Bissouma’s ace, and funnily enough I didn’t think that was the best performance I’ve seen from him tonight, which says a lot. I thought he was quite a bit better against Tottenham.
If Gini left I don’t think we’d see a noticeable downgrade if Bissouma took his spot. Really talented player.
I was just popping in to say the same. Quality player Bissouma
I was going to post a reply in Wijnaldum thread after your and Zoran’s comments but I might as well reply here. I don’t know many players who are better than Wijnaldum at shielding the ball and beating the pressing but you need more from your midfielders against sides as organised as Brighton or as defensive as WBA and Burnley.
I don’t think Bissouma is that kind of player (and I’m name-checking Aouar simply because I can’t think of any other established midfielder who combines grit with amazing ability and creativity and who would be available this summer) but I could see tonight’s version of Bissouma shielding a high defence, playing behind Alcantara and Henderson, cutting out counter-attacks left, right and centre. I love it when a defensive midfielder is so “magnetic” and composed in defensive phase and able to nick a ball and pick out a pass that starts an attack. That’s Fabinho at his best, though it’s been a year since we saw that version of him.
We have to lose the midriff wobble first, and fast. I know it’s easier said than done but we have to bite the bullet, swallow the bitter pill, take the hit and etc. etc. The situation is absolutely dire and we have to act desperate.
Forget about the Grujic, Wilson or the myriad of players we sent out on loan; look at the passengers we got on our ranks. Matip (a truly unfortunate case), Keita, AOC, Shaqiri, Takumi (harsh, I know), Origi; none of them have performed on a consistent basis and will never do.
Need to get rid of many players.
And bring in
a senior GK to replace Adrian
replacement for Gini but someone who has goals in him.
an attacker with goals in him. Classic #9
With Alisson’s tendency to pick up injuries on an increasingly regular basis (or at least being absent) I don’t think we need to bring in an experienced GK as understudy, Kelleher should be kept on, on the basis of his performances for us so far this season. He’s ideal for this role for the immediate future, imo.
We obviously need to sign a CB - although that is now somewhat dependent upon how Kabak and Davies do. Notwithstanding that my personal preference would still be to bring one in. Whether that’s DCC, Topseba, Konate, Bastoni or whoever…I’m not in a position to say who would be best but someone of elite quality.
I like the Bassouma shouts, strikes me as an extremely good player. But an increasing concern of mine is what to do with our front three. We can’t have them all eek their way towards the ends of their contracts as they enter their 30s, this triumvirate need to be refreshed, with sensible succession planning. Jota was a useful first step in this process but we’re clearly going to need more than that and we don’t have the funds to be splashing out on huge purchases (sorry, I think the Mbappe fantasies are over). We may be able to afford Haaland at a push but does he really suit us?
This area, I feel, is going to be much harder to sort out than any other on the pitch and is something looming in the not too distant future.
I agree lftikar…
it is these players you mention that are/have let Jurgen and the fans down.
It is the vision of FSG to have a first team totally fashioned from the academy recruits… this is maybe 6-7yrs down the line though
We’ll maybe need a new experienced cheapish goalie to complete the 3 we need. Not sure if Klopp will be willing to go just with Ali and Kelleher into a new season. I also hope we have a contract agreement with Kelleher soon because he will only have a year left next summer. Maybe he will want to explore his options if staying as backup or one of the backups here doesn’t motivate him enough.
I think Haaland is exactly what we need. A proven goal scorer, someone who will shoot instead of passing, who only thinks about scoring.
The Bobby role is vanishing before our eyes (hybrid 9/10 which links midfield and attack on transition), it just doesn’t work against low block teams, which is now around 80% of all teams we face. You add to the fact Bobby is a very poor goal scorer he is greatly diminished in what he offers.
We need an utterly ruthless goalscorer, Haaland or whoever that is doesn’t fluff the chance Thiago creates.
In games where you are limited to 2-3 good chances you need to take them.
If this means Salah has to adapt to being more of a provider so be it.
Haaland would be great.
Any suggestions for a hard working midfielder with goals in him?
Fabinho and Hendo moving back to midfield means we don’t really need a like for like Gini replacement.
Let’s not go too far…
Abandon some of our principles that got us here. We already have a highly offensive player in Salah, I doubt he would want to change his game being 28-29 and become more of a provider for someone else who also wants to go in behind and score goals.
Makes no sense, we can’t react too radical like this after some bad results.
In some backup positions or the next one to replace one of the front 3, I agree, we could find more of a proper striker.
Curtis Jones. Harvey Elliott.
I think we’ll need to be replacing the energy and all round skills of Henderson and Wijnaldum and also then Thiago. Bissouma would be part of that. Camavinga another high-profile potential target.
I’m looking at a hard working midfielder, yeah.
Something like 3 hard working ones and 3 creative ones. Plus one in Milner (who is a versatile backup player who covers about 4 positions) if he stays for his final year of his contract.
That’s maybe too simply separated, but Gini leaving will leave spot for a new one of his ilk. The other 3 would be Thiago, Keita and Jones. Probably. We’ll still see what happens with Ox.
But the principles seem completely out of date? We shifted from the high octane pressing already as teams stopped playing that way against us.
You talk like it’s a few games? It’s over 6 months of the same type of performances, we may have scrapped a few wins previously but the same problems were still there just not as highlighted.
Bobby is the best transition player we have, yet we play on the transition what once a a game v’s the low block teams… Otherwise he comes too deep into midfield and is a constant source of turnovers. Add to that his low scoring record I personally think he is the root cause of a lot of our offensive issues.
I’m talking about players who are not thinking about passing, but just scoring.
Nobody does that here, not even Salah, who is the one who has the most freedom on the pitch.
Positions and roles aside, those are the principles we have to keep.
We can’t just hope we break low blocks down if we just add more players who just want to get on the end of things. But then, who will create those things? It’s easy to get so upset at the moment, but I don’t want us to keep adding just players who just think about scoring goals. That’s not the way forward. It’s always a combination. And of the main principles of the so much loved Jurgen Klopp is that we have 11 players who are more or less all in line with humility, hard work and team work.
I think that, at this moment, it’s important to strengthen the bench rather than the first XI when it comes to the attacking group of players. If Elliott is a ready-made replacement for Shaqiri, a similarly driven and talented, if a bit more experienced player needs to jump in instead of Origi. Jota has already shown that he can be the player to push Firmino out of the side in conjunction with Mane and Salah. I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing Salah play more centrally more often but I guess that’s for another discussion.
A creative first-eleven midfielder of the “right” age is a must in my opinion, though I guess that if centre back solution is successfully resolved and there are no more long-term injuries, Klopp will have Fabinho, Henderson, Alcantara and Jones as certain members of match day squads and Milner, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain as short-term options. That’s plenty of options but taking age and injury records of these seven players into accounts, I think that Klopp can afford to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain with an all-rounder, even though I think that a creative player would make more sense there.
Arsenal were very quick to add both Lacazette and Aubameyang. Just go back and remember how fans of almost all top clubs wanted those players.
Few years later, mixed success at best. They don’t even know how to find the right way of playing with both of them. It’s not all about CV and goals.
Ah ok fair enough I understand.
I think I like the idea of Haaland as he is also good in the air, not that we default to crossing all the time but it adds variety… Bobby/Mo/Mane (even Jota) are not what I’d call typical aerial threats.
The threat is still there from Robbo and Trent and Salah would probably thrive from the space gained by defenders needing to cover a Haaland.
Everytime we struggle against the low block for me the common denominator is;
Bobby - Terrible control, missplacing passes, coming deeper and deeper (and then losing the ball)
Trent - Aimless crosses, not tracking runners
Both get worse and worse as we struggle to score. The polar opposite is when they are both playing well we flow. Now why they don’t play well is well beyond me but as I’ve said I’d be looking at another option for Bobby first.