we have many arguments and discussions on this. my view expressed last week was 2 men in each position.. as.of today: cb Matip out Gomez out klavan out. lovren and vvd start. we bought vvd in january. cm lallana out can out probably Milner Henderson and windy to start. ox only sub. this is why we need depth. we are already showing we have it. but.. up front. salah firmino mane. each irreplaceable due to us only having ings and maybe ox. i just think more quality ib and a couple deadwood out and there will be 2 players for every place. injuries happen. suspensions happen. our season can't be blown next year by key men getting injured.
I think we're almost there depth wise, left back needed and this Fulham lad would be a good idea. Keita comes in and replaces Lallana (I hope) if Can goes then a replacement there. 1 CB in and Klavan out. Something like that.
2 CB's and Klavan and Lovren out (fixed it for you) tbh I think Lallana might be finished with us. Double injury at his age, going to struggle to come back from it. Not to mention he's going to fall further down the pecking order as others come in or move up.
no. but it's upfront where we are least covered as coutinho sturridge and origi all out so must see some replacement.
We have Solanke also but both he and Ings play the central role. It's mane and Salah where we don't have direct replacements. Ox and Lallana can play there but are nowhere near as good and I doubt we'll see Lallana much again this season. In defence I worry. Gomez or even Can would be back up options but both injured. If either VvD or Lovren pick up an injury, we will be stuffed. I can see fat Sam instructing his lot to be physical this weekend! Midfield has lacked inspiration all season so no change there.... Basically any injury on top of what we have in defence, midfield or attack right now will leave us stretched. Ironically, the only position we have covered is left back The sooner 2 or 3 players return, the better.
Question If 30 mins left in second leg.... firmino limps off and you see either ings or solanke warm up to come in will you have your head in your hands or no?
At 0-0, no. If we were down or needed a goal then I'd be more concerned. Neither have stepped up this year.....although neither have really had much chance.
Lets just look back in time. Lucas at CB last year... we were falling over the line into 4th. it took klopp a while to get who he wanted in vvd we i think had 2 fit cms last year. Keita is still not here. IF we go into next season eith our front 3 intact but only ings and solanke as back up we might as well admit now that winning stuff is beyond us.
No 6 is a specialised position. IMO it requires a different mindset and positional sense than box to box types. I don't think henderson is actually one at all and can certainly isn't. Can wants to be box to box IMO. so right there that means both options fill in rather than thrive at it. Matic and kante are prime examples of players who thrive in the role. they have a real impact on the game both offensively and defensively. Call it deep lying playmaker or call it defensive midfield or no 6 or whatever. the role is to screen the back line and take the ball off the CBs and make play. Kieta imo is a no 8. he is certainly not this role. So when we get kieta thats lallana/windy binned off. I think keita and ox might be too attacking and unbalanced. So yeah midfield for me is a bit of an issue. just like up top.
GK: karius Mingolet Ward - covered RB: TAA, Gomez, Clyne - covered if all work RCB: Matip/Lovren. Meh.. still got 2 LCB: VVD, Klavan. - covered LB: Robertson, Moreno - covered no 6: Henderson, Can - next season this is an issue, can grujic stake a claim. no 8s Keita, windy, milner, ox. lallana covered but probably lacking something no 9: firmino, sturridge, ings, solanke. all 3 reserves are notup to the level. LW: Mane, maybe ings, RW: Salah. maybe ox, maybe wilson IMO we miss coutinho. Our go to if mane is out is firmino to left. Last year when mane was out we played almost a 41212 with firmino and sturrdge up and coutinho behind. Again we lack that no 10 to come in. We just need a forward to push the front 3 for thier places IMO, we need those CMs options looked at and we need that CB. (imo) Not sure klopp will look at GK at all. We have the bodies but its quality to really push them all on is the question.
We are progressing, not too far away from city(apart from the points). Plenty of rooms for improvement.
yeah. we are..so much better than watching rafa having to make do with trying to hang on to 11 and buy kyriakos to cover .
think we lack a MF who can play both in MF & upfront (yes i know we sold one in Jan) and if you look at most of our rivals they do have that type of player i.e. Alli, Son , Willian ,Sanchez . I just think it is unrealistic to have 2 top quality ,specialist ,players for each of front 3 positions.
Hard to get yes. I guess this boils down to: 1. Nobody happy with matip/lovren.... will klopp buy here? 2. Can is leaving. must replace 3. Sturridge is done. must replace 4. Coutinho left. must replace. I think we can all agree (and perhaps park) the top quality, specialist back up thing. I don't think i am saying that. I am saying we need to push our first 11 to play at their best or if possible replace them in team. Example is mane. he has played poorly and prechristmas coutinho was playing not him. Right now he can have an absolute stinker and klopp might sub on 65mins but he will be right back in next game As i showed we have 23 players. top quality is another matter and thats just reality isn't it. not everyone is a superstar nor is it desirable. I suppose this boils down to... we had options, we are losing options so we need to replace options. If klopp wants 5 cms and no forward this summer thats what he will get an on his head be it. IF he wasn't 3 forwards and ignores defence thats on his head too.
I think will be 2 MF's inc Keita though might be Grujic or TAA takes 2nd spot. 1 CB 1 wide forward And a RB is possible depending on Clyne
