Topic: Liverpool Forward Line for 23/24 - Which 3 Start?

[Chris~]

There is no evidence Nunez was a Salah replacement

Nunez can't be trusted to press through the middle no matter who is on the right of our attack at the moment. Salah signed a new deal like 2/3 weeks after we signed Nunez. I get every conversation you want is to turn it in to an FSG discussion but some of your claims to get it to that are so odd

[bird_lfc]

Jota Gakpo Salah

This for me.

I we all want Nunez to succeed but he’s right down the pecking order currently for me

[Barrow Shaun]

Off-topic, sorry, but who starts in defence and midfield is the question I've been mostly dwelling on.

[jillcwhomever]

Few shouts of Diaz/Nunez/Salah and my question for those posters would be how do we square the circle that those specific three together constitute our worst trio in terms of pressing performance? Would pressing not be a consideration at all?

I just don't see how the manager, who has mentioned our lack of pressing and said how its the main way into this side, ever consistently picks a side where his best two performers in this area are not on the field from the start.

It just confirms that Jota is the most underrated player at Liverpool for me, amazing how some are even mentioning him. I don't see how we could possibly leave him out at the moment, as he was one of the big positives of the pre-season.

[Eeyore]

There is no evidence Nunez was a Salah replacement

Nunez can't be trusted to press through the middle no matter who is on the right of our attack at the moment. Salah signed a new deal like 2/3 weeks after we signed Nunez. I get every conversation you want is to turn it in to an FSG discussion but some of your claims to get it to that are so odd

Can Haaland be trusted to press through the middle for City?

It is perfectly acceptable for one of your forwards not to be great from a defensive perspective. What happens is the players around them compensate.

Giving Mo less defensive responsibility worked because other players compensated. We played a lopsided formation with Mane and Firmino given more defensive responsibility and our entire midfield pushed further over to the right so Henderson could compensate for Mo cheating defensively.

Going back to City they have accommodated Haaland by losing wingers who are likely to lose the ball and playing wide players who are excellent at retaining possession and who track back.

For me Nunez was brought in as a replacement for Mo's goals and electric pace. Quite simply there is no way you can play them two in the same side especially with Trent playing inside.

Mo staying and then us bringing in Gakpo speaks volumes for me.

[Eeyore]

It just confirms that Jota is the most underrated player at Liverpool for me, amazing how some are even mentioning him. I don't see how we could possibly leave him out at the moment, as he was one of the big positives of the pre-season.

He is a top player but doesn't fit within the parameters of any role within a Klopp side. He isn't quick enough to play either of the wide attacking roles and isn't strong enough to play through the middle.

[tubby]

There is no evidence Nunez was a Salah replacement

Nunez can't be trusted to press through the middle no matter who is on the right of our attack at the moment. Salah signed a new deal like 2/3 weeks after we signed Nunez. I get every conversation you want is to turn it in to an FSG discussion but some of your claims to get it to that are so odd

This.  If I didn't have a job/life I would love go to back through Al's posting history and point out the countless times he contradicted himself to twist things into being FSG's fault.

[Draex]

This.  If I didn't have a job/life I would love go to back through Al's posting history and point out the countless times he contradicted himself to twist things into being FSG's fault.

Indeed, imagine the new conspiracy of no planning is about us having actual depth in our forward line.

[Chris~]

Can Haaland be trusted to press through the middle for City?

It is perfectly acceptable for one of your forwards not to be great from a defensive perspective. What happens is the players around them compensate.

Giving Mo less defensive responsibility worked because other players compensated. We played a lopsided formation with Mane and Firmino given more defensive responsibility and our entire midfield pushed further over to the right so Henderson could compensate for Mo cheating defensively.

Going back to City they have accommodated Haaland by losing wingers who are likely to lose the ball and playing wide players who are excellent at retaining possession and who track back.

For me Nunez was brought in as a replacement for Mo's goals and electric pace. Quite simply there is no way you can play them two in the same side especially with Trent playing inside.

Mo staying and then us bringing in Gakpo speaks volumes for me.

Yes. City trust him to do it well enough and score enough that they don't usually need to take as many risks with their press, plus they are just are different to us. They are way less.direvt and aren't as focused on using a press to.create chances. They were also a really good pressing side when they needed to last season  like in the games Vs Bayern and Real.

None of the parts about Nunez/Salah are evidence he was a replacement for Salah. Sometimes you just get your recruitment wrong.

[jillcwhomever]

This.  If I didn't have a job/life I would love go to back through Al's posting history and point out the countless times he contradicted himself to twist things into being FSG's fault.

Only Al can bring FSG into a thread about the forward line. 

[jillcwhomever]

He is a top player but doesn't fit within the parameters of any role within a Klopp side. He isn't quick enough to play either of the wide attacking roles and isn't strong enough to play through the middle.

Then you are not watching him, he got a shed load of goals for us the season before, last season injuries ruined the run he got. He has already beginning to get an understanding with Gakpo as we saw in the pre-season friendlies. He is very much part of the Klopp set up.

[Chris~]

Only Al can bring FSG into a thread about the forward line. 

To be fair that was more me pre-empting where it was going. I'll just leave it now though so it doesn't dominate here as well

[Eeyore]

Yes. City trust him to do it well enough and score enough that they don't usually need to take as many risks with their press, plus they are just are different to us. They are way less.direvt and aren't as focused on using a press to.create chances. They were also a really good pressing side when they needed to last season  like in the games Vs Bayern and Real.

None of the parts about Nunez/Salah are evidence he was a replacement for Salah. Sometimes you just get your recruitment wrong.

Do you think they can play in the same side on a long term basis with Mo being given little defensive responsibility?

[Red-Dread]

Jota - Gakpo - Salah

It's definitely tricky given the quality and posible permutations we have up front but, given present conditions, these 3 would be my top picks right now and start for me against Chelsea at least

Diaz has a massive shout too, and both he and Nunez could easily end up being starters. Great 'problem' to have

[JRed]

Diaz, Nunez , Salah.

[jillcwhomever]

To be fair that was more me pre-empting where it was going. I'll just leave it now though so it doesn't dominate here as well

Fair enough. 

[Eeyore]

Then you are not watching him, he got a shed load of goals for us the season before, last season injuries ruined the run he got. He has already beginning to get an understanding with Gakpo as we saw in the pre-season friendlies. He is very much part of the Klopp set up.

That isn't the point though.

For me Diaz and Salah are better suited to the wide attacking roles and Gakpo and Nunez are better suited to the 9, False 9 role.

As I said jota is an excellent player but we have to change the way we play to accommodate him. To get the best out of him you need to give him the freedom to drift inside and find pockets of space. He doesn't give us width on the left or a focal point if he plays centrally.

[jepovic]

To complicate things, I could see Gakpo moving to midfield sometimes. Maybe move MacAll to holding mid.

Something like:

Trent Mac

Gakpo Szobo

Salah  Nunez Jota

Should get a lot of goals

[Barrow Shaun]

To complicate things, I could see Gakpo moving to midfield sometimes. Maybe move MacAll to holding mid.

Something like:

Trent Mac

Gakpo Szobo

Salah  Nunez Jota

Should get a lot of goals

Not a bad shout that - Mac switching with Szobo from time to time, Diaz switching with Gakpo or any of the forward lads....

[Oskar]

Diaz-Gakpo-Salah.

We've done brilliantly to overhaul and rebuild our attack over the past couple of years, I think Gakpo is going to be hugely important for us going forward.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Jota - Gakpo - Salah lacks a 1 v 1 threat. At our best we had peak Salah and Mane, who both provided it. (Well Mane did more of that in his first couple of seasons.)
Need to see a sharp Diaz in there at least.

[Lynndenberries]

Love Jota to bits. I thought he was unlucky in 21/22. He started off quite well, then got dropped to accommodate Mane and Diaz. If he can stay fully fit, I expect a big season from him. If he had more pace, I think our starting front three would undoubtedly be Jota, Gakpo, and Salah.

[RedG13]

There is no evidence Nunez was a Salah replacement

Nunez can't be trusted to press through the middle no matter who is on the right of our attack at the moment. Salah signed a new deal like 2/3 weeks after we signed Nunez. I get every conversation you want is to turn it in to an FSG discussion but some of your claims to get it to that are so odd

Position wise ur right. Role wise he is though
Role wise Salah been the main shot getter for Liverpool and guy focal point. He basically playing #9 from wide right.
The point of Nunez is so he can be the striker and main goal scorer. Asking Salah to keep doing that into his 30 would be a huge risk.
The thing outside goal scoring offensively Salah is also elite at Creating so moving him to a role where he more of the secondary goal scorer and an elite playmaker is much better way to use a player into his 30.
It the reason Messi been so good into his 30s too. His goal scoring still really good though. Im not saying Salah as good as Messi but he can still very productive player even with less goal scoring because he so creative.

[Knight]

FWIW there are still genuine questions over the balance of our forward line and, whilst AL spins it all out into his predictable narrative, there are some legitimate grounds to be concerned. The one we should all see, because few of us would put Nunez in our first 11, is why our most expensive player ever is 4th/5th choice.

[RedG13]

FWIW there are still genuine questions over the balance of our forward line and, whilst AL spins it all out into his predictable narrative, there are some legitimate grounds to be concerned. The one we should all see, because few of us would put Nunez in our first 11, is why our most expensive player ever is 4th/5th choice.

It just feels like 2 Players who really good in wide area and 1v1 with Diaz and Salah. Doak can do it also(but I don't think he currently a Bench option in the league)
and 3 players who better centrally with Nunez  the biggest threat behind the defense. Jota great at finding space and creating a little too. Gakpo best in the half spaces with link up play.
Pairing wise has mostly been Gakpo/Jota with Gakpo in Midfield and Jota at 9 and Gakpo at 9 and Jota wider. I liked the first one more.
Also Daiz wider with Nunez as striker.

Gakpo at 9 I just thought he dropping too much etc. Would make sense if Dom or Elliott on the right more to be able for him to do that with Salah stretching the defense more
I think Klopp looking at the options. I wont take it as the 2nd to last game of the preseason is the lineup to see opening game.
Also having this depth a good problem imo.

[StL-Dono]

Why limit it to 3?  Let's go with 4 and try to bludgeon teams.

Diaz-Nunez-Mo with Gakpo floating between the lines.  Diogo fills in in any spot. 

[Egyptian36]

Salah obviously.

Gakpo it would be criminal not to continue using him as a false 9 , you simply can't after how he played at this role last season.

For the third position it's more complicated. Nunez can score more than Jota and Diaz. Jota help us defend better. Diaz give us unpredictability and width. Personally I would start Nunez on the left and adapt the midfield because Salah won't stay for ever and Nunez is the best replacement for him goals wise then when Salah leaves we can bring a winger and rotate him with Doak because we already have a wide forward who can score goals in Nunez.