Author Topic: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD  (Read 3113203 times)

Offline Solomon Grundy

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35080 on: August 6, 2022, 08:36:49 pm »
Well, there's always a chance that Barca get so desperate that they ship de Jong on a £10 million loan with option to buy near deadline day, you'll never know.

I think if we'd had any interest in De Jong, if the club had been in the slightest bit interested in him, we'd have tried to sign him by now.

Offline Solomon Grundy

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35081 on: August 6, 2022, 08:40:28 pm »

I mean even putting aside the (very valid) discussions about the injury proneness of our midfield set, half of this midfield group are the very definition of short-term options. Milner and Ox will undoubtedly leave next summer, Keita is currently on track to join them. Henderson and Thiago are over 30 and either barely fit or slowing down. The only "long-term" option we actually have nailed on in midfield is Fabinho. We all hope Jones, Elliott and Carvalho will go on to make themselves LFC stalwarts but the former hasn't quite kicked on in the past few years and it remains to be seen if the latter two can be options in midfield over the course of a full season - either way, I think the three of them are arguably competing for one spot as I'm not sure playing two of them together would work. Honestly we need to be looking for at least 2 starting quality midfielders over the next 18-24 months, maybe 3 depending on how things pan out with some of the current crop. Why not start that rebuild now? It's not like we're in rude health and overreacting to one or two minor set backs by throwing a short-term option at it - it's both an immediate and long-term concern and comfortably the weakest area of our squad.




Because as said by myself and others, perhaps the players the club have targeted for the rebuild aren't available this summer for one reason or another.

Offline Spanish Al

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35082 on: August 6, 2022, 08:55:41 pm »
I do feel like a midfielder needs to be brought in now if possible, if Thiago is out for a few months. That takes us up until the World Cup break and with the way the season is split, that is a huge loss. We have the numbers in midfield but the issue is one of our two world class midfielders is now unavailable. If you could guarantee Naby would stay fit throughout Thiagos absence then I wouldn’t feel the need was as great but even as a huge Naby fan, that would feel like a slight risk.

Maybe Jurgen has faith in Elliot and Carvalho but we’ll see. There’s also no guarantee a new player would be able to slot right in and be able to perform while they adapt. I’m sure a player of Bellingham’s quality would but that doesn’t seem a likely deal at all.
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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35083 on: August 6, 2022, 08:59:36 pm »
Any substance in Gavi wanting out if Barca sign Bernardo Silva…
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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35084 on: August 6, 2022, 09:00:19 pm »
It's interesting, a lot of the debate here seems to be perceived short versus long-termism,
I think it's less 'short-termism' vs 'long-termism' and more 'buy a suitable player-ism' vs 'buy a specific targeted individual player-ism'


Quote
Do we take the very real and very unnecessary risk of leaving ourselves short again because of the presence of a whole handful of players who probably won't be here for much longer?

The presumption (because really none of us know anything for sure) is that there's a plan in place to address this in stages. It's just that fans want the first stage now, whereas Klopp seems to want to wait to roll-out the first stage.

Quote
And to be honest, for me - leaving aside the numbers/quality debate - my concern about the midfield is that it is so, so, slow. Not a single one of the 8 players we have on the books excels in terms of pace or physicality and for what a Klopp midfield is actually required to do, that feels kind of wild to me. I mean we're a team who prides itself on high intensity, being first to second balls, high pressing and who asks a lot of the midfield in terms of covering the full backs but we line up every week with Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson - it's not a particularly mobile or youthful bunch. It's fine when we monopolise the ball but when teams are prepared to come out and contest the ball in the middle of the park it's clear that we can struggle.
I do tend to agree with a lot of that. It's why Tchou (from the little I know of him) seemed like a perfect fit. That also suggests that the club agree about the kind of players needed in this next iteration of the midfield.

Quote
It just feels like we're compromising when we really, really don't have to.
But maybe the club are choosing to for reasons that fans don't really know or consider. It's easy for us to say 'buy...'. We aren't actually at the coalface having to take every factor into account.

Who knows.
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Offline CS111

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35085 on: August 6, 2022, 09:04:37 pm »
Did I read correct that klopp said after todays game that "the midfield wasn't good and a transfer must make sense now, and in the long term"

What's our net spend this summer thus far? Not inc stadium expenditure etc etc.  players only
« Last Edit: August 6, 2022, 09:06:45 pm by CS111 »

Offline Rob Dylan

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35086 on: August 6, 2022, 09:13:23 pm »
It's interesting, a lot of the debate here seems to be perceived short versus long-termism, but is there not an argument that what we're doing (by sticking) is in itself looking a bit short-term? We're saying "oh but we've got loads of players there" which is true this season, but won't be true in a season or so's time. Do we take the very real and very unnecessary risk of leaving ourselves short again because of the presence of a whole handful of players who probably won't be here for much longer?

I mean even putting aside the (very valid) discussions about the injury proneness of our midfield set, half of this midfield group are the very definition of short-term options. Milner and Ox will undoubtedly leave next summer, Keita is currently on track to join them. Henderson and Thiago are over 30 and either barely fit or slowing down. The only "long-term" option we actually have nailed on in midfield is Fabinho. We all hope Jones, Elliott and Carvalho will go on to make themselves LFC stalwarts but the former hasn't quite kicked on in the past few years and it remains to be seen if the latter two can be options in midfield over the course of a full season - either way, I think the three of them are arguably competing for one spot as I'm not sure playing two of them together would work. Honestly we need to be looking for at least 2 starting quality midfielders over the next 18-24 months, maybe 3 depending on how things pan out with some of the current crop. Why not start that rebuild now? It's not like we're in rude health and overreacting to one or two minor set backs by throwing a short-term option at it - it's both an immediate and long-term concern and comfortably the weakest area of our squad.

And to be honest, for me - leaving aside the numbers/quality debate - my concern about the midfield is that it is so, so, slow. Not a single one of the 8 players we have on the books excels in terms of pace or physicality and for what a Klopp midfield is actually required to do, that feels kind of wild to me. I mean we're a team who prides itself on high intensity, being first to second balls, high pressing and who asks a lot of the midfield in terms of covering the full backs but we line up every week with Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson - it's not a particularly mobile or youthful bunch. It's fine when we monopolise the ball but when teams are prepared to come out and contest the ball in the middle of the park it's clear that we can struggle.

It just feels like we're compromising when we really, really don't have to.

Yep. And just 'having the numbers' isn't enough when the overall quality isn't high enough and half the options are so injury prone. We have nine midfielders but would probably be OK with seven if we had a bit more quality and they didn't get injured so often.

Offline Haggis36

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35087 on: August 6, 2022, 09:13:28 pm »
Because as said by myself and others, perhaps the players the club have targeted for the rebuild aren't available this summer for one reason or another.

How do we know they'll be available next summer? Or the summer after?

First choice targets have been unavailable to us for one reason or another in the past, but we've adapted plans to address our weaknesses. Other times we've waited, which has sometimes worked (VVD) and sometimes not (Keita). This isn't us trying to recruit a starting GK or FB where there is only one position to fill - there is arguably two spots in our starting midfield and plenty of "backup" minutes in an area we rotate plenty becoming available in the next one or two years.

I get what you're saying, and if we were just needing one perfect midfielder to complete an otherwise excellent group I'd understand the idea of waiting for that unicorn, but the entire midfield has questionmarks over it, due to age, contract status, robustness or general fit for the way we play. As it is, we need to be looking to rebuild a chunk of the group and I have a hard time believing NONE of the players we've identified for that are available - it feels more like we've made an executive decision we don't need to bring anyone in, not that we can't.

I get waiting for Bellingham (not without risk, I actually don't think he ends up here) but we need quite a bit more than Bellingham if we're being brutally honest.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35088 on: August 6, 2022, 09:24:00 pm »
I think we will sign someone and it'll be one of those transfers that's done and dusted in a couple of days.

Offline Solomon Grundy

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35089 on: August 6, 2022, 09:24:17 pm »
How do we know they'll be available next summer? Or the summer after?

Because I believe the club will have made enquires about certain players. Bellingham is the highest profile one. It's common knowledge Dortmund won't be letting him go this season after selling Haaland though. But there may be others too. And I'll leave it there.

By the way, I believe we need more than one top-class midfielder myself.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35090 on: August 6, 2022, 09:30:47 pm »
Against City the midfield of Jones, Fabinho and Henderson kind of had their arses handed to them. We lacked a lot without Thiago. We had enough numbers but now we really are stretched and looking laboured. We need to sign a midfielder now, we can rely on Keita.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35091 on: August 6, 2022, 09:32:09 pm »
I think we will sign someone and it'll be one of those transfers that's done and dusted in a couple of days.

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Offline Chris~

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35092 on: August 6, 2022, 09:32:45 pm »




Again it depends what we want to accomplish… and now it depends on Thiagos diagnosis. There really aren’t too many counter arguments to buying a midfielder if our best midfielder is out for the first 3 months (for example), and the goal is to win the league this season.
I don't think we went in to this season thinking we need Thiago fit for a lot of the season to win the league. He's not shown here, or really at Bayern, that he can play enough minutes to make a significant difference over a season. Same with Keita and Ox..

Even if he misses every league game between now and the World Cup he'd still have a chance of matching his total league starts for the last 3 seasons

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35093 on: August 6, 2022, 09:37:05 pm »
Thiago, Jones, Ox, and Keita are already injured. Keita might be back soon, but his injury history speaks for itself. We need an 8, unless we’re relying on Elliot to play significant minutes.
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Offline Knight

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35094 on: August 6, 2022, 09:37:28 pm »
I don't think we went in to this season thinking we need Thiago fit for a lot of the season to win the league. He's not shown here, or really at Bayern, that he can play enough minutes to make a significant difference over a season. Same with Keita and Ox..

Even if he misses every league game between now and the World Cup he'd still have a chance of matching his total league starts for the last 3 seasons

We need him for for at least what he’s managed the last 3 seasons. And we probably need him fit for a bit more than that given the difference last season between our performances with him and without him.

The issue with our midfield at the moment is it’s not very hard to improve them. I get the ‘only this player will do argument’ but nearly all of our current options have got either question marks or ticking clocks over them. If our midfield was in a ‘only this player can improve us’ place then holding out for a key individual would make sense. But our midfield simply isn’t there.
« Last Edit: August 6, 2022, 09:40:35 pm by Knight »

Offline Solomon Grundy

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35095 on: August 6, 2022, 09:40:56 pm »
Thiago, Jones, Ox, and Keita are already injured. Keita might be back soon, but his injury history speaks for itself. We need an 8, unless we’re relying on Elliot to play significant minutes.

Keita was sick.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35096 on: August 6, 2022, 09:41:08 pm »


Did it? That season we went from front runners for the title to needing an Alisson miracle to scrape getting champions league.
Buying Konate was a great decision but going into that season light and then not reacting properly in January were mistakes
The management and recruitment department are great at identifying talent but they’re not infallible

Again it depends what we want to accomplish… and now it depends on Thiagos diagnosis. There really aren’t too many counter arguments to buying a midfielder if our best midfielder is out for the first 3 months (for example), and the goal is to win the league this season.
Not necessarily directed at you, but if our aim isn’t to win the league, then what are we doing? We recently gave new contracts to Salah, Van Dijk, and Fabinho on top wages amongst others as they enter / are already in their 30s. We have four years left of Klopp, we have to make the most of it.
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Offline Lynndenberries

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35097 on: August 6, 2022, 09:42:32 pm »
Keita was sick.
The point still stands. We’re relying on three young, unproven players along with several injury prone players to play high intensity minutes at the 8.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been saying this all summer. Unfortunately, our first match of the new season just highlighted the issue.
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Offline Knight

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35098 on: August 6, 2022, 09:47:06 pm »
The point still stands. We’re relying on three young, unproven players along with several injury prone players to play high intensity minutes at the 8.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been saying this all summer. Unfortunately, our first match of the new season just highlighted the issue.

Yeah plenty of folk have been pointing out the real issues with our midfields robustness for a while. The current situation is probably not as bad as it appears but it highlights a genuine issue with our midfield that it doesn’t take a genius to see. The flip side is the vast majority of the time it won’t matter, if we’d played well today instead of terribly we wouldn’t be talking about it much.

Offline rafathegaffa83

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35099 on: August 6, 2022, 09:47:33 pm »
I think we will sign someone and it'll be one of those transfers that's done and dusted in a couple of days.

Yeah I think if we sign someone it won't be dragged out until the last day, it'll be sorted in a couple of days.

Offline DelTrotter

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35100 on: August 6, 2022, 09:48:24 pm »
Shame Newcastle aren't bothered about money as Guimaraes would be ideal.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35101 on: August 6, 2022, 10:02:57 pm »
Because I believe the club will have made enquires about certain players. Bellingham is the highest profile one. It's common knowledge Dortmund won't be letting him go this season after selling Haaland though. But there may be others too. And I'll leave it there.

By the way, I believe we need more than one top-class midfielder myself.

Don't disagree, but it's a risk no? I mean it's obvious everyone thinks we're waiting for Bellingham, and he might have batted his eyelashes at us privately and publicly but the reality is he'll probably be the single most in-demand player in the world next summer, at a cost of something like £100m, with at least 3-4 clubs prepared to completely blow us out the water on wages. We've seen plenty of times this summer alone how "nailed on" transfers can be derailed very quickly. Anything could happen between now and next summer, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility a 19 year-old lad could change his mind.

But whilst I do get the Bellingham one to an extent, I guess it's the other 1-2 players we need I struggle with - I just don't believe we're as rigid to say there are only 2-3 players in the world we'll consider, or that there isn't a player on our shortlist out there that would improve us a fair bit in midfield, who would be a good fit, and that is available should we push hard enough. Even if that player doesn't go on to become the best midfielder in the team, they'd still (at least) be excellent depth in 2-3 years time, which we'll need anyway. We pretty much always have a list of alternatives, who haven't turned out too badly for us in the past... It'd be different if we were talking about adding a single cherry atop a flawless cake - we're not.

Just feels like we're leaving ourselves a great deal to do next summer, and it feels like we say that every year. Two top class midfielders and probably a Firmino replacement, what's the damage there, the best part of £175-200m if it includes Bellingham? Is that realistic? We'll be having this exact same debate next year, just like we were last summer. We do have a tendency to kick the can down the road.

Offline Rob Dylan

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35102 on: August 6, 2022, 10:33:02 pm »
Don't disagree, but it's a risk no? I mean it's obvious everyone thinks we're waiting for Bellingham, and he might have batted his eyelashes at us privately and publicly but the reality is he'll probably be the single most in-demand player in the world next summer, at a cost of something like £100m, with at least 3-4 clubs prepared to completely blow us out the water on wages. We've seen plenty of times this summer alone how "nailed on" transfers can be derailed very quickly. Anything could happen between now and next summer, and it's not beyond the realms of possibility a 19 year-old lad could change his mind.

But whilst I do get the Bellingham one to an extent, I guess it's the other 1-2 players we need I struggle with - I just don't believe we're as rigid to say there are only 2-3 players in the world we'll consider, or that there isn't a player on our shortlist out there that would improve us a fair bit in midfield, who would be a good fit, and that is available should we push hard enough. Even if that player doesn't go on to become the best midfielder in the team, they'd still (at least) be excellent depth in 2-3 years time, which we'll need anyway. We pretty much always have a list of alternatives, who haven't turned out too badly for us in the past... It'd be different if we were talking about adding a single cherry atop a flawless cake - we're not.

Just feels like we're leaving ourselves a great deal to do next summer, and it feels like we say that every year. Two top class midfielders and probably a Firmino replacement, what's the damage there, the best part of £175-200m if it includes Bellingham? Is that realistic? We'll be having this exact same debate next year, just like we were last summer. We do have a tendency to kick the can down the road.

Pretty sure we were told previously that this summer we would be spending big. The problem is, even if we manage to get Bellingham next year, then as you say by then we'll need to replace several more players and understandably we might struggle to afford that.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35103 on: August 6, 2022, 10:36:32 pm »
Not necessarily directed at you, but if our aim isn’t to win the league, then what are we doing? We recently gave new contracts to Salah, Van Dijk, and Fabinho on top wages amongst others as they enter / are already in their 30s. We have four years left of Klopp, we have to make the most of it.

So why do you think he’s making the decision (or being involved in making the decision) not to sign a midfielder? It’d genuinely be fascinating to hear because the consensus seems to the usual ‘low net spend, taking risks, skinflint owners’ stuff, when quite clearly the money is there for a midfielder and we’re choosing not to sign one.
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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35104 on: August 6, 2022, 10:50:33 pm »
We really do need at least one midfielder this summer given that most of the current crop are seemingly made of balsa wood and snap at the first sign of a wind direction change.

A robust 23-26 year old midfielder who could come in and hit the ground running would be perfect for us now. We are going to be hitting 2 games a week soon with no option but to flog Fabinho, Henderson, Milner and Elliott because the others can’t stay fit. We really need experienced help in there right now.

Offline Rob Dylan

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35105 on: August 6, 2022, 10:51:30 pm »
So why do you think he’s making the decision (or being involved in making the decision) not to sign a midfielder? It’d genuinely be fascinating to hear because the consensus seems to the usual ‘low net spend, taking risks, skinflint owners’ stuff, when quite clearly the money is there for a midfielder and we’re choosing not to sign one.

Personally I think it's a couple of things. I think Klopp values the idea of 'making do' and battling through difficult periods with what you already have, and the togetherness involved in that. However that can be a problem where the standards you have to hit are ridiculously high and there's virtually no margin for error, because even if you 'survive' such a period, you're unlikely to come away with as many points as you would have with a stronger squad, and even a few points dropped can be costly.

Secondly he likes to wait for the 'right' player, which makes sense in theory but when you have multiple issues in one area of the pitch, and those issues should've been dealt with earlier, you sometimes have to be flexible and change your plans. Especially when just waiting for that player won't solve your problems because you still have other issues to address.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35106 on: August 6, 2022, 10:53:04 pm »
Pretty sure we were told previously that this summer we would be spending big. The problem is, even if we manage to get Bellingham next year, then as you say by then we'll need to replace several more players and understandably we might struggle to afford that.

The soultion to that is buy two CMs for £80-100m.

Its quite clear we have the numbers in CM but 3-4 are never fit the quality/depth isnt the issue the availibility is.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35107 on: August 6, 2022, 11:02:49 pm »
Personally I think it's a couple of things. I think Klopp values the idea of 'making do' and battling through difficult periods with what you already have, and the togetherness involved in that. However that can be a problem where the standards you have to hit are ridiculously high and there's virtually no margin for error, because even if you 'survive' such a period, you're unlikely to come away with as many points as you would have with a stronger squad, and even a few points dropped can be costly.

Secondly he likes to wait for the 'right' player, which makes sense in theory but when you have multiple issues in one area of the pitch, and those issues should've been dealt with earlier, you sometimes have to be flexible and change your plans. Especially when just waiting for that player won't solve your problems because you still have other issues to address.

Thing is, our fit midfielders right now are Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Elliott and Milner. All of them bar Elliott are good for an injury here and there.

To me there is a real risk now that we end up with a situation maybe not as extreme but not miles away from the season where we lost our centrebacks. The run up to the world cup is highly intense.

Offline Legs

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35108 on: August 6, 2022, 11:23:08 pm »
Thing is, our fit midfielders right now are Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Elliott and Milner. All of them bar Elliott are good for an injury here and there.

To me there is a real risk now that we end up with a situation maybe not as extreme but not miles away from the season where we lost our centrebacks. The run up to the world cup is highly intense.
[/quote

That is my worry now the season is really tight.

The flip side is could be lots of injuries to other clubs players too the way games are shoe horned in.

Klopp has said this several times but gets called a moaner but he is right players at big clubs are getting burnt out.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35109 on: August 6, 2022, 11:43:32 pm »
The soultion to that is buy two CMs for £80-100m.

Its quite clear we have the numbers in CM but 3-4 are never fit the quality/depth isnt the issue the availibility is.
Thank god no one is over reacting to this!
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Offline RedG13

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35110 on: August 7, 2022, 04:15:40 am »
We really do need at least one midfielder this summer given that most of the current crop are seemingly made of balsa wood and snap at the first sign of a wind direction change.

A robust 23-26 year old midfielder who could come in and hit the ground running would be perfect for us now. We are going to be hitting 2 games a week soon with no option but to flog Fabinho, Henderson, Milner and Elliott because the others can’t stay fit. We really need experienced help in there right now.
Nobody going to come and hit the ground running. Only players that I think can have done under Klopp are Virgil and Alisson.

Offline Lynndenberries

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35111 on: August 7, 2022, 04:43:35 am »
So why do you think he’s making the decision (or being involved in making the decision) not to sign a midfielder? It’d genuinely be fascinating to hear because the consensus seems to the usual ‘low net spend, taking risks, skinflint owners’ stuff, when quite clearly the money is there for a midfielder and we’re choosing not to sign one.
I don’t think it’s the owners at all. It seems we have all our eggs in the Bellingham basket, similar to how we probably had Konate targeted already, but Leipzig either weren’t willing to sell and/or we were willing to take the risk with the options we had in the 20/21 season. The problem is our best fit for the 8 role are  injury prone, not as effective in that position anymore, or too young.

I would prefer we went for a somewhat stop gap signing, although I don’t know who that would be.
« Last Edit: August 7, 2022, 04:46:16 am by Lynndenberries »
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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35112 on: August 7, 2022, 07:59:54 am »
good question from Lobo. Here’s a guess at part of the reason. Because of the financial disparity (that is, their cheating) between us and City we basically have to be perfect in the transfer market. And we basically have been for ages. We won’t keep competing with City if our success rate with transfers significantly drops. When Klopp first arrived what it meant to be a successful transfer was a significantly lower bar than now, because initially we just wanted players good enough to get top 4. Now we want players able to take us to 90+ points and win the CL. Given the flaws with our current squad we could upgrade the current midfield without getting ‘the one’. But every signing carries, at least potentially, significant opportunity cost along with it. We might bring in a player who upgrades our 4/6th best CM option but isn’t actually quite good enough to be a 90+ point, CL winner. But we’ve spent the money and we’ve invested in a contract and that money and squad place is gone. Plus, once they’re here Klopp is fiercely loyal to his players and is very reluctant to show them the door unless they massively overstep the mark (Sakho) or they’re up for leaving. This means you need to be VERY careful who comes in the door in the first place! Given the risks; the potential opportunity cost, the tiny margin for error and Klopp’s people management, it’s arguably better to do nothing when there is an obvious hole than fill it sub optimally.

« Last Edit: August 7, 2022, 08:02:35 am by Knight »

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35113 on: August 7, 2022, 08:13:36 am »
Nobody going to come and hit the ground running. Only players that I think can have done under Klopp are Virgil and Alisson.

Gotta be more than that, off the tip of my head I can add Salah, Mane, Jota, Diaz, you can maybe add Nunez by the looks of it too.
« Last Edit: August 7, 2022, 09:21:25 am by Redman78 »

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35114 on: August 7, 2022, 08:16:46 am »
Klopp's thinking, we have a lot of injuries, but when they all return he's actually got 8 midfielders and adding another to that will just cause him a headache. Now if there were clubs actually showing a real interest in signing some of these midfielders things might be different, but they aren't. It's just a shame the Ox got injured because I think someone may have come in for him, and we may have brought someone else in to replace him.
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Offline Chris~

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35115 on: August 7, 2022, 08:24:51 am »
I don't think that matters too much. He was happy to add Diaz when we had Jota, Firmino, Salah, Mane, Minamino, Ox and Origi playing minutes as forwards.  After Diaz came in some of them just barley played. Also don't think Ox is integral enough that if he goes you replace him. We wanted a midfielder of a certain level whether he was here or not.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35116 on: August 7, 2022, 08:37:55 am »
I don't think that matters too much. He was happy to add Diaz when we had Jota, Firmino, Salah, Mane, Minamino, Ox and Origi playing minutes as forwards.  After Diaz came in some of them just barley played. Also don't think Ox is integral enough that if he goes you replace him. We wanted a midfielder of a certain level whether he was here or not.

Luis Diaz was a long term plan that we had to bring forward as a deal was agreed with Spurs, if nobody was sniffing around him we would have waited until this window.  If, for example, another club bid for Bellingham and Dortmund were open to it, you'd see us make a move.  With Klopp and the transfer gurus it's about the right player not 'A' player.

That said, injuries can change things and as good as they are, counting on Thiago and Keita to be consistently available is a huge risk with the amount of games we'll likely have to play.  Elliott looks like he's going to make the step up but Henderson and Milner aren't getting any younger.  I'm not one to clamour for signings, but the midfield situation has me a bit antsy.

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35117 on: August 7, 2022, 08:46:37 am »
It never made sense not to target a midfielder this summer. We did though, we wanted Tchouameni but rather than work through a list of players, it was all or nothing with him and then wanting Bellingham next year. Every other big club will too though as we found with him.

Make do and mend is always a big risk, we saw it with the centre backs in 20/21 when Lovren was let go without a replacement and Matip injured going into the season.

Injury prone players being injured can't be a surprise to anyone. The midfield is so slow and one paced as well which is an issue when playing a high line means we need them to cover a lot of ground.

As I often say, we can't afford weaknesses in this league, not if we want to win it. We can't afford a bad month, or even a bad week, because we've got a bunch injuries which anyone could have predicted happening. It's not good planning.
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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35118 on: August 7, 2022, 09:22:59 am »
I think this is a Diaz moment for the midfield (in that we'll pull the trigger on one of our targets) and that we'll get a midfielder in before the window closes. After the centreback crisis, Klopp acknowledged and concluded that he and the coaching staff should have trusted Nat and Rhy to play in their natural roles earlier instead of shoehorning midfielders which eventually left the team imbalanced.

The key word is balance. While one-paced, the Henderson-Thiago-Fabinho trio still works on its day because of the brilliance of Thiago and how each three know their roles and cover each other well enough. Elliot in place of Thiago changes that dynamic. Elliot can bring the creativity and playmaking, in his own way, but, as of now, Elliot needs more protection behind him, more so than what eve Henderson and Fabinho playing alongside him can provide, especially in tougher games.

Klopp and the coaching staff will rightly look at what we already have in the squad for a solution, but we don't have Nat and Rhy level options, with the closest being Bajcetic, who's only 17.

« Last Edit: August 7, 2022, 09:29:08 am by Magix »

Offline Clint Eastwood

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Re: LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD
« Reply #35119 on: August 7, 2022, 09:41:06 am »
We are very light in midfield now, and an addition would make sense. I don’t think our current situation is a surprise though. We already knew Thiago, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain are extremely injury prone and we can’t really count on any of them.

I think work could have been done to identify a midfielder, but I can appreciate that the market doesn’t seem great for midfielders this summer.