Liverpool set sights on Mount

[eggy81]

Good luck anyone finding another Firmino. He ran himself totally into the ground for us. Had Jota not arrived when he did - and performed as he did we would have been in a similar predicament to where we are now a lot sooner.

Bobby is going to be a monumental loss. Even in his current guise not having him as a bench option. He’s not far off player of season so far this year.

[justme]

We really don’t seem to allow midfield get beyond forwards much these days unless it’s looking for a famous anfield night in Europe or chasing a game. I think we should have evolved our use of midfield more by now but it seems to have regressed

We can't do it. leaves you even shorter in midfield. we have tried with the likes of Elliot. But i don't think hes cut out for a midfield role. hes an inside right at best. Its the same with Curtis Jones. he wants to hold the ball to often. Its probably because he played most of his time has an inside left.with him having no pace to go around the side. hes just use to holding it..

[teesred]

Good luck anyone finding another Firmino. He ran himself totally into the ground for us. Had Jota not arrived when he did - and performed as he did we would have been in a similar predicament to where we are now - much sooner.

Absolutely. I watched a video of his goals yesterday and felt genuinely sad. He's an absolute LFC legend and one of the best forwards in premier league history.
I'm gutted he's not going to be there anymore, he will be badly missed.

[Steveo]

Bobby is going to be a monumental loss. Even in his current guise not having him as a bench option. He’s not far off player of season so far this year.

Absolutely, but that has a lot to do with the fact our front line is miles behind what we have come to expect.

[justme]

Firmino will always be 50/50 with me. what he didnt do with scoring he did with defensive side of the game. Similar to Gini a lot use to say what does he really offer. But was he massive for us.. (wont go over his leaving again) but hes not been replaced obviously. I have good hopes that Gakpo will fill Firmino's boots. I like him from what ive seen from him so far. But like everything time will tell

[teesred]

We should have done this LAST summer.

If Dortmund truly didn't want to let him leave after only having just letting Haaland go, then what was to stop us from going to them with a deal and the reported 80 Mill we're allegedly currently offering them and has been rejected - and which we all know he wasn't worth back then - and tell them we would give them half the money then or 50 mill, but then loan him back to them for the season, while they had the luxury of finding a replacement.
Plus we would pay half his wages like any standard loan deal.

This way we secure him for leaving, while also guarding against the inevitable bidding war that would happen after he had a great World Cup as was to be expected.
And then they'd get the balance this summer (or part of it not stipulated as add-ons and)
Just like we did with Keita and Origi's deals.

There's no reason why they would reject a deal like that that would allow them to keep the player, get part of his fee in advance, have the luxury of finding his replacement(s) at their convenience, and watch half his wages wiped off their books.

And on our end it would allow us to manage the books by spreading his purchase price over two transfer windows, keep his price tag down and fixed and avoid the inevitable bidding war with the likes of Real and PSG and City, ....and all for a player who reportedly wants to come to us.

That such a deal wasn't even proposed to them is madness and pure incompetence to me.
And if it turns out that it was because they assumed we would be on easy street convincing Dortmund to sell him to us at our price, then.....I'm just at a loss.

Maybe there's still an opportunity for that this transfer window as well but I'm convinced it won't be anywhere near as easy with the likes of Real and City sniffing about (and Real really looking like THEY need to re-load that aging midfield of theirs with Kroos and Modric on their way out or having not that many seasons left, and after having had a not-so-great season by their standards regardless of what happens in the Champions League), nor would we be able to get him - even with such a structured loan deal - for the price we would have gotten him for last summer before his value skyrocketed after the World Cup.

That sounds very much like good forward planning CD. Something that has been in very short supply the last few years at LFC in regards to midfield.

[Nineteenx]

Good luck anyone finding another Firmino. He ran himself totally into the ground for us. Had Jota not arrived when he did - and performed as he did we would have been in a similar predicament to where we are now - much sooner.

Incredible from a man wildly celebrating what he viewed as Bobby's demise in 20-21 AND paying no mind whatsoever to the short and long term consequences of sacrificing Mane's play and link up with Robbo and the width on our left and the keeping of the width benefitting all our other players, none moreso than Mane himself as it created the space for his famous outside in runs from wide to centre to score so frequently

[eggy81]

Incredible from a man wildly celebrating what he viewed as Bobby's demise in 20-21 AND paying no mind whatsoever to the short and long term consequences of sacrificing Mane's play and link up with Robbo and the width on our left and the keeping of the width benefitting all our other players, none moreso than Mane himself as it created the space for his famous outside in runs from wide to centre to score so frequently

Ah come on 19. There’s no need to descend down the rabbit hole on every thread. Keep it down to 80% of them!!

[Nineteenx]

Bobby never scored loads of goals, like others he did a lot of work to help Mane and Mo score a lot more and Trent and Robbo to create more

18/19 P34 Goals 12 assists 6

19-20 P38 Goals 9 assists 8

20-21 P36 Goals 9 assists 7

He had one season in 17/18 in which he scored 15 and got 7 assists, other than that, Bobby got pretty much 9-11 goals and 6-8 assists every season

I actually think Gakpo might do better than that, as incredible as Bobby has been

The biggest issues we had with Bobby were the same as the ones we had with our mids, wankers not appreciating or understanding their worth to the team, the system and how incredible their contributions were to that AND continually whining he and they should be scoring more, sad to say of the alleged most knowledgable fans, but entirely accurate

[eggy81]

Bobby never scored loads of goals, like others he did a lot of work to help Mane and Mo score a lot more and Trent and Robbo to create more

18/19 P34 Goals 12 assists 6

19-20 P38 Goals 9 assists 8

20-21 P36 Goals 9 assists 7

He had one season in 17/18 in which he scored 15 and got 7 assists, other than that, Bobby got pretty much 9-11 goals and 6-8 assists every season

I actually think Gakpo might do better than that, as incredible as Bobby has been

I only saw him in the flesh at anfield 3 or 4 times but what stood out was when he dropped off it was perfectly times and his first touch was soo good that it opened the whole game up. It was tiny nuances almost undefinable by stats that allowed him have huge influence on our overall play. He could completely open up a game with a touch a turn and a pass. I think he’s massively underrated cos of not hugely prolific stats.