Iskaral Pust Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 52 minutes ago, Consigliere said: Apart from Shaqiri, who else are Liverpool rumoured to be looking at in terms of backup on the wings? Shaqiri prefers to play on the right so he can cut in on his left foot and would be backup for Salah. Fekir isn't all that effective on the wings and his best position is at CAM. He's also played a fair amount at CF as well but only a handful of games on the wings. The Lemar links from last year seem to have gone cold as well and the latest news is that Atleti are in talks with Monaco for Lemar. It seems that Klopp might be looking for a backup for Salah and use Woodburn and/or Wilson (haven't seen him play) as backups on the left. The problem of course is that Liverpool face the same problem as Spurs with regards to a backup for Kane. The Liverpool front 3 work so well together that the backups either need to be versatile players able to play multiple positions or be prepared to spend most of the season on the bench. This could be a problem (as we saw with Jannsen and now Llorente for Spurs) where these players don't play much competitive football over the course of the season and thus lack a bit of match sharpness when they have to step up. Dembele and Pulisic have been persistent links, plus now Moses Simon too. I agree we could find ourselves with a similar problem to Spurs but only if we continue to have a huge gap between starters and back-ups. If we sign better quality back-ups then I feel confident they'll get plenty of playing time rather than stagnate on the bench. We had Henderson, Milner, Gini, Can, and Ox (and even Coutinho) for only three MF spots and yet none of them languished on the sidelines. Liverpool had the most rotation in the PL last season and only stopped when we ran out of options. BTW, Shaqiri is not really a direct back-up for Salah because he doesn't offer that pace working off the last defender's shoulder to offer such a dangerous out-ball for counter-attacks. Shaqiri is a talented player and shoots well coming in from the right, but he doesn't stretch the field like Salah to allow Firmino and even Mane to drop deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 5 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said: BTW, Shaqiri is not really a direct back-up for Salah because he doesn't offer that pace working off the last defender's shoulder to offer such a dangerous out-ball for counter-attacks. A backup doesn't necessarily need to be the exact same player. Better if it isn't really - coz if it is he's really only gonna be worth playing when Salah is injured but ideally you want someone who offers an alternative as well as a direct replacement. Either that or someone who can cover multiple positions and you're never gonna find someone who can do that who can directly back up for Salah anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, Mark Antony said: It's been reported that it's a done deal a few times but there does seem to be few more reliable Liverpool reporters who seem confident it's done this time. I thought it wasn't going to happen pre World Cup when Aulas came out to say that earlier today. Hope it does get sealed before the World Cup though, it'll be a lot more fun moaning about Didier Deschamps not playing him than hoping he doesn't get any game time to keep his fee down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 That's a pretty good price as well. If Joyce is reporting it then it's a done deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Paul Joyce is usually solid on LFC news. It’s strange that Aulas said only yesterday that this negotiation had gone nowhere so far and would happen after the WC. Good news for us if it is happening now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 The Fekir transfer could be completed today. According to a statement from Lyon the price being reported might be a bit off. The total fee looks more likely to be around €70m rather than the €60m being reported. Still, it's been a very good window for Liverpool. You've upgraded your entire midfield for basically the price of one Coutinho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Manuel Lanzini is out of the World Cup after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in Argentina training. In other news: Quote The FA have confirmed the implementation of a mid-season break from 2019-20 this afternoon. http://www.thefa.com/news/2018/jun/08/mid-season-break-confirmed-080618 “Two-week mid-season player breaks will take place in February and would be structured to ensure that Premier League matches would still be played every weekend over that period,” the FA statement reads. “Each weekend during the mid-season player break will feature five Premier League games on the first weekend and five on the following weekend.” In addition to this, FA Cup fifth-round replays will be scrapped. Jurgen Klopp had previously lobbied for such a rule during his time as Liverpool manager, too. (via the Echo) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Quote (@thisisanfield) Breaking news from @LivEchoSport - Nabil Fekir has PASSED his LFC medical. They explain that "a second opinion was sought on a knee issue but those fears were eased" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I'm guessing we're going to have a World Cup dedicated thread, but are we going to play that game where everyone randomly chooses a country to root for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Consigliere said: The Fekir transfer could be completed today. According to a statement from Lyon the price being reported might be a bit off. The total fee looks more likely to be around €70m rather than the €60m being reported. Still, it's been a very good window for Liverpool. You've upgraded your entire midfield for basically the price of one Coutinho. Liverpool has made some strong additions to that squad. They're going to be a force next season and more importantly, fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 @Corvinus You don't pick a country at random, one gets assigned to you at random. I can't remember who used to organize it. It was great fun, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, baxus said: @Corvinus You don't pick a country at random, one gets assigned to you at random. I can't remember who used to organize it. It was great fun, though. Yeah, that's what I meant. I think it was @Whiskeyjack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 4 minutes ago, Corvinus said: Yeah, that's what I meant. I think it was @Whiskeyjack No, it was Ran himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyjack Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Yeah I organized the fantasy league. And will be starting one up for this year later today. But I'm happy to run the random team thing too, if Ran doesn't want to. I love the world cup, super excited. @Ran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Good news that the winter break is confirmed. February is pretty late for it after the busy December-January period, so it will be more of a recuperation break than a proactive rest. Replays and two-legged ties in domestic cups will be on the way out, which helps big clubs but hurts small clubs. But that might have to be the compression to keep the big clubs in the competition at all. And safe standing continues to make some progress too, gaining more support. These are both good developments for fans IMO. The Fekir news has been swirling today. The leak about the passed medical is because of rumors yesterday that the deal was off because of his knee injury a couplenof years ago. The current news is that it will be all confirmed and officially announced after the French stock market closes today, because OL is publicly traded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 C'mon.What's taking so long to confirm Fekir? it's past the closing time for the French stock market right? Meanwhile, Can and Flanagan officially leaving confirmed along with a bunch of other players i've never heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Happy to take part, but yes, someone else should probably run the task of assigning random teams. I'm going to update the Euro 2016 forum to World Cup 2018, and we can use that to start. ETA: And done, World Cup 2018 forum is live. Feel free to start a thread for those wanting a team assigned, @Whiskeyjack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyjack Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 31 minutes ago, Ran said: Happy to take part, but yes, someone else should probably run the task of assigning random teams. I'm going to update the Euro 2016 forum to World Cup 2018, and we can use that to start. ETA: And done, World Cup 2018 forum is live. Feel free to start a thread for those wanting a team assigned, @Whiskeyjack Okay cool, I'm on it. Thanks Ran. Edit - Actually, hmmm - I can't see the World Cup forum. I know previously it was a subforum of Entertainment. Is it in a different place now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 16 minutes ago, Whiskeyjack said: Okay cool, I'm on it. Thanks Ran. Edit - Actually, hmmm - I can't see the World Cup forum. I know previously it was a subforum of Entertainment. Is it in a different place now? Oh right, I invised it. Let me fix that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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