probably not, no.
I donāt think Naby has a long-term future at Liverpool. I think the best option would be to cash-in on him provided thereās a reasonable offer.
The juryās been out so long in the Naby case theyāll be attending Pride in pink boas.
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Surely if the club wants to renew his contract it means he has a long-term future by definitionā¦?
Nabyās a quality player and losing him would really give us a headache trying to replace him.
I get that people want to see more out of him consistently but heās had a very good season and wouldnāt be easy to replace.
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Nabyās had played the most minutes this past season ever since he joined us. And he had some very good performances too when he played. Of course, he has not been the world class revelation we had hoped he would be but hopefully as the past season has proved, with management and rotation, he can played a very important role as a squad rotation player throughout a long season and also as a bridge the senior aged MF we have and the very young ones.
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At worst a new contract for Naby protects his value and means weāre not seeing another walk on a bosman next summer or be sold at a discount this.
Heās had his best and most consistently available season for us. Heās earned a new contract where Ox hasnāt. We know what he can do and what he canāt. What would it cost to roll the dice on someone else who might offer more than him at a time when we have other pressing issues.
A new contract just makes sense all round and itās a measure of his performances this season that heās line for a renewal and others arenāt.
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I always have the feeling thereās more to come from him. If he could grab a regular spot and stay injury free he could be a proper asset
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Well said rab.
A new contract for Naby makes a lot of sense right now.
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If 2021/22 was the bare minimum in terms of availability, consistency and quality of performances from Keita, then Iād definitely like him to extend for another five years and hope that he will break that glass ceiling hanging over his head. Fabinho, Henderson, Alcantara, Keita are the four main midfielders for me, with Elliott and Jones pushing in the future and Milner plugging the gaps - I donāt think thatās enough to win the title unless all of them are perfectly fit and ready throughout the season. I think thereās space for another energetic midfielder, maybe one thatās a bit more withdrawn in terms of his position on the pitch.
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Who would you let go (on loan or sell) if we get another new midfielder this summer?
Or you think weād really go with 8 CMās on paper, while of course, Millie able to cover at RB, Elliott able to play in attack, although we donāt see him there right now.
Iām not sure we can guarantee everyone the attention they need (better to say, merit!) if we have 8 of them.
I donāt think the club will look at it in a way: of f*ck, half of them will get injured anyway, so why not have 8.
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We had 8 this season, if we let Ox go and bring in another midfielder it doesnāt change the numbers.
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Doesnāt mean Klopp wants to continue with the same number. On paper, we had to leave 4-5 senior players in the stands. Pretty sure weāll want to lower that number. We had a few because we couldnāt sell them, more than us wanting to keep all of them.
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And at the end of the season we were absolutely fucked physically because all our midfielders had been run into the ground. I think heād love to add a genuine first team option in replacement for Chamberlain.
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It didnāt seem that way to me, that we were absolutely f*cked. We did really well over the whole season and at the end also. A few issues and losing two finals (very close ones) at the end doesnāt mean we were all dead. Itās not a shocking result at the end of a 63 game season, which is incredibly rare.
I just donāt see enough room for all of them, our main trio (Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago), having an option in his best years like Keita, having a proven option like Milner (who surely wonāt play only 20 games), then two talents like Jones and Elliott (perhaps some of them two could ask themselves why Keita and Millie are getting new deals and thereās talk of needing yet another CM) and then to add to all of that, what we would all naturally hope a better player than Ox, who would also play more than he did over the whole season.
The squad depth certainly helped us to have a season we had, but Iām not getting dragged in the idea that itās an absolute necessity to have another one like that. Or in the least, ānot to end the season being f*ckedā. I know weāll have 5 subs next season also, but Iām pretty sure Klopp will want to work with a smaller number than this previous campaign.
At the moment, you could in theory create two XIās like this:
Alisson
Trent Matip vDijk Robertson
Henderson Fabinho Thiago
Salah Jota Diaz
Trent Matip vDijk Robertson
Henderson Fabinho Thiago
Salah Jota Diaz
Kelleher
Ramsay Konate Gomez Tsimikas
Jones Milner Keita
Elliott Firmino Carvalho
Ramsay Konate Gomez Tsimikas
Jones Milner Keita
Elliott Firmino Carvalho
And this is IF we manage to sell the likes of Ox and Taki on terms we want.
You can already notice that there are a few things that arenāt quite right. Not in terms of Millie being a #6, but IF we add a new proper senior midfielder (who surely wouldnāt be another kid like Elliott when we signed him, but someone who weād play next season), I think there would have to be some movement out, at least short term. Plus, I believe getting a forward if Mane leaves.
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Heās already said as much, I think.
On the assumption that Mane is off, I would like us to get a forward and a midfielder. Add that to Ramsey (which looks close) and Carvalho, and I think weāre done.
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Is this the position where the fans think he will play?
I guess weāll see in preseason, but if the guy has played all but 3 games for Fulham in midfield, with 39 of those being CAM, I would think itās probable heāll actually play in that role.
Presuming the above is correct, we could be targeting a midfielder not for the numbers but because we are looking for a certain player to complement a change in formation. I believe we probably need another protector like Fab if we play a CAM. I know Milly is another in the mix, but really Henderson and Fab are the only likely candidates that will work fine in a double pivot. I do think we need another midfielder not in the mould of a Thiago, Keita, Elliott and Jones.
I think weāll continue to play 433 for the majority of the season, but I think weāll play many more games with a CAM than we ever have since Cou left. Thatās not to say Klopp and the coaches expect Carvalho to play many games next season. Heās still a kid. Iām sure heāll be eased in slowly, keeping the hype in him down as much as possible but if he does hit the ground running in preseason, you can bet we will mix formations up a bit.
Iāll say it again but preseason will tell us everything about whether Klopp sees Carvalho as a forward, a L/R midfielder (to compete with Elliott, Keita, Thiago?) Or a CAM.
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The word is that at the moment, we see him more as a forward than a midfielder and a midfielder possibly long term.
I just put it to make two XIās, doesnāt have to be like that of course.
I donāt think weāll change our main formation.
And it wouldnāt surprise me if a right footed player who likes to combine perhaps gets some game time in that left inside channel. Potentially as a false 9, but thatās a more difficult role also.
Weāll see how he does in pre-season and where we use him, I just wanted to split two XIās of the players we know will be here next season, at least as things stand.
I donāt see it as a need to guarantee players attention. Itās about winning your place, not getting a go because itās your turn.
Ox and Jones are good examples. Both were given chances this season but did either of them grab those chances and force themselves into consideration when everyone was fit? Youād have to say no.
So when the last couple months roll around we see three of Thiago, Fabinho, Henderson and Keita start pretty much every game bar the Southampton one. To me that suggests a two tiered group of midfielders which means a lot of the time we have four options Klopp is picking from, not eight.
Now you keep Jones because he has potential but at some point that potential needs to turn into performances that get him in the tier one group or heāll go the way of someone like Neco Williams. Ox looks like heās lost the faith of the manager and given heās no longer playing based on potential, heās probably for the chop.
So your top tier consists of two players who we know will have injury issues, a third who has struggled with injuries in the past and our only specialist DM. Two of those are also the wrong side of 30. So yeah, Iād say thereās a good case for one more in that top tier this summer.
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