A very reasoned response and you can see the plan behind it.
My concern is if all the eggs are in the Bellingham basket for next summer and he isn’t available or goes elsewhere then what do we do? If, as is often said, we plan 2 or 3 windows in advance then we must already have an idea about who we might look at if Bellingham doesn’t work out. The balance then is, could we get one of them now even if it costs us Bellingham next summer or are we willing to risk what happens with our midfield this season for a shot at him next summer.
I guess the loan deal is the fence sitting option of getting someone, even someone we’re not that arsed about, but in a manner that won’t impact our shot at Bellingham next summer. If we have a good season with Arthur and then get Bellingham next summer then it was a good move. But if we don’t get Bellingham next summer then this season is always going to have an air of “what if” unless we win a bunch of stuff.
Just seems like a lot of eggs in one basket when we’ve got an older squad and top players in their prime right now.
Can’t argue with you on that one. Thing is, it’s this kind of deal or all out for a preferred long term signing that’s going to cost us big coin. Rather either one of those than a middling player who won’t add much but be a drain on resources and take up a place we’d be looking to open.
Watched all Arthur Melo games in his first season plus at Barca, as well as the Copa America triumph with Brazil. He was outstanding. He then lost his way in the turmoil that enveloped Barca on and off field…
IMO its a mistake for LFC fans to look at him from the perspective of Juve.
As a loan signing coming into a new league, the conditions at LFC are conducive for quick integration- the Brazilians at the club, the similarity in playing style to Thiago…
Plus, technically, he fits the bill squarely for us.
The concern for me are two fold: the niggly injuries and fitness, not having had a JK preseason and coming from a comparatively slower Serie A, plus the lack of games…
Motivation wise, he wants to get back into the frame of the Selecao, which is another plus…
Get all of that and we will live and die with it this season as we did two seasons back.
I think the writing has been on the wall for Ox for a couple of seasons and dont get me wrong his best is absolutely good enough for our squad but he just never stays fit. Top bloke and all that, love his vids but we have to be relaistic about how often he and others are injured and take precautions accordingly. Im not saying dump half our mids but we cant carry multiple injury prone players, Keita is the same. Thiago and Hendo and Fab all miss games even Milly is missing a few as he comes to the end of his career. We cant carry a whole midfield group that is injury prone because we are good blokes and the squad is family etc etc its not being realistic or professional.
Love the sentiment but we have to draw the line at some point or it hurts us more than helps us.
While I acknowledge my standards and expectations have come down, my biggest concern is that of the players we can put on the pitch currently (Elliott, Carv, Jones, soon Thiago) he is more alike them than he is the ones we’re missing (Hendo and Naby). More and more we’re losing that relentlessness that makes us so difficult to play against and so part of me thinks a balls to the wall dementor was more what we’re missing and the best supplement to the skills we already have to call on with the 3 kids (and soon Thiago).
On the other hand with our injury luck, we could bring in an injury-free player that breaks his leg tripping over a bar of soap in the shower on the first day …
He was largely available last year and accumulated a surprising number of appearances (30 odd, albeit many as subs). I suspect Klopp thought they had finally “fixed him” the way his team had done with Matip previously and viewed him as a more viable option to help see us through one more year than most fans did. The subsequent break down of him and then Naby and Thiago seemingly brought him to a last minute change of heart of their collective ability to see through one more season.
What I suspect is that of the group of players we identified as being worth pursuing were thought to be easier to obtain next summer than this. Tchouameni being the exception, hence our move for him this summer. As Klopp had a view of “good of enough” on the group as a whole he already had, he felt we could then wait until next year to pursue those prioritized players. It’s that rather than this odd perspective that we think it’s bellingham or nothing that was driving our strategy. Had Klopp’s come to jesus moment happened 6 weeks earlier Im sure we’d have either pushed for one the guys we felt was more viable next summer, or found a player deeper down our priority list who was acceptable and more available now.
Basically Klopp had a strategy based on a level of comfort with the players he had available to him this year. He changed his mind on that suitability way too late to do meaningful work to address it.
While I like that descriptor, none of Klopp’s team have been this kind of player. Maybe Milner recently, but remember when he had the most assists in the CL. And Hendo has/had great technique to complement his energy
It was not a statement about the ability of anyone we;re missing, more the relative lack of energy and off the ball tenacity of the players we’re increasingly leaning on.
Arthur is a good player, but it feels to me like he is doubling down on the sort of player we already have and is available and not filling in the hole of the type of player we are increasingly not able to put on the pitch
Southampton, meanwhile have tried to move for Liverpool defender Nat Phillips but the Anfield club are reluctant to let him go. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are now working on two centre-back options and if they get one, Bednarek will be allowed to leave.
