I prefer Maddison or Barnes because we need to buy a No.10 attacking midfielder - since Ox and Keita are in complete shamble. In addition, we can use Barnes to back up Mane as well.
Tieleman is good, but he is a CM.
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I’m not sold on Maddison yet. There’s a few English players of that ilk, you wonder which position/role they’d occupy at a top side, if they could even get in and stay in the side. Klopp was very clear about the #10 position/role a few years ago and stuck to it. We need to see more from those players.
Our system has run its course and needs change.
Btw, Maddison is already better than Ox right now, and over the last 2 years as well. Ox was never the same since 2017/18.
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As for balancing the book, we should remember that we are in crisis, we need new players, younger players. Either borrowing from Mr. Henry’s pocket (and repay later via results and titles), or risking going the way of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.
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The nature of football and fans is that if you’re not doing brilliantly, it’s a crisis.
We’re not in crisis. Not remotely.
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I hope you remember what Klopp said about the #10 position, for him and his football, it’s one of the most demanding. That’s why Coutinho never played the single #10 under Klopp, half of the time as an offensive #8 (the other half as a left sided attacker), yeah. I’m not sure Maddison is at that level consistently even for Leicester, he just recently started to play a bit deeper than before. Not to mention he’s English and would cost a fortune. Sometimes there are about the same or even better solutions somewhere else. Potential for sure, but in my opinion not yet there for me to believe that he’d start as a midfielder under Klopp at Liverpool.
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If Curtis Jones of all people was able to start for an extended period, then either Maddison or Barnes can. Maddison can also offer solutions from free kicks and set-pieces as well, especially when TAA has been atrocious.
I also expect us to buy someone like Maddison (a homegrown) only if we actually sell Ox (another homegrown player).
Jones showed maturity since last season and it wasn’t an extended period, he’s got more work to do and those were the exact reasons why he was dropped after a period of starting/playing games. I’ve never seen Barnes play in central midfield, so don’t know why he’s mentioned in that context. Set pieces are a nice bonus, yeah. We’ll see what we do in midfield and who goes and for what kind of money. With Thiago in last summer and Gini leaving, I highly doubt our next move there would be someone like Maddison, looking at his style (he might improve further of course, that remains to be seen) and price.
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Any addition in the midfield is subjected to the future of Wijnaldum, Keita and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. Supposing all three leaves, which is highly unlikely, we will be left with Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson, Milner and Jones. In that circumstance another midfielder might be acquire.
Wijnaldum will almost certainly leave. So a (preferably younger) replacement must be bought.
I also expect AOC to be booted as well - he is useless now. In this case, his replacement is likely to be an English option. Maddison is a suitable option IMO.
I really hope that we can pull a Henderson 2.0 transfer as well. Remember when we spent £20m to bring him to Anfield - which was a big sum for an English youngster at the time.
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Could not be arsed having to look at Maddison’s face every week
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Yeah, I see your point. But Jones did start in several matches in a row and would have remained a starter without the West Brom mistake.
Also, I expect us to sell AOC, who is useless now, and Maddison IMO is a reasonable AOC replacement.
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Barnes as Mane understudy is a sound long-term solution IMO.
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Sorry, didn’t know you were thinking of the left side for Barnes. I think we’re already fine there with Jota. Jota can play a few forward positions, but inside left will probably remain his best position. We’ll see what’s his ceiling at the top level, but early signs are promising.
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Unless the contract is running down, I don’t see any current value in English players at decent Prem outfits… Maddison, Barnes, etc.
They are already pretty good, and might go on to be very good indeed, but the jury is out on whether or not they are good enough for us.
Leicester would want a kings ransom, and at that point I don’t see value.
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A new CB is almost a certainity.
We have quite a few midfielders, but it’s been said all along that we would look to add a central midfielder when Gini leaves. We might sell another one or two, who knows.
I think Origi leaves for sure. And then we might actually add a new forward (be it a proper striker or someone who plays more off the right) and sell one of Shaqiri/Minamino.
The CB situation is pretty clear, we miss a player there. In midfield and up top though, it might depend on incoming offers.
Fans usually do their calculation over all players who are up for sale and a few more. But it rarely happens that we manage to sell all we want to sell on good terms for us.
It normally doesn’t happen, let alone in a year like this. The situation might be more back to normal when summer gets close, but the difficulties might still drag on for a while.
So, yeah… a CB happens for sure. I think we will solve it pretty early, not let it drag on. A midfielder most probably and I expect it to be someone with energy, athleticism, hard working, but who can also play good enough. A forward possibly, but the second two purchases, the level of the player and so on might depend on how well we generate from outgoings.
So that would leave us with 22 players basically, a few younger players there like N. Williams and Jones. I’m counting on Kelleher at the moment to be our no.2 going into next season, but who knows what happens there.
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Who is the ex Sevilla centre back. Had a bad injury, but very experienced? Out of contract, 34 years old?
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I would be looking to do some sort of deal Konate or Upamecano, for Keita. Naby doesn’t look to have the body suited for the Prem, whereas we know he did well in the Bundesliga, and a return might kick start him again.
and we are contemplating on having Upamecano???
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Is Caulker still with us???