In the Elliott love in - people are already forgetting Jones who has the potential to be a top top talent as well. (not you DCC)
Any player we sign is being signed for potentially 6-8 years so whether he gets 15 games or 35 games this season is not that important in the grand scheme. My point is to have as good quality as possible players available in the squad to cover if and when needed. Liverpool has a really good squad again this season , definitely good enough to challenge for top four if we avoid serious injury issues. I'd just like to see us tip the scales a bit more in our favour by adding a couple players who are better than we have now to the squad. Guys like Origi , Taki and Neco can deffo be improved on.
Maybe we’re waiting for next year when the likes of Mbappe and Håland are going to be available for reasonable fees
Interesting that Lyon more than doubled its initial offer after its rather awful start to the season. It does help to have a reasonable value of one's assets. In that vein, I don't think Phillips will go for peanuts.
Exactly. Statistically he's one of the best 5 midfielders under 21 in Europe. The biggest hole in midfield currently 3rd string #6. I expect the next midfielder we bring will be capable of playing there, but considering his size and game awareness, I'd like to see if Jones is capable of adding that string to his bow over the next couple of seasons. Origi, Taki and Neco can definitely be improved upon, but we are literally talking about the 22nd, 23rd and 24th players in our squad, so the urgency of doing something now isn't really there. If there are deals to be done, great, but if not its not likely to make or break our season, so I'm relatively calm about it. Of those 3, I think Neco is the biggest issue for the squad overall as he doesn't appear to have the natural stamina to play at the required level. Every time he plays, he's sucking wind by 30 which results in an overall decline in his play. Perhaps he'll develop it as he matures, but that kind of thing is what separates those who will make it at the top and those who are destined to be a mid-table player. I'd much prefer our prospects if we face with a 6 game run with Origi or Taki in the lineup than a 6 game run with Neco, but looking at the overall squad, it has enough RB cover where its unlikely Klopp would be in a position to need Neco to play 6 games on the bounce. So while its a move we'll need to make at some point, its not a move we must make right now.
I agree in general dcc, but "looking at the overall squad, it has enough RB cover where its unlikely Klopp would be in a position to need Neco to play 6 games on the bounce" troubles me a bit. without Neco the backup if Trent goes down is Millie or Joe or (at a real push) Fab. the first two have their own injury concerns, and we know what taking Fab out of midfield can do to us. is it juggle-able? definitely. but I would much prefer for us to find a right-side Tsimi.
With our current squad I think we'll be in a tight season long battle with City, Utd, and Chelsea. Can we come out on top and win another title ? It's not impossible but how much stronger could our chances be if we replaced a 22, 23 or 24th rated player with one or two capable of slotting in when needed and actually make an impact. How much better to have say someone like Doku coming off the bench as opposed to Origi? The point is we can replace a 22,23,24 caliber player with another of much higher quality. Right now the squad is fresh but once we get into the nitty gritty and games are coming every three days our big guns cannot play every game. Then we have injuries and international call ups etc so the stronger our bench is , the better the quality available then I think we give ourselves more of a chance to outdo our big rivals over the course of the season.
I’d much prefer Neco Williams at right-back to having Gomez, Fabinho or even, at a pinch, Milner all day long. We must avoid one of the other mistakes from last season where we mistrusted specialists in certain positions because they were young or deemed not at the required level.
Could Tsmikas play right back if needed? He’s such a quality player that he could probably to a good job there. I still think Milner would be first choice to backup Trent and he can do an excellent job there.
Milner has already played a full season at fullback, so I think he can absolutely be trusted there. I think it’s even more of a stretch for a traditional “fullback” to fill Trent’s role. What Trent does for the team can be more easily replicated by a midfielder.
Milner's struggled the last two seasons we have asked him to play at LB. He doesn't have the legs to do what Trent or Robbo/Tsmikas does. We can use him there for a game - maybe 2. More than that and we are making a mistake.
Doku is a Diouf-like flash in the pan. A good showing at a major tournament due to his super sub appearances but has not actually delivered the goods over a full season. See also Vassell, Darius and Asamoah, Gerald. But I get what you're saying. I also think we need to think of the longer term when making signings. We have how many players 28/29 and over that need replacing over the coming seasons (our front 3, hendo, milner, thiago, VvD, Matip). Yes, our midfield is a bit stocked right now, but adding Camavinga when he's available in the last year of his contract and can be a long-term replacement for Fab (and anywhere else in the midfield, honestly) and potentially set us up for the next 5-6 years (Camavinga, Jones, & Elliott anybody?), why wouldn't we look to do it. Always play from a position of strength instead of trying to hold on/extend a run and be left playing catch up (see our 90's and 00's struggles and man u currently for how this can snowball quickly).
But who, that is possessing of the requisite quality, wants to come and be the 23rd guy off the bench? The only way you get a bench that deep is by grossly over-paying their salaries, ala City, EM, Barca and Chelski.
There was one game last year against Leicester when Milner was excellent from right back. It was during the time that Trent was really struggling. Milner ran the game with his passing from that position.
I agree. Also, Klopp isn’t interested in having a really big squad, and he has no interest in having dead weight. I think he is serious when he says there has to be outgoings before players can come in. I also think Klopp played a huge role in convincing so many brilliant players to come to Liverpool. He is great at selling the project to them and making them see exactly how they would fit into our team. The sell is no longer easy. We want you in this season in case we have another injury crisis and we will slowly groom you into the long term replacement for Jordan Henderson. I don’t think too many young stars are jumping at that. Call me crazy, but I think the way forward is to wait until next summer and go after the only young stars that can walk straight into our first eleven and push us to another level. United can have Sancho, City can have Grealish and Kane, Chelsea can get Lukaku, and it’s all fine if Liverpool can land Mbappe or Haaland in 2022.
For this season what do we really need. Cb back up that's konate. Backup in midfield that's Elliott and Jones. Backup in attack, Elliott and Ox. I think we are good this season but next season mane and Salah replacements need to be found. Milner we will never be able to replace
true. but ... and I love Millie to bits ... when Jurgen dropped Trent for that Manu game a couple of years back, Millie stank the place out completely.
You really believe that Liverpool would have a hard time attracting players who can improve the squad? Konate was more than happy to come despite knowing he'd be competing with three top cb's . Jota came knowing he'd be competing with three top forwards. Even Harvey Elliott came to Liverpool knowing he'd have to break his way into one of Europes top squads. Good players will always back themselves to compete for playing time . It's not something that has ever concerned me at Liverpool.
I think the overall point is while we are all on board with further upgrades to the squad, we don't need to hit panic stations if they don't come this summer. Our squad is has been improved from the one that won the CL and PL, so I think we'll be okay.
Liverpool midfielder Ben Woodburn has completed a season-long loan move to Scottish Premiership side Hearts. The 21-year-old links up with Robbie Neilson's team, who have taken seven points from nine in the league so far, for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign.
No one is hitting any panic buttons, I'm certainly not.. There is simply an opportunity during the window to strengthen for the coming campaign. Last season we thought we were deep enough at cb and we saw how that turned out. I think we'll be okay too but I also think we can be stronger. .