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18 Jun 2022 23:30:34
Q for Ed0666, given most folks on here agree a CDM backup to Fabs would be the one missing puzzle piece for this season, who out of those folks who are available would you choose?

I've done a bit of searching around to see who would fit the bill from my PoV. Bellingham would be a great signing next year, one more year of development in Germany and he is more of Hendo cover than Fabs.

My criteria is a young player, but with high potential, someone who is happy to learn from Fabs. Therefore, probably in the £20-£40m range (or even lower) rather than higher.

I know that Tris mentioned in an earlier post that he can see us having enough cover, with Hendo being perfectly suited to covering Fabs. Also Adam posted yesterday a very sensible post outlining all of our midfield options, and how we have a great crop of youngsters coming through.

However, looking at the ages of our midfield, it's clear that we have players in their prime - 28-32 - and others just starting their career (18-20, Elliot, Morton, Carvalho) but none who are first teamers in the middle - 22-27 - whereas we have that depth both in defence (Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas) and in attack (Nunez, Diaz, Jota) .

Is someone like Zubimendi from Sociedad a player we have looked at? I also like the look of Merino from Sociedad too, albeit he didn't do particularly well at Newcastle. I guess I'm just drawn to the fact that Xabi came from their academy and is in charge of their B team now. I'd love for us to uncover another gem like him!

{Ed0666's Note - I’d I’m being honest mate I can’t jump on the Bellingham bandwagon because I wanna see more of him play. I know Tristan feels confident in the players in midfield we have but I am not so sure. Such responsibility on Elliot and Carvalho makes me nervous. For me we need a fab understudy and with bissouma gone I’d give Ndombele a tinkle

Agree0 Disagree0

19 Jun 2022 01:30:36
Is a back up to a holding midfielder ever a missing piece to a puzzle?
Did we lose the CL final or fail to gain two more points in a full League season because we didn't have a back up to Fabinho? Even though Henderson and Thiago can play there? We might have had at least more trophy if we had a proper centre forward instead of playing with three wide players and hoping that a 'cult' figure gets us a goal.
Saying that, City didn't have a proper centre forward either.

We need a midfielder. We don't need cover players. He doesn't have to cover one position in midfield. He needs to be able to play in midfield regardless of what is happening with Fab, Hendo, Thiago, Naby, Elliott, etc.

19 Jun 2022 09:40:19
Rigsby I think we won as a team (squad) and lose a team (squad) . I don’t think we can say we lost the league or CL because of missing a DM or not having a CF. We missed chances in the CL from all positions including midfielders and Taa a few from RB.

A proper Centre forward might have scored that night but on the other hand would that proper centre forward have scored the chances the front 3 did in the earlier rounds to even get us into the final or challenging for the title In the first place.

Chelsea signed a proper centre forward after winning the CL without one and look how that turned out.

19 Jun 2022 07:39:53
I'm definitely in the camp that thinks we don't need to bring in a midfielder this summer. Bringing in an "understudy", or whatever that is meant to mean, for Fab should been as a bigger deal than just bringing in anyone. The transfer team have been successful because they have identified their targets and by and large brought them in at the right time and the right price. I don't see any reason to break that mould now especially given that our midfield has enough bodies and flexibility to cover the gaps.

19 Jun 2022 07:54:09
Couldn’t agree more Rigsby. We have lot of kids so we are okay is a ridiculous excuse. Elliot, Carvalho and Jones. Really? We are losing grounds.

19 Jun 2022 10:12:04
I sort of agree with you, JK.
A team can always improve but is cover for Fabinho really the missing piece of our puzzle?
I think we need a midfielder but I don't know as much as Norbert and I'm happy to go with what he decides to do.

19 Jun 2022 10:21:47
@T_T Well I don’t think anyone Is surprised you don’t like the midfield.

19 Jun 2022 10:53:18
Rigsby my opinion the answer to that question is no. But I think having more quality in depth is the key with the forwards and centre backs proving that last season.

Matip and Gomez always seemed to get injured in turn but with Konate added into it last season both remained fit all season and then with 7 forwards all vying for spots it shared the burden and only 2 to have real injury concerns were Bobby and Origi.

19 Jun 2022 11:22:37
A backup DM isn't the missing piece to a puzzle but fabinho is a key player and without him our midfield gets exposed. Klopp needs to be able to rotate fabinho to keep him fresh and continue to compete on all four fronts, but hendo keita milner and even thiago can't do what fab does. We nearly have 22 players who are all quality, our second string is weak in midfield. I'd sign Gavi and a DM beast to understudy thiago and fabinho. Hopefully we'll see Elliot develop this season too.

19 Jun 2022 11:47:03
Personally lads I just think too many of our players looked absolutely knackered towards the end of the season

Salah at the start of the season buries one of those chances in the CL final. AFCON and all the extra time games he played in took a toll on him

Midfield looked knackered too, we have a strong starting 3 but they just looked spent in the final. Perhaps having an extra starting midfielder to rotate more could have helped

It's all squad these days, we have a larger and better squad than we've had in previous years and nearly won the lot, couple of extra tweaks and who know? Could we improve on last season?

We've already added a CF to replace Mane, a RB to cover for Trent, talented youngster in Carvalho who will definitely play in the early cup rounds, likewise Elliott is injury free and hopefully raring to go as he wasn't rushed back. I still think we need a quality midfielder to rotate more either the 3 starters and we could beat last season maybe, what can I say, I'm the eternal optimist lol.

19 Jun 2022 12:06:30
Definitely the players were done in by the CL final, that was not the Liverpool we know and love.
The problem was we ended up with about a dozen must-win matches and Klopp was almost forced to play his top team every game.
I think Newcastle away was the one notable exception.
In hindsight, could he have played squad players more, like at Newcastle?
The CL Final was a game too far.
If we’re saying that the midfield is fine as is, then they’ve all got to be given time and played.

19 Jun 2022 12:21:25
Just want to say Ndombele is no holding midfielder and he needs a free role to play anything near his best he does not like responsibility. Henderson will do fine as a DM so not to worried but if both Fabby long legs and Hendo were injured what then Matip maybe?

19 Jun 2022 12:34:30
A back up for Fabinho won't be able to do what Fabinho does either. If he could, he'd want to be playing.
I think we'd struggle to pick up a back up for Fabinho of the quality of Henderson or Thiago.
I'd like us to get a midfielder that is going to compete with Fab, Hendo and Thiago for a starting spot. Maybe young enough to not expect to start every game but one that work to ultimately replace one of the others.
We may even have one in the squad but I haven't seen enough to convince me yet.

19 Jun 2022 13:31:58
In the 15 games Fabinho missed we won 13 and drew 2.

In the 24 Thiago missed we won 17, drew 6 and lost 1. He was a bigger miss.

Henderson can play the Fabinho role. The problem is when Thiago was out we were flat and lacked a bit of Flair in midfield. Someone who can drop the shoulder or play a penetrating pass. It should be Keita or Ox but it's not. Reading the comments of Carvalho's previous coach and the scout who picked him up for Fulham, they both agreed his best position in our system would be on the left of the 3; exactly where Thiago plays.

I think our midfield is fine with Carvalho coming in. It's a myth we were exposed without Fabinho. The only three league games i can remember that we looked repeatedly exposed were West Ham 3-2 loss, Brentford 3-3 draw, and Man City 2-2 draw at their place. Fabinho played all 3. There were a few cup games too but only ones where we'd made wholesale changes to the entire lineup.

Of the 4 games we lost in all competitions, 3 of them were 1-0 losses. Throw in the 0-0 draws in both domestic cup finals and it's fair to say our biggest issue was not being clinical enough and nothing to do with the midfield not being solid enough.

{Ed0666's Note - what if Carvalho flops mate? What if Elliot doesent live up to expectation? I would be happier with one more body in midfield because we haven’t got a like for like for Fab which in my opinion is imperative.

19 Jun 2022 13:57:10
It's all about opinions 666. Everyone sees football slightly differently. For me the biggest gaps in the squad were a proper striker, a creative midfielder, and like for like cover for Trent. So i'm content with the business unless anyone else leaves. But then, i am very confident Carvalho won't flop and Elliott will be back to his best.

{Ed0666's Note - I really think we should not put much hope in Carvalho we need to give him time to nurture and flourish. I truly hope he comes in and shines straight away.

19 Jun 2022 14:02:51
I’m of a similar opinion to you Ed0666 but we’re in the realms of what ifs and Klopp is far more positive than us neggies lol.
He believes in the players he has.
The 5 subs rule can help the midfield, I think that is where Klopp will use it the most and help prevent over-fatigue.
Liverpool scouted Carvalho, wanted him last season, so they must be confident that he can do the business.
The youngsters can all get regular bits and bobs of game time, could be a win-win that.

{Ed0666's Note - yes mate not doubting his ability but it’s a gargantuan step up from championship to regular starter in the one of the best teams in history.

19 Jun 2022 14:36:49
I agree with Ed0666 here. We should buy someone with some experience as a DM to give an option to cover injuries. There’s a lot of talented youngsters, yes, but none of them play DM except for Morton who isn’t ready yet. I don’t really rate Jones and Keita has been a massive let down! Milner is great for leadership but old in legs. Just think we need one more player, then we can go big on a couple of players next summer.

{Ed0666's Note - I agree ? with all that you say mate.

19 Jun 2022 15:08:44
Good and interesting post MK.

For me Fab is a very good player but apart from City and Chelsea games we mostly dominate the possession against the other 17 teams so possibly having a Dm isn’t always needed especially when Hendo is very positionally aware and Thiago doesn’t exactly burst into the opposition box leaving loads of space behind.

I think what we lack that City have is a goal scoring midfielder that they have in KDB and Gundogen.

KDB has 34 premier league goals in his last 3 seasons and Gundogen 23.

19 Jun 2022 18:51:47
As much as I would like DM cover fir Fab, I ain’t buying this whole revisionist theory that had we had cover for Fab or signed this or that player or rotated more or less in this or that game, we would have won the title and/ or the CL. That’s just irrational thinking people would like to believe cos there is a narrative they want to push.

The fact is that no one single thing cost us the title ir CL. None whatsoever, IMO. You cannot isolate a whole season worth of football or 64 games in all comps to one or two things. That makes no sense. There are a combo of things one can point to but for me, losing 10 points from winning positions and not winning any of our games vs the fellow top 4 rivals contributed more to not winning the title than anything else.

We did not have any control in any of these games and we have to do better to see out results rather than playing basket ball games when in the head Kate in games. Better tactics, more tactical nous or better signings can help here, IMO but let’s stop this habit if boiling down a whole season to one or two incidents. It’s just insane and actually, untrue.







 

 

 
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