There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest
Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Bit a rant here, (Monday moan but it's a bank holiday so a day early!)
There's obviously a massive malaise at Liverpool now, with a myriad of problems. Klopp seems to be at the forefront of this, and is the public face of the club so will get the brunt of external blame for it. While he is not entirely blameless, his hands are being severely tied.
Liverpool have had the same bodies, the same minds together working as the main group for about 5/6 years now. It's largely the same voices, the same plan, the same common goal, the same players doing the work every game. Going to the well 2/3 times a week and leaving everything on the pitch. Playing through injury, having to win every week, winning every week, winning every trophy. But ultimately coming up short last season. Being told they would get their rewards if they won every game. They won 28 games out of 35 from January to June last season. Put absolutely everything into it, ran into the ground and ultimately were told they were not good enough at the end of it by everyone external to the club. That's a massive burden to shoulder. They done that for 5 years up against a sportswashing club, kept the pace, set the pace. Got burned by the pace.
Ultimately as it is the same bodies, and the same minds. The hunger, willingness and ability just might not be there. 5 years of having to win every game. If you draw any game, it feels like a defeat. Liverpool started the season tired and got sucker punched by Fulham. Fair play Fulham, the deserved the point but it set back Liverpool straight away. 'I dunno if my body is able for having to win every single game again this season'. 'But hey, at least I have this new energetic lad beside me who does have that hunger'. Except he is not there. There is basically new bodies.
Liverpool have been criminally under recruiting for a number of years, and it's not even a money conversation. It's a conversation, and fact, that in the past 8 transfer windows, Liverpool have permanently bought 10 players over the age of 18. That's basically 1 new face every window - 2 a year, and one of those could be a kid. Not exactly a constant refreshment and having a new guy in beside you which makes you take notice. What Diaz done last January - it breathed new life into Liverpool and rejuvenated the attack, and Mane, and the club overall just through his energy. That should be happening in attack + midfield or midfield+defence etc every year. it's what the other clubs are doing. The new players that are signed end up missing large periods through injury (Thiago/Konate/Diaz/Jota) which means that those tired minds and bodies have to dig deep again, go to the well again, instead of being eased into rotation options.
- Arsenal have slowly built a new team and in those same 8 transfer windows have bought 9 of their current starting 11. The likes of Auba & Lacazette gone to make way for Jesus. Ozil out for Odegaard. Tired minds out, hungry bodies in.
- 5 or 6 of Man City's best 11 were signed in this period. Cancelo is after being sent out of the club, to keep things refreshed. His standards have dropped, so out he goes. Gundogan will probably follow suit in the summer and maybe even Bernando, no doubt with top class replacements coming in so that there is a constant refreshment. 6 of their 11 in today's game were bought in the last 4 seasons.
- 2 of Liverpool's starting 11 yesterday were signed in the last 8 transfer windows. 1 of Liverpool's 5 subs were signed then (plus Elliott so 2 really, but he was/is a kid).
- If you want to include money spent in the conversation, it's even worse. This is total number of 18+ year old players bought for a fee, and the gross spend over the last 8 windows.
Liverpool are still relying on Hendo, Fabinho, Matip etc and it's cost the team games. How many times have we seen an opposition midfielder run through to finish off a counter attack? Countlesss. Or how many times have we seen those players, and others, make tired decisions of just hitting the ball aimlessly over the top, down the channel for someone else to chase onto. Because they don't have the energy to move into a better position and zip the ball through the lines to the attack. They don't have the energy to turn around and chase opposition midfielders. You don't even need to be good to score against Liverpool now, you just need to be energetic and/or quick.
Last season, after January, Klopp decided that Fabinho/Thiago/Hendo/Keita were all going to rotate and play the rest of the games. The rest didn't really get a look in, those were his 4 starters. And guess what, it worked. They won every week. it helped manage their fitness as all 4 are susceptible to muscle injuries - they shared the load. Fabinho suffered a thigh injury after 30 mins in the 3rd last league game of the season against Villa. His 4th significant muscle injury in 2 season. He was rushed back for the CL Final in June (and to be fair, every club does that for a CL final). Maybe Keita should have started instead, in hindsight, but Fabinho has never recovered. There's a Liverpool fan (@BassTunedToRed) who has worked out that a 29 year old Fabinho has played the same number of minutes as the average 33 year old. He's past it. Maybe the recruitment team could see this coming and so it's why they wanted Tchouameni so much in the summer, and then when he was unavailable moved onto Enzo Fernandez. Who vetoed the transfer of Fernandez? Was it FSG not paying the £10m? Was it Klopp being loyal and trusting Fabinho over an unknown coming from Argentina? Whoever did it, it has cost club dearly this season.
The midfield problem was predicted in the summer, but the club (be it FSG or Klopp or whoever, maybe all of them) chose to not recruit and instead go for 'one last dance'. It went horribly wrong. Alright, ok let's address it in January. And then January comes around the FSG say that they are only giving X amount available. The club needs midfielders badly, except now they also need forwards. Their was fit, underperforming, midfielders at the time, so the recruitment team (Klopp?) had to chose between signing a midfielder or a forward and took a gamble on a forward purely because they didn't have any forwards to play. 3 or 4 forwards missing for months - mainly those new faces that were supposed to inject the new energy into the team. As a result the same tired minds and bodies are the ones to carry the water, yet again. The midfield was going to have to continue to suffer and so Gakpo was signed. The number of fit forwards at the club per game from January onwards, without Gakpo, is as follows; 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2. And that is including Nunez's games on the bench as he was not fit enough to start. So clearly a forward was needed to be signed. But so was a midfielder, again, for the 4 or 5th window in a row. Again, it went unaddressed. There has been 1 senior midfielder signed since 2018 and he was 29 at the time. The team is growing old together.
Now we are in a situation where 3+ midfielders need to be signed this summer and all are too late. A CB is also needed as Matip is over the hill now, but that won't happen as midfield is the priority so that's all we will see. The tired Matip will continue for another season - will this cost us as VVD is more injury prone now given the massive injury + age. Konate likes a small injury. Also, the tired Bobby will continue. The refreshment rate is not high enough.
I heard a good saying today about it - "cutting off the the top of the blanket to sow onto the bottom of the blanket".
12 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Ball coming in for the second goal, Robertson was wit that player, but put the brakes on where he stands, while the Wolves players went to gather the ball to cross it, why stop and let him gather the ball to cross it freely. Then Gomez again heads it as Alisson is about to catch it
0 -
Advertisement
-
-
Ball is coming across field, Robertson is clear favourite, but again he puts the brakes on and allows the Wolves player to gather the ball, and then tries to get goal side, playing with a free mind he wins the ball before Wolves players get it
0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
