I think maybe the key is buying the “right” player. If that costs top dollar (like VVD), so be it. If we manage to find a bargain (like Coutinho or Robertson), then great. But whatever the cost, get the players that we actually need.
That's the reason why he never rushes to jettison players but rather gives himself time to assess them. Including young players. I'm looking at Chelsea now who brought in Bakayoko and shunted Loftus-Cheek to Crystal Palace. Currently, I'm not sure why that even happened except that Bakayoko had a storming time last season in France and Chelsea felt the need to spend.
Chelsea and Man United will probably spend more money than us this summer, but that does not worry me as much as it used to. What’s brilliant about Klopp is that is not only signing great players, but he is signing players with a clear vision of how they will fit into our team. Watching Naby Keita yesterday against Dortmund, I thought that he was the best player on the field. But even more importantly you can see how his skills are absolutely perfect for our midfield. Jose has Pogba and Sanchez, but still hasn’t figured out how best to use them. The other brilliant thing is that players are now choosing Liverpool despite interest from all the other top clubs. Klopp and Guardiola are a step above the rest of the managers in the league. The are both building something with a clear plan and a long term vision.
I watched some of that game v Dortmund and the play he made to press and steal the ball, then make a direct pass thru the middle for the goal was a thing of beauty. One can only imagine Mane or Salah running onto a pass like that...
I'm not necessarily predicting a precipitous decline in City's fortunes, but its extremely difficult to put back to back incredible seasons together. They've had pretty much everything fall their way this season so a reversion to mean is the most logical thing to expect to happen. Can they put back to back 90+ point seasons together? Possibly, but only Chelsea back in 05/06 has been able to do that. Can they do it 3 times in a row? That has never been done. We should be targeting 85 point seasons moving forward, not the 75/76 point seasons we've targeted the past 2 years. We aren't that far off doing that and it only takes holding the points in 3 or 4 of our draws to get us there this year. If we are able to do that for 2 or 3 years, more likely than not, things will go our way one season.
Yeah I saw a video of all his touches last night (unfortunately it appears to have been taken down) and he really looked on it. He had about 6 or 7 runs straight through the midfield at the back line, similar to Ox's run for the Salah goal.
This is what I'm saying -- expecting not only Liverpool to jump to mid/high 80s but also City to drop below mid 80s seems unreasonable. Not impossible... but it would require everything to go perfectly for LFC and the opposite for City. Just doesn't seem likely to me at all. 2-3 years makes more sense if Klopp keeps building. Next season, we will see...
We've been close to a winning squad a few times. Difference this time is we have a top class manager, won't be selling any top players, have a top player already signed for the summer and there should be funds to bring in other quality additions. So it seems like we can actually keep moving forward this time ...........
Reports out of France we have a deal in principle with Monaco for Lemar. Reports that Ryan Sessengon is also interested in joining us over Man Utd if Fulham don't get promoted. Kid has 14 goals in 36 games as a LB. That's a talent you don't pass up. Sorry Moreno. So potentially we are looking at: Allison (GK) Jorginho (MF) Lemar (MF/wide forward) Sessengon (LB) De Vries (CB) plus Keita If we pull that off, holy shit, we'll be good and Emre would be mad to go.
Lemar - have Monaco backed down from their crazy valuation? We will probably be selling some players too don't forget.
You would suspect they have, but no mention of a figure. Who knows how reliable it is, but I'm choosing to believe it. Translation of the report: https://le10sport.com/football/mercato/exclu-mercato-liverpool-bientot-ok-avec-lemar-asm-361724
Same site is also saying Emre is going to sign with Juve when they are in England to play Spurs. Wages 110e per week. This is clearly an unreliable source and should be ignored. https://le10sport.com/football/mercato/exclu-mercato-liverpool-bientot-ok-avec-lemar-asm-361724
I’d think Hendo would be the one to lose minutes. Emre has the most minutes played of any of our CMs https://www.anfield-online.co.uk/stats/lfc-stats.html
He's really good at that. Watch his highlight reel from last season with Dortmund. Remins me of the great Fernando Redondo and Paul Gasgoine in th eway he eats up space with power runs. What sets him apart (like Redondo) is the way he can see other players wide of him to pass to while he is running like this....
nah - were utter cr@p in the 2002-2004 period (hard to beat but utterly awful) and again for the few years after Rafa left....