07 Jul 2020 14:32:45
So what happens if no players are sold and none come in this summer? I doubt this very much will happen but let's consider the possibilities anyway.

In attack Brewster is brought back home and is added to the attack force of Minamino, Origi, Shaqiri and Elliott. That's 8 players fighting for the front 3 positions.

In midfield, Curtis Jones replaces Lallana, and Grujic is brought back home and kept. Added to Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita, Henderson and Ox. That's 8 players fighting for the mid 3 positions.

In defense, we keep Philips and added to Williams, Robertson, VVD, Gomez, Matip, Lovren, TAA, Hoever and Van den Berg. That's 10 players fighting for 4 positions.

At GK, Lonergan is at the end of his contract and Karius takes over from him as 4th GK. With Alisson, Adrian and Kelleher we are fine.

I didn't bring Ojo, Wilson, Woodburn, Grabara and Awoniyi back from loans because I doubt they would be used during the season.

It's not exactly catastrophic if you look at this squad, but we are certainly living through catastrophic times. We buckle down and fight through the season. And we win the title again. (Never played Football Manager but if it's anything like this, gee it's a lot of fun) .

1.) 07 Jul 2020
07 Jul 2020 15:35:49
Apart from the LB and LW, all the other area's look well covered imo. Altho Milly can fill in at LB, he is just not as effective playing there and understandably so. Still a very valuable member of the squad btw. We could definitely do with proper LB back up. Personally i hope Larouci can make the next step and prove himself to be a real LB option.

As for the attack, likes of Shaq, Elliott are both predominantly right sided players so yeah RW has good depth. Elliott is said to be given a bigger role in the side next season so even if Shaq was to leave, we should be fine at RW.

Minamino in his few appearances this season has mostly played down the middle, suggesting he may be seen as a deputy for Bobby's #9 role which is quite a solid option. He is also very versatile so we could definitely see him play in either wings once he's more settled and has a full Klopp pre season's trianing under his belt. Brewster is there too and a full season training under Klopp and with these group of wc players will definitely not hurt.

All that's left is Divock on the left and tbh he isn't effective from the left. Most of his goals this season have come when he has played as a CF. It's not likely to happen but ideally i wouldn't mind if we could offload Origi and bring in a more versatile, mobile attacker to back up the wing positions. I absolutely love Origi for everything he has done for the club, just to be clear.

All in all, the depth of our squad as it is isn't bad at all. However, there's certainly room for improvement and strengthening in certain areas. It will obviously be a challenge offloading some of the fringe players due to the uncertainty around the financial side of things but if things improve it would be interesting to see what moves we make in the market, if at all.

2.) 07 Jul 2020
07 Jul 2020 16:58:58
Interesting post OP and it may be we just have to accept this due to current conditions. As we know our first 11 is great so the areas of concern for me would be back up:

Goalie
Left back (who's trade is left back)
AM (though Oz/ Keita/ Jones should be good enough but want to see consistency and/ or Jones given chance)
Striker/ Winger (who scores goals as too much reliance on Salah/ Mane)

Other teams will be stronger next year (Man City/ Chelsea/ Man U) and I see more points being dropped against each other) . One thing's for sure we have won it now and with monkey off back I'll certainly enjoy it more even if lose a few more games :) .

3.) 07 Jul 2020
07 Jul 2020 18:58:06
Like I said, it's not that bad a situation. And it's a far better squad than we have had in earlier years.

Beyond the starting 11, every single player is well versed in the playing system and knows what is expected of him. I share the misgivings about Origi, but nothing can be done. He's hot certain days and cold the rest of the time. And his contract is up in 2024 (nobody will pay market price now).

Brewster has an opening I think, if he seizes his chance in summer training. If he can get 10-12 appearances for the year (and train the entire time with the starters) it would be good.

There are worse ways than having Milner, Williams and Gomez back up Robertson, if it has to be done. And for the AM situation, one of Keita, Ox and Jones will have to step and make the position their own.

4.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 02:32:47
Don't know if anyone picked up on Carra's comments at the start of the Villa game. Basically said that Origi was not good enough to be first choice of the bench for the current world, European and English champions (love typing that! ) He also said that if you look at the other top 6 teams, they all have better cover on the bench.

In this case I totally agree. Love Origi and always will, but he's not going to win us enough games to win the league if one of the front three get injured.

Our midfield is full of equally good talent that could come in and out of the team. Even the defence has like for like cover at CB (although not for Virgil)

I understand that people here are putting a positive spin on things but in our hearts we know that goals win matches and after our awesome front 3 we are severely lacking quality.