The Central Midfield Thread

Hey, you are back :heart_eyes:, itā€™s like a new signing :partying_face:

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Dom is the definition of all action. Absolute boss.

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Following on from discussions in the Unreliable Rumours threadā€¦

If we buy Andre, we will have two dedicated defensive midfielders in him and Endo. Bajcetic has had a serious long term injury, but has time on his side. Thiago will go, sadly, as it would appear that the club has given up on him ever being fit enough to contribute meaningfully.
So that will be two players for one spot, with Bajcetic slowly taking over from Endo as he regains fitness and gains experience.

For the two more attacking places we have Dom, Macca, Gravy and Jones. Again two players per spot.
The odd one out is Elliott who also has time to develop.

None of this suggests that we are overstocked, but rather that we have good strength in depth.

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https://twitter.com/BassTunedToRed/status/1720398419171098693?t=2L6_Jjm6vmLGTddHjdtbOg&s=19

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Shouldnā€™t this be in the unreliable rumours thread? Youā€™re killing my OCD.

Clean Up Cleaning GIF by Bear Hands

This is extremely upsetting. Iā€™m going to count tea bags until Iā€™ve calmed down.

Now youā€™ve done it. Did I turn the stove off?

banging rock and roll GIF by Jacob Shwirtz

Overstacked I donā€™t know but packed definitely.

Think if Thiago leaves and Andre comes in that would be our last midfield signing for a long time.

Could be JĆ¼rgens last midfield signing :see_no_evil:

https://twitter.com/cagiago_/status/1720394602618728656

Is it any wonder we improved?

People saying we dont need Andre or another midfielder only need to look at the team today. Jones is injury prone as is Bajcetic and Elliot is still not a traditional midfielder imo. Endo isnā€™t getting any younger and Thiago is gone in the summer.

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From what Iā€™ve seen from Alexis at Brighton Iā€™m sure he is easily among our Top3 #8 midfielders.

But two ā€šproblemsā€™ with moving him there immediately.

First of all it would leave us with Endo and Bajcetic for the #6. One is a bit old - the other a bit young. Both unproven. One is injured anyway.

And even if we could fix that problem - moving Mac to #8 would mean less game time for at least one of Harvey, Curtis or Ryan.

Alexis is suspended for the Brentford game now anyway. Iā€˜m sure we will see him back at #6 vs Man City. Endo will get the chance to prove himself vs Brentford and LASK and Klopp will make a decision after that.

Therefore Andre

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Andre appears to be combative, something I think we need in our midfield for some balance. That and the fact he is a true #6 makes me feel like we need to get him. But I agree with @GermanRed that itā€™ll mean less playing time for Jones, Elliott, and Gravs by way of Mac moving into the 8. That depth and quality is crazy, though.

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There seems to be some games going on with the Andre transfer. Either weā€™re baulking at the price or they are trying to drum up interest to create a bidding war. There was too much talk for it to have been a complete fabrication.
Maybe itā€™s just one of those smokescreens.

Whatever, despite our strength in midfield, it still feels like we need a top class defensive midfielder. Weā€™re going into the most important game of the season so far with a potentially knackered MacAllister playing out of position, or Endo.
I hope whoever plays there plays a blinder, but it is a concern.

Or we donā€™t rate him.

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Maybe, but it seems unlikely that we rated him until they won the Copa.

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Itā€™s the role he played twice this week for Argentina. At some point the "out of position: thin needs to die, surely?

If weā€™re talking about Mac, he had two different roles this week. Played the single pivot role in a 4-3-3 against Uruguay, but then played narrow left side in a 4-4-2 against Brazil.

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I think we looked at Andre, but if he ends up going to say, Fulham, there is only one reason for that. We didnā€™t rate him highly enough.

Itā€™s a tricky situation. Arguably he could come to the Prem to another team, prove to be world class, and then we might have a slight regret as the price could double if we still want him.

The flip side is he could come to the Prem and do a decent job, but not so good that it commands our attention.

The current midfield we have is good, and thereā€™s a sense in which they are all learning each others game still, and as we go it will continue to improve further.

MacAllister is a very good player indeed. Iā€™m not altogether convinced by him in the 6 role, as on occasion he has seemed a bit overrun there, but on the other hand he hasnā€™t been bad at all, and he passes it well and has good vision for the options in front of him. Even in a newly forming midfield, and with injuries behind him in defence so the team hasnā€™t been settled, we have the joint best defensive record in the Prem, so it is far away from being a concern.

If that is what we are sticking with, bring it on. Trent will continue to improve in his role and will help MacAllister out, and the two 8s in front - Gravenberch/Jones and Szoboszlai, will only get better as we go, as they get more adept in executing on the movements that Klopp wants to see so the whole team is both solid and threatening, and the balance is there.

If we do end up signing a different 6 at some point, he will need to be world class, as what we have now is already good, and it is only just starting to emerge.

It remains to be seen if we think Andre is at that level. I suspect we will pass on him at this point.