30 Apr 2017 10:59:08
I thought, to change over from constant complaining and questions on who we are going to sign, that it would be interesting to look at how we could improve the team for next season. These improvements may be tactical, mental or through personal, whether buying new players or promoting from within. This may come across as a criticism of the players but I want it to be noted that I am not looking to belittle players but just state my opinion on what occurs and that overall this has been a fairly successful season. The following is my personal opinion only and I welcome comments.
Clearly this season we have performed very well against the top teams and less well against the bad teams, so this will mostly be an analysis of how we can improve against lesser teams.
1. The biggest issue is with our mentality. Many of our players seem to get sloppy against lower teams and don't pass or press as effectively. This is a hard issue to solve but could come down to Klopp ensuring players are properly prepared for the game, having more leaders and players who are consistently trying on the pitch or through having greater competition, especially in midfield, as players who are scared they will get dropped are more likely to try.
2. The lack of width. Currently we play very narrow football. Excepting Mane, we have no players who are comfortable taking a man on one on one out wide. This is compounded by issues with our full backs. Clyne lacks the ability to consistently put in decent balls and make the right decision offensively and Milner lacks pace and always cuts inside. This makes it easy for teams to defend against us as they have no need to worry about being stretched wide. This leads into the second issue and could be improved by ensuring that we had fullbacks who provided actual width and attacking threat.
3. The lack of variety in our attacking play. Essentially, we are a team that is very good at playing in front of a defence but lack the ability to change it up and pierce a team that sits back against us. When there is a little bit of space, and our players are in sync, this can be devastating. But when that is not occurring we can look very blunt. This could be solved by having greater width to create space and by having the ability to change up our attacking play, whether through players capable of taking on and beating a man, midfielders who are willing to run beyond or players who are capable of shooting from distance.
4. The lack of options to change. We have a very strong first team but do not have options on the bench to change up the team during a game. Klopp has shown that he is willing to do this when the players are on the bench, so we have to ensure that next season we have those players.
5. There are various issues with our defence that all intersect with each other. I will start by addressing those with our centre backs. Basically, we just lack quality in this position. Players are either slow, just not that good or inconsistent. This allows teams to target them, doubly true if they can counter while our fullbacks are up the pitch and they can isolate our cbs, which can leave our defence weak. The solutions for his are either to coach our current starting cbs into not making the mistake they currently make or to improve the quality of players in this position by bringing in new players either from the academy or through transfers.
6. The full backs are also an issue defensively. They either have questionable positioning or lack the pace to deal with a forward when isolated. This can be combatted through coaching and tactics.
7. The goalkeeper. I think we all know the issues with this, the lack of organisation, passing and ability to deal with crosses. Short to say I think we are all aware that this position needs an upgrade.
The above is my opinion only and, it is important to note, when I say we need new players I do not necessarily mean we need to buy new player as we can also look to our academy and other players that we have at the club.
30 Apr 2017 11:48:42
I generally agree with all of those points, and this could be a bit naive if me but I reckon that if we had a couple more players that could have a shot on target from distance then it might help us break down the teams that sit back against us as the defenders would be more inclined to come out of the back line for a tackle if they know that we have the ability to score from distance, at the moment we only have Coutinho who is known to be a threat from far out.
30 Apr 2017 12:40:21
Not everything could be corrected by coaching. Tactics are not going to be changed or altered. We will play high press high line football under Klopp and you need personal especially at the back to play this system.
30 Apr 2017 14:22:08
I think we are generally in a good space provided we keep our squad together our main issues we need to fix are
1) our fullbacks need to deliver quality into the box going forward but we struggle with Milner right footed on the left and Clyne poor going forward on the right. Witness how effective we are with Mane and part of that IMO is he's a natural wide attacker and when we switch him out, we lose that penetration in behind. Likewise a natural wide left back is key as Coutinho often drops deep or cuts inside so we need someone to exploit the space he creates. I think we should go Sessegnon as understudy to Milner and start playing TAA or else bring in Pereira for Clyne if he's not ready.
2) our next problem is at CB - we've struggled with injuries and inconsistency but likewise we are vulnerable on the counterattack either through lack of pace or mistakes, but also partly because we leave them very exposed. Klopp seems to be favoring a deeper midfielder which has been effective at times, playing more of a 3-4-3 at times against sides that sit back. Main thing is we need a top CB to replace Klavan IMO and challenge Lovren, but we also need more luck with injuries to benefit from a settled partnership.
3) Our other big problem is from set pieces. This is down to two things IMO - training and the keeper. I think Migs has been excellent the last few games, but he's still not the long term solution, we need Karius to start asap next season, or if not ready spend on the strongest keeper we can afford.
4) Sturridge is a talented player but we can't afford to live with his injury record anymore, particularly with Origi still learning his craft and Ings yet to prove his recover. We need someone with pace and goalscoring ability to allow us to get in behind with pace if Mane isn't available. I'd bring in Dembele or Brandt depending on if we see Firmino as long term CF or a false 9.
5) Midfield is the toughest decisions IMO - we have some good options and Can has shown an ability to play understudy to Hendo but then we look a bit light if Hendo suffers from an injury hit season again and Grujic doesn't prove himself ready. I'd love to see us sign Keita but it's a bit of a luxury as far as I can see.
Main thing is to keep the first pick side together as it stands now (apart from perhaps Clyne and Migs) and then bring in a few top recruits to strengthen where we lack options. Hopefully Coutinho stays and we get CL - he's getting better and better and his partnership with Firmino could be a big part of the next few years if we can give it time.