Gini didn’t impress people either. Henderson has always had pelters. Milner is damned with feint praise. Curtis Jones is written off continually.
I think it’s a function of the way we do midfielding that you have to work really hard, do unsung donkey work, and everyone thinks you’re shit.
Sounds like being a mod.
When Gini first came in I thought okay, attacking mid. Then I was pleasantly surprised to see that he has been converted to an even better central midfielder.
Anyone who has seen us in person and didn’t rate prime Gini and prime Hendo is either blind, doesn’t understand football, or is (I’m sorry) a fucking idiot.
Jones is a good player. The only gripe I have with him is that at times he holds on to the ball too long. Other than that he fits in very well with what we try to do in midfield.
fair enough points, but it doesnt mean Naby has played well when fit.
Hes been OK…to b e honest i think it actually swings the other way for Naby, the more hes injured, the better he seemed to be.
if he was fit more often maybe the discussion wouldnt resolve about his avaliability, but about his lack of game.
He has had some great performances and mostly so so. Throw in the fact that he is about as reliable as a weather forecast in Cornwall I’m surprised we would even consider a new contract.
I’d imagine they had their reasons…
Next season our midfield would probably be like
Henderson (33)
Thiago (32)
Fabinho (29)
Jones (22)
Elliott (20)
Based on their performances/developments one or both of Morton (20) and Bajcetic (18) may stake a claim in the squad too. A quality (and durable) signing, and our midfield will have enough quality, depth, diversity, and flexibility.
Were we not close to signing Florian Neuhaus last summer but he opted to stay for 1 more season?
The window?
His bed?
His car?
A train or a plane?
With someone? 
I’ve said that we need to be careful in case something really serious is going on with Naby.
But I’m not ruling this out either.
Excellent analysis, thank you!
I provided the link in my response, what more do you want?
When is Jones due back? Not gonna bother asking about Ox
No one has a clue we are back to the vague 2-3 weeks rubbish from a few years back.
This is a good example of why the whole “well just buy X player” arguement fails…
Do you think this player fits into our team and our style? Guess the player…
Trent?
I’m really wondering at this point whether we need to be thinking about Trent as a midfielder.
Over the last few games, both Trent and Robertson have been getting a lot of stick, for the space they leave in Trent’s case and the lack of output with Robbo. And I think a lot of this is down to the way the midfield has evolved.
At this teams imperious best, the platform for the attack has been the full-backs overloading the channels, facilitating Mo and Mane to get closer to the goal. The safety net for this has been a workmanlike, industrious midfield that’s primary job is to put out fires, chiefly by dropping in at full back and managing the spaces left by Trent and Robbo - Henderson on the right and Gini on the left.
As the midfield personnel have got older or departed, Klopp has noticeably moved away from his midfield industry. Thiago has replaced Gini, and Henderson has got older, with Elliot now looking like he is being groomed to take that position. Neither of those players are going to sacrifice their attacking ability to cover fullbacks (Thiago does it a bit, but nowhere near as willingly as Gini). Henderson and Milner are both struggling to be as effective as they were due to advancing years.
The thing that makes me wonder is that Klopp has had every opportunity to buy midfield piano carriers. But there has been nothing like this since we bought Keita - and it’s arguable if Keita was ever that player anyway. That’s a long time, and every move he has made in midfield since - whether buying someone or bringing through a youngster - has been to add creativity, guile and attacking threat at the expense of industry and workrate.
So this leaves Trent and Robbo in a really shit situation, where their instinct and probably instruction is to attack, but they don’t have the protection to do this. Trent has responded to this by carrying on as he always has and leaving the fucking massive gap behind him. Robbo tends to be playing more cautiously, and is a bit more reluctant to get forward as he used to.
So I have no idea what we do now, but I would love to ask Klopp what the midfield plan is, because I’m sure he has one, but I haven’t a clue what it is. It feels like we’re caught between two stools at the minute.
As far as I can see if we are going to repurpose the midfield - through Elliot, Carvalho and Thiago to be more attacking, we can’t have Trent leaving all that space trying to be an attacker.
I think I’m now at the point where if we buy another midfielder, that’s lovely, but I still don’t know what we’re trying to do. But if we bought a boss right back, albeit a more traditional one, and put Trent in midfield, I can totally get it and completely understand what we’re trying to do.
My thinking is that will be harder for Trent to create down the middle than from the wings