All good things must come to an end - Do we need a change of the front three?

[dockers_strike 2,172]

13 minutes ago, Istvan Kuntstain said:

Yet De Gea did 1 save from Thiago, you might not be worried but I am. Those chances we had yesterday none were clear cut and other than the fullbacks and front 3 who is a regular goal creator? we can have 60 to 70 per cent each game it's useless if we create nothing with it...  

I am concerned that the front 3 arent scoring. How come we scored 7 at Palace yet havent scored for 3 consecutive games now? Oh we had 8 shots on target and 7 went in or something.

 

We put 3 past Leicester with Fab alongside Matip and Henderson. We put 5 past Atalanta with no Fab and a midfield of Hendo, Gini and Curtis.

 

We had 67% of possession against the mancs. We had 17 chances with 3 on target. That means 14 missed.

[an tha 6,316]

10 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

I am concerned that the front 3 arent scoring. How come we scored 7 at Palace yet havent scored for 3 consecutive games now? Oh we had 8 shots on target and 7 went in or something.

 

We put 3 past Leicester with Fab alongside Matip and Henderson. We put 5 past Atalanta with no Fab and a midfield of Hendo, Gini and Curtis.

 

We had 67% of possession against the mancs. We had 17 chances with 3 on target. That means 14 missed.

8 of the 17 were blocked.

 

A symptom of not having time and space.

[Code 976]

This is really a load of shite, we have a problem scoring goals, but the reality is we need more players to chip in. Our strikers have scored 27 goals in 18 games so far. That is better than all other teams in the league. 
 

Lets not forget that in our last four league games we have been up against three of the most negative teams in the league, Allardyces West Brom, Bruces Newcastle and Solskjærs mancs.

 

They had 21,6%, 26,9% and 34,3% possession in these games, its basically antifootball.

 

 

[Scott_M 5,288]

4 hours ago, etho said:

This is the first dip in form in nearly 3 years, in an unprecedented season due to Covid, with the entirely understandable mitigating factors of our entire central defence being out, 2 thirds of our first choice midfield playing central defence, and a new midfield being put together.

 

Perspective needed.

 

And we also have Jota to come back

I agree.

 

There is still 50% of the season to go.

[Kevin D 7,766]

Break the bank and get Trump in.

[Section_31 20,388]

Nah not just yet, but I wouldn't be horrified if we did, or at least sold one. 

 

I dunno if there's anything behind the Salah and Mane feud talk or not, Bobby doesn't score many either, let's be honest. 

 

If you gave me Jota, Mane, and Haaland I could say no, but I won't. 

[Scott_M 5,288]

Klopp & Edwards are already ahead of us - we’re signing Mbappe in the summer.

[Grinch 2,931]

There'll be no choice in the summer when Salah moves on to better things. 

[Bobby Hundreds 8,672]

We won't sign Mbappe or Haaland. We will be well priced out of those deals and undoubtedly have some new excuse of why its not a prudent time to buy while others do.

[1892-LFCWasBorn 2,512]

22 minutes ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

We won't sign Mbappe or Haaland. We will be well priced out of those deals and undoubtedly have some new excuse of why its not a prudent time to buy while others do.

FSG will be too busy trying to piece together £1 a week transfer offers to BVD an PSG for others to swoop in.

[MegadriveMan 862]

1 hour ago, Grinch said:

There'll be no choice in the summer when Salah moves on to better things. 

 

Where is he going to move to?

 

Real's top target is Mbappe. Neither of the Spanish clubs have the crazy sort of money available that they usually have?

 

I really don't think there is any major interest in Salah. Barcelona are looking at Depay, Eric Garcia and Wijnaldum all on free transfers. 

[LFC 6 Times 792]

We’ve got incredible service from Mane and Firmino since 2016 and Salah since 2017, that’s a very long time in football.

 

Firmino’s form has been really poor for the past 12 months with the odd glimpse the player of old. Salah goal record has been great this year, has 17 in all competitions, admittedly a large portion have been from the spot, but he’s been dreadful for the past month. For me Mane is still performing to his level and is just feeling the effects of the other twos form falling off a cliff.
Jota will make a big difference, will give us greater variety and options and he’s very clinical in front of goal. But I really think Haaland is the signing that can reinvigorate us and is the perfect heir to one of front 3s throne.

[Paulie Dangerously 6,745]

It's probably fair to say that if Jota was fit he'd have been in the side 

[dave u 6,121]

16 minutes ago, Paulie Dangerously said:

It's probably fair to say that if Jota was fit he'd have been in the side 

 

and be top scorer.

[Code 976]

28 minutes ago, LFC 6 Times said:

We’ve got incredible service from Mane and Firmino since 2016 and Salah since 2017, that’s a very long time in football.

 

Firmino’s form has been really poor for the past 12 months with the odd glimpse the player of old. Salah goal record has been great this year, has 17 in all competitions, admittedly a large portion have been from the spot, but he’s been dreadful for the past month. For me Mane is still performing to his level and is just feeling the effects of the other twos form falling off a cliff.
Jota will make a big difference, will give us greater variety and options and he’s very clinical in front of goal. But I really think Haaland is the signing that can reinvigorate us and is the perfect heir to one of front 3s throne.

You do know that Salah has 13 goals and Mane 6 dont you?

 

I understand the confusion reading some of the posts on here, but thats the reality.

 

Not sure how scoring 13 goals from 16 starts is someone falling off a cliff though?

[Mark M 1,533]

4 minutes ago, Code said:

You do know that Salah has 13 goals and Mane 6 dont you?

 

I understand the confusion reading some of the posts on here, but thats the reality.

 

Not sure how scoring 13 goals from 16 starts is someone falling off a cliff though?

We haven’t scored in 361 minutes of football. Against some sides that there’s no excuse not too and we haven’t been testing opposition keepers with shots either.
 

The last few games we have fell off a cliff it’s why we’ve gone from being top to 4th with Everton able to overtake us with a win.

 

[Bobby Hundreds 8,672]

35 minutes ago, LFC 6 Times said:

We’ve got incredible service from Mane and Firmino since 2016 and Salah since 2017, that’s a very long time in football.

 

Firmino’s form has been really poor for the past 12 months with the odd glimpse the player of old. Salah goal record has been great this year, has 17 in all competitions, admittedly a large portion have been from the spot, but he’s been dreadful for the past month. For me Mane is still performing to his level and is just feeling the effects of the other twos form falling off a cliff.
Jota will make a big difference, will give us greater variety and options and he’s very clinical in front of goal. But I really think Haaland is the signing that can reinvigorate us and is the perfect heir to one of front 3s throne.

Haaland does seem like a pure Chelsea signing. Top player most fans want Chelsea just bang the buck down and get. Mbappe is just out of everyone's league except the super rich clubs. 

[1892-LFCWasBorn 2,512]

The whole squad has been neglected for a few years. This isn't just about the front 3. As much as FSG are tight cunts, Klopp has to bear the responsiblity for this.

 

We STILL essentially mostly have fuck all quality outside of the first 11 barring a very few players.

 

That in itself creates a problem as he doesn't trust anyone out of this small group of players. The same small group of players have played 3 seasons straight. They all look tired in both body and mind.

 

I said yesterday in another thread that every transfer window is an opportunity to 'shape up' the squad. Even with FSG being tight cunts, you can be clever and coy in transfer windows without spending money picking up bargains, being creative getting in players on loan.

 

By now, we should have 2 players for each position rotating as much as possible giving players time to rest and recharge.

 

 

[Code 976]

This is our problem, not that we have the best strikers in the league. 

 

Our strikers:

Salah - 13 goals

Mane- 6 goals

Jota - 5 goals

Firmino - 5 goal

 

The lack of goals from the others.

[1892-LFCWasBorn 2,512]

34 minutes ago, Code said:

This is our problem, not that we have the best strikers in the league. 

 

Our strikers:

Salah - 13 goals

Mane- 6 goals

Jota - 5 goals

Firmino - 5 goal

 

The lack of goals from the others.

I didn't have a chance to edit my post above.

 

I wanted to add at the end that it's astonishing that both Mo and Sadio have managed to maintain their levels for 3 and a half seasons given how much football they've played. That includes all international games where they usually play the entire 90 mins, the travelling there and back and also without picking up major injuries.

 

You're right though. Fuck all goal contribution from the rest of the squad. Without Bobby scoring (which he usually doesn't), then it's just heavy reliance on Mo and Sadio (and now Jota) do put the ball in the back of the net.

[dockers_strike 2,172]

I agree if we had other players weighing in with goals, a sudden drought amongst the strikers has less of an impact. Other players not scoring has been a problem for a long time.

[Joey8FrogsLegs 825]

6 hours ago, No2 said:

I had said previously we should have looked to sell one of them this summer. I can't recall any team ever having the same forward line for a sustained period of success, it needs refreshing before you get to this point. All the great managers of the past had seen and dealt with invisible decline before it became visible to the lesser trained eye.

 

As an FSG fan boy I would like to think that was the plan before Covid came into the world. Even the signing of Jota has a look of a years bedding in before moving on one of them. Sadio is untouchable, the other 2 are under threat. 

Ribery, Lewandowski, Robben.

[Trumo 14,345]

3 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

Ribery, Lewandowski, Robben.

 

That was only for about 3-4 years. Real Madrid had Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo up front for the best part of a decade.

 

Anyway, the squad planning should always prioritise evolution. We've brought in Diogol as somebody who can legitimately challenge for a first team spot, but (assuming the trio of Sadio, Mo and Bobby remain this summer) we could do with having a player in their very early 20s who is on the cusp of challenging in the way Diogol has. Having other options that work eases the process of phasing out players who are mainstays as well as removing those that aren't offering enough now such as Big Div.

[Joey8FrogsLegs 825]

36 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

I agree if we had other players weighing in with goals, a sudden drought amongst the strikers has less of an impact. Other players not scoring has been a problem for a long time.

This is a good point. Midfield hasnt offered goals at all for years. Trent was becoming a source, but has dried up for now.

 

And not least we have zero threat from CB at the moment. Without Van Dijk and Matip in the team our main threat from corners is Sadio. He’s brilliant in the air, but when he, and to a certain degree Bobby is all we have to offer then no team in professional football will have much to fear about from our corners.

[johnsusername 2,364]

Surely the team is set up for the strikers to score the majority of our goals? We have three midfielders who have to do the job of four players.

 

We play three strikers who have had plenty of chances over the last few games - but their efforts have been shocking. Look back at the Tottenham game - Christ, we should have scored about ten but it was shit shot after shit shot.

 

Firmino is finished and has been for a while. 

 

Salah has been shit since he did that stupid interview. Hopefully it's just mental and he'll start firing again.