Liverpool Thread - Premier League Champions* 2019/20 (Part 2)

I'm sure Robbie will have some interesting stories at his meet and greet.

Him and McManaman are probably my all time favourite Liverpool players

Well done on winning that prize.

Classic Liverpool. Looks like you'll have to put up with Mignolet for a while longer.

Terrible news for Liverpool, Loris Karius will miss the start of the season, the German goalkeeper could be out for up to two months.

— Joseph Musker (@Musker_LFC) July 29, 2016

If we secure a LB in this window I think we've done good business. 

What do we reckon our line-up will be vs Arsenal? We have no LB at the moment with Moreno out and sounds like they tested Milner out there over the last game. 

I'm suggesting it'll be something like...

Mingolet

Clyne   Lovren   Klavan   Milner

Can   Henderson

Mane    Firmino   Coutinho

Sturridge

Gosh we'll struggle containing that attacking quartet with Mertesacker/Koscielny out.

Focus your attack down the right hand side though I guess haha. Tactical genius me...

Think that will be close if not bang on. Pretty exciting looking team!

Are Liverpool gonna buy a left back or what? 

I really hope so - we have Moreno and no back up so really, we have no-one at all.

Ronniemac suggested Wijnaldum could also be competing for a start? 

I assume Sturridge will be injured between now and the first game too

We've got too many AM's - really need a DM along with a LB.

I could see Lallana moving on in January if Wijnaldum moves on and wouldn't be surprised if Henderson left in the next 12 months also (I know he's not a AM). 

Why do you think Henderson might leave Leighbo? Also, Wijnaldum is going to be a massive impact off the bench for you guys. If one of your other AMs gets injured or is in bad form you won't be losing all that much considering your depth in this position.

I don't see Henderson fitting into the mix really. I think with Klopp liking to play 4-2-3-1, there are better players available in the CM/DM role. Can will only get better and is likely captain material as well. I think that Joe Allen was actually better suited to Klopp's team than Hendo. 

Talking to ronniemac... interestingly he was saying that on some other Lpool forums, there was plenty of chat that Klopp has a different role in mind for Wijnaldum, perhaps as a box-to-box, in the middle with Can. 

That was the suggestion when talking about him potentially making the starting lineup. 

What has he been doing with him in pre-season?

He's only had 1 1/2 games but he did seem to be in a slightly deeper role than we would have seen from him at NUFC so possibly Ronnie is on the money. If he starts, I wonder who misses out? 

Hendo is captain but Can is the better player and surely you have to have Firmino, Cou and Mane although maybe they are considering Firmino up front to make room but not sure why you'd do that if Studge is fit (for now)

My Bet is on Hendo missing out and Milner picking up the captaincy. Not sure if this will happen for game one, but is an option.

There seems to be an oversupply of attacking Midfielders, but with little substance behind them, especially with Allen having departed- If Wijnaldum is the box to box midfielder I’ve been lead to believe, I see him starting with Can in the 4-2-3-1 formation, and filling that hole.

Completely agree that Can is the better player and can drive from deep with good effect, Hendo is starting to look like the weak link to me. 

We seem to be in significant agreement. Is this a first for any forum in the history of the world?

Gegenpressing means that front 4 have to do a lot of work - obviously pressing high up the pitch but also tracking back if the press is broken and then countering quickly back up the pitch if the ball is won back. I'd say Klopp has been very smart getting depth in those areas. He's probably intending to rotate those players to keep their legs fresh so Liverpool can play the way he wants. The answer to the question of how they all fit on the pitch at once is that they don't - combinations of them do.

Gegenpressing is the one reason to keep Lallana - he seems to have adapted to it faster than others.

Klopp has done very well with the squad when Henderson becomes the weak link, I feel he's always been a bit underrated.

Is Lallana on the outer now? 

Yup, as Tyler said there had been quite a bit of work between Spurs and Lallana's agent with a view to a move - we are overloaded with AMs at the moment but in saying that, if we intend to consistently play 3 players there in the LAM, CAM, RAM roles, then we probably need quite a few of them.

Good News: It appears that Moreno is now second choice LB at Liverpool...

Bad News (probably): First choice is likely to be Milner...only time will tell if he's up to it. Hopefully it means he won't be taking corners though

We played with a very second string side and 24 hours after facing Barca. Read nothing into it. The best we can take from the Barca game is seeing how effective the pressing can be. Hendo, Lallana and  Mane were doing it very well. 

It's not serious but we actually have multiple other options now so he's not being risked.

"not serious" for Sturridge probably means one of his legs has fallen off

So LFC fans...are we resigned to Moreno being in that starting line-up?

Personally, I'd rather have Can or Hendo playing in that position. 

I'm a little torn on Hendo playing there,  while he won't wander off and get lost like Moreno does, he would probably offer less in attack.

For all his defensive faults - Moreno gets up the flank really well.

I see Hendo playing a deeper traditional left back style (which is probably needed against Arsenal), but I see Klopp wanting more.

Don't move Can out of the deeper central mid position he holds, hes a beast in there.

It would make us weaker trying to strengthen elsewhere.

Alberto Moreno had one of the worst performances I've ever watched from a left-back. He's lucky it was a classic Liverpool match and Liverpool simply outscored them with no regard for defending. A replacement needs to be found immediately; I mean he made Walcott look good. Walcott. Let that sink in.

Why was Brad Smith sold to Bournemouth? Joe Gomez or Connor Randall ought to start. Anyone would be better than him. You guys would be better off with a Youth team player there lol.

Sounds like we were, even agreed personal terms but wouldn't pay what LCFC wanted. i'm hoping that Palace buy Benteke and then we pay the 20m being asked for, for Jonas Hector. 

Still, 4-3 away against Arsenal after being 1 - 0 down...and to be fair, it was super exciting. Mane looked brilliant, his goal was Henry or Suarez like. 

Did that first game help with our first choice line-up?

• Lallana looking more and more the part
• Moreno 100% needs to go
• Mingolet was decent but Karius should be our #1
• Klavan looks like a decent purchase, was by far our best defender and confident on the ball
• Wijnaldum was ok but nothing to write home about
• I want to see Marko Grujic in the team after his amazing pre-season
• Is Sturridge becoming surplus to requirements - great, great player but too many injuries

Wijnaldum was played out of position though at centre-mid rather than attacking mid. He's wasted in a deep position.

I agree with you that Sturridge gets injured too often, he should be transferred to Arsenal. 

Jonas Hector recently signed a new contract extension with Koln so I'm not sure how likely he is for you.