I dont think Thiago and Wirtz do the same thing tbh.
Thiago ran the game with the ball in midfield and brought his attackers into the game with his passing, but he didn´t really do much in the final third.
Wirtz is there to do things almost exclusively in the final third.
For me Hendo is basically Szoboslai but a bit better leader and worse technique. I wouldn´t say we need another runner that can´t control a game with the ball. Our midfield passing is already so poor.
Liverpool and Arsenal are among a number of Premier League teams monitoring Paris St-Germain and France forward Bradley Barcola, 23. (Teamtalk), external
Chelsea are interested in Club Brugge’s 22-year-old Ecuador defender Joel Ordonez, who was previously linked with a £43m move to Liverpool in January. (Teamtalk), external
Italian side Juventus have made Liverpoolgoalkeeper Alisson their top target for the summer. The 33-year-old Brazil international is entering the final year of his contract at Anfield. (Sky Sports)
Chelsea after more players a rather generic rumour and Juve interested in Alisson, let’s see if they provide any fees.
I thought Chelsea were banned from buying players for a year?
It’s a suspended sentence. If they breach again in the next 2 years it will be applied from that point. Allegedly.
If Alisson goes to Juventus, do they have any players who might be of interest, so we don’t get rinsed on the fee?
We need both in one, a runner that controls the game and tempo
Henderson is better defensively and physically, and can play as a DM. Also, Henderson’s crossing and long passes, while not at TAA level, are still well above our current midfield.
The current midfield lacks steel and physicality as much as passing.
AOC is a better example if you want to compare Szobo to our recent former players.
I agree with you about Thiago, btw.
I do remember that our best midfield performance in recent weeks was against Fulham, when we played Jones and Szobo as double pivot and Macca was dropped.
I was reflecting on Salah’s words about culture. I do not think he was saying it’s bad but is at risk.
Who do we have as a leader now Henderson, Milner etc have gone? Salah leads by example and does not really whip the troops into shape. We are about to lose Robbo and VVD. Maybe Do ?
I think Declan Rice has really transformed Arsenal’s leadership.
I think we need to buy leadership. Maybe even English. That could mean slightly older.
I have heard Wharton interviewed and he is not it.
Or a Henderson and Fabinho
Leadership is such a nebulous concept - its important but difficult to define what it is and very very difficult to identify who is exhibiting it from outside the group. One of the most textbook example of a “leader” of the prem era is Viera. Pundits and the public lauds him for his leadership, but the people around Arsenal at that time talk about how he basically did nothing. He was quiet, he wasn’t active in the background around the club, he wasn’t even a particularly good trainer holding others to high standards. But when it was game day he was on it.
Not all of our issues will be fixed by signing a midfielder of this or that type.
Our defensive phase in general needs serious improving, which starts from the front and part of that will have to take place in better preparation, organization and physical wise.
In the summer of 2023 we had a similar issue to solve, trying to revive our principles, which we did. Now we have a bit more to do, because there are other phases and issues where we are lacking.
Then of course if we are more compact and aggressive right from the front, the midfield can also provide more of a fight and certain individuals with certain skills can help. Our build up will also need some improving.
Won’t be easy in a WC year, but it’s not impossible. It’s been done before and they have to do it.
Thanks for that, shame though that they got away with it as if it had been a bottom of the league team they would have been banned and docked points.
FIFY
Or the McAllister that won us the treble in 2001.
I dont think hendo could play as DM. Thats why we got Fabinho in.
He basically did the same role as Dom - run a lot. his long passing was better but his shooting worse.
Well, say what you want about Jones but he gets the ball and he passes to Wirtz. Nobody else in our midfield does.
Of course Hendo could play it, he proved it in different seasons and periods as we gradually improved under Klopp and still could do a job there when asked.
Not at all.
That´s exactly why we got Fabinho.
He did it in 16/17 and was great until he got injured, for most of 17/18 and then also when it was needed later with Fabinho in (who needed time to settle). The spring of 2019 was when the switch (Fabinho in at single pivot #6 and Hendo as the RCM #8) happened.
The fact we got Fabinho doesn’t mean Hendo couldn’t do it, he proved he could.
Henderson basically covered all the ground and did all the dirty work next to Gerrard in the 13-14 season. If he hadn’t missed the Chelsea game, I think we could have won it.
Hendo was an engine and a leader in the Sergeant Major mould, something we lack badly in midfield. He could do a bit of everything which helped and his loss has been under-estimated. It’s not for nothing that SAF said that of all the players he wished he could have signed Hendo was the one he most regrets missing out. Elliot Anderson is the nearest I’ve seen to him in style but he’s a quiet boy who leads by example, like Wharton. Sometimes the quiet ones can lead with just a look though. A monster DM and a dynamic Hendo type who can pass early and accurately would see us in good shape. I also quite like Shaw who has better technique and vision than Anderson and then there’s Gibbs-White and Morgan Rogers to but they can both drift out of games.