I guess I don't have any respect for the ParisStGlobetrotter type of football in general, and I'm not convinced he'd be prepared to do the hard Klopp yards required. god knows he doesn't need to in Ligue Un. I could be wrong about his work ethic.
The very fact that he wants to leave PSG says a lot about his character to me. He wants to challenge himself in a real league. We know he could make plenty of money by staying.
PSG gets a bit of a bum rap because of who their owners are, but aside from Neymar they are a pretty hard working team and most of their fans want Neymar to leave. If he choses to come to LFC, that will tell you all you need to know about his ambition as there is no secret about what the expectation will be.
Not saying I want to see him play there but Fabinho was orginally a RB? Or at the least he has games there for Brazil?
But Klopp makes almost all players bide their time and learn the system? Only a few exceptions who were already top class which would not be the case for a player who is initially 20th choice.
It was still an easy sell for every player that we brought in. Mane went straight into the starting eleven. Salah was told that Mane would move to the left so that he can play on the right. Naby Keita was seen as the ideal Klopp midfielder. Virgil knew we were going to build our whole defense around him. Andy Robertson only had to be better than Alberto Moreno. Alisson was number one from day one. Fabinho was made to wait, but we didn’t have a true #6 and it was always his position to grow into. Thiago had all the qualities that our midfield lacked and is a world class player who can walk into any team. Jota’s path was less straight forward, but it wasn’t hard to convince him to leave Wolves when he wasn’t even starting all the time for them. If we signed a midfielder or forward today, their role and path into the first eleven would be much more unclear. We absolutely need to start building for the future by signing some younger players, but I don’t think there is any obvious needs. And Klopp will never approve of buying for the sake of buying. He much rather back the players he already has.
Team dynamics are different— the way we play is so different from how Brazil, for instance, plays. The lesson from last season was, or at least part of it, we must not weaken one part of the pitch to patch up another. I’m willing to bet, with the benefit of hindsight, had we shoved Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips immediately into the void left by van Dijk and Gomez, we’d not have struggled as much. I admit it wasn’t just the makeshift defence and the weakening of central midfield which derailed our season— the finishing in some matches was quite below awful. If Alexander Arnold were to miss matches, I’d rather Neco Williams not A N Other played at right back.
Not necessarily ,Suss. Is Elliotts role and path unclear? His natural ability has propelled him forward this season and into the first team . He's exactly what I'm suggesting ie a younger replacement for a player who hasn't been contributing too much. Shaq out Elliott in. I'm not suggesting Klopp buy for the sake of buying , a huge squad makes no sense ,some players would need to leave and be replaced. What I'd like to do is replace guys who imo are deadwood or just not up to standard eg Origi or Taki with a younger better player , say Doku for the sake of argument. He's 19 and would be Mane's backup for a couple seasons while being groomed to eventually replace him. Klopp will always back his players and rightly so but any squad can and should be improved when possible. It's why we went out and bought Konate rather than stick with Phillips or Rhys. Thats what I would like to see but I don't see anything happening unless we have more outgoings and not sure we'll see that this window.
I know we all want shiny new toys - but - each of these players is in or going to be in their prime: Trent, Robbo, Allison, VVD, Fabinho, Elliot.... With Hendo, Salah, and maybe Firmino to come. This is just as important for us.
Don't misunderstand me. I don't want a shiny new toy. in a year where we have a legit chance to win the title. I don't want to miss out because we sat pat and didn't add proper depth when we had a chance . Newt , we have the numbers for sure and if we go largely injury free I think our chances of being in and around the top are good maybe even win it. I think other than rb cover that def is pretty solidly covered , up front maybe not so much. If we have any injury issues or form issues as Mane -Firmino both had last year or an injury to Salah then the drop off in cover to Origi-Taki is pretty big so if we had to go with those guys for any period of time I think our chances take a dive.
I agree that it would be great to get one more signing in, but I understand why it’s difficult. Even Elliot’s path into the first eleven will become more complicated. Would he have started against Burnley if any of Fabinho, Ox, Milner, or Thiago were available to start? Curtis Jones, who made the break through last season, is probably frustrated that he seems a bit far away from the first eleven at the moment. I saw an article today saying how Liverpool should try to beat Man United to the signing of Camavinga. I would love that. However Camavinga is only 18, he’s been starting for Rennes since he was 16, and he’s been capped by France. If you were him, would you join Liverpool who already has a world class midfield, or the team who regularly starts Fred and McTominay? It was much easier to sign a 15 year old Harvey Elliott who at the time had only made a couple of appearances for Fulham in the Championship. I think we might have done it again with Kaide Gordon. The signing that I would have loved to see is Adama Traore because of how unique he is. He could have a specific role (mostly off the bench) and give the squad something that it doesn’t have, and something else for an opposition to worry about.
Traore is pretty awful - he runs fast when there is space. he has zero end product. If he comes into a game for us - defenders will drop 5-10 yards to take away the space. I just don't see it with him.
Any new signing is very difficult without another going out I'd say and I don't think it will happen though it is what I think we needs to . One more good forward up top to give us that extra insurance for now and also be groomed for the future cos you know its very likely at least one of those front three will move on over the next couple seasons. I agree re Elliott , Hendo, Thiago, Fab and Keita will pull the majority of minutes with Millie,Jones ,Ox and Elliott picking up scraps. But then again you never know a mf with a 36 yr old , plus Hendo-Thiago -Ox-Keita all have a history of injury woes . Then we have a 20 yr old and an 18 yr old so as good as we can be in mf when all pistons are firing I think there are still plenty of question marks which hover over it. What looks great in August can look much different once the heavy slog of games every three days kicks in.
Can’t argue about his end product, but his ability to to run with the ball is like no one else. I just picture sticking him out on wing and how the attention he attracts would open up space for others. You can’t put 3 defenders on Salah and Traore at the same time. You gotta admit that every time we play Wolves, he strikes fear in you. The sight of Adama Traore lubing up his arms to come off the bench is the last thing a tired defense wants to see.
sure you can - just tell the other 7 defenders to keep an eye on Mane, Bobby and everyone else in red.
At 15M and 80K/week I'd be in for Traore. He's probably a better option off the bench than Taki, even with his lack of end project.
I'm not sure if his strengths are really what's needed against packed-bus defences, but he's young enough to learn and he'd be worth it for that money. as a defender I think I'd prefer seeing Origi coming at me than him.