Summer 2022 Transfer Thread

[Torvald Utne]

59 minutes ago, J-V said:

£80mill + Ox

£60mill without Ox

Just pay off his contract and release him, saved £15m on that deal, job done

[gkmacca]

What we could do with in the squad is a player with good enough dribbling ability to bring on when the opponents stay deep and we get frustrated. In that situation we hit crosses down the keeper's throat and Mo keeps running into defenders. Matip's occasional rambles forward show how that kind of movement can shake the positional discipline of opponents, but we need an aggressive attacking player to do something similar from a more progressive point. Musialowski is, what, nineteen? Hopefully he'll start getting drafted into the first team squad next season, and possibly Elliott could explore that part of his game, but we do need that dimension.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

21 minutes ago, gkmacca said:

What we could do with in the squad is a player with good enough dribbling ability to bring on when the opponents stay deep and we get frustrated. In that situation we hit crosses down the keeper's throat and Mo keeps running into defenders. Matip's occasional rambles forward show how that kind of movement can shake the positional discipline of opponents, but we need an aggressive attacking player to do something similar from a more progressive point. Musialowski is, what, nineteen? Hopefully he'll start getting drafted into the first team squad next season, and possibly Elliott could explore that part of his game, but we do need that dimension.

Polish kid is nowhere near in my opinion, Carvalho and Elliot could do it.

[Scott_M]

19 minutes ago, gkmacca said:

What we could do with in the squad is a player with good enough dribbling ability to bring on when the opponents stay deep and we get frustrated. In that situation we hit crosses down the keeper's throat and Mo keeps running into defenders. Matip's occasional rambles forward show how that kind of movement can shake the positional discipline of opponents, but we need an aggressive attacking player to do something similar from a more progressive point. Musialowski is, what, nineteen? Hopefully he'll start getting drafted into the first team squad next season, and possibly Elliott could explore that part of his game, but we do need that dimension.

I don’t think we could have anymore direct wingers.

 

I think we need more from midfielder. I get that the midfield mainly sets the tempo, allows the full backs to push on, allows the forwards to express themselves and basically stop us getting countered… they offer very little goal threat.

 

How many did each of them score last season? 2 or 3. Although Fabinho was top scorer, were any from open play? Most were tap in from corners or penalties.

 

A midfielder who can get in the box and on the end of passages of play & finish or somebody who has quality shooting from distance. Somebody like what Gerrard used to do.
 

I obviously know finding somebody else of Gerrard quality is slim and I’m struggling to think of other players like him or Lampard who’d do that role from midfield. I can only think of De Bruyne but we’ll never sign him. 

[aRdja]

4 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

I don’t think we could have anymore direct wingers.

 

I think we need more from midfielder. I get that the midfield mainly sets the tempo, allows the full backs to push on, allows the forwards to express themselves and basically stop us getting countered… they offer very little goal threat.

 

How many did each of them score last season? 2 or 3. Although Fabinho was top scorer, were any from open play? Most were tap in from corners or penalties.

 

A midfielder who can get in the box and on the end of passages of play & finish or somebody who has quality shooting from distance. Somebody like what Gerrard used to do.
 

I obviously know finding somebody else of Gerrard quality is slim and I’m struggling to think of other players like him or Lampard who’d do that role from midfield. I can only think of De Bruyne but we’ll never sign him. 

Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Maddison, also Gallagher to an extent.

[Scott_M]

8 minutes ago, aRdja said:

Mason Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Maddison, also Gallagher to an extent.

I think only Gallagher maybe fits that bill. 

I think the others are more #10’s or play wide. 
 

None of them do the Gerrard, Lampard, De Bruyne, early Scholes, early Ballack, Juventus Pogba, Delle Ali before he turned shit etc role - coming late, getting in the box and finishing moves. 

[3 Stacks]

The midfield now is for sure more attacking than it used to be from 18-19 to 19-20. There's been a pretty definite shift.  We used to have an obvious defensive leaning in midfield with very attacking fullbacks, whereas now there's more attacking balance between the two and we have to manage that balance carefully. What that means for a midfield signing, I'm not sure. Maybe we do need more goals from there now.

[TD_LFC]

There's a Spanish player who'd make an excellent hybrid 8/10 that would be perfect....

 

[Scott_M]

20 minutes ago, 3 Stacks said:

The midfield now is for sure more attacking than it used to be from 18-19 to 19-20. There's been a pretty definite shift.  We used to have an obvious defensive leaning in midfield with very attacking fullbacks, whereas now there's more attacking balance between the two and we have to manage that balance carefully. What that means for a midfield signing, I'm not sure. Maybe we do need more goals from there now.

Not sure I agree. We definitely tried something earlier in the season with Ox, Elliott & Jones in midfield or Hendo bombing on at every opportunity, which didn’t really work - we were too open, had significantly less control and dropped silly points. Games reverted to Klopp’s early couple of years.

 

When Thiago maintained his fitness, we did we begin having far more control and were much more secure. I wouldn’t say Thiago was playing a more advanced role like Ox, Elliott or Jones were, he was does any equally job shielding slightly ahead of Fabinho but has a better passing range than Hendo, Fabinho or Wijnaldum.

 

IMO, Thiago’s unpredictability & quality in his passing added an extra dimension to our attacking, not a fundamental tactical shift.

[3 Stacks]

26 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

Not sure I agree. We definitely tried something earlier in the season with Ox, Elliott & Jones in midfield or Hendo bombing on at every opportunity, which didn’t really work - we were too open, had significantly less control and dropped silly points. Games reverted to Klopp’s early couple of years.

 

When Thiago maintained his fitness, we did we begin having far more control and were much more secure. I wouldn’t say Thiago was playing a more advanced role like Ox, Elliott or Jones were, he was does any equally job shielding slightly ahead of Fabinho but has a better passing range than Hendo, Fabinho or Wijnaldum.

 

IMO, Thiago’s unpredictability & quality in his passing added an extra dimension to our attacking, not a fundamental tactical shift.

I think it's pretty clear cut that our shape is riskier and more expansive than it was in 18-19, 19-20. Some of that is the defensive line, but some of that is the midfield. Hendo and Elliott are essentially wingers when they play on the right. Keita is essentially a #10 there. Carvalho will be that kind of player. Thiago is far more risk-taking on the ball than Gini was.

 

What we did at the end of the season for the most part was simply play our most experienced players, which is logical, but there were games in the run in where we played Thiago and Keita in midfield and that was very attacking and dynamic. To me, there's no doubts that we're more daring in our shape. But again, where we go from there is questionable. Signing Tchouameni would have been a step back from that. Or possibly a move to a 2 man midfield and 4 attackers, which is also daring.

[El Rojo]

33 minutes ago, TD_LFC said:

There's a Spanish player who'd make an excellent hybrid 8/10 that would be perfect....

 

Surely Elliott and/or Carvalho will get a chance there in the coming season? 

 

At a minimum, it seems we’ll have Salah/Firmino/Jota/Diaz/Nunez for the front three, so they’re both unlikely to get a look-in there.

 

If there isn’t a midfielder we really want available this summer, I could see us sticking with Fabinho/Thiago/+1 next season.

 

We still have Hendo and Jones, and once again I forgot about Keita’s existence until halfway through this post.

[TD_LFC]

I think we'll still sign a strong mobile 6/8 style midfielder but I agree that we have Keita/Jones/Elliot/Carvalho who could play the 8/10 so it isn't a priority.

 

It would be a purely opportunistic, too good to say no deal that would see us sign another.

 

 

 

[gkmacca]

1 hour ago, Scott_M said:

I don’t think we could have anymore direct wingers.

 

When did I say anything about them???

 

I think it's pretty hard to contest that our biggest problem is breaking teams down when they sit deep. The strengths that we currently have don't work well enough in that situation. One solution is to do what we do better - even quicker passing, for example - but we haven't done so. So what do you do when the pitch is congested, the lines are disciplined and the frustration is rising? I think you do just about the one thing that isn't drilled into the opposition to combat, and that's moving with the ball. And that requires a really gifted dribbler. 

[clockspeed]

1 hour ago, gkmacca said:

What we could do with in the squad is a player with good enough dribbling ability to bring on when the opponents stay deep and we get frustrated. In that situation we hit crosses down the keeper's throat and Mo keeps running into defenders. Matip's occasional rambles forward show how that kind of movement can shake the positional discipline of opponents, but we need an aggressive attacking player to do something similar from a more progressive point. Musialowski is, what, nineteen? Hopefully he'll start getting drafted into the first team squad next season, and possibly Elliott could explore that part of his game, but we do need that dimension.

You have described a modern day John Wark.  Spent more time making runs into opposition box than being a traditional midfielder. Great to watch and a hell of a player . However in those days we had a midfield that could cope with him going awol . Check out his LFC highlights they aren’t really highlights that’s the way he played. 

[gkmacca]

3 minutes ago, clockspeed said:

You have described a modern day John Wark.  Spent more time making runs into opposition box than being a traditional midfielder. Great to watch and a hell of a player . However in those days we had a midfield that could cope with him going awol . Check out his LFC highlights they aren’t really highlights that’s the way he played. 

Yes, I saw him, and Terry Mac. They were brilliant, especially the latter. Neither actually dribbled the ball, and both tended to run into space, whereas I'm talking about when that space isn't there. Beardo was more that player, and to a lesser extent Houghton. But it doesn't need to come from any particular position; we just need that element of unpredictability from somewhere - anywhere.  We can cover for such moves - this team is as good as any for the way players move into the space vacated by others.

[Harry Squatter]

 

 

 

[Guest]

Who plays in midfield with de Bruyne for Belgium? Tielemans? Witsel?

[3 Stacks]

34 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Who plays in midfield with de Bruyne for Belgium? Tielemans? Witsel?

They play 3-4-2-1 with De Bruyne being one of the 2 behind the striker. I think usually Tielemans and Witsel midfield .

[an tha]

Feel there is some serious over thinking going on here - it is of couse all well intentioned and out of a desire to see us win stuff - but reality is we don't really have many "problems" or "weaknesses".

 

We are a team performing at a level that has rarely been seen in history, even by all of our many great successful sides and even the most successful sides in history.

 

We win nearly every week, we rarely lose, we score a shit load of goals and we don't let many in - we dominate games week in week out.

 

We are regularly racking up over 90 pts a season, totals that until last few season from us and the oil cheats were rarely seen - it was very ocassional when it was - Ferguson's Man Utd teams rarely did it - Wenger's "invincibles' only just got to 90...we win more matches than they did in that season.

 

The issue of course is that the cheats have pushed the bar up to a level where near perfection is required - where 97 and 92 pts don't win titles and as a result we as fans who desperately want our team to win titles start searching for "where we are failing" any odd draw against a non top 4 side (and even against them often) is analysed to death and seen as nigh on a disaster....we pull apart one or both of our 2 league defeats and question how such a thing as a loss can happen and what is wrong with us!.......I get it - fuck i do it myself, it is part of what what is happening and what it is doing to us with this relentless, crazy level that is required...

 

The days of half a dozen losses being the norm are gone for now!

 

We have to of course rise to where the bar is - however falsely raised it is, but unlimited money and cheating aside it is just a ridiculous ask and even doing what we have been which itself is incredible is not quite enough - being this fucking good is not quite enough and it is mind bending - it is simply not normal in any way...so we dig and dig and dig to find what is "wrong", to identify where we are "failing" and we end up picking at stuff that is frankly nearly perfect and is comfortably as good and indeed better than many if not most of the sides that have carried off the titles throughout history.

 

We of course have to find some further improvement to top the cheats and Klopp and his team will be looking with laser focus to find it - but we are already running a 9.6 100m, we are already doing a 8.9m long jump, we are already doing a 3.45 mile....and we aren't juicing like the team ahead of us.

 

We all want us to win titles and we all care like fucking no ones business, we are all obsessed - but i do feel at times we are asking for too much, it is fucking frustrating the ask is where it is and how it has got there really rankles - but we are an incredible side doing incredible things and with our incredible manager i believe we will continue to do so and if there is any fucking justice at all we will see more rewards...

[aRdja]

My guess is once we wrap up Ramsey that’d be it for us this summer. Milner has extended and Keita sounds like he’s about to. Thiago, Fabinho, Henderson, Keita, Milner, Jones, Elliott, and potentially Carvalho for three positions are ample.

 

In: Carvalho, Nunez, Ramsey

Out: Origi, Mane, Ox, Taki, Phillips, Neco Williams

[Megadrive Man]

Yeah I get the feeling that we won't sign any more players once Ramsey and Nunez are confirmed, especially when you take in to account that Diaz was supposed to be a summer signing.

 

I still think we need a midfielder personally. That would have been my number one priority this summer.

I'm happy with Carvalho taking the place of Ox and being an option in the middle or out wide, but we need a player between the age of about 23 to 25. It was clear that we wanted Touchemi, so I will find it strange if we don't go in for somebody else. 

 

It could just be that none of our other targets are available this summer. I could see us potentially holding out for Bellingham next summer, although we will also need to try and replace Salah by the sounds of things.

[Trojan1892]

I can see us bringing a midfielder in especially with there being 5 subs next season, squad strength is important.

[Ne Moe Imya]

I would personally be quite surprised if another midfielder didn't come in. I agree with Mega that the level of interest we had in Tchouameni would definitely indicate that we are planning to buy a midfielder.

 

It could be the case that we had budgeted something like 130m in fees and another 300k/week in wages to spend on these two positions, and that one option was to buy Tchouameni and then spend the remaining 45m and 100k/week on a striker.

 

But once Tchouameni wasn't on the table, I could easily imagine a scenario where Ward thought "right, let's just flip it around in terms of who we go after, and spend the big money on Nunez and then get a cheaper midfielder instead." I would imagine that we have a list of potential targets at every position at every price point that would provide good value, and if there was a good target in the 40m range that would sign for 100k/week, that's probably what will happen now.

 

Wouldn't like to really guess who it might be, though. Konrad Laimer would be cheaper than that, I would think? Ibrahima Sangare as well. Not sure who else we've really been linked to, it will probably be one of those out-of-the-blue deals that we've been working on behind closed doors (Ndidi? Vitinha? Or Gavi, if we get really lucky and can take advantage of Barca's financial weakness?).

[Guest]

Rodgers has said Tielemans is leaving. We’re after a midfielder. Simple math huh, Bob?

[Scott_M]

16 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Rodgers has said Tielemans is leaving. We’re after a midfielder. Simple math huh, Bob?

Talk he’s going to Arsenal.