Naby Keita

[G Richards]

When there's cross words over grammar and typos, it's a clear indication that we need a signing!

 

Keita looks like it's over for this summer to me, but maybe one last effort before moving on? We can come back for Keita next summer if we can't get it over the line now. Central midfield is relatively strong and we will be OK there, especially if Coutinho plays more in the middle too.

 

It's imperative we sign VVD though, as the weakest area of the team is central defence.

[Elite]

We need VVD and a top quality striker if we can't get Keita.

[Jay86]

I think we need Van Dijk a lot more than Keita at the moment so as long as we get him then we'll be better than last season.

 

I keep changing my mind on whether we'll get them or not. At this moment in time, I think we'll get them both. There's a significant lack of alternatives being mentioned, I haven't heard or seen any credible links to any alternative at all, not one! And Klopp was joking about the bid yesterday, if it was really dead he'd have said straight away.

[G Richards]

I can't see us signing a striker at this time. Klopp likes Firmino in the role, and while he's not a prolific scorer, in a three with Salah and Mane either side, there will be plenty of goals, especially with Coutinho playing centrally. I'm also backing Firmino to score a few more if he's not shunted out wide, where he is less effective.

 

Beyond Firmino we have other options in Sturridge, Origi and Solanke. The latter of these is doing well in pre season and may surprise people. I'd like to see Origi kick on and think he needs to do more to justify staying here longer term.

 

If an opportunity like Aubameyang presents itself then Klopp might shuffle the forward pack, but I suspect we won't see another striker added at present, so long as there are no nasty surprises with outgoing players. If Coutinho leaves, for example, maybe Firmino will play a bit deeper and we will get a top class centre forward. But apart from that scenario, I'm not expecting it.

[jimmycase]

I can't see us signing a striker at this time. Klopp likes Firmino in the role, and while he's not a prolific scorer, in a three with Salah and Mane either side, there will be plenty of goals, especially with Coutinho playing centrally. I'm also backing Firmino to score a few more if he's not shunted out wide, where he is less effective.

 

Beyond Firmino we have other options in Sturridge, Origi and Solanke. The latter of these is doing well in pre season and may surprise people. I'd like to see Origi kick on and think he needs to do more to justify staying here longer term.

 

If an opportunity like Aubameyang presents itself then Klopp might shuffle the forward pack, but I suspect we won't see another striker added at present, so long as there are no nasty surprises with outgoing players. If Coutinho leaves, for example, maybe Firmino will play a bit deeper and we will get a top class centre forward. But apart from that scenario, I'm not expecting it.

 

Good post. Im not too hung up about getting another striker though. We score goals all around the team and I dont like the idea of depending on one striker to do the business.

 

I know a lot of folks go on about teams who win the league have a prolific striker. Well, we've had 3 since 2000 in fowler, the one who went to chelsea and suarez. We didnt win the title with any of them.

 

Im still hopeful we'll get van Dijk. Southampton may be making noises or re integrating him but if he holds firm, I think the deal will go through albeit late in the window.

[JagSquared]

When there's cross words over grammar and typos, it's a clear indication that we need a signing!

 

Keita looks like it's over for this summer to me, but maybe one last effort before moving on? We can come back for Keita next summer if we can't get it over the line now. Central midfield is relatively strong and we will be OK there, especially if Coutinho plays more in the middle too.

 

It's imperative we sign VVD though, as the weakest area of the team is central defence.

How is CM strong(even relatively)?

 

- Coutinho if he plays there is our best by far. But could end up being sold by these unambitious owners. Due to our lack of wide options he will play further forward if he stays.

 

- Can wants off and has the turning circle of a tank. Even though he's a good player is the type to dominate games on a consistent basis for us?

 

- Wijnaldum wouldn't get into any side ahead of us and possibly not even the two behind us

 

- Lallana flatters to deceive can look good played deeper but being honest should he ever be first choice?

 

- Henderson averageness personified. he was good a couple of seasons ago but is now injury prone and plays it safe way too often.

 

- Milner is our first choice LB.

 

- Grujic is an unknown quantity but also injury prone and in the games he did play didn't do much. That's a lot of hope being placed in a kid.

 

 

 

If we lose one of coutinho or can then our options are laughable. However you did say RELATIVELY so yes compared to our defence and goal keeping options they're the 300 spartans.

 

Our forward options are much better but we definitely need quality in CM and defence which is what we have lacked for years. I think people gloss over that we have fundamental issues all over the field. Now I'm realistic we won't address all of them but can we at least get a CM and CB and not just 1?

 

In terms of our issues I'd say we still need;

 

GK - ain't happening

CB - have we even been linked to anyone other than VVD?

RB - Clyne and TAA are poor choices for a team with CL ambitions.

LB - Robertson is back up at best and a CM is first choice there.

DM - ain't happening but we get sliced apart again and again in CM.

CM - any alternatives to Kieta?

Wing - were banking on salah and mane staying fit for any pace

ST - we still have no number 9

 

VVD and Kieta or some alternatives are a minimum requirement this summer for me. If we don't we'll struggle to finish 6th with our current squad.

[an tha]

If we don't sign at least 1 and arguably maybe 2 centre halves in this window we are going to be in all kinds of trouble back there as this coming season wears on.

[Gym Beglin]

I bet Keita fucked that and took her back to his village.

[HBenn]

Frankly if they don't get the deals for Keita and Van Dijk over the line then I will be really frustrated. The main reason would be that it would show that the recruitment side of the club (not Klopp) are amateurs.

 

There can be no excuses. The club leaked that they were confident we would do both deals. That confidence continued after the initial noises from Leipzig were Keita were not for sale. They then put bids in that have been rejected. Now we are in a scenario where Keita must force the sale if it is to happen. If the club had done their homework then they would know how difficult it would be. Especially as Klopp is good mates with Rangnick so knows his personality.

 

If they did not know this information then you have to question their competence. Assuming they did know this and still chose to leak their confidence then this is all part of the strategy or...you have to question their competence in leaking their confidence.

 

At the end of the day they will have spent months talking to these two players. If they have done this properly surely they establish who they want, making initial enquiries to both the club and the player and if the feedback is positive enough then narrow down their targets. If they have really got to mid July to find the club are not interested in selling then something is seriously wrong.

 

What I hope is the case is that the club know that Leipzig and Southampton are making sure that the players are seen to be the bad guys and it is brinkmanship to get top dollar. Or the club knew that the players would have to force the moves and that is what will play out over the next month.

[VladimirIlyich]

Who the fuck is Alex Fraser!?

Ally Frazer was a bit of lad on the Spanish building sites around Marbella in the 80s. Probably a retired respectable businessman now.

[Paco]

How is CM strong(even relatively)?

 

- Coutinho if he plays there is our best by far. But could end up being sold by these unambitious owners. Due to our lack of wide options he will play further forward if he stays.

 

- Can wants off and has the turning circle of a tank. Even though he's a good player is the type to dominate games on a consistent basis for us?

 

- Wijnaldum wouldn't get into any side ahead of us and possibly not even the two behind us

 

- Lallana flatters to deceive can look good played deeper but being honest should he ever be first choice?

 

- Henderson averageness personified. he was good a couple of seasons ago but is now injury prone and plays it safe way too often.

 

- Milner is our first choice LB.

 

- Grujic is an unknown quantity but also injury prone and in the games he did play didn't do much. That's a lot of hope being placed in a kid.

 

 

 

If we lose one of coutinho or can then our options are laughable. However you did say RELATIVELY so yes compared to our defence and goal keeping options they're the 300 spartans.

 

Our forward options are much better but we definitely need quality in CM and defence which is what we have lacked for years. I think people gloss over that we have fundamental issues all over the field. Now I'm realistic we won't address all of them but can we at least get a CM and CB and not just 1?

 

In terms of our issues I'd say we still need;

 

GK - ain't happening

CB - have we even been linked to anyone other than VVD?

RB - Clyne and TAA are poor choices for a team with CL ambitions.

LB - Robertson is back up at best and a CM is first choice there.

DM - ain't happening but we get sliced apart again and again in CM.

CM - any alternatives to Kieta?

Wing - were banking on salah and mane staying fit for any pace

ST - we still have no number 9

 

VVD and Kieta or some alternatives are a minimum requirement this summer for me. If we don't we'll struggle to finish 6th with our current squad.

------------henderson-------------

---------------can----------------

---Wijnaldum-----------Coutinho---

---lallana---------------grujic---

 

Pretty strong 6 for 3 positions. Plus Milner could play in there too if needed.

[JagSquared]

------------henderson-------------

---------------can----------------

---Wijnaldum-----------Coutinho---

---lallana---------------grujic---

 

Pretty strong 6 for 3 positions. Plus Milner could play in there too if needed.

Coutinho aside every single one of them can be improved upon. Any team that has a go will slice through that midfield

[Paco]

Coutinho aside every single one of them can be improved upon. Any team that has a go will slice through that midfield

4th best midfield in the league last season.

 

I agree that a dm is required to help us defend better but as you said it's not happening.

 

I think a lot of people are starting to realise that klopp isn't going to scrap all these 'mediocre' players. He rates them and is going to try to improve them.

[jimmycase]

4th best midfield in the league last season.

 

I agree that a dm is required to help us defend better but as you said it's not happening.

 

I think a lot of people are starting to realise that klopp isn't going to scrap all these 'mediocre' players. He rates them and is going to try to improve them.

 

This.

[The Guest]

Frankly if they don't get the deals for Keita and Van Dijk over the line then I will be really frustrated. The main reason would be that it would show that the recruitment side of the club (not Klopp) are amateurs.

 

There can be no excuses. The club leaked that they were confident we would do both deals. That confidence continued after the initial noises from Leipzig were Keita were not for sale. They then put bids in that have been rejected. Now we are in a scenario where Keita must force the sale if it is to happen. If the club had done their homework then they would know how difficult it would be. Especially as Klopp is good mates with Rangnick so knows his personality.

 

If they did not know this information then you have to question their competence. Assuming they did know this and still chose to leak their confidence then this is all part of the strategy or...you have to question their competence in leaking their confidence.

 

At the end of the day they will have spent months talking to these two players. If they have done this properly surely they establish who they want, making initial enquiries to both the club and the player and if the feedback is positive enough then narrow down their targets. If they have really got to mid July to find the club are not interested in selling then something is seriously wrong.

 

What I hope is the case is that the club know that Leipzig and Southampton are making sure that the players are seen to be the bad guys and it is brinkmanship to get top dollar. Or the club knew that the players would have to force the moves and that is what will play out over the next month.

I've never read such absolute bollocks in my life. People like you are clearly annoyed we haven't signed a lot of players and then you come out with this complete shite. What the fuck are you on about really? You have to question the competence of leaking their confidence? HAHAHA. Jesus fucking Christ. You have no fucking clue what they have or haven't leaked on purpose or not.

 

We've struggled to attract these levels of players for years. The main reason being that other clubs have offered more money than us. On top of that we've stopped winning things which means players are not likely to come here even if we offered more money (e.g. Sanchez). Klopp and the club being fully on to this have clearly gone away and picked a couple of top level signings. Instead of wasting their time speaking to the club first (like no other top club in football does) causing an auction which we would lose for the above reason. We've nobbled both players. Convinced them that Liverpool is the place to come.

 

We've got Van Dijk striking ffs and are prepared to offer silly money after convincing him to sign for us above sides with a lot more chance of winning things in our league. Keita has got a release clause of 48m next season. Any sane person would think that offering nearly 50% on top of this would be able to prise him away. Both these things are entirely reasonable. Unfortunately for us it hasn't worked out.

 

The initial inquiry thing is probably the most comical of all. What the fuck do you expect them to say? Yeah go ahead speak to them. Convince them to sign for you and we will sort the price out later after we've let you convince them to leave our club. Any club with players tied to a contract is going to tell you to fuck off because they know if they are willing to sell them they're going to get more money out of you than if they said yes we are willing to. That shouldn't stop you from trying them. It's all a game and always has been.

 

Honestly what fucking planet are you on.

[an tha]

Coutinho aside every single one of them can be improved upon. Any team that has a go will slice through that midfield

Half of them are made of crisps and we have added nothing to cover/improve...in fact all we have done is sold a player who due to how brittle they are played 31 times last season...

 

I don't see how with the additional demands of europe this season that these players won't be injured/unavailable just as much as last season.

 

For my money we need as a matter of urgency:

 

A first choice centre half who drops Lovren to first back up

 

A centre half who is an upgrade on one of the other current back ups of Klavan (who at 32 and slow and shite needs jibbing) and Gomez (especially as it looks like Gomez is being tagged as right back cover)

 

A centre midfielder who slots into starting line up.

 

If we don't get the above we are going to see a lot of line ups this coming season where people are looking at it and saying 'fucking hell we lack depth' as we see players out of position - being asked to do jobs they aren't used to/best at.

[Paco]

Half of them are made of crisps and we have added nothing to cover/improve...in fact all we have done is sold a player who due to how brittle they are played 31 times last season...

 

I don't see how with the additional demands of europe this season that these players won't be injured/unavailable just as much as last season.

 

For my money we need as a matter of urgency:

 

A first choice centre half who drops Lovren to first back up

 

A centre half who is an upgrade on one of the other current back ups of Klavan and Gomez (especially as it looks like Gomez is being tagged as right back cover)

 

A centre midfielder who slots into starting line up.

Klopp agrees with you on two of those hence the summer long pursuits of van dijk and Keita. Whether we have other targets for these positions remains to be seen.

[an tha]

Klopp agrees with you on two of those hence the summer long pursuits of van dijk and Keita. Whether we have other targets for these positions remains to be seen.

It does - and there lies the whole key to our season.

 

I can only assume we must think we are getting these deals done or we know we have a back up plan because here we are 2 weeks before kick off and as yet there is nothing done...

[HBenn]

I've never read such absolute bollocks in my life. People like you are clearly annoyed we haven't signed a lot of players and then you come out with this complete shite. What the fuck are you on about really? You have to question the competence of leaking their confidence? HAHAHA. Jesus fucking Christ. You have no fucking clue what they have or haven't leaked on purpose or not.

 

We've struggled to attract these levels of players for years. The main reason being that other clubs have offered more money than us. On top of that we've stopped winning things which means players are not likely to come here even if we offered more money (e.g. Sanchez). Klopp and the club being fully on to this have clearly gone away and picked a couple of top level signings. Instead of wasting their time speaking to the club first (like no other top club in football does) causing an auction which we would lose for the above reason. We've nobbled both players. Convinced them that Liverpool is the place to come.

 

We've got Van Dijk striking ffs and are prepared to offer silly money after convincing him to sign for us above sides with a lot more chance of winning things in our league. Keita has got a release clause of 48m next season. Any sane person would think that offering nearly 50% on top of this would be able to prise him away. Both these things are entirely reasonable. Unfortunately for us it hasn't worked out.

 

The initial inquiry thing is probably the most comical of all. What the fuck do you expect them to say? Yeah go ahead speak to them. Convince them to sign for you and we will sort the price out later after we've let you convince them to leave our club. Any club with players tied to a contract is going to tell you to fuck off because they know if they are willing to sell them they're going to get more money out of you than if they said yes we are willing to. That shouldn't stop you from trying them. It's all a game and always has been.

 

Honestly what fucking planet are you on.

[TheHowieLama]

Also talked for years about filling the team with quality youth in certain positions. TAA and Gomez are probably the best two prospects we have. They should be getting important minutes - when that happens (and it will) it is not because the squad needed filling out and the club was incompetent.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

This thread is lava

[HBenn]

I've never read such absolute bollocks in my life. People like you are clearly annoyed we haven't signed a lot of players and then you come out with this complete shite. What the fuck are you on about really? You have to question the competence of leaking their confidence? HAHAHA. Jesus fucking Christ. You have no fucking clue what they have or haven't leaked on purpose or not.

 

We've struggled to attract these levels of players for years. The main reason being that other clubs have offered more money than us. On top of that we've stopped winning things which means players are not likely to come here even if we offered more money (e.g. Sanchez). Klopp and the club being fully on to this have clearly gone away and picked a couple of top level signings. Instead of wasting their time speaking to the club first (like no other top club in football does) causing an auction which we would lose for the above reason. We've nobbled both players. Convinced them that Liverpool is the place to come.

 

We've got Van Dijk striking ffs and are prepared to offer silly money after convincing him to sign for us above sides with a lot more chance of winning things in our league. Keita has got a release clause of 48m next season. Any sane person would think that offering nearly 50% on top of this would be able to prise him away. Both these things are entirely reasonable. Unfortunately for us it hasn't worked out.

 

The initial inquiry thing is probably the most comical of all. What the fuck do you expect them to say? Yeah go ahead speak to them. Convince them to sign for you and we will sort the price out later after we've let you convince them to leave our club. Any club with players tied to a contract is going to tell you to fuck off because they know if they are willing to sell them they're going to get more money out of you than if they said yes we are willing to. That shouldn't stop you from trying them. It's all a game and always has been.

 

Honestly what fucking planet are you on.

I think the club leak information when there is no need. If you think they don't then I think that's naive. Van Dijk being a prime example.The same journalists write pretty much the exact same stories, quoting the same list of players and the club being confident they will sign them.

 

All the club need to say to journos is that they will announce signings when they are done. At best they should say they are one of a list of targets. Leaking the information creates expectation and then fans are disappointed when it does not happen. All I am saying is the club appear to create a lot of their own issues. Talk up the chances of players coming and then not expecting questions when they don't get the deals done. Under promise and over deliver.

[Bjornebye]

Pointless thread.

[Mark M]

Pointless thread.

Ha!. Wait till you see how bad the January 2018 thread is going to be.

[El Rojo]

We're going to sign Alex Fraser instead, aren't we?