29 Oct 2020 15:44:40
Bearing in mind our current defensive issues, would you tweak the system to put 5 at the back e.g. phillips or hendo, rhys williams and gomez as centre backs? I say this because I do not think either partner to Gomez is good enough to play week in week out in the prem, perhaps an extra body will help out.

Also robertson and TAA spend most their time in the opposition third so moving them to wing backs we won't be losing anything. The only issue is what to do with midfielders/ attackers?

I realise I am not Klopp but just a thought which could make us more solid.

29 Oct 2020 16:41:51
Against Man City i would personally switch to a back 3 of Trent, R. Williams, Gomez.

I think Trent has the passing range to play centre back and hit those diagonal passes Virgil normally does to break City's press. He also has the pace to cover the wing back or in behind Williams in the centreof the 3. He's deceptively good in the air and at defending crosses too.

Milner in at right wing back with Robbo on the left. Hendo and Thiago in midfield. Mane, Salah and Jota up top to play on the break.

If the midfield 2 got over run you could then tuck Milner back inside and revert to a normal 4. Klopp will have his own plan though for sure, just my two pence.

29 Oct 2020 16:49:00
You'd play jota over Bobby mk?

29 Oct 2020 16:54:04
Trent is the worst defender we have no chance great going Forward And crossing but can’t defend at all.

29 Oct 2020 16:55:45
Not very often I disagree with you, MK, but that suggestion is going too far to fix a problem. Just don't see Trent playing in a back 3. The thought of him, Rhys Williams and Gomez puts the fear of dread in me to be honest. Stick to tried and trusted 4 at the back and not stick square pegs in round holes.

29 Oct 2020 16:30:10
I have also thought this and its an odd one because we almost already do play 3 at the back as whoever plays our DM normally fills in at the back for our full backs. There is a great video on BT sport of Ferdinand interviewing both Robbo and TAA on this and you can see Hendo fills in any gaps at the back often.

It would help Rhys/ Nat settle down, plus giving us someone with the ability to spray balls 50 yards to Mo and Mane at ease and taking away the press from other teams. This is something VVD did often. What do you think ED001?

I am sure Klopp will have lots of ideas regardless.

{Ed001's Note - I don't like 3 at the back.}

29 Oct 2020 18:28:48
The trick I believe will be to protect the defence from midfield more effectively than we have so far this season whilst a youngster is playing there. Hopefully Matip will be back soon.

29 Oct 2020 18:37:33
I disagree entirely on Trent being bad defensively. It's a myth in my opinion. He is a good 1 on 1 defender, and he makes a lot of clearances and back post headers. He's good in the offside trap too. I think he lacks concentration (in terms of people running past him off the ball) but i'm more looking at how they can hurt us and how we can nullify that.

City press very hard. Normally Virgil can just bypass that press with a long diagonal. Gomez tries his best but most go out for a throw in. If we want to get a foothold in the game against City i think we need a player in at centre back who can pass it out. If Matip or Fabinho is fit then sure, it's just the normal back 4 system with either of them and Gomez.

Our ability to play out of the press will be more important than Trent's one defensive weakness; which is tracking runners. If we keep kicking the ball back to them they will just keep coming until they score. The hardest part about playing City is they make you give them the ball and then you don't get it back for 5 minutes.

As i say, it's just an opinion but i worry about a centre back pairing of Gomez and Williams playing through City's press, that's all. I do fully understand that it is a controversial opinion to suggest playing a right back who rightly or wrongly is considered weak defensively.

On Jota over Firmino, Jota is more clinical and he thrives on counter attacking situations. I can't see us dominating City without Virgil or Fabinho. So we need players to take their chances, and with the legs to stretch City.

I'm not fussed about West Ham or Atalanta. We should just play the standard 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with Williams alongside Gomez. They're not one of the top 5 teams in Europe unlike City. Normally we are good enough to just play our own game against anyone but for that one game i think Klopp needs a unique game plan.

29 Oct 2020 19:11:56
Interesting points them MK. I agree that the City game will be tough but I’m also not looking past West Ham or Atalanta with our defensive injury issues. Trent could work in a back 3 or it might not. We wouldn’t know unless it was tried. One thing I do know though is moving Trent from rb would take away one of our biggest attacking threats by moving what could easily be argued that Trent is one of or if not the best right back in world football. I think if Thiago and Hendo play against any opposition including City then we will be in a good place to dominate possession. Again another interesting point on Jota starting as well as the lad is definitely knocking on the door.

29 Oct 2020 19:38:01
Matip will be saved for City.

30 Oct 2020 01:41:46
I think Bobby has to play vs City. I really like jota, he's been brilliant. But Bobby creates nearly everything for our forwards.

30 Oct 2020 05:04:42
Why are we so fixated about City and talking extensively about the game against them when we haven't even played the Hammers and Atalanta? A lot could happen before the City game; let's go one game at a time!

30 Oct 2020 07:43:46
Creates nearly everything for the forwards 🤦🏻‍♂️.

{Ed025's Note - the bogey man, the grim reaper, bobby the creator..all urban myths..

30 Oct 2020 08:41:01
Bobby has 2 goals and 6 assists in his last 23 games. Don't be afraid to say it as it is. He's not been playing well since pre-lockdown at least. Possibly since the Club World Cup to be honest.

{Ed025's Note - i agree MK, some think its taboo to say if someone is not performing to their best mate..

30 Oct 2020 11:06:51
Thing is Ed025, people quite rightly defend his goal record with the argument that he brings a lot of other things to the team. That is fine if he is scoring 10-15 goals a season (roughly 1 in 4). It doesn't wash with me when he's on target to score 4-5 goals a season (roughly 1 in 10).

If he is going to get into goalscoring positions (which he does) he can't keep skying his shots or dragging them wide. It has cost us games. Jota has 3 goals in less than a month and he works just as hard if not harder. Bobby needs a kick up the back side. I love him, but he needs to spend less time inventing celebrations and more time actually working on putting it in the net.

{Ed025's Note - yeah MK i think a spell on the bench would do him no harm at all, he needs to focus on what he actually brings to the table for me and i know he works hard but is that enough?..not for a team like liverpool mate..

01 Nov 2020 07:07:14
Completely agree on Bobby and have been saying so for a while. At his best he’s the best in the world at what he does I. e. a couple years ago when he worked hard, brought others into play and scored 27 goals in a season. Right now he needs to be benched and re-set.