Match Thread: Liverpool v Wham

[Insidious]

Doh Sid… We’ve been here before and you really should know how this can roll out. We have a tiny squad. If you are once again just listing names in the middle as some barometer of quality in depth, you are missing the proverbial by a country mile mate. Elliott, Jones and Endo…. Squad players - Stefan is a literally a child. Mac Allister - full of promise BUT - to date - we have fared better without him - often after going down to 10 men…. Gravenberch a young prospect with great potential but much to prove

I would want a signing in January for the middle of the pitch, just to get it out there. I'm not sure that we will, but I hope we do - be it Andre or someone else. Whilst it's true that Jones, Elliott and Endo are squad players, I'm of the opinion that Elliott and Jones are continuing to improve. Bajcetic is very young, but shows huge promise. Gravenberch too is quite young. Elliott, Jones, Bajcetic and Gravenberch all need to develop further and to do that they need minutes - quite a lot of minutes - hence me wondering whether we may choose not to make a midfield signing in January, so as to ensure that these lads continue their progression and development. The removal of one older player (Thiago, say) and a lack of transfer acquisition to replace him would open more doors for Elliott/Jones/Gravenberch/Bajcetic which could prove to be a good thing.

I personally prefer the "safety first" option of getting someone in January, rather than seeing us relying on any one of these lads for a lengthy spell - I just am very appreciative of the balancing act of covering as many positions with depth as possible versus continued development of what we have. It's a balancing act.

Not that you have said anything wrong as such BUT I feel that I will have to keep trying to reverse the fate you seem so determined to tempt.

All I can say there is that you can rest assured that I have absolutely zero impact on what the side does and any sense of fate being tempted is just the human mind finding patterns, which we are built towards as a species. Same as the thread that was running about the downfall of Man United - myself and other users talking about it wasn't going to turn them back into a good side - you can sleep soundly. No judgement mind - as an OCD sufferer (amongst other mental health issues) I can empathise with nuances of cognition governing the thought process and the Brain playing tricks.

[Steveo]

Good man Sid.. And yes I realise my thinking is likely ridiculous and flawed. Sadly I am afflicted by this fate thingy.. It makes me feel like I have undone a potential threat to our progress..

I do definitely still think we need another mid to replace Fabinho though... and fast.

[Insidious]

Just on those Midfield options (I know not everyone likes a list but I find it the easiest format for taking in info) it's worth highlighting the stage of their careers they're at, particularly in terms of age. I may make an error somewhere here (a year out of whatever) but it's -

Bajcetic - 18
Elliott - 20
Gravenberch - 21
Szoboszlai - 22
Jones - 22
Mac Allister - 24

Endo - 30
Thiago - 32

So it's 8 lads for 3 spots at the moment, which would become 7 if Thiago left. That's 2 for each of the 3 spots, all of them under-25, with a 30-year old to provide cover. So if we do go on to buy another midfielder, I think only one should come in. I think we have collectively been burned as a fanbase by the ridiculous injury records of Keita, Ox and Thiago - but in reality we shouldn't need 9 or 10 mids for 3 positions, particularly with the use of the 5 subs rule so we don't have lads regularly playing 100-minute matches where the injury risk rockets up in the dying embers of a match.

We'll see in January!

[Steveo]

A good physio department might be an answer - it’s true to say that with the numbers we have for 3 spots we should be fine on paper - however you would expect a high turnover in casualties with the style of play Jurgen adopts. It is heavy on players especially through that mid section.

[Insidious]

A good physio department might be an answer - it’s true to say that with the numbers we have for 3 spots we should be fine on paper - however you would expect a high turnover in casualties with the style of play Jurgen adopts. It is heavy on players especially through that mid section.

It is - though I do think having 5 subs can help us a bit, plus using younger players with less miles in the tank (ie not Fabinho and Henderson) and using lads that aren't made of wet Weetabix (ie not Ox and Keita) will help a lot. Indeed, the only midfielder we have with both a bad injury record and lots of miles in the tank now is Thiago, who we will likely move on.

Really encouraging. I do hope it will be the under-25 lads I listed, plus Endo, plus one more - but if the "one more" doesn't happen I am (very cautiously) optimistic that we will be alright.

Still. A younger centre-back for Matip, a younger midfielder for Thiago and a utility full-back who can cover both sides would undeniably ease a lot of minds over the next 2 windows.

[Kev0909]

Can't see Endo being here for long tbh

[Insidious]

Can't see Endo being here for long tbh

Any particular reason?

Appreciate his lack of pace could cause an issue in certain situations but I think once he adjusts to how quickly the game is played in England he'll compensate for a lot with his reading of the game.

[Kev0909]

Any particular reason?

Appreciate his lack of pace could cause an issue in certain situations but I think once he adjusts to how quickly the game is played in England he'll compensate for a lot with his reading of the game.

Don't think he'll be good enough looks very lightweight at 30 that won't be changing quickly, and I'm pretty sure he was more of a emergency signing, not someone that'll be here in a few seasons, unless he sits in the reserves

if we're serious and want to win the highest honors we still need a top DM,CB and probably a salah replacement, which will never happen because noone will be as good as salah but hopefully the DM and CB will make up for it.

[teesred]

Out of 17 games unbeaten Jones has started 14. He's definitely improved a lot, he played well yesterday.
I see what Steveo means about MacAllister too, yesterday in the first half I was asking myself "what's he actually bringing to the table?" But second half was exactly what he brings, he was excellent.
I think the squad looks much healthier than it did, we just need a top CB and out and out DM but then again we have options to cover that so do we actually 'need" one?

I do also think there's a niggling feeling were riding our luck a bit too much. Could have been a couple down yesterday and Newcastle,Wolves and Chelsea could easily have been defeats. There's a ragged element to our play during spells that hopefully gets smoothed out over time.
Szobo looks like the real deal as every game passes.

[jozza800]

A good physio department might be an answer - it’s true to say that with the numbers we have for 3 spots we should be fine on paper - however you would expect a high turnover in casualties with the style of play Jurgen adopts. It is heavy on players especially through that mid section.

So what do we do? Have 12 midfielders of equal quality to cover for every injury possibility/probability?