Thiago Alcantara

[Grinch]

You either fuck this crock off in the summer or spend another year talking about how great our team is if we can keep him on the pitch.

 

Pointless player.  It’s not changing either, this is his second dud season already.

[Barrington Womble]

56 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

He started the two games prior.

He was still carrying the injury and there was 2 England matches between. 

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

41 minutes ago, Grinch said:

You either fuck this crock off in the summer or spend another year talking about how great our team is if we can keep him on the pitch.

 

Pointless player.  It’s not changing either, this is his second dud season already.

Dont totally disagree with you, he needs to be available more often.

Anyway i would rather start with getting rid of crocks of lower quality first. Keita, Ox, Minamino and Origi the obvious candidates. That said Milner and Henderson also gets injured on a regular basis, so plenty to pick from here. 
 

And no matter which of these we decide to move on, one or two top quality midfielders should be brought in.

 

[Grinch]

Just now, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Dont totally disagree with you, he needs to be available more often.

Anyway i would rather start with getting rid of crocks of lower quality first. Keita, Ox, Minamino and Origi the obvious candidates. That said Milner and Henderson also gets injured on a regular basis, so plenty to pick from here. 
 

And no matter which of these we decide to move on, one or two top quality midfielders should be brought in.

 

True they all need to go.  As a result of sitting on our hands window after window, we’re going to be chasing our tail for quite some time.  Isn’t even remotely feasible to sort out our problems in one window anymore.

 

The likes of Origi and Oxocube should have been told to fuck off or you’re training with the reserves long ago.

[Barrington Womble]

4 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Dont totally disagree with you, he needs to be available more often.

Anyway i would rather start with getting rid of crocks of lower quality first. Keita, Ox, Minamino and Origi the obvious candidates. That said Milner and Henderson also gets injured on a regular basis, so plenty to pick from here. 
 

And no matter which of these we decide to move on, one or two top quality midfielders should be brought in.

 

Basically all of our midfield has fitness issues and even fab who's the most reliable has had various problems and struggled for form around these mental international trips.

 

People dismissed the value of Gini being a fine footballer and having a spotless fitness record. But it is important having people who can get themselves on the pitch on a regular basis, as it helps with form, it helps with team structure. Very few players are able to carry their best form when they come back from injury and ours certainly don't. Then add in the different attributes you will get from say playing thiago one week, milner the next and then keita dropping in, it undermines players like mane and robbo/kostas being able to understand what's needed of them in their little triangles. If they can at least stay fit, when klopp rotates through choice - it helps both in terms of planning, tactics and individual form.

 

I said in the summer and I stick with it -  numbers isn't an issue with our midfield, it's the number of crocks. We have whatever it is, 8 players for 3 slots? It should be enough, but it isn't because too many of them don't get on the pitch enough. 

[ManéMan]

I wish he was available more often, only because it would mean us not pretending to be challengers yet having to play the likes of Milner and Moreton. Otherwise he hasn't done much to suggest we miss him.

 

 

[an tha]

19 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

Basically all of our midfield has fitness issues and even fab who's the most reliable has had various problems and struggled for form around these mental international trips.

 

People dismissed the value of Gini being a fine footballer and having a spotless fitness record. But it is important having people who can get themselves on the pitch on a regular basis, as it helps with form, it helps with team structure. Very few players are able to carry their best form when they come back from injury and ours certainly don't. Then add in the different attributes you will get from say playing thiago one week, milner the next and then keita dropping in, it undermines players like mane and robbo/kostas being able to understand what's needed of them in their little triangles. If they can at least stay fit, when klopp rotates through choice - it helps both in terms of planning, tactics and individual form.

 

I said in the summer and I stick with it -  numbers isn't an issue with our midfield, it's the number of crocks. We have whatever it is, 8 players for 3 slots? It should be enough, but it isn't because too many of them don't get on the pitch enough. 

Spot on.

 

The constant revolving door of players in and out of the midfield...the constant playing with different players week to week is hurting us.

 

I know its a shite format and not easy ton read but i did some 'analysis' on our midfield 3's used in each game in league so far this season....it makes for horrible reading not just because its a shite format.

 

We really need some stability and consistency in our midfield its been a fucking revolving door all season - players in and out almost game by game. It hurts our cohesion/fluidity, it often leads to an imbalance and it just isn't helping us.

 

Players just start to get some rhythym and start to settle/build understandings and then wallop they are out or suddenly playing with someone else...they come back and are off pace like Fabinho tonight, then are often out again or again lining up with more changes as someone else is out again...

 

These are the 3's we have fielded in our 19 league games so far - it has been ridiculously unsettled.

 

Keita, Milner, Oxlade

 

Elliott, Henderson, Keita (so 2 changes)

 

Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson (1 change)

 

Thiago, Fabinho, Elliott (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Jones, Fabinho, Henderson (1 change)

 

Jones, Fabinho, Henderson (First unchanged midfield of season)

 

Keita, Henderson, Milner (2 changes, first game after we put out an unchanged midfield for first time all season and we have 2 changes)

 

 Keita, Henderson, Milner

 

Keita, Henderson, Jones (1 change)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Henderson (2 changes)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (3 games unchanged - longest of season)

 

Oxlade, Henderson, Thiago (1 change)

 

Milner, Morton, Keita (3 changes)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Henderson (3 changes)

 

So in 19 games we have only managed to get an unchanged midfield out 5 times and longest we have gone without a change is 3 games.

 

For me that level of change has hurt us, just no fluidity/cohesion/rhythm.

 

Some of it has been down to rank bad luck - stupid international shite and covid of course....but for my money you just can't have that level of constant change in the midfield and it not hurt you....

 

 

 

[Barrington Womble]

31 minutes ago, an tha said:

Spot on.

 

The constant revolving door of players in and out of the midfield...the constant playing with different players week to week is hurting us.

 

I know its a shite format and not easy ton read but i did some 'analysis' on our midfield 3's used in each game in league so far this season....it makes for horrible reading not just because its a shite format.

 

We really need some stability and consistency in our midfield its been a fucking revolving door all season - players in and out almost game by game. It hurts our cohesion/fluidity, it often leads to an imbalance and it just isn't helping us.

 

Players just start to get some rhythym and start to settle/build understandings and then wallop they are out or suddenly playing with someone else...they come back and are off pace like Fabinho tonight, then are often out again or again lining up with more changes as someone else is out again...

 

These are the 3's we have fielded in our 19 league games so far - it has been ridiculously unsettled.

 

Keita, Milner, Oxlade

 

Elliott, Henderson, Keita (so 2 changes)

 

Elliott, Fabinho, Henderson (1 change)

 

Thiago, Fabinho, Elliott (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Jones, Fabinho, Henderson (1 change)

 

Jones, Fabinho, Henderson (First unchanged midfield of season)

 

Keita, Henderson, Milner (2 changes, first game after we put out an unchanged midfield for first time all season and we have 2 changes)

 

 Keita, Henderson, Milner

 

Keita, Henderson, Jones (1 change)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Henderson (2 changes)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (1 change)

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago

 

Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago (3 games unchanged - longest of season)

 

Oxlade, Henderson, Thiago (1 change)

 

Milner, Morton, Keita (3 changes)

 

Oxlade, Fabinho, Henderson (3 changes)

 

So in 19 games we have only managed to get an unchanged midfield out 5 times and longest we have gone without a change is 3 games.

 

For me that level of change has hurt us, just no fluidity/cohesion/rhythm.

 

Some of it has been down to rank bad luck - stupid international shite and covid of course....but for my money you just can't have that level of constant change in the midfield and it not hurt you....

 

 

 

Yeah I agree. The only way it is remotely workable is if the changes are by choice. So the manager is picking on sharpness and an attempt to retain it. When you're constantly picking players who aren't ready (or in some cases good enough), it will start to hurt. In the early part of the season it manifested itself in how poor we were without the ball and we had spaces everywhere. In recent games there's an element of that, but we're also struggling to a little in the top 3rd, with passes going astray etc. 

[Boss]

What's killing us is not replacing the players that leave. We copped badly for letting Lovren leave and not replacing him, and we've made the exact same mistake again this season with Gini. The players we target are good players. FSG just refuse to pull their finger out. If we spent £60m on Bissouma and Bowen - two players we were heavily linked with in the summer - the midfield is not a problem, the upcoming AFCON is not a problem. It's all on them.

[TheHowieLama]

8 minutes ago, Boss said:

If we spent £60m on Bissouma and Bowen - two players we were heavily linked with in the summer - the midfield is not a problem, the upcoming AFCON is not a problem. It's all on them.

Playing in it isn't he?

[Boss]

2 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Playing in it isn't he?

 

Good point. I was thinking about the front three without Salah and Bowen filling in for him. 

[VladimirIlyich]

6 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

Thing with Elliott is he must have looked spectacular in training for Klopp to even consider playing him in midfield, especially in the games he chose.

So must Keita to get so many chances.

[Code]

If ever a game could show how important Thiago is, it was this Chelsea game.

 

Hope for a quick recovery. 

[J-V]

4 minutes ago, Code said:

If ever a game could show how important Thiago is, it was this Chelsea game.

 

Hope for a quick recovery. 

and he'll be injured/ill again shortly after.

[Captain Howdy]

I like him but unfortunately he’s never fit and therefore he’s a waste of space

[El Rojo]

11 minutes ago, Code said:

If ever a game could show how important Thiago is, it was this Chelsea game.

 

Hope for a quick recovery. 

Quick recovery? Thiago? Good luck with that one. Even then, wonder how many minutes he’ll clock up before his next absence. 

[Mook]

17 minutes ago, Code said:

If ever a game could show how important Thiago is, it was this Chelsea game.

 

Hope for a quick recovery. 

I think it showed more than anything how much we miss Gini. A player who was always fit, reliable & could hold on to the ball.

[VladimirIlyich]

Who? Is making Keita look like Ian Callaghan.

[Elite]

Our midfield options are more frustrating than Kate Upton fingering herself in front of you whilst your hands are tied behind your back.

[El Rojo]

15 minutes ago, Mook said:

I think it showed more than anything how much we miss Gini. A player who was always fit, reliable & could hold on to the ball.

Yeah, ridiculous decision in hindsight to let his contract run down. Proper big game player.
 

No point in looking at a loan deal now though, as I assume he couldn’t play in Europe anyway. 

[an tha]

We really need this lad right now.

 

Henderson looks like he needs a rest.

 

Fabinho getting back up to speed.

 

Keita off to AFCON.

 

Milner is 137.

 

Jones hasn't played for ages and needs time.

 

Oxlade is Oxlade.

 

Elliott still a bit away and will need time.

 

This lad is needed and needed badly now.

[El Dangerous]

He’s an excellent Liverpool player in theory.

[an tha]

Read earlier he has not featured in any of our games v the other so called big 6

[ManéMan]

I think Thiago would've injured himself trying to keep up to the pace of the game during the first half.

[VladimirIlyich]

1 minute ago, ManéMan said:

I think Thiago would've injured himself trying to put his socks on.

Daniel Sturridge all is forgiven.