08 Jan 2018 17:41:22
So part one of my theory has been confirmed, Phil has left. Have to say, this one hurt me the most of my time of being an LFC fan in terms of sadness that a player has left. Saying that though I am not angry he left or think less of him as a person or player. Phil gave everything he had at all times (bar the fake back injury) and was a great LFC player. For 5 years I got to watch a young Brazilian with raw talent and a fro, turn into one of the most complete and best players in the world. I also understand why he left, although I may not agree with it, his dream was to be dinho, and Barcelona gives him that dream.

On to my 2nd part of my prediction that Klopp has been preparing for this. Again I do not see us buying a replacement for Phil this window and that mane will take the lw position and either ox or Adam will fill the creative mid role. Some people are begging for a direct and fast replacement for Phil but I think that would be an unwise move. 1) January is an awful time to buy, best players are cup tied, and their clubs don't want to sell so prices are higher. 2) do we need a direct attacking replacement? We have mo, Salah, mane, Dom, ben, and even Bobby who can play the lw position. In all honesty I hope we wait till the summer we're we can take our time and get players who are not tasked with replacing Phil but tasked with making us better as a whole. No one can replace Phil straight out. But we can use that money to make our overall team better than it is now.

YNWA.

1.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:02:40
Completely agree dude. No time for panic. So much to play for this season. And with VVD at the back and hooefully an extended run for Karius there is no reason this season can't be a success.

2.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:05:00
Great post dude, I agree that we don't need to replace Pipco immediately. I am also gutted that he has left, particularly in mid season! Your post got me thinking about other players that have left us in the past and how gutted I was. So let's play a game people, what player made you feel the most gutted when they left?
For me it has to be Torres; leaving and in the manner he did and to our biggest rivals at the time. i even banned the Mrs from mentioning his name in the house!

3.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:11:38
If we don’t replace him now then we had better hope Lallana gets up to speed pretty quickly.

4.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:14:40
I understand what you're implying, but define success. We need to do more than finish in the top 4. If our only goal is a Champions League spot we've now become Arsenal. I hope we have more ambition than that. I wouldn't mind eve winning the League Cup, or FA cup on top of a top 4 finish. We can even make the Round of 8 or semifinals of the Champions League. We are never going to attract players just making the top 4. Hopefully we overachieve this year so recruitment goes easier in the summer. I don't want players who just are looking for a payout, I want players who want the challenge and would take pride in putting us back on top.

5.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:08:06
We need a passer of the ball in midfield. Maybe lallana can do that but it is a unknown really after his injury. He currently looks very rusty judging by last few games.

The ox has been decent last month or so but again I feel we are asking a lot of him to be that creative player in a midfield three when he’s played so many different positions over the last few years.

We have some great players upfront in Mane, firmino and salah but all there movement will be wasted if we stick with our midfield which will look to pass sideways 99% of the time.

I’m not wanting us to necessarily go out and spend on Lemar although I’d think that be a good move. But as a minimum looking at a player such as Meyer should be looked at very seriously imo. He wouldn’t cost the world like some of the others we are linked with due to his Mmm being in his last 6months.

6.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:19:35
I must say it hit me today wat we have lost but can't keep a player who telling other players in squad how much he wants too leave complete bad example for the rest, as soon as all this started in the summer transfer window I have never looked at him the same his head was completely on Barcelona as soon as there was a sniff, as good as he has played an goals he scored in my eyes he weren't our player jus biding his time for his move, I jus hope we try an bring some qaulity in.

7.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 18:51:42
OP, I agree with your post however, I think Mane has always played the left wing whenever the Fab 4 played with Cou in the no. 10 BUT I digress. Getting someone with quality will NOT happen in Jan, IMO as no team will sell you their best player (which is what would be needed to replace Cou to some extent) as we are now seeing with Lemar do that may not happen. We will have to trust Klopp on this one and even if we bring no one in, we will have to trust him and support the team.

I also disagree that we need to do more than just get top 4. By more, what does that mean? If by more, we mean that we should try for a trophy along with top 4 then I'm all for it. However to me, top 4 is the priority here and we need that more than any trophy IMO cos Arsenal did win a trophy last season BUT finished 5th behind us and we are seeing the meltdown going on right now. The outlay for VVD and Keita and whoever will come in, should be matched by CL footie and not EL footie and a trophy as Arsenal arein meltdown mode right now.

8.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 19:12:47
Personally I think if we buy now we will seriously be extorted into overspending. We have Keita coming in. We have lost 2 games drawn 8 which would probably be less draws with decent defending. We now have a class defender. I think we can score plenty with salah mane and form into. It's not like when Suarez left so I'm not nearly has miffed.

{Ed002's Note - Why? Liverpool have already paid or agreed to pay well over the odds for two players.}

9.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 19:35:41
To me success this season is top 4, hopefully last 8 of champions, and fighting for the FA cup. And I see no reason why all of that cannot happen with the current squad. This season may not be the one we wanted, but as a Liverpool fan we need to start thinking realistically about where we are. If we qualify for champs again this year that would be the first time in a long time we have done so in back to back years. If we get to the last 8 of the champions league that will be the first time and a long time. If we win the FA cup that will be our first piece of silverware since 2012. I am not saying we need to start thinking like a mid league team, but the goal has to be that we are constantly improving each season so that in the near future we are set up to fight for everything that we as a club should be (the title, and being a consistent threat to win the chammpions) . If we continue to try and just buy a quick fix or path to success like we have tried in the recent past we will never get back to the standard we need to be. Patience and trust in what Klopp is doing is what we fans need to support.

10.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 19:41:55
Exactly as Ed002 said. We have over paid twice but hopefully they are players Klopp wanted that will turn out to do us well.

I don’t get why most of us fans get caught up on the finances when really most of us don’t understand it. Plus we are going to get seriously high prices no matter what really as now the whole world knows we have some cash.

It’s just like we all felt knowing Barcelona had the neymar money. We expected a lot more than what coutinho is probably worth because we knew they had the money.

11.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 19:52:41
It makes me laugh everytime i see someone say clubs won't sell us their best player in January yet we've just done exactly that, it still beggars belief to me that a player with a signed contract can demand to leave and refuse to play with the thousands in wages being paid every week.
Ah well maybe im just old fashioned, I still think he needed to be here till the summer.

12.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 21:17:08
Overpaid on Who? Virgil. Well we shall see how much Evans goes for or Maguire if either are sold. Apparently citeh want either one for upwards of 40 mill so I'm not so sure 75 for virgil is extortion in this post Neymar transfer market.

{Ed002's Note - overpaid on van Dijk and Keita.}

13.) 08 Jan 2018
08 Jan 2018 21:45:07
SuperGrob, The last 3 of the last 4 players that signed for or left LFC in Jan as were Studge, Suarez and you guessed it, Cou. Can you tell me what all three of these players have in common? All three forced a move away from their clubs in some way. Studge forced his move from Chelsea and did all in his power to come to LFC. Suarez bit a player in Holland and took Ajax to court just to force a move to come to LFC in Jan of 2011 and of course Cou did all he did to go to Barcelona this Jan. In two of those three cases in essence, these two players did some disgusting things to get their moves in Jan. Of course, these are not common occurrences BUT by this standard, whoever we want may have to do a Cou or Suarez to come to us and if said player won't do that and the club won't sell regardless of the offer, what can you do>?