15 May 2024 08:21:49
Defence is more of our problem than attack.
If we had two players like Rice and Saliba I suspect we would win more games by having to score less goals which would be the difference over a season to winning the title.
If that's right then we are literally just two players away from a proper title push.
Surely we can find one top notch DM and CB this summer.
15 May 2024 08:41:54
Having better players obviously helps but it won't solve the issues completely. Fixing how the team defends as a unit is far more effective. Even a prime Franco Baresi would struggle if the system isn't set up correctly.
15 May 2024 08:44:32
I don't think Saliba would do much better in this system either. Apart from the past few matches, since we have effectively been out of the title race, VVD had been great this season. Konate is also a pretty good CB especially 1v1, and Quansah looks special. I don't think we need a CB as much. However, we would massively improve if we had a DM like Rodri, or Rice. While being good Endo lacks both pace and press-resistance, and Macca is simply wasted as a 6. Maybe Bajcetic can grow into that elite DM, but he would need time. However, he is someone I have immense trust in, and it would be interesting to see how Slot uses him in pre-season.
15 May 2024 09:22:26
I agree. I know our strikers have had a bit of stick but they've been put under immediate pressure by our tendency to gift the first goal to pretty much every team we've played against.
We need a top class DM and a replacement for VVD at a minimum. Then we need to stop this daft tactic of having to chase every single game!
15 May 2024 10:39:03
I think we need to move Trent and Macca out of the RB and DM roles. RW/ AM for Trent and CM/ AM for Macca. They get dribbled past far too easily and then people have to step out of position to cover for them which creates this knock on effect of pure carnage and everyone all over the place.
Quansah and Virgil are both very good CB's who win their individual duels more often than not but they're being dragged from pillar to post. Robertson and Endo are both good players even at 30 years old but we need to find younger solutions next season as they play in positions where a physical decline will be very noticeable. Bajcetic and Beck should be considered in pre-season but if they aren't good enough then signing a new LB and DM is a must.
I personally back Bajcetic to make the DM role his own and I think people are forgetting how good he was pre-injury. But also, maybe I'm over estimating his ability to bounce back from it and become 1st choice. I don't know enough about Beck so right now I'm thinking the priority for defence is a new LB until I've seen more of him. Bradley should be first choice RB next season without question and Quansah has to be a starter at CB. They're both too good for the bench.
The difference you would see by not having Macca and Trent getting absolutely trampled over dragging others out of position, would be massive. Quansah and Virgil is potentially a great partnership with better protection in front of them and down the sides of the defence.
15 May 2024 10:46:15
1. Tactics
2. Defensive midfielder
3. Centreback
4. Left back
5. Right sided forward
6. Left sided forward
7. Backup goalkeeper
8. A repeat of Bruce Grobbelaar's liquid-based ceremony.
15 May 2024 11:56:39
Thing is MK, TAA isn’t quick enough or skilful enough on the ball to be a right winger and he’s not a number 10 or attacking midfielder in a million years, trying to shoehorn him into the team just for the occasional long shot and Hollywood pass is to do so at the detriment of the team, as harsh as that sounds, I’m of the opinion that I can’t see where he fits in the starting line up going forward, so it is time to part ways.
Putting all our eggs in one basket with Bajcetic is a huge risk, and Endo doesn’t have the legs for a full season, so a top class defensive midfielder is needed. Just go back to the difference that Fabinho made when he signed.
15 May 2024 12:37:42
Trent at RB, with occasional inversion would be my go to instead of the entire tactic seemingly centred on freeing Trent up to playmake. Watching him vs Spurs, it looked much better and simpler. He even showed he could defend Son in some tricky moments.
Trent's superpower is his long pass. It's by far and away the best in the world. Moving him forward would just make him an above average midfielder.
Selling the best long passer in the world who happens to be a Scouser and still in his mid-20s would be insane imo.
We'd be much better off just simplifying the tactics and his role in them.
15 May 2024 15:14:33
Think we need a backup for Virg more than a replacement. Realistically who could we get for left CB that's better than him anyway? Van Dijk is not the problem, if he showed this seasons form I'd be happy to have him start for another 3 or 4 years. Lloyd Kelly on a free would have been a smart signing.
{Ed002's Note - Lloyd Kelly will not move to simply be cover.}
15 May 2024 15:17:02
If we want a better defence we have to play Bradley at RB - he is just a better defender than TAA. We need Quansah to continue his upward trajectory and become a regular starter and we need to replace VVD with a younger left footed LCB. Virgil is the past and we need to look to the future.
15 May 2024 15:27:29
Virg has had more partners than a call girl this year.
{Ed077's Note - then sadly the call girl needs a change of profession.? or better "marketing" ??
15 May 2024 15:31:42
WDW, I personally just want a good back up to replace Matip and reduce our reliance on Konate. I'm happy with Virgil and Quansah as the 1st choice pairing. I'd really like to see Van den Berg get a shot before we spend big on a replacement for Matip. If VdB wasn't already our player you'd be talking about at least a 30m transfer fee to get him after the season he's just had.
15 May 2024 15:35:25
Who is better than Virg and attainable.
Vvd's form has dropped off the last month or so but so has everyones.
I had VVD as a front runner for player of the season with Mac a few weeks ago.
Endo is another shout but he didn't get into the team until Dec and then was away in Jan and had a good Feb.
15 May 2024 15:46:51
I agree about Lloyd Kelly Ed, but even if we paid 60m on Ignacio for example he would be back up to Virg. Said Kelly because at least then we wouldn't have parted with a mountain of cash.
{Ed002's Note - Inacio will also not be moving to be back up to anyone.}
15 May 2024 16:32:00
How many minutes has Baj played in the PL, playing DM?
15 May 2024 16:47:38
Just stick with what we have now then seen as no half decent player wants to be backup to virg. Or maybe Van Den Berg will be brought back.
15 May 2024 17:45:24
Irish in answer to that.
25 mins this season.
159 mins last season
All his other minutes came as right or left centre mid and right back.
15 May 2024 17:47:22
Irish Rover, was about 1000 minutes of senior football in 22/ 23 season before he was ruled out with an adductor injury. In that period he was our best midfielder though.
I still have faith in him to come back. It will make or break him though. Elliott came back from worse and has never looked back. Some players don’t have the mentality to recover so that’s why I’d assess him in pre-season first.
15 May 2024 18:09:39
Exactly that JK. I don’t dispute he played well in what was a horrible season but he hardly played at DM where everyone thinks he’s a shoe in ?♂️.
15 May 2024 18:45:40
Macca is wasted at No6, we can all see that, and once Endo goes off, we concede even more goals .
Macca should be much further up the pitch,
and please make better use of our subs this coming season .
15 May 2024 19:00:21
I'm with you Irish. Baj may well be the future DM but he's not ready yet so we need a top class one to play until he is. I think this is the one position where we need a 'ready to go' player, someone at their peak rather than someone with potential.
15 May 2024 19:06:27
Context is important though, JK/ Irish.
Bajcetic only played 20 minutes off the bench at RB so that’s barely worth mentioning.
He played a further approx. 450 minutes off the side of a midfield 3, usually the left. That was across about 4 leagur starts and 1 CL start. From memory Fabinho was the DM in all of these games I think.
He played roughly 350 minutes at DM across 2 league starts and 4 cup starts. This was where he played his best football in my opinion, crucially as part of a double pivot alongside Thiago who is a similar player to Mac Allister in my opinion.
There was then another maybe 100 minutes where he came on as a sub and his position wasn’t recorded and it was a mix of CM and DM from memory.
Hence why I think he deserves a chance during pre-season in Slot’s preferred double pivot alongside who I think will most likely be Mac Allister. I’m not saying Bajcetic has loads of experience as a lone 6 because he has pretty much zero, but that is irrelevant because Slot doesn’t play with a lone 6. He uses 2 DM’s and one sits to protect and build up from deeper and the other pushes up higher when Geertruida inverts. Bajcetic showed the ability with the ball when he played off the left of a 3 to suggest he will be okay building up from deep and he showed the destructive capabilities when he was in the double pivot with Thiago to suggest he can screen the backline. He came through as a CB so he is defensively minded and that is important because too many of our midfielders are forward thinking players who don’t see danger. I stand by my original point, he deserves a chance before we buy.
15 May 2024 19:10:47
Saliba would struggle in the system we play cos people forget, it is Gabrial who is left on his own when Zinchenko inverts. Just my take.
15 May 2024 20:06:37
Mk absolutely and I agree. Irish asked about the Premier league though mate hence why I mentioned RB.
I remember his game at home to wolves and Fab was at DM and he was our best player on the pitch playing the left 8.
That’s not me saying he can’t play 6, I’m just saying he’s pretty good at 8 as well.
Obviously with a new manager and formation you’re spot on that we might not be playing a lone 6.
Baj only played the equivalent of 10 a half games last season across 4 competitions for the first team.
As much as I’m excited about him I also believe it’s extremely early days in his career for us to be pinning our hopes to him.
Anyone remember the Scouse Cafu.
15 May 2024 23:03:44
It's not so much the system that doesn't work. It's our players that can't make it work.
Other teams play with a back three when they have the ball but they are not left as exposed as we are because they have more and better defensive minded players. Not many teams would play Mac as a six and have him flanked by the likes of Szob, Grav, Jones or Elliott.
Our best team under Klopp very often had both full backs very high up the pitch but we had the players to allow them to do that. Henderson, Wijnaldum and Milner would cover for them.
16 May 2024 12:51:28
Anyone signing with the view of being back up while in their prime isn't worth having, they should sign with a view that they will break into the first 11.
17 May 2024 00:14:28
that's a good shout Rigsby. It's something that I'm hoping we address because we tend to rely on versatile players to "do a job" in a position.