Gakpo just started in CM vs Arsenal
Bobby Clark finished there.
But if Gakpo plays Midfield, then you donât have a forward move. Youâre down to three.
This is the nature of an injury crisis.
You could move a midfielder to fullback, then youâre short in midfield. So you move a forward to midfield, and then youâre short up front.
I think the easiest way to get through this problem is to work out who your next youth prospect is - who is the next best one off the rank? For me thatâs Bradley, and fortunately he plays in the position that weâve just lost.
The other thing about Jones is that heâs just established himself in midfield, and is playing so well there. It doesnât seem fair to move him to right back, just as he is starting to really run the midfield.
What I think itâs critical not to do is to try and draw ever more out of a diminished first team squad including shuffling players around positions. That was one of the things that Klopp reflected during the season that we lost all the Centre Backs. He said that he should have turned to Phillips and Williams earlier, rather than deplete his midfield trying to cover the gaps.
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You are kidding meâŚthatâs all we needâŚ
It surely wonât be only one player to replace Trent, but a fewâŚ
Lijnders today spoke about our dynamics, the flexibility we lose with Trent out.
MacAllister is better in possession than Endo, but even he might still need the help of a defender coming inside in our possession phase.
Weâll see if we do something a little bit different over the next couple of games heâll miss.
We just get a good run of players, results and team understandingâŚand this happensâŚ
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Could be the rest will work in our favour come April and MayâŚ
A Trent still running on a half full tank of gas, instead of empty, might be just what we need
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A lateral ligament isnât normally a long term injury unless a complete tear even then no where near as big an issue as an ACL, PCL (cruciates).
Had a couple of medial ligament injuries where I was out 3 weeks and thats not counting that Trent has the best recovery treatment, I could still run in a straight line but kicking a ball was an issue.
Heâll be ok
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If it is a very minor tear, and the outcome ends up being as presented, and he misses just three weeks, I can live with that. He gets a rest, misses some less important games, and comes back raring to go in a title push? Bring it on.
Obviously thatâs the best case scenario, and we are all concerned that it might be longer than 3 weeks, or there might be a setback or whatever.
Fingers crossed.
And the case grows stronger to bring a defender in this window, if we can.
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I donât think TAAâs absence for a few weeks creates any greater need for a defender (unless we are looking for a similar quality RB).
The whole point of a backup is that you are willing to trust them for a few games. We have Bradley and Becks for the fullback positions with Robertson and Tsimikas back soon (according to the latest update). That will free up Gomez to backup VVD, Konate and Quansah or RB.
Buying another backup then doesnât make sense (because we have some numbers)⌠only a long-term solution. Thus, I donât see a few week absence affecting anything.
Meanwhile the need for a left-sided CB has existed for a while and hasnât changed. I also donât think that a CB bought today would play much (integrted slowly) unless there is a real defensive crisis⌠which we are far from.
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Bradley will play, weâll be fine.
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The thing is, we are fighting for trophies, yet we have ten players who are absent at the moment, with majority of them being from the starting XI. I always think how itâs possible that we have such periods in every season, while Man City never do.
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Intensity is not their identity, thatâs how.
Itâs because their players are protected by the refs, while ours are able to be assaulted with impunity. The cumulative effect takes its toll.
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Theyâve got two starting XIs , no players that go to AFCON or the Asian Cup , and all of their internationals come down with âinjuriesâ before meaningless fixtures.
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Robertson, Tsimikas, TAA, Doak, Matip, Bajcetic and Thiago arenât on the sidelines because of Kloppâs intensive style.
Robbo and Tsimikas are both impact injuries
Bajcetic is growing (might have been a bit overplayed)
Thiagoâs hip is fucked from the shimmy thing he does.
Matip got an ACL
Really hard to blame this on the managerâs style.
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Thatâs surely true. High intensity is more demanding on the bodies of the players, and will lead to more injuries during a season.
Thinking about it, Klopp would need the riches of a petro-state club in order to always have enough top-class players available. On the other hand, he likes to work with a squad of 23 and a few youngsters to grow into the first team. Itâs contradictory, but itâs how it is, and why heâs at the perfect place for him at Liverpool.
Guardiola on the other hand works a bit differently, with less intensity, but still isnât averse to buy 25 full-backs for mega-money. 
All managers prefer working with a âsmaller squadâ. It doesnât even have to be 22 top class senior players, thatâs very rare even at the best clubs, but we are one of the lucky ones at the top of the football food chain that have realistically more players than needed in last years. When youâre at the top and pay the wages we do, itâs harder to get rid of some of those players.