Soylent Brown Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 They're waiting until the summer it seems. Hopefully whoever we get is worth the wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Soylent Brown said: They're waiting until the summer it seems. Hopefully whoever we get is worth the wait. and what if we miss top 4? Will they accept that loss of money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 My brother texted me after the game. I told him I don’t know why he’s even bothering to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 52 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Are FSG still not gonna buy a defender? How is panic-buying a January defender gonna fix that you haven't scored a goal in four games? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Yep, the problem for now is at the top end. All of our forwards are in poor form. Salah couldn't beat a man if his life depended on it, Mane is fine on the ball but can't pass or shoot accurately, and Firmino is useless at everything and has been for the best part of two years. My biggest issue with tonight is that Firmino wasn't dropped, he was fucking rested. He could score ten own goals in a game (he probably couldn't even score one if Alisson stepped aside, but let's pretend), and Klopp would still happily leave him on the pitch. He needs to be dropped down to the second tier of the squad with Origi and Milner. Let him play domestic cup games until we're out, and then move him on in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I think as some have mentioned earlier that an important part of why you're not clicking has to do with the pressing game being gone. I was struck yesterday seeing that Burnley - that tiki-taka outfit, you know - being able to play up on completely unmarked midfielders and then turn the ball out to the wing. When Liverpool were pressing as a unit, there was no time for defenders to hit passes, and no free midfielders to hit. Sure, it's a problem that the players seem vaccinated against scoring, but I think that's a knock-on effect of the game plan not working as normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Yeah, pressing game is gone. That's what tends to happen once your midfield made up of 3 of Henderson, Fabinho, Gini and Milner gets completely messed up by pulling Fabinho into defense full-time, switching Henderson between midfield and defense and using Milner as a quickfix for any hole in the team that needs filling. Plus, Milner is 35 so as fit as he is, age is catching up. On top of all that, Gini has that whole thing with a new contract hanging over his head and that can't not leave a mark. Of course, that Henderson-Gini-Fabinho midfield was bound to be torn up when Thiago was signed, but having Henderson-Fabinho-Thiago (under assumption that Gini would be the odd one out due to his contract issues) is a much different setup from Thiago-Ox-Gini (especially when they have Mane-Origi-Shaqiri up front instead of the usual front three). @polishgenius Buying a central defender would free up Fabinho and/or Henderson from playing there and allow bringing them back to midfield where they can contribute the most. That would, in turn, quite help to reestablish the pressing game Liverpool used quite successfully in recent years. The thing is that Liverpool has 3 senior central defenders, one of whom is very injury-prone. It's not as if it would take another defender of VVD quality to help the team out and everything else would just be a waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Our pressing game makes very little difference in games where we have 80% possession. What are we going to do, press ourselves? That wasn't the issue last night. It absolutely is an issue against teams who have more of the ball, but still, if the only way we can score is through counter attacks after turnovers, we have big problems. Baxus,You're right that our 4th centre back doesn't need to be a world beater, but really that guy should be Matip as he's so injury prone. We need our new guy to be good enough to stay in the starting XI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I have watched one youtube video of Odegaard and I now declare him a good signing. ( if he does sign for us) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxus Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 36 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said: Our pressing game makes very little difference in games where we have 80% possession. What are we going to do, press ourselves? That wasn't the issue last night. It absolutely is an issue against teams who have more of the ball, but still, if the only way we can score is through counter attacks after turnovers, we have big problems. Baxus,You're right that our 4th centre back doesn't need to be a world beater, but really that guy should be Matip as he's so injury prone. We need our new guy to be good enough to stay in the starting XI. Pressing for the remaining 20% of the time and make it more difficult for the opponent to have counterattacks. Also, 80% of possession last night wasn't due to pressing but to Burnley's decision to defend at all cost. I agree that Liverpool lacks a viable plan B when plan A is not working. "Do the same, just more of it" has worked quite often but it's not working lately. One more thing that's annoyed me immensely is all the high crosses as if Bobby, Salah or Mane are going to score a header against Burnley. Even on corners there's a noticeable lack of players that can score a header. That's been a big part of Liverpool's game, and now it's not working there's no alternative. The new guy wouldn't have to be option #4, and I would love it if we got someone who could stay in the starting lineup once our defense is back at capacity, but it's quite difficult to get someone like that in January and it's really important to get someone who's good enough now. Adding a world-class defender later on would be great, but it's not really mutually exclusive with signing a good enough defender in January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 18 minutes ago, Raja said: I have watched one youtube video of Odegaard and I now declare him a good signing. ( if he does sign for us) Odegaard was excellent when he was on loan at Real Sociedad last season. It has not really worked out for him since returning to Real Madrid though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 12 minutes ago, baxus said: Pressing for the remaining 20% of the time and make it more difficult for the opponent to have counterattacks. Also, 80% of possession last night wasn't due to pressing but to Burnley's decision to defend at all cost. I agree that Liverpool lacks a viable plan B when plan A is not working. "Do the same, just more of it" has worked quite often but it's not working lately. One more thing that's annoyed me immensely is all the high crosses as if Bobby, Salah or Mane are going to score a header against Burnley. Even on corners there's a noticeable lack of players that can score a header. That's been a big part of Liverpool's game, and now it's not working there's no alternative. The new guy wouldn't have to be option #4, and I would love it if we got someone who could stay in the starting lineup once our defense is back at capacity, but it's quite difficult to get someone like that in January and it's really important to get someone who's good enough now. Adding a world-class defender later on would be great, but it's not really mutually exclusive with signing a good enough defender in January. Yeah, the crossing is an issue. It works when we're playing teams who play higher up the pitch as there's space to put the ball into, but against buses we're wasting our time. Part of the problem there lies with Klopp, who has instilled a tactical over-reliance of TAA and Robertson. TAA started looking to cut inside more a bit yesterday, and was playing more hard, low balls into the box, which is probably going to be a bit more effective in those situations, but still, we shouldn't be placing so much of the blame on those two. We need our forwards to actually do something; beat a man, create a yard or two to get off a shot (that doesn't piddle straight to the keeper!) I'm worried that this won't get any better until Jota returns. He's still probably a month away, and we'll be midtable by then. Getting a stop-gap defender would just end up bloating the squad, and we're already pretty much at our limit for non-English players. While it would be nice to get someone, anyone, I don't think it's going to happen. Our recruitment tends to be either obvious upgrades or bargains, and I'm not sure there's much of either available at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Out of nowhere transfer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Ouch, just seen liverpool's next few games. Man Utd in cup then Spurs, West Ham, Brighton, Man City, Leicester, Everton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 We've only won one of our games against the bottom 6, so it's not like things can get that much worse playing against teams that are in form! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Looks like De Bruyne's injury is more serious than initial reports suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 So Liverpool failed yet again to score. I mean how Origi blew that big one in the first half, that was almost an art form. Also... 16 minutes ago, Consigliere said: Looks like De Bruyne's injury is more serious than initial reports suggested. Yes, we get it, this is United's year. We all ahve quietly accepted that United is gonna walk the league this year, with Liverpool's forward line unable to hit a barn, and with City accumulating injuries, and Fat Frank just not being able to even get minimum out of his squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Rodgers has just confirmed that Vardy will undergo surgery on a persistent hip problem and will be out for several weeks. ETA. Wolves have reached an agreement with Real Sociedad for Willian Jose on loan with an option to buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Odegaard would be a potentially excellent signing for Arsenal, even though it means they probably wouldn't get Buendia and that makes me sad. 3 hours ago, Consigliere said: Rodgers has just confirmed that Vardy will undergo surgery on a persistent hip problem and will be out for several weeks. They've done alright without Vardy last time he was out, but they're really gonna have to start doing something soon about getting backup and an eventual replacement. The one thing their transfer policy has failed at so far. No idea who it would be though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Vardy really makes the difference against the bigger boys, so it may hurt them a bit there, but yeah, Leicester have other avenues to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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