Our center midfield( aka the 2 advanced midfielder spots) only had Thiago that is a real classy addition that can perform at least 7/10 consistently when fit. The rest of the contenders for that 2 spots are : Henderson, Milner, Elliott, AOC, Keita,Curtis Jones.
Fuck me, is there anyone in the players that I listed there that can do a Steven Gerrard and grab the game by the scruff?
Henderson: Great engine but doesn’t have the stamina to run up and down anymore. Doesn’t really have the greatest defensive positioning to help TAA. Should be transitioning to DM soon.
Milner: Our resident pensioner that should only be the emergency back up
Elliott: Brightest talent of them all but youngest of them all. Do we really want to throw him in a derby or a match against Oil cunts of the world?
AOC: Hasn’t been the same after his injury and looks sadly on a massive decline. Seems to lose his midfield footballing brain as well!
Keita : His injury record is so horrendous! He has only appeared 76 times for us since 2018 which makes it a head-scratcher on why are we trying to extend his contract? Remember Daniel Sturridge? He actually have a higher average appearances/season than Naby Keita. I think that ship of Keita being world-class has long sailed away!
Curtis Jones : Wildly inconsistent given his age. Too young to probably lead us to glory
With the reasons I stated, I am very curious if we are adopting the stance of as long as there is a body there, it will work. Because apparently, it doesn’t work now given that we are shifting to playing with a traditional CF.
I’d have no issue playing Elliott in a derby match to be honest but yeah he should be growing at this stage of his career not being totally relied upon and he is also coming off an injury, not surprised he seems the freshest though considering his pre season was the tail end of last year.
Obviously things can change but we have a track record of doing the groundwork so early on players that by the time anyone else gets seriously involved it’s basically too late.
Not even considering this year, leaving too much to do next summer. Fab, Thiago, Hendo will all be over 30. Ox and Keita will leave on a free (why would Naby sign a new contract when he can’t get a game over Milner and a teenager.) And by next summer the Bellingham fee will be so large that we either won’t pay it, or he will be the only signing.
I’m not counting any chickens in that regard. My take is that he’s one among several options for the club. They might be working on persuading him to join us, and us only. But let’s not be naive here. He can also easily follow Haaland’s example and go for the super-big money.
This is what I see as the biggest issue. We’ve had a lot of change to our front line this summer and I’m afraid we will also have a lot of change and too much to do in midfield next summer. I feel more needed to be done in MF this summer to balance all the inevitable change. Should have worked harder to sell Ox and maybe Keita and let Milner move on instead of renewing his contract. Someone should have been brought in. Easier said than done I know and I’m sure efforts were made and we are waiting on the right player(s), but there will be an awful lot to do next summer in this area. Then these new players have to learn how to effectively play together. Tall order. Finally, I think Milner proved against palace that he should not be starting a match unless it’s an emergency. I love the man and yes, he can put in a shift, but he just doesn’t have it anymore at this level. YNWA
He will get another year, rolling contract. I’m sure he could get better terms somewhere else, I just don’t think size/length of contract is his motivational force these days. I also remember reading that he doesn’t have a traditional agent, or does it himself. Not sure if that is fact.
This discussion always seem to focus on this debate as if it is one sided - who are the players who can be brought in and how gettable are they. What I think is often missed is that those deliberations have to be balanced against who you already have. If you and I have different opinions on the strength and suitability of the existing group we’re naturally going to come to different conclusions about potential targets. I think the liklihood is that Klopp simply has a different opinion on his existing players than do the fans most eager to see new faces in our midfield. It’s not that Klopp cannot find an available replacement for Ox and Naby, it’s likely that he doesnt see the need to find one.
I think it is really important to keep in mind as one of the main crticisms I remember about how his time at Dortmund came to an end was that he retained too much belief in too many of the older players. Even the players he brought in were older players he was bringing back.
If we don’t buy a midfielder this summer we will need 3 before the start of next season, that’s if we are interested in the trophies. Milner and ox definitely gone possibly Naby and Fabinho and Henderson a year older.
Who is to say he thinks those criticisms were valid or has learned from them? Shit, who is to say they are valid? I dont know if it was a fair criticism, but I am raising it as it has implications for how he would go about trying to retool his midfield. We seem to focus solely on the identity and availability of the targets without enough consideration for how likely it is that he even thinks we need anything.
I honestly think its just shit bad luck this time, to have Thiago and Jones and Keita all get injured at the same time? You can’t plan for that level, yes you can mitigate against injury prone players (Jones for me does not fit this catagory). I think Klopp was going into the season with something like this depth;
Klopp isn’t stupid, he will have known Thiago’s minutes needed managing and I think he had Jones earmarked for that role… They then get injured at the same time basically, alongside Keita get an illness. Incredibly bad luck in that LCM position.
