17 Aug 2026 07:23:31
Encouraged by the new options in defence, not excluding Frimpong, but there’s still huge gaps in our midfield when our press is played through.
Maybe Wirtz needs to be considered as a forward and not one of the midfield 3? We’d sacrifice the width on one side but have room for a Chema Andres type DM as insurance.
Or, our press needs to be better and the chances created need a high conversion rate, because we will concede chances and teams know it.
Still don’t have anyone in midfield who looks odds on to win a 50/50, including headers… I appreciate the game has moved on but tackling and duel winning will always be required. The whole PSG midfield do it regularly, we don’t seem to have anyone who can do it without fouling.
17 Aug 2026 08:51:09
I rekon the answer will be our team press, keeping the gaps small and limiting losing the ball in dangerous spaces.
Big ask tho lol.
17 Aug 2026 09:01:16
I agree, @Faith, the team will be the ones to plug the gaps.
17 Aug 2026 09:05:41
It's just going to take some time for the team to get on the same wave length with the new system style of setup etc. You've just got to hope the quality will help us through the first few games and then things will click.
The first half, for a majority of these pre season games, has been really good pressing, good interchanging, and quick incisive passing. The second half has been underwhelming, which is a bit worrying.
17 Aug 2026 09:19:00
The press will continue to improve. It's already come on leaps and bounds from what it was. The fitness is still an issue. Yet again we dominated the first half but didn't have the legs to keep it up after the break. We did keep our shape whilst tiring much better than we have done in recent games though which was a big bonus.
2 clean sheets yesterday were the biggest positive for me.
There is still a way to go but you can see us improving in all aspects from game to game.
17 Aug 2026 09:28:01
I think, typically, there have been wholesale changes in the second half, which there weren't in the 2nd game yesterday - I think there were only the regulation 5 subs - which helped us at least keep a clean sheet.
I must admit, I am coming round to the 'Gakpo In' crowd, albeit it may be too late for the player and the club.
I'd like for him to at least give us an extra year, see how he does, and allow time for Ekitike to recover. And that's even if we get both Barcola and Mbaye.
17 Aug 2026 09:35:47
We are going into season 4 of Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, MacAllister and Endo. And we still cannot find a balanced two to hang our hat on.
17 Aug 2026 09:40:52
Endo seems to be 7th choice centre half at the moment.
17 Aug 2026 09:56:56
Even when we had the press down to a fine art with Mo, Mane, and Firmino (which is absolutely light years ahead of this version by the way), we had players like Henderson, Fabinho, Milner, or Wildnaldum shoring up the middle of the park.
We also had two fullbacks providing fantastic creativity.
This team is nowhere near that level or balance. I don't think we can recreate it, but I'd like to hope we can learn from it.
Our press is never going to be great with Isak in the team. He just hasn't got the ability to do it, but aside from that you still need more defensive nous in midfield.
17 Aug 2026 10:01:28
To be fair Fpf, the balance was fine until Wirtz was shoehorned into the midfield and Slot let Gravenberch's dad decide the tactics.
Macca and Grav sitting with Dom leading the press literally is a title winning combination. I still think we should go back to that, personally.
17 Aug 2026 10:06:14
To be fair, Overkill - it took a long time to get to that point. And even then, it's not like we were impenetrable through their peak years.
17 Aug 2026 10:06:19
A more mobile, quicker version of Endo would be great as an option, jk... a player who you just know the outcome once they commit.
A - wins the ball cleanly and passes.
B - takes out everything fairly, ball and opponent - stops the initial break but ball could go anywhere.
C - challenges unfairly - again stops the initial break but concedes a free kick.
17 Aug 2026 10:07:07
The only way Wirtz would ever work in a midfield 3 in England is if you have 2 DM’s behind him. We don’t even have one, never mind two (Sorry @Riss/BP).
If you are willing to play Wirtz as a LW, what is the whole point of chasing Bracola?
Talking about press? What if the opposition goes direct and long? VVD might win all the headers, but what about the second balls?
Our midfielders have no positional sense whatsoever.
17 Aug 2026 10:20:59
That was part of our defensive problem last season, teams just went long and bullied our CBs. At least in Araujo and Jacquet there's some muscle.
Agree with the time point on the press, whichever way you look at it, we need one more defensive minded CM.
17 Aug 2026 10:30:49
So, and I'm struggling to write it, are we saying Wirtz is the issue, MK?
I just don't think we've enough players who are willing to do the graft - or put their foot in when they do. There's doing it for show cos that's how the manager wants to play, then there's doing like you mean it...
It's an attitude more than ability, Klopp's teams had a hunger to succeed and believed in the approach.
Maybe this midfield can get there when they start seeing the results...but seriously, do any of our midfield win a 50/50 with Declan Rice, Bruno G, Enzo F or Elliot Anderson?
17 Aug 2026 11:06:12
I can't see how Dom and Wirtz fit in a side together as neither can tackle without pushing one or the other out wide,
But over the moon how Jaquet and Araujo looked in defence, we will have some ups and downs, but it will be a better season than last.
17 Aug 2026 11:09:50
I agree with MK. We changed a winning formula to accommodate Isak and Wirtz, and that has contributed to a lot of the problems we had last season, and the balance isn't right now.
Wirtz is the major part of it, it's a dilemma because they're good players. He's generally fit and in the team, Isak hasn't been, but neither has justified guaranteed inclusion in the team yet or their price tags.
At the moment, if we had a fully fit squad, and Barcola in, on form I'd play Szob in an advanced central role ahead of Wirtz and I'd probably even have Gakpo in ahead of Isak tbf. Barcola left, with a question mark over the right side. Probably Munoz gets in there, but we may start with Rio.
17 Aug 2026 11:43:53
Sorry, but the Macca-Grav-Szobo three was not as good as you think either, despite winning the league. That midfield stopped functioning once Gravy's little turn got found out by January. We limped over the line thanks to poor quality of the league.
Yes, that midfield trio won the league and should be celebrated but let's not overstate it.
That trio + Endo are going into their 4th season together and there's not really been any sign of them gelling into balanced midfield.
But sure, let's blame Wirtz for the fact that we don't have a single midfielder (bar a 4 season stop-gap, Wataru Endo) that wants to put a foot in, track runners or bring control to the game.
17 Aug 2026 12:14:39
A CDM would solve many issues for us, it's a mystery why the transfer people, Iraola and Slot before him didn't see it. We may then see a better Wirtz that's true as he could play with even more freedom.
Thing is though, even last season when we were poor he got plenty of the all in the right areas and was wasteful, and he was the same again yesterday.
There'll come a point when he has to be responsible for his own performances, rather than it being more about the failings of those around him. Let's hope he just improves and nails down the place.
17 Aug 2026 12:23:00
FPF, I'm not blaming Wirtz, as he would be absolutely fine playing as a no.10 ahead of 2 defensive midfielders. But we've shoehorned him into a midfield that was not set up right because we don't have defensive midfielders to cover for an orthodox no.10. Therefore, I think we would be better off playing Dom there because he presses and tracks back better. Meanwhile, Wirtz plays the role more like a 2nd striker. Wirtz is also better off the left, in my opinion, but it seems like we don't want that kind of player on the left.
I disagree entirely with the idea that the midfield of Macca, Grav and Don fell apart in the 2nd half of the title-winning season.
The whole team went on early holidays after the Carabao Cup final and PSG tie defeats. The league was wrapped up and Slot was happy to let the standards slip, so he could party in Ibiza. The whole club was lacking focus and all the players were lacking fitness.
Ultimately Iraola seems to want Wirtz as a no.10 and Dom as a no.8, so we just have to trust his coaching ability to make that work. My opinion on a functional 3 man midfield is you either play a no.6 with two no.8's or you play a no.10 ahead of two no.6's. I'm just an armchair manager though.
17 Aug 2026 12:35:39
I think Dom and Grav, as the double pivot, are fine.
But as above and in other threads, the more important point is the team press. Only a team full of N'Golo Kante's is going to cover every blade of grass once the press is beat.