I do wonder how important to the team it is to have a false 9 who brings others into the games as opposed to a more traditional forward. Klopps teams in Germany didn’t have them did they?
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Firmino’s role is too specialized so he cannot be used in different tactics and formations, and only certain coaches can utitlize him effectively. Note that he was a hot garbage under Rodger because of that.
I think Klopp liked what Bobby used to bring, he was the engine, he started the press, he made the space for Mane and Salah to exploit. He used to be a fantastic transition player and score and assist just enough to mean he was valuable to the side.I do always wonder would Klopp have bought Bobby if he wasn’t here already? Did he make best of Bobby’s skill set and adapt his tactics to suit, but if starting from scratch would he go a similar route?
The problem is when Salah and Mane are wasting chances your false 9 becomes a luxury you cant afford to carry, especially when he is pressing less, he is running less, he’s losing the ball in midfield all the time and his passing has become really poor.
If Mane for example was still stepping up Bobby’s decline would probably have been masked, but you now have 2 of your front 3 not delivering, you also have Salah scoring but still needing 4 chances to get that goal.
To go back to your original point Klopp did mainly use a traditional no.9 Lewi was probably the greatest at that and Klopp used him to devastating effect.
I think this is the next step for the team, we need a proven clinical goal scorer. When the chips are down we are relying on a front 4 who need far too many chances to score, they miss far too many easy chances. They can’t be relied on, and now the goals from midfield and set pieces have dried up also it has become a massive problem (the biggest one), it also unfortunately seems to trigger this malaise in the team that after 60mins of wasting chances our heads collective go and the result becomes inevitable, this self perpetuating cycle of doom.
You need someone we can rely on to score, that needs 2 chances but will always put one of them away. They may not press as much but ultimately it’s not as thought this team presses hardly anyway.
Hopefully they are also a threat from set pieces…
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Suarez or Aguero
Or, Harry Kane.
We’d just need to have the best scouting, data and analysis in the game.
Oh wait. We do.
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Personally I think that actually happened last season. I remember Bobby only scored once at Anfield last season and that was against Chelsea last day of the season. There was significant questioning of him going on with no goals. Quite similar to this season. But luckily for us and Bobby, Mo and Sadio were on fire so it papered over the crack that was Bobby. Think he hasn’t been overly great in two seasons if I want to be harsh.
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Yeah I think this season was not the first signs of some sort of “decline” from our attack. Doesn’t mean they’re not good anymore (or that they won’t have top periods again) and we need to change them all (and let me make it easier for us: we can’t), but it’s been there. Slowly but surely. Let’s be honest they’re 3 players who have their weaknesses of their own. When they go together towards their 30’s, playing so much football all the time, some things become more and more evident. It’s how it goes. It will be interesting to see our decisions in the next 12 months or so, who gets what type of contract, how much can we even offer, who we get in, etc. Jota was a good start (how good, time will tell). New summer, we’ll need another one. But even with that in place, very interesting to see how we manage and what moves we make with a bunch of those players with their contracts up to 2023.
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Yep Mane was hitting his heights, it massively masked Bobbys waning influence on the team. It’s also important about the amount of goals our defence (from set pieces) and midfield also contributed… Both have fallen off a cliff, so the under-performing players are now directly in the spotlight and their failings are front and center.
I still maintain the warning signs of this team needing proper refreshment were there once we’d won the league… It just seemed a few switched off (and have never switched back on) when we won everything…
I guess thats why it’s so bloody hard to work out if it’s just the covid effect i.e. the whole lack of fans, lack of celebrating the title, lack of pre-season etc. Or is the writing on the wall for some players i.e. They’ve mentally and physically checked out and need a challenge elsewhere.
Take Mane as an example, before this season and probably before Jan even this season he was world class… He got voted as the best in the world by Messi etc. The massive decision (which I wouldn’t bet my house on making personally). With the summer off, a proper pre-season i.e. a proper break and reset does he get back to his previous levels… Or is this his level now, a level that if he plays like this next season he isn’t good enough… So do you cash in whilst his value is decent etc. You are talking just 1 player affects a £80mil ish conundrum… Impossible to gage that for me.
My view is Bobby needs to move on and Mane given the chance. As you say Bobby’s decline is 18 months in the making v’s 6 for Mane (whose had covid)…
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With everyone trying to sign Kane at the moment and after the failed cup final I think we should try and swoop in for Son and get him while everyone’s attention is elsewhere.
Son on top form is a great addition to any club and he scores and does the hard work
He is also 28…
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Exactly. Although I’m a huge admirer of Son, if we are going to sign a seasoned attacker, my choice would be Zapata from Atalanta.
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Son has seen it and done it in this league. To me that would be better than hoping someone can land on there feet and if not giving them a season to bed in
Think this summer will be very interesting signing wise for all clubs
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Agreed. I think the fees and wages will excessive for Son. Also, Zapata is a tough cookie.
I see this a lot, so I’m curious:
| SOT% | S/90 | SOT/90 | G/90 | G/S | G/SOT | ∆xG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38.5% | 4.00 | 1.54 | 0.72 | 0.18 | 0.47 | -2.23 |
| 42.3% | 3.56 | 1.51 | 0.68 | 0.19 | 0.45 | -2.86 |
Who can tell me which of these players is Harry Kane and which is Mohamed Salah?
- Top is Kane
- Top is Salah
0
voters
(NB: ∆xG = xG - actual goals, so a more negative value indicates higher xG overperformance)
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Nah, we’re not getting those top 28/29 year olds from Levy.
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Not sure what Salah’s carrying of this team has to do with my posts?
Would you say Salah is clinical?
He misses a lot of chances, he also scores a lot of goals, but he isn’t someone who I’d say is clinical. He usually takes 3-4 shots before scoring.
He is also 1 player, we need to stop relying on him, hence my original point we need a proven goal scorer.
I’m not doubting his talent. He is a popular player amongst most Liverpool fans too. But our forwards are mostly in that 28-30 age range already. I dont see the owners or coaching staff wanting to make the squad rebuild/ transition harder on themselves - particularly given the ages of the rest of the spine and the likely departure of Klopp in 2-3 years.
Also, Levy won’t sell cheaply.
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Would you say Kane is clinical?
Would you say Lacazette is clinical? Because he has the highest goals:shots ratio in the league, just a hair under a goal every 3 shots. The league average is about 1 in 8.
I’m not stating any kind of position, just providing some context. FWIW, Mané is below average in all categories except shot volume this season.
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I think we’ll be looking for 20-25 year olds this summer. The team is aging, and I don’t think adding a 28 year old is sensible, regardless of how good he is.
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