02 Nov 2017 10:45:06
lads, would you be happy with hendo naby and lallana/ oxlade as our midfield next season? I assume Can and coutinho are off.
02 Nov 2017 11:06:56
If they left, I'd like a proper dm with Keita and one other at the side, say gini. Then lallana hendo grujic can switch in and out.
02 Nov 2017 11:23:48
No. I have backed Klopp and Hendo throughout this experiment, but it hasn't worked out. I want the club to act on the interest in Obiang. Then we can have Obiang sitting, With Keita, Gini, Lallana and Hendo competing for the two positions ahead of him. Grujic is being trained to play the holding role in the u23's and it looks like it suits him so he can cover Obiang in the deeper role if required.
Chamberlain can cover injuries in the more attacking roles, but he is a winger by trade and should be focused on fighting for Mane's place. Mane has started picking up injuries far too regularly and there is serious interest in him from Europe, so the Ox may have a real chance at making that position his own if he can just add some goals to his game. I don't want him side tracked by a desperate attempt to shoe horn him into midfield. He's looked good going forward in the last few games. Square pegs go in square holes. Even if (touch wood) we can keep hold of Mane, the Ox should be putting pressure on him and Salah to perform. With Keita on his way, we have enough in midfield.
A midfield of Henderson sitting, with Keita and Ox ahead of him is 2 players out of their natural position. Not for me. It is too risky, especially considering Keita is a bit of a hot head. If he got his marching orders, do you have faith in Henderson and Ox to stay in relative control of a football match?
Can and Coutinho are definitely off, but if we got in Obiang and Keita i don't think we'd miss them. Keita is at the heart of every Leipzig attack, and Obiang is easily better than Can at protecting the defence. Additionally, Henderson needs to be pushed further forward where his pressing is effective, instead of just leaving a gap in front of the defence.
Klopp and Hendo have to accept that their little experiment didn't work out, for the good of the club, and Chamberlain needs to accept he is a very good winger who could make a name for himself there if he stays focused.
02 Nov 2017 11:58:04
Good piece MK. Not for the first time I agree with your comments, mate.
02 Nov 2017 12:37:49
Agree Mk.
02 Nov 2017 12:37:57
Great one, MK. Obiang is the one we should be going after. The Hendo experiment should be done away with. With Naby coming in along with Lallana/ Hendo, we need a true DM to protect the CB's and defence. We were seriously interested in Obiang and we need to get him in. Or we can get Nzonzi who plays in a similar high press system at Seville. Klopp has shown that he can learn from his mistakes and tweak his system to suit the PL. Not playing with a true DM in such an open system has not worked so he has to adapt to that and get one in. A midfield of Obiang/ N'Zonzi, Hendo/ Lallana and Naby would be a good first choice three in CM with Wiji, Grujic, Woodie and Ox as depth.
02 Nov 2017 13:00:51
Agreed Loris. That midfield looks so much more solid in my opinion. Henderson/ Lallana are both very good players around the edge of the box with link up play and delicate touches. Plus they are intelligent when pressing.
However the midfield is light weight and unbalanced, which will be even more of an issue when Can and Coutinho go. I can see Keita really taking our team by the balls and making it his own with Coutinho not there though. He loves running at teams, his vision is superb, he presses like a man possessed, and he scores and creates goals. He is exactly the kind of dynamic midfielder we've missed since we lost Gerrard. He will want to be the driving force of our midfield and with Coutinho there, i think they would get in each others way, even though they play in totally different styles. They both follow the ball and demand it off their team mates.
If we had Keita/ Gini driving us forward and Lallana/ Hendo pressing though, we would need an intelligent, more defensive player behind. Obiang or N'Zonzi would be my picks as well.
I'm really hoping Woodburn is given chances though over the next few years. In 2 or 3 years time he should be knocking Hendo/ Lallana out of the team. I don't know why we would want to sign Brandt or Meyer when Woodburn has as much potential as them and won't sulk about waiting for his chances.
02 Nov 2017 13:03:23
Adam, I would be interested to know if you saw Grujic over 90 minutes against Man Utd U23 just over a week ago.
02 Nov 2017 13:41:12
Not over the full 90 mate. Just highlights. He was very impressive though from what i could find, and from what i read.
02 Nov 2017 14:37:10
Don't think Pedro Obiang is the answer to improving us into a title winning side.
Not good enough for me and would be another Robertson, Klavan, Matip style signing of a stop-gap.
{Ed002's Note - Obiang won't be moving to LFC.}
02 Nov 2017 14:52:40
Spot on, MK. Naby is the real deal and you described him perfectly.
Navy Keith, I disagree. Obiang is the exact player we need or N'Zonzi would be a good shout as he plays in the same system we play at Seville. These are intelligent footballers who are doing a great job at their teams esp. N'Zonzi who has really grown as a player since he left The School of Destructive Football under Pulis at Stoke and has had good coaching from better managers like Unai Emery (3 time EL winner and manager of PSG) and now Eduardo Berizzo (ex asistant to Marcelo Bielsa in the Chile national team) . The players you mentioned may be stop gaps BUT N'Zonzi and Obiang are no stop gaps. They are the real deal.
02 Nov 2017 18:23:46
it isn't just hendo, ox, Lallana and kieta though. we have gini and milner too. But no, I don't think that is enough. Milner is quickly getting worse. he can still do a job but I'm not sure how much longer he will be at Liverpool. Aoc is a winger really eh and Lallana is no spring chicken. if Can leaves he is replaced by keita so we just need to replace couts. we will have a tonne of cash to do so, I'm sure it won't be too much of a problem.