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There is nothing wrong with our midfield


Pureblood
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I suspect that had everyone been fit and available the first choice would've been 

Chamberlain...Henderson ..Wijanldum.

I would play Wijnaldum centrally in that 3 and pick Milner ahead of Henderson.

As Chamberlain is out for the season I think Klopp sees his 'go to' Midfield 3 in important games as

Henderson.. Wijnaldum.. Milner. 

Currently, that is the tight 3 that I would go with also.

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1 hour ago, The Guest said:

With the players available at the moment there’s two different midfields I’d play.  Against shit opposition, Gini as the 6 with Milner and Keita.  Against the top teams Henderson as the 6 with Gini and Milner.  The teams in between it would depend on the composition and style they played.

I agree.

 

But I wish we had two Gini's as we ideally would have him as both the 6 & the 8 vs the top teams.

 

He really has turned into a key player for us.  His composure in possession, his ability to retain the ball when pressed, his positioning, his awareness to cover others.

 

I've been critical of him over the years for not showing enough urgency, as I feel he has the ability to do more attacking-wise.

 

But he really is the glue in our CM at the moment, until Fabinho & Keita get full adjusted to playing in a Klopp CM, which is clearly extremely hard to learn. 

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Nothing personal ardj, the blame and indictment in the immediate aftermath of a defeat has always and will always get my goat. The midfield is as strong as it’s been since... ages. Once nabs and fabs are up to speed (and Ox to return) we’ll be even more a force to be reckoned with. 

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2 hours ago, aRdja said:

Would like to hear some thoughts on the midfield after last night. What’s our best midfield composition currently? Have we strengthened our midfield enough over the summer, given we lost Can, Coutinho and arguably our best midfielder of last season Ox?


Best midfield right now is Milner and Wijnaldum - for me, both head and shoulders above everybody else at the moment -  and one of Keita or Henderson. Shaqiri as the third man against parked buses is an interesting option too.

 

Fabinho looks a bit further off in terms of getting to grips with what's required. Doubtless he'll be a real asset by the end of the season.

 

It's been said elsewhere, but the arrival of Fabinho and Keita appears to have had a hugely positive effect on the form of our longer-serving midfielders.

 

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26 minutes ago, aRdja said:

We have a new midfield; we lost three very good midfielders and added two new ones. It’s only natural we talk about it. 

Then talk about it. Nobody is stopping you.

 

Coutinho is somebody we lost who was very good. We’ve not lost three very good midfielders though, we lost one top quality attacking midfielder, Can wasn’t ‘very’ anything, and we didn’t lose AOC. We replaced Can with Fabinho, who we need to wait to judge, and Keita who is brilliant (although I’ve noticed you’re making him some sort of pet project). 

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2 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

And by the fucking way, I want to say that for large parts of that we bossed it, should have scored loads, and got fucked by a shit VAR call. Our second string is plenty good enough. 

Completely agree. I thought we played well, unlucky to lose and not in any way indicative of a wider issue like some are suggesting. 

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I have difficulty predicting what we'll do with Fabinho. Wijnaldum has looked fantastic in a holding role and Henderson has a big status in the squad and isn't bad enough that we can just stop playing him. Don't really see the fit, especially if we're only going to play 4-3-3. We have to give it some time of course and he's a quality player but if we're only going to play him in one position and it happens to be one he's rarely played in and where there are already options, i'm not sure what the point is. I'm sure it will work out because again, he's very good and Klopp has previous of slowly but surely integrating players into his side, but this case is a little weird. 

 

Keita has been a mixed bag, which is fine for now but the hype around him is a little tiresome. The collective orgasm pretty much everyone had after his first few games makes me nervous. It was warranted when he was at Leipzig because he was fantastic, but for now at Liverpool we need to wait. 

 

 

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22 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

And by the fucking way, I want to say that for large parts of that we bossed it, should have scored loads, and got fucked by a shit VAR call. Our second string is plenty good enough. 

I agree with that, especially in the 2nd half, until that awful decision - Chelsea weren't in it at all.

 

The first half, I think the midfield did struggle without the ball.  But I have no doubt Keita & Fabinho will adapt.  They could have done with Henderson or Wijnaldum alongside them, who are more disciplined than Milner IMO.  Who at times goes rogue, which is when he does his best work.  But you need the other two in the right position to cover when he does that.  

 

Wijnaldum for me is currently our most important midfielder (until the others adapt).  In the future I think we look really well set in midfield & I can see Fabinho, Keita making the need for Milner or Henderson less over time.  With Ox back too, maybe Rabiot in the summer it's looking strong. 

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58 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

Then talk about it. Nobody is stopping you.

 

Coutinho is somebody we lost who was very good. We’ve not lost three very good midfielders though, we lost one top quality attacking midfielder, Can wasn’t ‘very’ anything, and we didn’t lose AOC. We replaced Can with Fabinho, who we need to wait to judge, and Keita who is brilliant (although I’ve noticed you’re making him some sort of pet project). 

No, I like Keita... he looks very good going forward, but people need to acknowledge that he still has a bit to go before he could start for us regularly. I can’t get my head around why people are turning a blind eye on his mistakes e.g., like for the winner last night. 

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I've got no worries that Keita and Fabinho will be absolutely fine for us, last night both showed flashes of ability we know that they have, but as it stands they aren't first choice and need time to adapt, in fact I'd go as far as saying the only 2 that should be in on merit are Milner and Wijnaldum, and Hendo will probably get the nod at the weekend which I wouldn't disagree with either.

 

We play a very specific way, and whilst I agree that I thought Naby might slot in very quickly style-wise that there are also other outside factors such as physicality and pace of the English game which he's definitely looking like he needs to adapt to, and to a lesser extent the varying standards of refereeing as could be seen by Friend last night who was very card happy against us. The ability is clearly there and I think might only need a handful more games before we see the player we've waited 12 months for

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Wicket said:

I've got no worries that Keita and Fabinho will be absolutely fine for us, last night both showed flashes of ability we know that they have, but as it stands they aren't first choice and need time to adapt, in fact I'd go as far as saying the only 2 that should be in on merit are Milner and Wijnaldum, and Hendo will probably get the nod at the weekend which I wouldn't disagree with either.

For me Wijnaldum & Henderson are our most disciplined CMs at the moment (not including Fabinho, who Klopp admitted himself is taking time to adjust).

 

Against Chelsea, I'd definitely start those two & I probably have Milner alongside them with Keita as an impact sub, burst of energy when needed.  But I don't think Milner played that well last night & against a top side I wouldn't really feel comfortable with only one of Wijnaldum or Henderson starting.  Especially without Wijnaldum, who can deal with a press much better than Henderson.

 

For me the decision on the weekend should be, do we use Wijanldum as the 6 & Henderson as the 8, like last night.  Or Henderson in his usual position as the 6, with Wijnaldum as the 8.  As I feel Wijnaldum is the best option for both positions vs a team that will be aggressive in their pressing.

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