Elliott will have a more difficult path to break into the first team. As for Lavia, this lad will play about half of our games(including the European ones) if Fabinho’s legs decides to fall off again.
Or if we decide to go all agricultural, we can do with Fabinho and Lavia/Ugarte in the midfield trio to cover whichever fullbacks that decides to go on a run…
Lavia and Elliott are nothing alike.
We have Keita, Oxlade, Milner all leaving, we need to replace them, before a clever dick says they didn’t play anyway that’s the point… their lack of availability (minus Milner) is why our midfield was burnt out by week 2 and never recovered.
Elliot playing so much is one of the reasons our midfield was so poor. He’s not good enough yet for the level we want to play at.
Lavia probably isn’t either, but he’d be a good option as a rotational player. As good as he is on the ball, he still has plenty to learn defensively.
Rotating Lavia and Fabinho would be a better situation than we’ve seen this season (though we also have Bajcetic, let’s not forget) but ideally we’d sign somebody who can play at a very high level immediately.
Yeah, for me, I’d rather keep Bajcetic in the first team squad for next season.
If we’re bringing a #6, then I want a player of more serious level already, ready to remove Fabinho.
I just don’t see a circumstance where Klopp pursues this. Sometimes he’s too loyal for his own good.
I’m also not convinced that Fabinho will move this summer. But I don’t think it’s impossible either. Can see us bringing 2 midfielders and then the 3rd might depend even on the level of interest/offers for Fabinho. Then it might be evaluation time.
We already have Bajetic as a young DM to develop so why do we need Lavia?
And Lavia isn’t good enough or experienced enough to replace Fabinho should he be moved on.
So what would be the point exactly?
I’m a massive, massive fan of Bajcetic. But I have a gut feeling after his strange season ending injury a while ago, it could be a bit of a write off season for him next year. Hope I’m wrong about that.
If he’s fit to have pre-season with us, he should have every chance like if the injury didn’t happen. I think by Klopp’s words recently, he’s counting on him for next season as things stand.
If Fabinho leaves.
If Fabinho stays.
So impressed by Caicedo yesterday. He has pretty much everything you need in a complete midfielder. And I really liked the fact that he backed up his mate Mitoma after he got clattered by Martinelli. He did it in a clever way, he nicked the ball but he made sure he got the man too. Something Souness would do.
It was certainly a shock to hear that he’d not play again this season and the club seemed pretty tight lipped on things but im sure Klopp had said he expects him back for pre-season.
Even if it’s a bit of a hit and miss campaign for him or he’s not fully fit for pre-season it would still seem a bit short-termist and reactionary to go out and buy Lavia at this time.
Could Bajčetić become a central midfielder? I’m a big fan of him but I’m still unsure about his best position (which might not be a bad thing as he’s still pretty young).
Souness would have broke his jaw when the ref wasn’t looking hehehe.
Cameras everywhere now mate 
Also that was a fucking cheap shot by Martinelli. He’s twice Mitoma’s size and Mitoma was already airborne and helpless. He knew what he was doing.
Hobble back to the dressing room you coward. Have some of that.
I can’t remember, but I think Martinelli clattered Trent when we played them.
He has form for leaving his foot in and injuring a player.
As a fast winger, he benefits from positional bias, as players of that type are not supposed to meddle in the dark arts. They are supposed to entertain us.
Anyway, fair play to Caicedo for putting a little straightener on him, in an understated way, which it has to be, as with all the cameras it is vital to maintain plausible deniability. But we know the score.
I go back and forth on our midfield needs.
If we are keeping Fabinho, I agree that Lavia makes sense as an up and coming midfielder, to go with the likes of Bajcetic. But at that point, I lean towards signing Caicedo, if we can.
Early on we all noticed Caicedo’s athleticism, which our midfield sorely needs. But the more I have seen of him, the more I think he can play, too. He can pass quite well, and is strong in the tackle.
So sod it, put me down for Lavia and Caicedo. Gravenberch too, if that’s not too much to have a third player. I know it tilts it towards youth, so I would keep Henderson and Fabinho to see them all through. With Bajcetic, Jones and Elliott, that is a lot of very good options.
I would be fine if Thiago departed, if we bring three midfielders in. The two reasons are his injury record, which is getting too much, and also Trent’s emergence as the playmaker in midfield, coming from the inverted right back role.
With Trent doing that, he sees a lot of the ball. If Thiago is in the same team, it dulls Trent’s output as a lot goes through him.
The trouble with Caicedo is that I think any club that gets him at this point is going to have to pay quite a sizeable dickhead tax after the way he behaved in January.
I have hopes in Tyler Morton as well. Saw only few games of his last year, but his positional sense was noticeably good. Not as smooth passer as Bajcetic perhaps, but I hope he considers being a defensive mid instead of a box-to-boxer, which is what I think his own preference is.
Would be really surprised though if either of them managed to hit first team levels in the next couple of years.
Martinelli is no angel, he did this the other week…
That one really angered me. Dirty shithousery.