Topic: An early look at the 2016/17 Liverpool team

[DanA]

Until we sign a top cm i can't see us doing any better. We lost so many games last year due to the fact we couldn't control the centre of the pitch with someone who can control the pace of a game. We had just runners.


We have made okay additions thus far. But we need 3 more top players to improve imo

Okay, first off we finished 6 points off 4th place making the League cup final and Europa League final. It's not a disastrous situation, particularly considering we gave up on the league with five games to go playing Allen and Stewart in four of the last five EPL games resting Can and Milner.  Branagan even made a couple of starts along side them.  I think we could have pushed for 65 points which would have had us 1 point and goal difference behind City in fourth.

And this was with a heap of problems beyond controlling the midfield. Not least of which was a manager change in the midst of an extremely hectic season in which we played the more games than any other team in Europe. Just having time on the training pitch should improve us but beyond that to say we won't do better because we haven't signed a top CM is a bit over the top. There were a lot of reasons we lost games last season;
- Poor set piece organisation and a small defence   
- Misfiring attack when Benteke up front starting 43% of our league games.                   
- A general lack of pace in attack
- Poor attacking set pieces and free kicks
- Defensive errors
- Too much rotation (injuries, cup focus, high number of games)

Midfield control was a problem, but certainly not the only one as the list above highlights.  I think a lot on the list has been addressed as well.

[clinical]

To improve or to challenge for the title? I don't know how you can say that a potential upgrade on Mignolet doesn't improve us, it was the biggest problem by some distance for me. And getting one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga doesn't improve us? Mané, a player with real pace and a goal threat, doesn't improve us?

It's the start of the job for Klopp, but the squad is already leaps and bounds above what it was last year.

We say this every year though. Its the same arguments. Coaching this that and the other. Yes a new gk probably doea improve us. Yet Karius hasn't played yet. But Klopp is a great manager no doubt. Just not sure hes a miracle worker. I mean the teams above us will improve. They are buying some good players and it's hard for us to compete

[Dubred]

How many top players did Spurs sign last summer to improve? Even if we didn`t sign anyone this summer we would have improved on account of Klopp`s coaching in which you seem to have zero belief.

Absolutely agree.

We're in a very strong position that a lot of fans just don't seem to get.

There were so many positive signs last season from the existing squad and really, we should have nailed that top 4.

We've made some very shrewd signings so far to address the areas we need the improvements on.

Whats the point in overhauling the squad yet again?  Its not going to get us anywhere.

This squad is now a year older with Klopp, with a few players upgraded on top of that.

If we get a central midfielder - great.  If we don't - I expect Klopp will have the players at his disposal well drilled this time around as to what exactly he expects of them on the pitch.

Continuity is the key for us.  Small changes.  The right players upgraded.

I can't argue thats not exactly what the boss has done so far with his additions.

[Chris~]

Until we sign a top cm i can't see us doing any better. We lost so many games last year due to the fact we couldn't control the centre of the pitch with someone who can control the pace of a game. We had just runners.

Does Klopp want that though? I'd have thought he'd want someone in there who will be good at quick vertical passing and creating transitions more than say a Modric-lite type. I think his insistence on Milner and Henderson over Allen suggests that as well.

[SerbianScouser]

Does Klopp want that though? I'd have thought he'd want someone in there who will be good at quick vertical passing and creating transitions more than say a Modric-lite type. I think his insistence on Milner and Henderson over Allen suggests that as well.

Gundogan and Sahin? I think Klopp would love nothing more than a Modric type.

[Nessy76]

We say this every year though. Its the same arguments. Coaching this that and the other. Yes a new gk probably doea improve us. Yet Karius hasn't played yet. But Klopp is a great manager no doubt. Just not sure hes a miracle worker. I mean the teams above us will improve. They are buying some good players and it's hard for us to compete

Why even bother then? I don't get this attitude at all.

[Djimi Smicer34]

Until we sign a top cm i can't see us doing any better. We lost so many games last year due to the fact we couldn't control the centre of the pitch with someone who can control the pace of a game. We had just runners.


We have made okay additions thus far. But we need 3 more top players to improve imo

Can is just a runner?  That's laughable.

Our additions have been more than okay, clearly that's lost on those who pine after "marquee signings".  As for what we still need, we need to do what we've done up to now under Klopp: identify and sign the right players who address the needs of our squad.  It doesn't matter who they are, where they come from or what they cost, as long as Klopp and his staff feel that they're the right options for us then we're in an excellent position to develop and progress under this management team.

[clinical]

Can is just a runner?  That's laughable.

Our additions have been more than okay, clearly that's lost on those who pine after "marquee signings".  As for what we still need, we need to do what we've done up to now under Klopp: identify and sign the right players who address the needs of our squad.  It doesn't matter who they are, where they come from or what they cost, as long as Klopp and his staff feel that they're the right options for us then we're in an excellent position to develop and progress under this management team.

But we've already missed out on no.1 targets this year which makes it a lot more difficult. Gotze, Dembele, Dahoud (looking likely) marquee signings aren't necessarily needed and I agree the right ones are. But we're very rarely getting first choice.

If I'm looking at the team so far it's probably much better than last year at present. There's still question marks over if Coutinho will be here. But right now we are better. But Utd will be too, buying some top class players. Arsenal have Xhaka. Chelsea and city spending big as usual. I think we will be doing really well if we break into the top 5/6.

[Djimi Smicer34]

But we've already missed out on no.1 targets this year which makes it a lot more difficult. Gotze, Dembele, Dahoud (looking likely) marquee signings aren't necessarily needed and I agree the right ones are. But we're very rarely getting first choice.

If I'm looking at the team so far it's probably much better than last year at present. There's still question marks over if Coutinho will be here. But right now we are better. But Utd will be too, buying some top class players. Arsenal have Xhaka. Chelsea and city spending big as usual. I think we will be doing really well if we break into the top 5/6.

So?

We'll sign someone else, Klopp has said that he doesn't care about players who aren't interested in coming here so why should we?  Dahoud is a very good player but he's not the only one who could improve our midfield, there's absolutely no reason to believe that we won't have alternative targets to him.

It's the 5th of July, anyone worrying now needs to get some perspective. 

[Kasabian]

so who is going to be new captain, Lovren, Can or Sakho

[Bergersrightwingviews]

I know Coutinho has looked better on the left, but Mane seems to score loads when he plays there so I hope he is first pick there.

I think Coutinho may look better centrally with someone like Mane ahead of him anyway. So playing Mane as inside left could kill two birds with one stone. Not sure who goes inside right, though? Could Sturridge go there as a very, very insider right allowing Clyne all that space to run into?

Mane                  Sturridge

             Firmino (as a false nine type)
                         
             Coutinho

             Henderson     Can

LB                    Lovren Matip                   Clyne

A bit lopsided perhaps, and perhaps too narrow, but gets our best attackers on the pitch together.

[King Klopp.]

Sturridge, Firmino, Coutinho and Mane.

Some front 4 that. Always got a chance when you have goals in the team.

[Fiasco]

Sturridge, Firmino, Coutinho and Mane.

Some front 4 that. Always got a chance when you have goals in the team.

On paper it has everything except perhaps a bit of physicality. But there's guile, pace, creativity and fluidity.

[peachybum]

Sturridge, Firmino, Coutinho and Mane.

Some front 4 that. Always got a chance when you have goals in the team.

You'd worry about holding up the ball. Sturridge and Firmino especially give it away pretty cheaply. You'd imagine if we aren't the dominant side that the ball will keep coming back at us quicker than you'd like. But that's where Origi comes in and get's his minutes.

[DanA]

You'd worry about holding up the ball. Sturridge and Firmino especially give it away pretty cheaply. You'd imagine if we aren't the dominant side that the ball will keep coming back at us quicker than you'd like. But that's where Origi comes in and get's his minutes.

It's been the opposite though, we've done well against the big clubs and struggled to beat the teams that concede control. I remember people worried about Kuyt turning the ball over but he continually produced. Firmino is a bit like Kuyt, it's not always pretty but he consistently finds a way to impact games and I think when all is said and done we'll be glad we had him.

[fowlermagic]

But we've already missed out on no.1 targets this year which makes it a lot more difficult. Gotze, Dembele, Dahoud (looking likely) marquee signings aren't necessarily needed and I agree the right ones are. But we're very rarely getting first choice.

If I'm looking at the team so far it's probably much better than last year at present. There's still question marks over if Coutinho will be here. But right now we are better. But Utd will be too, buying some top class players. Arsenal have Xhaka. Chelsea and city spending big as usual. I think we will be doing really well if we break into the top 5/6.

Guess the honest view is between your own and some of the more optimistic posts here as we always tend to look at the team with red tinted glasses. There is no point dreading something that may not happen as fingers crossed we will keep our best players but its quite understandable to think the worse sometimes as the club's best players have been picked from our pockets consistently the past decade or so. Lack of trophies and CL football is not the best way to tie down players long term.

The key really is how our additions this summer glue the side together as we really do need that missing link in defence &  midfield to come in and get the best out of what we have. The makings of a very decent side is there but the key components are missing, ie a leader in goal / defence / midfield and Sturridge needs to find a fitness level that allows him to start 30 league games, end of. Personally I cant see Klopp finding all those ingredients in one window so patience and a lot of it will be required this season.

[il_principino]

We say this every year though. Its the same arguments. Coaching this that and the other. Yes a new gk probably doea improve us. Yet Karius hasn't played yet. But Klopp is a great manager no doubt. Just not sure hes a miracle worker. I mean the teams above us will improve. They are buying some good players and it's hard for us to compete

It is not about who you buy and what price. It is more about which buy suits the team better. We have had big name signings before and we have failed to address the problems in the squad, because they just didnt suit the needs of the team.

[rickardinho1]

A look at the squad from the point of view of squad quotas:

KEY
Club-trained and under 21 (unlimited)                                 
Club-trained and over 21 (4 squad places reserved)   
FA-trained (minimum 4 required)                       
Non-FA-trained players (17 allowed)                         

Goalkeeper: Karius, Mignolet                                                     |  Ward, Bogdan, Fulton
Centreback: Lovren, Sakho, Matip, Gomez                               |  Wisdom, Ilori, Jones, Williams
Rightback: Clyne, Flanagan                                                          |  Randall
Leftback: Moreno, Smith
Midfield: Milner, Henderson, Lucas, Can, Allen, Grujic             |  Brannagan, Chirivella, Stewart
Attacking midfield: Milner, Coutinho, Firmino, Mane, Lallana   | Ibe, Kent, Ojo, Markovic, Alberto
Striker: Sturridge, Origi, Benteke, Ings                                     | Balotelli

Not counting the players on the right side, the first team squad is currently made up of 25 players, 10 of which are trained by other FA-clubs (no problems there), but only 2 (Flanagan and Smith) are club-trained.

This tells me that, at the very least, two non-club-trained players need to be moved on for the squad to abide by the squad quotas. For example, Allen and Benteke leaving would mean that the squad was within the rules again. However, further trimming to the squad would have to be made in order to fit in Markovic/Luis Alberto/any new signings.

In other words, if Klopp wants to sign Dahoud and Chilwell for example, that would mean finding 2 spaces for them - over and above the 2 that Allen and Benteke are likely to vacate. The most logical fall-guys in my mind (beyond Allen and Benteke, and in no particular order) would be Lucas, Mignolet (i.e. with Ward being backup to Karius), and/or loaning Grujic out for the season (unlikely).

Needless to say too, it's tough to see Markovic, Alberto, Stewart, and/or Ilori being able to force their way into the squad, particularly as Brannagan, Ojo, Kent, Chirivella, and Williams are all club-trained and under 21 and as such capable of providing squad depth without taking up a squad place.

[Nessy76]

Have they changed the rules again?

[rickardinho1]

Have they changed the rules again?

Last I checked squads were allowed max 25 (non-academy) players, though only 21 of those could be non-club trained, and of those 21 at least 4 had to be FA-trained. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nessy76]

Last I checked squads were allowed max 25 (non-academy) players, though only 21 of those could be non-club trained, and of those 21 at least 4 had to be FA-trained. Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't know off the top of my head, but it looks like you've mixed up UEFA and Premier League rules, which are slightly different. On a practical level it means no difference between club trained and association trained players, and U21s don't need to have been in the squad two years. (Chilwell would be classed as U21 and not need to be listed for example.)

Premier League just limits to 17 non association trained players and eight association trained, with as many U21s as you like.

Origi, Gomez and Grujic are all U21s, I believe.

[Oberyn_Martell]

What sort of team would we be putting put against Arsenal?

[Ratboy3G]

What sort of team would we be putting put against Arsenal?

u16s?

[rickardinho1]

Don't know off the top of my head, but it looks like you've mixed up UEFA and Premier League rules, which are slightly different. On a practical level it means no difference between club trained and association trained players, and U21s don't need to have been in the squad two years. (Chilwell would be classed as U21 and not need to be listed for example.)

Premier League just limits to 17 non association trained players and eight association trained, with as many U21s as you like.

Origi, Gomez and Grujic are all U21s, I believe.

Yeah I think you're right. Given that we're not in Europe next season it probably gives more freedom for the squad. That said, I still think the approach being taken closely resembles what I outlined though, as quotas or no quotas the squad still has to come down to a manageable size. And that might entail selling Mignolet, Lucas, Allen, Markovic, Benteke while adding one or two key players (eg. CM and LB).

With only one game per week next season, plus cups, I'd say something like below would be a good squad size, which would mean that our list of outgoings would be quite long with only a half-dozen incomings, which in my opinion is ideal. The squad size would also mean that the best young players (eg. Gomez, Grujic, Ojo) are close enough to the first team to get game time whilst not necessarily having to be counted on regularly.

Out: Mignolet, Bogdan, Vigouroux, Wisdom, Caulker, Ilori, Toure, Skrtel, Enrique, Rossiter, Allen, Lucas, Stewart, Alberto, Teixeira, Ibe, Canos, Markovic, Sinclair, Yesil, Balotelli, Benteke.

In: Karius, Matip, LB, Grujic, CM, Mané


                            Karius
                            Ward

Clyne         Matip            Sakho    Moreno
Flanagan   Gomez         Lovren      LB
Randall      Williams                      Smith

                  CM           Can
             Henderson    Grujic
             Brannagan   Chirivella

Mane             Firmino            Coutinho
Milner            Lallana            Ojo
                                             Kent

                     Sturridge
                       Origi
                        Ings

[Nessy76]

(I don't think we want to turn this into a "who should we sell" thing, it attracts nobheadishness.)

Going by the squad list on the OS, there are currently 31 players who would need to be registered if we wanted to use them next season.

1. Karius 2. Clyne 3. Lovren 4. Milner 5. Benteke 6. Coutinho
7. Firmino 8. Henderson 9. Sturridge 10. Sakho 11. Moreno
12. Mane 13. Lallana 14. Lucas 15. Mignolet 16. Can
17. Allen 18. Ilori 19. Ings 20. Matip 21. Bogdan 22. Stewart
23. Skrtel 24. Flanagan 25. Dunn 26. Smith 27. Balotelli
28. Wisdom 29. Markovic 30. Ward 31. L. Alberto

Whichever way you slice it, we should be OK on the association trained allocation, but clearly we are not going to fit 31 names on a 25 man list.

There are several obvious names (let's not, all the same...) to leave out for various reasons, and a few sales in the pipeline that will make everything a lot simpler.

[Suareznumber7]

Out: Mignolet,



                            Karius
                            Ward

Just in terms of squad management, I don't think you'd want to leave yourself with only 2 senior goalkeepers.  I'd think that we would keep both Migs and Karius, loan out Ward with the idea of bringing him back if we have an injury crisis. 

[Fabulous_aurelio]

Tell you what..what a headace Klopp has with the attackers....Ings, Origi, Sturridge.

Ing currently playing very well, Origi taking every chance given to him pretty much and then Danny. Well...we know what he can do. Be interesting to see who leads the line on the opening day.

[DanA]

I think people are thoroughly underrating Henderson. I get that a big strength of his is his engine and that a midfield three would allow him to better utilize that but I also think he's got a brilliant range of passing and an uncanny knack for hitting first time passes that bend into a team mates path. I reckon he's going to combine really well with Mane in particular and he's good for a goal or two from range himself.

I expect to see him score 3-5 goals and setup probably twice as many which would be an exceptional return from a deep lying midfielder. I don't see him as a defensive weakness at all and while he might not be the best at turning a player and working through a press he's good enough I think that opposition pressing us won't be a problem.

[spider-neil]

I think people are thoroughly underrating Henderson.

It's hilarious. I read some comments about him that make him out to be the worst midfielder in the league.
Yes, Henderson was woeful last season but there was a clear and obvious reason for that. Let's see how he does now he is (hopefully) injury free. There a difference between form and ability.

[AusRed]

I think people are thoroughly underrating Henderson. I get that a big strength of his is his engine and that a midfield three would allow him to better utilize that but I also think he's got a brilliant range of passing and an uncanny knack for hitting first time passes that bend into a team mates path. I reckon he's going to combine really well with Mane in particular and he's good for a goal or two from range himself.

I expect to see him score 3-5 goals and setup probably twice as many which would be an exceptional return from a deep lying midfielder. I don't see him as a defensive weakness at all and while he might not be the best at turning a player and working through a press he's good enough I think that opposition pressing us won't be a problem.

Going back about 10 years we were seen as some of the most knowledgeable, respectful fans in Europe. Now, we seem to evolving(devolving) into a pack of fair-weather supporters eager to be the first to throw disrespectful comments around without actually thinking.

I totally agree with your Henderson statement. For two years he was consistently good. You don't get given the armband for being rubbish. A lot of fans need to get off FIFA and actually watch a few games. If he's totally injury free then I'm sure Klopp will slot him in somewhere.

Henderson:

14/15: 54 games | 7 goals | 15 assists
13/14: 40 games | 5 goals | 7 assists

[Redcap]

I think people are thoroughly underrating Henderson. I get that a big strength of his is his engine and that a midfield three would allow him to better utilize that but I also think he's got a brilliant range of passing and an uncanny knack for hitting first time passes that bend into a team mates path. I reckon he's going to combine really well with Mane in particular and he's good for a goal or two from range himself.

I expect to see him score 3-5 goals and setup probably twice as many which would be an exceptional return from a deep lying midfielder. I don't see him as a defensive weakness at all and while he might not be the best at turning a player and working through a press he's good enough I think that opposition pressing us won't be a problem.

I see him getting up to 15-18 goals and assists this season, if there are no lingering effects of last season's injuries.

Other than having a great engine, goal contribution is pretty much his main asset.

In 2013-14 he scored 4 and assisted 7 in the league. In 2014-15 he scored 6 and assisted 9 in the league. If I'm not mistaken, all of those 15 g+a came from open play.

Even in his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 2015/16, he scored 2 and assisted 3 in 17 games. For reference, in the same season Can got 1 goal and 0 assists in 30 games, Lucas got 1 assist in 28 games and Allen got 1 goal and 2 assists in 19 games.

Milner had a rather terrific return of 5 goals and 11 assists in 28 games, including 2 and 6 in 15 games from central midfield. But Milner was our primary set piece taker last season, and a good few of his assists and I think at least half the goals came from dead ball situations.

So I think it goes without saying that we missed Henderson's goal contribution last season. We haven't signed anyone who comparably threatening in the final third, and as long as we haven't I expect Henderson will slot in as first choice CM alongside Can and do a good job.

Hamez Thrillner

If we take the assumption that Henderson would start ahead of Milner at CM, and Mané, Coutinho and Firmino would start ahead of him in the attacking midfield positions, I wonder who will be taking set pieces next season? Milner's corners were the butt of many a joke last season, but he appears to still be the best of a bad bunch. Coutinho seems to have the ability to take the occasional direct free kick (in fact, he's probably ahead of Milner in that pecking order), but I'm not sure if we have anyone else who's better than Milly at a corner or indirect free kick. Is this something Klopp would care about? Did his Dortmund team excel at attacking set pieces?

[DanA]

It's hilarious. I read some comments about him that make him out to be the worst midfielder in the league.
Yes, Henderson was woeful last season but there was a clear and obvious reason for that. Let's see how he does now he is (hopefully) injury free. There a difference between form and ability.

Henderson was out pretty much from the time Klopp arrived until Christmas and considering the nature of the injury he must have had a very low fitness base when he returned. Consider then there were still times when he was visibly limping, how hard must it have been to perform at peak levels? Klopp's system isn't exactly passive, like you say when you consider the circumstances sub par (wouldn't quite say woeful) performances are understandable.

He went from being one of our top 5 players and captain of the club to apparently unable to handle a press and incapable of doing the job in midfield. And I'm not sure if we sign a guy like Zeilinski or even Dahoud that they'd start ahead of him, he's way better than he's been given credit for. So are Lucas and Milner too in my opinion.

[DanA]

Going back about 10 years we were seen as some of the most knowledgeable, respectful fans in Europe. Now, we seem to evolving(devolving) into a pack of fair-weather supporters eager to be the first to throw disrespectful comments around without actually thinking.

I totally agree with your Henderson statement. For two years he was consistently good. You don't get given the armband for being rubbish. A lot of fans need to get off FIFA and actually watch a few games. If he's totally injury free then I'm sure Klopp will slot him in somewhere.

Henderson:

14/15: 54 games | 7 goals | 15 assists
13/14: 40 games | 5 goals | 7 assists

Maybe they need to just flip the lid on the box. He's on the freaking cover isn't he?

[AusRed]

Maybe they need to just flip the lid on the box. He's on the freaking cover isn't he?

Haha yeah.

I don't know where all this "New Captain" talk came from either. I laughed when I saw fans genuinely consider Lovren as Captain. So Hendo gets thrown to the scrapheap??

I'm the most comfortable/confident I could possibly be for the new season. Just watching Klopp work his magic gives you the feeling we're on the right track. The fans fuming over trivial things has me shaking my head. Were they here when Hodgson was Manager? Jesus that was a dire time to be a supporter...

[DanA]

I see him getting up to 15-18 goals and assists this season, if there are no lingering effects of last season's injuries.

Other than having a great engine, goal contribution is pretty much his main asset.

In 2013-14 he scored 4 and assisted 7 in the league. In 2014-15 he scored 6 and assisted 9 in the league. If I'm not mistaken, all of those 15 g+a came from open play.

Even in his Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 2015/16, he scored 2 and assisted 3 in 17 games. For reference, in the same season Can got 1 goal and 0 assists in 30 games, Lucas got 1 assist in 28 games and Allen got 1 goal and 2 assists in 19 games.

Milner had a rather terrific return of 5 goals and 11 assists in 28 games, including 2 and 6 in 15 games from central midfield. But Milner was our primary set piece taker last season, and a good few of his assists and I think at least half the goals came from dead ball situations.

So I think it goes without saying that we missed Henderson's goal contribution last season. We haven't signed anyone who comparably threatening in the final third, and as long as we haven't I expect Henderson will slot in as first choice CM alongside Can and do a good job.

Hamez Thrillner

If we take the assumption that Henderson would start ahead of Milner at CM, and Mané, Coutinho and Firmino would start ahead of him in the attacking midfield positions, I wonder who will be taking set pieces next season? Milner's corners were the butt of many a joke last season, but he appears to still be the best of a bad bunch. Coutinho seems to have the ability to take the occasional direct free kick (in fact, he's probably ahead of Milner in that pecking order), but I'm not sure if we have anyone else who's better than Milly at a corner or indirect free kick. Is this something Klopp would care about? Did his Dortmund team excel at attacking set pieces?

Henderson was taking some free kicks and corners in 2014/15. Probably not last season but I distinctly remember him scoring from a corner, a free kick and a penalty. The free kick was an indirect free kick bending in from the left, cleared heads and went past the keeper, the corner headed on I think either as an own goal but might have been credited to him and I think the penalty was against Arsenal. There was also the whole incident with Balotelli too.

I imagine it would be:
Direct Free kicks: Coutinho
Indirect Free kicks: Henderson
Corners: Coutinho/Henderson/Lallana

[PeterTheRed ...]

I think that Klopp has already signed his new starters for the new season in Karius, Matip and Mane. Judging by his statement the other day, now it is time to trim the massive squad in the coming weeks.

[DanA]

The idea that Dahoud would be pivotal this season to me is a bit of a head scratcher. He's 6 months out from being a teenage. I want him for the player he will be rather than the player he is now, in terms of on field performance I don't think what he'd gives for the immediate season is any better than Milner and certainly I don't think better than Henderson.

[Djimi Smicer34]

The idea that Dahoud would be pivotal this season to me is a bit of a head scratcher. He's 6 months out from being a teenage. I want him for the player he will be rather than the player he is now, in terms of on field performance I don't think what he'd gives for the immediate season is any better than Milner and certainly I don't think better than Henderson.

How much have seen of Dahoud?  Because the idea that he would be a very important player here now as well as in the future really isn't in any way a head scratcher, he's got the ability to do just that.  And the idea that he wouldn't be an immediate improvement on Milner at CM is so utterly ridiculous that it's laughable. 

What does it matter that he's six months out from being a teenager?  Are you suggesting that 20 is too young to be a regular for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp?

If Dahoud came here he'd cost upward of £25m; if anyone thinks that Klopp would spend that on a bit-part player then they're mad.

[SerbianScouser]

The idea that Dahoud would be pivotal this season to me is a bit of a head scratcher.

For me he would be pivotal as he`d offer something that we simply don`t have right now in our CM and for that reason would be invaluable , experienced or not. Similar to how Mane addresses the imbalance we had in our front 4 last season with all our AMs having too many samey qualities between them.

[DanA]

How much have seen of Dahoud?  Because the idea that he would be a very important player here now as well as in the future really isn't in any way a head scratcher, he's got the ability to do just that.  And the idea that he wouldn't be an immediate improvement on Milner at CM is so utterly ridiculous that it's laughable. 

What does it matter that he's six months out from being a teenager?  Are you suggesting that 20 is too young to be a regular for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp?

If Dahoud came here he'd cost upward of £25m; if anyone thinks that Klopp would spend that on a bit-part player then they're mad.

How much have you seen Dahoud? I don't shy away from the fact I've seen little.


But yeah I don't think a 20 y.o walks into the club and within a few weeks  beats out the captain and current international. Dahoud only just made your international debut.....for the u21's against Faroe Island.


I'm not saying Klopp is spending that on a bit part player either, I'm saying he'd be a bit part player in his first season. There is a difference. Inflation adjust Henderson probably cost about the same and he's not 20 anymore. He's developed now in his prime and has the advantage of knowing the league, knowing the manager and knowing the team.