasonable in the air (for a DM/CB), versatile able to cover CB/FB, good on the ball etc. basically what I think Klopp likes about Fabinho and why he’s been such a hit here.
@Flobs No, that’s hardly a controversial opinion, thinking we need specialist cover. Perfectly reasonable. Personally I think it’s a bit unnecessary, but that’s because of playing time. So if I’m guessing - or maybe I’m just projecting - I’d say it’s maybe more likely we get a player who can play both 6 and 8.
As for Gomez as a 6 for Liverpool, I don’t really see it. I just think it’s too demanding in terms of receiving the ball and turning under pressure, have the awareness to make the right decision under pressure and things like that. He might have the foot work and agility/control for it, don’t know, but at the moment I think him getting used to being a midfielder seems unlikely.
But we’ll see, for me it’s maybe the most unpredictable part of the pitch in terms of thinking how it might look a year down the line. A couple of contract situations that don’t necessarily seem straight forward, Elliott still an unknown despite all the obvious promise he’s showing. Plus the eternal question of whether or not James Milner has actually found a way to stop his aging process.
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What do you think this “blueprint” is?
Just hope they aren’t using the same blueprint as these guys
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