Who would you buy?

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

True, why win when you can settle for a draw.

It's a step up from a loss!

 

[lfc.8]

Can't disagree more on the midfield. We play 3 and have Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Keita and Ox all now fit and settled and playing well. Add to that we also currently have Grujic, Milner, Lallana, Jones, Shaqiri and Wilson who could all argue for playing time there although its unsure who out of them will be with us next season. Think everyone who wants adding to CM is failing to see the work Klopps CM does and wanting to see a CM impacting on the final 3rd such as a David Silva, Coutinho or Aouar would. Klopp has those "playmaking" tasks performed by his full backs, Firmino and the act of winning the ball back high up the pitch when the opposition isn't set up to defend. Even if Klopp was to add a player with more attacking creativity to CM I think those calling for that player would be disappointed as he'd spend most of his time playing like our current CMs doing the boring, unglamorous work.

The club's midfield options all have a range of varying quality but not many stand out players. There's also a lack of consistency in play. While we have a few different players it's the weakest part when looking at the first eleven. Further the midfielders listed weren't all attacking ones.

The club would be more hard pressed to improve in any other position. Alisson, Robertson, van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino pretty much all pick themselves.

There's a few areas to improve in the squad, such as another forward, a bit more in defence but midfield remains right up there. The transfer window is an opportunity to improve the team. It should be taken.

 

[big noyd]

that theo hernandez is still only 21 and kind of languishing

runs like a bastard, we were supposedly interested at one point. if we're really going to target a backup for robertson, he'd interest me

 

[Sweeting]

I am actually starting to think we need to sign two goalkeepers if Mignolet leaves, not one, because I want Kelleher and Grabara to go and get 2000 minutes of first team football for the next 2 or 3 years.

Not sure who, but bringing in 2 30+ year old GKs, especially if they are known to Allison and could act as mentors to what is still a young man could be beneficial.

 

[Nikola]

I am actually starting to think we need to sign two goalkeepers if Mignolet leaves, not one, because I want Kelleher and Grabara to go and get 2000 minutes of first team football for the next 2 or 3 years.

Not sure who, but bringing in 2 30+ year old GKs, especially if they are known to Allison and could act as mentors to what is still a young man could be beneficial.

Did you just say Buffon? Now, that would be a fairy tale, him coming on for Liverpool in CL final to play out a few remaining minutes and win that medal.

 

[Sweeting]

Did you just say Buffon? Now, that would be a fairy tale, him coming on for Liverpool in CL final to play out a few remaining minutes and win that medal.

Not keen on him whispering about facism in Allison's ear though...

 

[GaryBarlow99]

that theo hernandez is still only 21 and kind of languishing

runs like a bastard, we were supposedly interested at one point. if we're really going to target a backup for robertson, he'd interest me

Available for around £25m

Theo Hernández has suitors and Madrid have named their price

Real Madrid will not be relying on Theo Hernández next season and they have already put a price tag on the left back, who has interest from around Europe.

en.as.com

 

[Jimmyscase]

Colchester United's two-footed full back Kane Vincent-Young for half the Andy Robertson fee would be a real bargain. No seriously.
The biggest bargain since Souey found Rob Jones by accident at Crewe and within six months he was playing for England.
And that ladies and gentlemen is how big our club has got!

 

[red arizona scott]

The club's midfield options all have a range of varying quality but not many stand out players. There's also a lack of consistency in play. While we have a few different players it's the weakest part when looking at the first eleven. Further the midfielders listed weren't all attacking ones.

The club would be more hard pressed to improve in any other position. Alisson, Robertson, van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino pretty much all pick themselves.

There's a few areas to improve in the squad, such as another forward, a bit more in defence but midfield remains right up there. The transfer window is an opportunity to improve the team. It should be taken.

I agree. Midfield is the only area City is better. Our absolute point total is not the goal, being ahead of them this time whatever they end up with is. We are deep and solid in MF but not spectacular, and not really sold on any of them being auto team sheet selections for the next 3-4 years other than probably Fab. That is our best chance to improve our top 11--of course it would take a special player.

 

[Perth Red]

Our midfield is a different animal completely from City's. They aren't comparable because they don't function in the same way. Ox and Keita will be like new signings considering time on pitch last season and they provide significantly more drive going forward. Also Henderson moving forward from the DM role (don't like him there at all) to the more penetrative role (as demonstrated against Barca for example) adds a further dimension.
Our midfield process is far more direct and aggressive and we have more than enough skill, dynamism and physicality for it. No more needed!

 

[SithBaare]

Pepe Reina ?

 

[Flobs]

Pepe Reina ?

I never understood why he went! :eh?:

 

[Limiescouse]

We recruited for, and started the season in, 4231. Fekir would have been perfect to challenge for starts in 3 positions in that formation. In 433 he is a "maybe" as the most attacking 8 and a back up to Firmino in the false 9 (something Mane has/can do fine). I think Fekir/similar is no longer happening unless we revert back to 4231.

The recruited for bit is debateable, but the "started the season in" isnt. All of our early games were in our more familiar shape and we didnt roll out the 2 man midfield until Southampton in the middle of September. We then immediately returned to 4-3-3 for our next run of games and tended to only revert to 4-2-3-1 for games against sides we were expected to beat.

 

[SithBaare]

I never understood why he went! :eh?:

Partly his fault as he was set on a move to Barca that didn't happen. Then had to be loaned out as we had already bought a replacement for him in mignolet.

But either way , as a backup keeper with loads of experience and as a former red , I'd get him back home

 

[ILLOK]

We started the season with Milner and Keita ahead of Gini in a typical 433. Not 4231.

 

[SithBaare]

The recruited for bit is debateable, but the "started the season in" isnt. All of our early games were in our more familiar shape and we didnt roll out the 2 man midfield until Southampton in the middle of September. We then immediately returned to 4-3-3 for our next run of games and tended to only revert to 4-2-3-1 for games against sides we were expected to beat.

Don't think it's as clear as that. Klopp has been mixing up the formations even within games. A 4-2-3-1 when we want to control the game and conserve our energy and transform it to a 4-3-3. It's all about transition play now.

 

[Chewbazza]

For the point of this exercise, assuming our best 11 is Alisson, TAA, Matip, VVD, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Salah, Firmino and Mané, if you then had put together an 11 from the remaining squad, what would it look like and what would be your top 4 positional priorities for improving that second 11?

 

[Flobs]

For the point of this exercise, assuming our best 11 is Alisson, TAA, Matip, VVD, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Salah, Firmino and Mané, if you then had put together an 11 from the remaining squad, what would it look like and what would be your top 4 positional priorities for improving that second 11?

On last season's performances Keita doesn't even make our 2nd 11. Milner or Wijnaldum should be in there.
2nd 11 Mignolet, ?, Gomez, Lovren, ?, Henderson, AOC? Wijnaldum, Origi, Mané, Shaquiri. ???

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

For the point of this exercise, assuming our best 11 is Alisson, TAA, Matip, VVD, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Salah, Firmino and Mané, if you then had put together an 11 from the remaining squad, what would it look like and what would be your top 4 positional priorities for improving that second 11?

Prefer to look at it position by position as some positions require more rotation than others. Also depending on the age and quality of the other options depends on what you need in main back up roles.

Goalkeeper; You'd be thinking a starter, a back up and an emergency option. Alisson is the perfect starter for our style of play. Mignolet is a good back up but poor style fit. Either Kelleher or Grabara make a fine emergency option. I'd let Mignolet move on for first team football. With the age of Alisson and the 3rd choice I'd look at an older, experienced keeper who plays the right way. Reina or Muslera would be my choices.

Centre Back; For a team involved in as many competitions as us next season I think you need at least 3 top quality CBs. They'll still likely get 40+ starts each if they are fit enough. A good, robust 4th in case of injuries. Some emergency options too. VvD, Gomez and Matip with Lovren as 4th is fantastic on paper but even ignoring Gomez injury history having both Matip and Lovren as injury prone as they are is almost asking for trouble. Luckily Hoever seems nearly ready and special whilst Fabinho fits very well in emergency situations. If we need to go with what we have next season so be it but Lovren moving on and a robust, younger, CB coming in would probably be best option. Obviously the dream would be De Ligt with how highly he is rated but I think, failing that, someone like Lascelles or Tah (who may not seem that exciting but tick all the boxes for a Klopp CB) would be ok.

Wingback; Straight off the bat I think we have the best starting Fullbacks in the world right now. Might argue they aren't perfect but both are still young and will improve and I doubt the "perfect" fullbacks are out there. I think we have some promising young players in the academy (especially on the left) but not sure any are ready to be second name on the list. Milner offers some cover. Fabinho and Gomez offer some too. One real good or promising full back who can play both sides would be ideal. Achraf Hakimi would have been perfect if he wasn't already on loan at Dortmund from Madrid. Maybe a loan to buy for Benjamin Henrichs from Monaco wouldn't be too outrageous an idea? They loaned Tielemans out. See if the kid is any good before purchasing him.

Central Midfield; For what Klopp is having the CMs do in 433 I think we are set. Fabinho is an amazing choice as the 6/anchor and Henderson and Wijnaldum are both better than they are usually given credit for in this role. In the roles of the 2 number 8s having Henderson, Keita, Oxlade Chamberlain and Wijnaldum fighting for 2 spots is great depth. Good mix of skills whilst all able to fill Klopps unglamorous demands. Milner, Lallana, Curtis Jones, Wilson, Woodburn, Grujic more options for cover than we really need and likely to see a few of them move on or go on loan.

Wing; Strange position for us. World class starters and lots of emergency cover. No real back up or competition though. Salah and Mane need to be here for years. From the likes of Ox, Shaqiri, Wilson, Kent, Origi and Brewster we have lots of half options to play here and there or come off the bench. So many options I'm not convinced they'll all be in the squad with us next season, probably couple of loan or perm departures. We need to add a real strong choice here, ideally a left forward although it wont harm if they can cover both sides. We just seem to have more right options than left. When deciding who to buy its worth remembering that these roles really play more like strikers than wingers. Need someone young, fast, good now, potential to be great, able to threaten opposition defences. Dream signing would be Mbappe who I think would be unstoppable on our left in same way Salah can be on the right. Mane would get a full seasons playing time competing with both of them and covering up top. Failing that wishful signing Dembele or Sancho look like they could be options who knows?

CF/false 9; No point labouring the point I think we are covered. Firmino and Mane both do really good playing as a false 9 style facilitator role. Origi, Salah and Brewster are all options when you want something more direct here for some games or to change games.

So dream style "who would I buy"? Would be Reina, De Ligt, Henrichs (loan) and Mbappe. More realistic would be De Ligt swapped for Tah or Lascelles and Mbappe swapped for Sancho or Dembele.

 

[red arizona scott]

Our midfield is a different animal completely from City's. They aren't comparable because they don't function in the same way. Ox and Keita will be like new signings considering time on pitch last season and they provide significantly more drive going forward. Also Henderson moving forward from the DM role (don't like him there at all) to the more penetrative role (as demonstrated against Barca for example) adds a further dimension.
Our midfield process is far more direct and aggressive and we have more than enough skill, dynamism and physicality for it. No more needed!

Ok lets of think of it this way. Do you not think Klopp would find a places and roles for Bernardo Silva or KDB in our midfield. Now which of our midfielders would be an automatic starter for City?

IMO we were not as good as City last year because their midfielders are better. Our midfield arguably got outplayed by the Spurs bums in the final--but our back 4 and Alisson were better and we won that way. Had we faced City the way we looked in the final in would have been against us to win it--not that I am complaining we didn't have to.

But I don't want a false narrative our starting 11 couldn't possibly be better, nor that we have a lot of the best midfield talent in the world there. We have lots of good players but not really breathtaking players that are close to flawless in their control or geniuses in helping cracking open a set up defense on top of doing roles Klopp demands. Our back line and goalie combination IS WITHOUT QUESTION the best in the world. The starting forward may well be the best in the world. Between them, good quantity but different level of quality.

 

[Drubas]

Ok lets of think of it this way. Do you not think Klopp would find a places and roles for Bernardo Silva or KDB in our midfield. Now which of our midfielders would be an automatic starter for City?

IMO we were not as good as City last year because their midfielders are better. Our midfield arguably got outplayed by the Spurs bums in the final--but our back 4 and Alisson were better and we won that way. Had we faced City the way we looked in the final in would have been against us to win it--not that I am complaining we didn't have to.

But I don't want a false narrative our starting 11 couldn't possibly be better, nor that we have a lot of the best midfield talent in the world there. We have lots of good players but not really breathtaking players that are close to flawless in their control or geniuses in helping cracking open a set up defense on top of doing roles Klopp demands. Our back line and goalie combination IS WITHOUT QUESTION the best in the world. The starting forward may well be the best in the world. Between them, good quantity but different level of quality.

Their midfield are built to play triangles, all over the pitch. Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum wouldn't get anyway near a starting lineup.

Some of city's midfield players would struggle initially, if they played for Liverpool. But given time, I think that both KDB and Bernardo Silva would be regular starters.

I just don't see any players that are given upgrades on our current midfield.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

Ok lets of think of it this way. Do you not think Klopp would find a places and roles for Bernardo Silva or KDB in our midfield. Now which of our midfielders would be an automatic starter for City?

IMO we were not as good as City last year because their midfielders are better. Our midfield arguably got outplayed by the Spurs bums in the final--but our back 4 and Alisson were better and we won that way. Had we faced City the way we looked in the final in would have been against us to win it--not that I am complaining we didn't have to.

But I don't want a false narrative our starting 11 couldn't possibly be better, nor that we have a lot of the best midfield talent in the world there. We have lots of good players but not really breathtaking players that are close to flawless in their control or geniuses in helping cracking open a set up defense on top of doing roles Klopp demands. Our back line and goalie combination IS WITHOUT QUESTION the best in the world. The starting forward may well be the best in the world. Between them, good quantity but different level of quality.

If he had them he'd find roles for them like he did with Coutinho. But like when he had Coutinho if Klopp were to use a pure attacking midfielder like them who couldn't play as a Klopp CM we'd have to switch to 4231 with that player joining our front 3 or rest one of those 4 players and the attacking mid play wide, like with Coutinho when he was here. It's so frustrating our own fans cant realise we have some of the best box to box CMs around and play 2 of them in our 433. They keep getting slated, almost exclusively by our own fans, because they don't perform the actions of attacking mids. Something they're not set up to perform. If Klopp wanted to play an attacking mid he would. But he uses a combination of winning the ball back high up the pitch, the wing backs getting forward (those guys who set assist records) and Firmino dropping deep to replicate the work a playmaker or attacking mid would create in that area.

 

[ILLOK]

De Brunye and B.Silva work hard, they'd easily slot into our midfield.

I do think a lot of the '#10s' that get posted in these threads are unsuitable but those two definitely aren't.

 

[Nikola]

Bernardo Silva is one of the hardest working players I've seen, let alone an attacking one! Man City's recruitment has been virtually faultless since Guardiola's appointment but De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva stand out for me as they are unique players, at least in my opinion. That skill set coupled with such work rate, it's incredible, I don't think I've seen it before. I agree with @ILLOK, both would walk into Liverpool's starting XI.

I never understood these links with Bruno Fernandes or other attacking midfielders - a great player he might be but Klopp has been "waiting" for both Keita and AOC for about a year or so and will most likely give them every chance to prove themselves worthy of starting spots.

 

[Anfield rd Dreamer]

De Brunye and B.Silva work hard, they'd easily slot into our midfield.

I do think a lot of the '#10s' that get posted in these threads are unsuitable but those two definitely aren't.

Fair enough, I'm maybe lazy stereotyping with those two.

 

[Iluvatar]

Bernardo Silva is one of the hardest working players I've seen, let alone an attacking one! Man City's recruitment has been virtually faultless since Guardiola's appointment but De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva stand out for me as they are unique players, at least in my opinion. That skill set coupled with such work rate, it's incredible, I don't think I've seen it before. I agree with @ILLOK, both would walk into Liverpool's starting XI.

I never understood these links with Bruno Fernandes or other attacking midfielders - a great player he might be but Klopp has been "waiting" for both Keita and AOC for about a year or so and will most likely give them every chance to prove themselves worthy of starting spots.

Isn't it the manager more than anything? Look at how many players come here with the "oo he doesn't fit a Klopp team, doesn't work hard, doesn't track" Yet here we are within one of the hardest collective units in world football.

Of course the underlying personality needs to be there and the drive to want to put it all on the line, but the right manager enhances that to super human levels.

It's what sets apart this new wave of the "worldclass" talents in my opinion, the combination of athleticism, technical ability and work ethic.. Robbo/Trent are perfect examples of the evolution of the new age fullback.

 

[GaryBarlow99]

Didn't this argument raise its head a few weeks ago?

 

[Flobs]

Didn't this argument raise its head a few weeks ago?

Do you have to ask?
This is transfer window reguritation. The only thing that will stop it is if/when a transfer is confirmed then we will have a few days of confused discussion/arguement over the qualities of said transfer. Then we will go back to type.
I'm only following all this because I got, and still have, such a buzz from the CL win that I just had to linger around. Normally this time of year I make myself scarce until a transfer is confirmed (then I come on to get a feeling of what others opinions are).

 

[GaryC]

I have always thought the great Liverpool teams of the 70’s were renowned for being hardworking besides being talented. Looks like Jurgen is shaping the current team in that direction. Unfortunately so is Pep with City!

 

[jgw_geneseo]

This one is for @Kopstar

Inter keen to sign Romelu Lukaku but need to sell Mauro Icardi first

Inter would like to sign the Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku this summer but would have to offload Mauro Icardi first

www.theguardian.com

Inter hanging for sale sign on Icardi. They want 60 mil so probably settle for less.