19 Nov 2023 11:51:05
I really hope we are going for a No. 6.
Endo is not the player I was hoping he would be, his lack of pace is alarming and his last minute lunges as a result of this are not great. He cannot be relied upon.
McAllister also suffers from a lack of pace and also lunges in unnecessarily. He is not a natural number 6 and is a square peg. He should not be relied upon. Even in a double pivot.
Thiago - Great in a double pivot. Never available. Cannot be relied upon.
TAA in midfield? Not for me. He needs to be told to stay at RB and focus on becoming the best RB he can be.
Bajcetic appears to be our best option as a 6 but what is his natural position? Cannot be relied upon currently due to injuries.
We need a spine and out weak link is DM. Who is everyone's preferred option (s)? I personally would be looking for someone as close to Makelele as we can find.
19 Nov 2023 12:37:05
Definitely Trent can't and I say shouldn't play as a No6 destroyer, but I have no doubts about his ability as a deep lying playmaker. But there's no position like that currently in our team. I also think he's wasted a bit at right back too, now that teams have learnt how to play against the tactics that made us the best side.
19 Nov 2023 13:15:57
I reckon makelele could still do a job, he was fantastic.
19 Nov 2023 13:31:30
We need a Dm who can also play with the ball.
Pointless having a destroyer against teams where we have 70% plus possession and have to try and break them down with 9 outfield players.
19 Nov 2023 15:43:02
I was worried when we signed him but got hammered for saying so. It made no sense at all with the 2 players we were going for then going for 30+ year old that has just played for relegation fighting team. It for me was a panic signing after all the mess towards the end off the window. I would love the lad from Fulham but his price and age make you think we should look elsewhere. Andre might be the one but I’ve not seen anything apart from that final but it does look like he is the number 6 for Brazil going forward so at the price be quoted looks like a risk worth taking.
19 Nov 2023 16:35:14
How about converting Quansah or Gomez to be no.6 until right player is found?
19 Nov 2023 17:16:30
Leek, that's a bit like getting a plumber in to do your electrics.
19 Nov 2023 18:14:52
@Rome, a good, intelligent player can adapt. Didn't Henderson play right back before? Didn't Milner play leftback too? Wasn't Salah converted from winger to centre forward?
19 Nov 2023 19:27:01
Macca is fine as a 6 with Trent stepping in next to him.
For all the hyperbole about Macca not being capable we are currently 2nd with the best defensive record in the league, unbeaten with 10-11 men on the pitch, and even with 9 it took the worst VAR decision ever and a 95th minute own goal.
19 Nov 2023 19:36:31
We had the chance to buy one @Manuel Ugarte, didn’t had the money. I would argue we need a top class DM. Not another guy who likes to play the ball. We need someone to stop an attack and win the first ball. We have enough who can pin a pass.
Juts go and get Lavia. He ain’t getting a sniff and Klopp loves him.
19 Nov 2023 20:21:33
Habibi - Not true, Klopp messed up with his tapping up antics with Sporting refusing to do business with us.
19 Nov 2023 20:55:20
Mac Alllister isn’t a number 6 and it shows, he’s trying his best, but it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul. As for playing Gomez or Quansah as a defensive midfielder that’s about as daft an idea as playing Salah as a centre back. Until we buy a really good out and out defensive midfielder we’ll probably fall short in the league. It was signing Fabinho that changed us from also rans to champions league winners and league champions and it’s that kind of signing that’ll make the difference again.
19 Nov 2023 21:35:59
Nice one, Drogie. Now as for the DM role, Klopp and the staff clearly wants some creativity in whoever plays the role whether it be Macca or an actual DM so in the end whoever we get, has to be able to do both very well. We have seen Endo can make line-breaking tackles lots of times so clearly, the coaches think that is what we need.
And as for having Gomez or Quansah trained to play there, that's just absolute nuts cos Quansah is still learning hos to play CB at this level while saddling Gomez who is already our most verstile defender with having to learn another role makes no sense at all.
19 Nov 2023 22:14:32
Just give endo a run. It’s his position. He getting to know the team. I’d start him over Macalister, who by chance after a greater number of games hasn’t pulled up any trees yet either.
19 Nov 2023 22:33:32
We have needed a top no6 for 2 seasons now. If we had one last season, we wouldn’t be playing LASK In our next European game. Stop trying to justify not buying one by shoe horning random players in there and hoping they do ok. For me, it’s a very important position to get right. Leicester won the league and that was probably down to the fact that they had a world class CDM. Give me a top no6 who can read the game and break up play, tackle and do all the dirty work that usually goes unnoticed, over any other signing in the summer. I don’t think Andre is that player either, he looks more like a Thiago replacement from the limited reviews and clips I have seen. A deep laying play maker, rather than a solo no6.
20 Nov 2023 04:23:33
Habibi - Not true, Klopp messed up with his tapping up antics with Sporting refusing to do business with us.
Sporting couldn’t do a feck if the buying club activated his release clause.
20 Nov 2023 06:16:18
Did Ugarte even have a release clause though? I thought Ignacio was the one that had a release clause. Besides, even if Ugarte did, it doesn't look good if we ignored Sporting after playing around and unsettling their players. It would make it much worse for us in the future if we want to do business with them or other clubs again. And it's untrue that we didn't have money since we did go in for both Lavia and Caicedo.
I can't really say whey we went in for Endo but honestly, I don't think he has done too poorly for us. He's not top-class but he is decent there and I feel we are more comfortable dealing with counters with him there than Macca.
20 Nov 2023 07:23:40
Bajcetic is the number 6 it seems to me. He can tackle and pass. Unfortunately he just seems to be picking up far too many injuries. I hope the injuries are just because he's a young lad growing in to his body and not because he is going to have an injury ravaged career.
20 Nov 2023 08:24:12
You having a conversation with yourself Harry?
Forget to log out of your sockpuppet account?
20 Nov 2023 08:34:57
Slow claps @flashred.
20 Nov 2023 08:37:30
Lee, perhaps we can convert Alison or Kelleher to play 6. I’ll bet you think that’s a silly idea but the reasoning you can swap players’ positions should apply to everybody in the squad?
20 Nov 2023 11:38:24
That’s just silly WDW and a very poor argument. Goalkeeper is a specialist position with a skill set that can’t be transmitted to any other position on the pitch and you know it.
I agree with Leek, good OUTFIELD players should be able to learn new positions. We live in an age where every player seems to have post-nominal letters after their name in relevance to their position on FIFA or Football Manager.
Virgil Van Dijk CB, Fabinho DM etc etc. In reality they are football players with a talent to play the game and should be able to adapt to new positions and formations.
Joelinton was a CF and now he’s a CM. Milner was a LW as a teenager but ended up playing most positions on the pitch.
There are countless examples of players moving positions and making it work and in many cases even improving their game. I’m not saying he’s right to suggest we convert Gomez or Quansah to a DM but I am saying it’s not as silly an idea as you seem to be making out.
20 Nov 2023 11:39:15
I think Klopp should play at 6, he knows better than anyone what he wants from the role.
Surely he’d be a good bet to provide it.
Once his match fitness is up to it of course?.
20 Nov 2023 19:28:25
Or maybe we just finally buy a top no6 that we need so badly and play all the rest of the squad in their strongest positions.
20 Nov 2023 19:31:20
@BP do you actually think it’s a serious idea? It’s the banter page mate - not everything is deadly serious ?.
21 Nov 2023 00:04:27
I know you weren’t serious mate but you were trying to belittle Leek’s idea by saying it should apply to everyone in the squad.
There are some players who are the best in their position like VVD or Salah so you wouldn’t dream of reinventing them but Gomez or Quansah could actually excel in a DM role and might be more useful to the team.
Personally I’m quite happy with Macca there I think he’s got better as the season has gone on and could be brilliant if given time to learn the role. I don’t think he gets a start higher up the pitch there are 3, possibly 4 players for those roles who are better than him right now so if he wants to be a starter for Liverpool he has to make it work.
21 Nov 2023 11:56:15
@BP we’ve already bought a 6 who looks like he is (gradually ) getting up to speed.
Quansah has the makings of a good CB and Gomez is a great squad player who can cover RB, RCB and even Lb at a push.
Why not use players in their best position and if we have a need for a starter in a position either bring someone through from within the club who has the skill set - Baj, as an example - or get the best available on the market, whoever that might be that has the skill set for the role.