Fitness and ability to run long distances is great and everything, but football is typically played in 10-20 yard increments. It's awesome if Milner can win his sprints in the 75-90th minutes, but not so awesome that if he loses his sprints in the first 75. Sprinters are typically washed up by ~26. Middle distance runners (everything below 10k) are usually moving to longer distances by ~30. Speed declines as you age, fitness can increase. We're seeing that played out perfectly in Milner right now.
I bow to your insights, tips. obviously he won't last forever - the Prem has very few outfield players beyond 35/35 - but when I think of Millie right now ... - there have been a ton of players who have never been blessed with super speed, but who have skills that make them great. (Fowler come to mind). - Millie's experience, work rate, game smarts, positional flexibility and superb professionalism (example to all at the club) means he can offer a great deal even as he does lose a step - right now he is our de facto backup LB - although Joe has shown he can be effective there. the youths are a couple of years away even if they keep developing I think. I don't think anybody is suggesting we sign him for another 5 years (OK maybe his agent is ) but right now I'd give him a 1-year extension with a wage bump to keep him focused and keep the likes of Leeds or other low-Prem / top-Championship teams at bay. if we have found a solid backup for Robbo next summer, maybe it'd be time for him to go .... although I wouldn't rule out him staying on to coach.
I love Millie , his experience and history of winning has been invaluable since we signed him. Having said that this current Liverpool squad has grown up so much over the past few seasons and is now loaded with experienced players and natural leaders . Most of the squad is also young or approaching their peak years which bodes well for the team but there is still a need to add new talent or more younger talent to continue the process and turnover of a few players here or there is always necessary. Millie will be 34 in Jan , Lallana will be 32 and seldom used nowadays and if a couple players need to be moved on to open spots for new signings of youth these two would seem the logical ones.
Lallana's only hope of seeing the pitch these days is the LC or FAC games, which in recent years have been almost non-existent. he's named as a sub most games but we'd need to have 2 midfielders go down before we'd see him used. if Naby was fit he wouldn't be on the bench, and once Naby is available (if that day ever comes) Lallana will go soon afterwards.
From all accounts he is a bright person and the ownership group is already speaking with him about a front office role rather than a coaching role (his role would be more akin to Van der Saar starting as a marketing director before becoming CEO).
Liverpool agree deal to sign Mrozek – the latest exciting academy addition https://readliverpoolfc.com/2019/09...-mrozek-the-latest-exciting-academy-addition/
Great ability but attitude -wise he can be a real b*stard on the pitch. I'm not sure how long Klopp would put up with his nonsense .
yeah it wouldn't be a smooth ride, and Jurgen may give the idea a fast thumbs-down ... but seeing him come on at 60 mins to give one of the front 3 a break .... would scare the hell out of defences more than Divock ever will. Suarez isn't a speed demon any more but he'll be scoring goals for a while yet. he'd have to behave for sure - but if he could accept that he's on the downward slope now and accepted a bit-part role ... apparently the Barca fans have turned against him and he's po'd with the whole thing. if Barca do sign Neymar they'll probably sell him.
Can't imagine he's too happy with our supporters after the bollocking he got back in May (not that he didn't deserve it).
Probably just a tactic to get a raise. That said, he’s been coping an earful from Barça fans who want him to be replaced by that new teen sensation, Ansu Fati.
true, but he's gonna go somewhere at some point. at his age he either does the China thing to get a big $$$ starting spot (for a while) or he'll want to go to a top club and accept that he'd be a sub only. I haven't seen him play at all since he left us apart from the semis of course so I don't know how he's doing. but a player close to the 2014-era Suarez coming off our bench? wow.
He's closer to Sturridge last season than he is to his 2014 era playing ability. Better shooter of the ball but his ability to beat a player is gone, he plays more of a straightforward no9 role these days than the cavalier football he played for us or even Barca for his first few seasons. He's only going to further deteriorate next summer by the time he leaves Barca. His wages and age make him a bad investment, he'd only make sense if we lost two of our front three and could not adequately replace them.
Last season and this season so far Suárez is averaging a goal every second game that is quite a lot better than sturridge
I think the only way we would possibly sign him is if he came on a free. And even then I don't think it's very probable. Klopp and FSG want to bring in younger players that will have more value after they've been with the team a few years.
His fitness on the pitch is similar to how Sturridge had been for us the last few seasons, he is having trouble beating players. As I said, his finishing is far better but his mobility is pretty poor, his general playing over 90 minutes is only slightly better than Sturridge's was for us. He is still getting the goals in La Liga (not the Champions League though, 2 goals in the previous two tournaments) but his overall play is poor. There was a time that Suarez would be a man of the match contender regardless if he scored or assisted because his overall play was that good, that style of play is beyond him now. If he does not score his contribution to the team is pretty much non-existent. He'll be 33 this winter. If he moves it is because he either wants to be guaranteed first team football (which he still gets with Barca) or a big final payday. Both of which make him a bad investment for us.
If he were to come, it’d be unlikely that he’d start. So therefore on the bench. In which case he’d be blocking Origi, and, probably more importantly, Brewster. I suspect that might upset the team unity and cohesion too much.
Play awful and score? Sure there is. Go the Barca sub and ask their fans how he played over the 90 minutes. Luis's finishing is still top notch. When he was at Liverpool the reason why he was loved was his overall gameplay, the guy absolutely dominated games for 90 minutes. For the last 12 months he's not done that, his scoring masks his overall poor play. There is a reason why Barca fans want rid. He's nowhere near the same player regardless of how many he scores. Sturridge for us was like that. Last season he scored an absolute beast of a goal against Chelsea but the game itself his loss of pace, his inability to beat a man was tragic. He was a shadow of the player he once was.
I'm not all convinced about this Suarez wanting to come back-- he after all left to be closer to his wife's family. He's moved on and so have we. He could retire to the MLS, maybe?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ed-brother-law-started-acting-like-agent.html Nabil Fekir's move to Liverpool collapsed 'after his brother-in-law turned up and started acting like the player's agent and demanded commission' as his ex-representative admits he felt 'ashamed " ..... on the day that the contract was supposed to be signed, at Rambouillet, we saw a lawyer and Nabil's brother-in-law arrived who said: "Stop everything, discussions have to start all over again." It was surreal. We thought that we were in a Walt Disney film.'
So it wasn’t his knee after all? It seems to add up since Liverpool had already conducted an interview and given him the #10 shirt. That said, I’m just looking at Pepé’s struggles at Arsenal and wondering if we probably avoided overpaying for Fekir as he’s since gone for a relatively “mere pittance” to Valencia.