The Liverpool Club Thread. **No Spoilers**
- Thread starter BaZ87
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If he turns out to be **** we can buy him back for 60m and sell him to the mancs for 90
Terribly unlucky if that's the case.
Leoni's misfortune will probably benefit Chiesa though as the new CL rules allow for you to replace one player in your squad in the event of a long term injury so Chiesa will probably be added to our CL squad now.
Leoni's misfortune will probably benefit Chiesa though as the new CL rules allow for you to replace one player in your squad in the event of a long term injury so Chiesa will probably be added to our CL squad now.
You can't budget for somebody picking up a season ending injury in September. He was only ever going to play League Cup games or possible dead rubbers at the end of the CL group/league. Endo will fill in at CB if and when needed and we'll probably revisit the Guehi deal in January now.
I actually think Endo will be more useful at CB than he is in midfield tbh. Gomez got a bit of criticism yesterday for some of his passing into midfield (and he didn't play well) but imo our biggest issue was Endo being completely unsuited to being a 6 in a Slot system. It's all good and well him coming to see out the final 10 minutes by kicking people but when he's starting games as the 6 he really struggles because he can't play on the half turn and it makes getting the ball into midfield from our CB's a real effort. At CB with everything in front of him it should be easier.
I actually think Endo will be more useful at CB than he is in midfield tbh. Gomez got a bit of criticism yesterday for some of his passing into midfield (and he didn't play well) but imo our biggest issue was Endo being completely unsuited to being a 6 in a Slot system. It's all good and well him coming to see out the final 10 minutes by kicking people but when he's starting games as the 6 he really struggles because he can't play on the half turn and it makes getting the ball into midfield from our CB's a real effort. At CB with everything in front of him it should be easier.
We have Rhys Williams still on the books! Joe Gomez too and Endo has played there at times too.
I agree and I don't. We were clearly in for one, and didn't manage to get it through, so evidently there is a desire to sign one. Although arguably that was more a market opportunity with Guehi's situation.
I'd think there was a view that Leoni would ideally have been 5th choice this season while bedding in - used heavily in cups but not to be relied on. And then promoted to 4th or 3rd choice with Gomez and/ or Konate moving on. So on that basis, absent a top option (Guehi or similar) having been available, it was probably sensible not to buy someone just to make up the numbers. But equally, I'd have liked us to try harder (as I said throughout the window) to bring in a CB and CDM capable of challenging for first choice spots, and short of the late Guehi dash we failed on that front.
I think Gomez would have gone had Guehi arrived - there were a lot of reports that he was off to Milan on deadline day and it only broke down when time ran out to complete the deal with us still waiting to tie Guehi up. And tbh that would have made sense. 5 into 4, especially when VVD is playing every League and CL game he's available for is a bit overkill and to be completely honest, we only want that extra CB because of the injury concerns with Gomez. Now obviously we ended up with 4 and Gomez being one of those so it wasn't ideal but as above, I think Endo and Gravenberch can fill in there if needed and then we can look at the situation in January, possibly going back to Guehi.
Re a defensive mid, as I said in the summer I really don't think there's a big desire to sign one. At least not one that's purely a defensive monster. Slot's priority in midfield and why Gravenberch has been such a success, are players that are comfortable on the ball in tight spaces, can take the ball off the backline while under pressure and move us up the pitch. If you can find somebody that does all that and is a defensive monster (the closest I can think is Caicedo) then great but I get the feeling that unless there's an outstanding option out there then they're happy with Gravenberch + Mac, Jones & Szobo.
It's hard to say for certain until we have a spell of having all our midfield and forward options available but it looks like the midfield has evolved a bit from last season. Under Klopp it was very much a 4-3-3 with 1 sitter and 2 ahead in midfield. Last season we moved a bit more towards a 4-2-3-1 with Gravenberch the deeper of the two sitters. However so far this season we've not really played with a dedicated sitter in midfield. Gravenberch said in a recent interview that he's got more freedom to get forward and that's showed in both the Atletico & Everton games with him being involved in 4 goals. It's been much more of a double pivot with them working in tandem, taking it in turns to get forward while the other sits.
Talking of midfielders, do you think theres much truth in the Adam Wharton rumours that have popped up in recent weeks and where do you think Wharton would play in the team and who'd be dropped?
I hope so and was banging the Wharton drum myself at the end of last season when a few links popped up. He ticks all the boxes in terms of style of play for us and would be perfect playing in a midfield two and provide us with a bit more of a natural sitter if/when needed. I'm not sure it would be a case of x missing out either - we play 50+ games and he could play alongside Gravenberch, in place of him or covering him.
edit: He'd be you Endo replacement in the squad I suppose, although obviously a more active member of the squad than Endo is/was.
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Really gutted for Leoni. What a game he played and then this horrible injury. He’s 18 and assuming it’s a straight forward ACL rather than a multi-ligament tear we should expect him to come back strongly. Gomez, VVD, Wirtz and Chiesa in the team have recovered from ACL injuries so he’ll have plenty of support.
I think we’ll go for Guehi in January and then Gomez will leave at the end of season. If Konate leaves we’ll probably sign another first-team CB in the summer.
I think we’ll go for Guehi in January and then Gomez will leave at the end of season. If Konate leaves we’ll probably sign another first-team CB in the summer.
Allison out for 6 weeks, and as he has been probably our best player recently it means that Slot is going to have to figure out whats happening pretty quickly. Means no Allison for the Utd game, Man City, Real Madrid and the cup game against Palace
The big Mama is an able deputy. Gives us a chance to see him too.