29 Jan 2018 10:36:06
We don't need an attacking midfielder we need a deep lying playmaker an Alonso/ pirlo type player someone that dictates the pace of our game so that when we're winning he can slow us down n hold onto the ball in midfield and also get attacks going fast when needed, so who's out there that you guys would like us to sign realistic or not? Verratti? Kroos? Cesc? Kovacic?

1.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 10:45:32
I do think Henderson could do this role to a point. Obviously not to the levels as alonso did. If we weren't sure of his fitness, Max Meyer or Dani Ceballos.

Meyer has been playing that pivot role well for schalke this season. Moving from a attacking mid role to deep ball playing midfielder.

2.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 10:49:29
Aaron Mooy.

3.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 11:14:01
Toni Kroos would be my pick.

Klopp won't utilise a DM so we should at least sign a midfielder who can control a game. If you can't defend when the game gets a bit end to end, then you need a guy like Kroos who can just put a foot on the ball and completely calm it down. He'd be my dream replacement for Wijnaldum.

4.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 11:41:56
i like kross also but id prefer rabiot but i don't think he's attainable.

5.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 12:23:05
MK, genuine question, why won’t Klopp play a DM, what has he said that will go wrong if he made that change. Again genuine query, thanks.

6.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 12:34:33
He doesn't play a DM because he'd lose a body for his high press. You move one player backwards and the system wouldn't work.

There's no such thing as a perfect system but Klopp commits to playing on the opponent's half as much as possible. There's no place for a DM in that philosophy.

7.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 13:48:41
Putney beat me to it.

All good teams pass around in triangles. Therefore if you want to press every opposition you face, you need at least 3 players at a time to press as a unit. One to close down the man with the ball, and two to cut off his forward passing lanes. That will then force the player to go backwards. You can't press as a two. Klopp likes every player except his centre backs to press the ball to maximise the chances of regaining possession. A dedicated DM takes one of those capable of pressing out of his defensive strategy as most DM's nowadays are just auxiliary centre backs.

Klopp doesn't want to win the ball on the edge of his own box and then have to build an attack. He wants to win the ball on the edge of the opposition box. He explained all this in an interview when he first came. Whilst i don't agree with his philosophy 100%, we all knew what we were getting from him when he joined. This is the guy who converted Hummels, Bender and Lucas into centre backs because they didn't have the capacity to contribute to the press. If he signs a DM, they'll only end up playing CB because it's just not a component in his philosophy.

8.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:16:14
Brilliantly put, Putney. It is not a complicated hing to grasp BUT people are so fixated with the DM thing that they cannot envisage anything different whereas forgetting that Chelsea play a double pivot in Kante and Baka who by the way, are not DM's.

9.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:22:47
Is our press working seeing as we have conceded condsiderably more goals than the rest of the top 5 or is his theory that the press works because we score more goals than most?

{Ed001's Note - what press? We rarely use a press any more as the blame for tiredness and injuries in the second half of last season was laid at its door. So the press is not happening to work.}

10.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 14:40:45
We are a one man pressing team. It is unfair of Klopp to continually ask Firmino to press and and work none stop. This will have to change very soon or he will be burnt out when we need him the most.
All this rotation hasn't worked at all as we look no fresher than the opposition.

11.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 15:08:03
Putney and BR, with regard to Ed001’s comment we rarely use a high press?
If we had Chelsea’s midfield Maybe our double pivot would protect the back four? My concern is our current mids do not and have not protected the back four this season or last.

12.) 29 Jan 2018
29 Jan 2018 16:18:33
So much talk about Klopp not using a DM in his system. seems like nonsense as he played Bender when at Dortmund.

{Ed002's Note - Who has he used the past three seasons at Liverpool?}