The Midfield Conundrum

[teesred]

Just read about that. Auld Eggs has got one right. Suppose he had to eventually. Lolzenzo.

[ianlfc]

Just read about that. Auld Eggs has got one right. Suppose he had to eventually. Lolzenzo.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Insidious]

Pretty strong rumours the club have reached an agreement to sign Enzo Fernandes in the summer

His release clause is around 120 million Euros.

I'd be really surprised if we went for him at that price unless we were going for him instead of Bellingham.

[Steveo]

Correct - these links would have you believe this club was worth around £4 billion. I mean seriously, do people think this is an elite club?

Don’t they know we are poor?

Ok - if we were to win a few things, qualify for the CL for a sustained period of time…maximise revenues… and developed a huge global fan base.. perhaps… but…

Let’s be reasonable folks, we aren’t a big club. We can’t compete with - City, Chelsea, United, - or even Arsenal and now Newcastle too.

Be reasonable

[reddownunder]

With FSG at the helm I'll be astounded if we sign either

[Insidious]

Defo a bonus, but a bonus to something that is inadequate. The fact that we are pinning hopes on the bonus of Ox - Keita and Melo yellow is a damning one for whoever is actually in charge of transfers.

The question has to be HOW did we get here? Are those “running the club preoccupied with the bank balance? Chasing other franchises? WTF have they been doing? After record profits and such massive over achievement….how? How does the club justify such a lack of vim and vigour in the heart of our team?

When I said Klopp was operating with one arm tied behind his back - I was wrong. It’s both arms!

If not now…then when ?

I'd firstly say I'm not "pinning my hopes" on them as such - I'm very much a "percentage gains" kind of person so I'm simply thinking in terms of the 20 minutes rest for Henderson here, Ox started instead of Thiago there, sort of situations that stack up to keep our first-choicers that but fresher for the crunch matches, such as Real Madrid etc.

As for how we got here.....well, we all know we need investment in the middle of the pitch, but the sheer number of midfielders (and those we may occasionally play there) we already have doesn't help things much, even if we had unlimited funds - and some being injury-prone hasn't helped.

Henderson - getting more injuries.
Fabinho - form has dropped
Thiago - acquired knowing he gets injured
Milner - fantastic servant, getting on
Jones - injury issues, not quite achieved
Keita - was very fit before joining us, injury-prone
Elliott - rate him, young, questions over best position
Carvalho - rate him, young, probably a forward
Ox - we extended his contract, shouldn't have in hindsight
Morton - on loan, we see a future for him(?)
Bajcetic - young, may have a future
Arthur - the emergency loan, taking up a squad space

- and this is after an attempt to recruit Tchouameni.

I know the feeling of "ah, but next season" is a very, very frustrating one for Reds, but in terms of the midfield selection, we really should be seeing some change - some of it transfers, some of it trusting youth a bit more.

Ox should be leaving, Keita should be leaving, Milner is probably quite likely to leave - I love the man but time waits for nobody, not even Milner. I often mention "bodies" a lot as I don't feel every single player needs to be top-tier (plus keeping them all happy is hard) but I'll go against myself a bit and say that if it were up to me, I'd be looking at taking what we can for Jones as well. I wouldn't renew Arthur.

If that hypothetical transpired, you're looking at 5 squad places being freed up in the centre of the pitch alone. There aren't massive minutes needing replaced there (Ox, Keita and Arthur hardly play) so we would open the door for -

- A big transfer acquisition (Bellingham/Enzo)
- A smaller transfer acquisition
- Minutes being given to Morton after loan
- Minutes being given to Bajcetic

Average age of midfield would lower, average availability of midfield almost certainly improves unless we are incredibly unlucky and average ability of midfield goes up via the transfers and having young/hungry lads playing.

I think that blue-print for the midfield is pretty feasible. We need to finish in the Champion's League spots to ensure the best chances of it happening first of all.

[ianlfc]

The bigger question should be, who's being sold first to fund these transfers ?

[Insidious]

The bigger question should be, who's being sold first to fund these transfers ?

I genuinely believe we can do a big transfer (Bellingham for talk's sake) without selling.

Wages coming off the bill stacks up. With the greatest respect to the three of them, the combined wages of Ox, Keita and Arthur is "dead money" - I don't know Arthur's wages off the top of my head, but Ox and Keita are on about £6.5m each per year - so you're talking about £13m per-season being freed up - roughly £240k-per-week.

That's (eg) Bellingham's wages covered without actually doing anything. Then there's Milner to consider (if he leaves) and Arthur (if he leaves) and I doubt we will be giving Firmino a wage increase - if he even stays.

[ianlfc]

I genuinely believe we can do a big transfer (Bellingham for talk's sake) without selling.

Wages coming off the bill stacks up. With the greatest respect to the three of them, the combined wages of Ox, Keita and Arthur is "dead money" - I don't know Arthur's wages off the top of my head, but Ox and Keita are on about £6.5m each per year - so you're talking about £13m per-season being freed up - roughly £240k-per-week.

That's (eg) Bellingham's wages covered without actually doing anything. Then there's Milner to consider (if he leaves) and Arthur (if he leaves) and I doubt we will be giving Firmino a wage increase - if he even stays.

I really hope you're right. But remember we've Enzo and Amrabat coming aswell .

[Insidious]

I really hope you're right. But remember we've Enzo and Amrabat coming aswell .

I'd be pretty damn surprised if we got all three of Bellingham, Amrabat and Enzo is more likely. One, maybe two seems more likely. Fees will be a huge factor.

However - you never know. Thiago's contract expires at the end of 23/24 unless we extend, so by the time this Summer arrives he only has one season left to play. If we were a bit more ruthless in the transfer market then we could mentally prepare for not extending and just go and get his replacement in advance. Diaz arrived before Mane's departure - could have an "embarrassment of riches" for a season to ease the transition.

Even forgetting how frugal we are, I don't think we'll want to create a situation where younger lads see no route to the starting XI - it's not just about lads currently at the club (Elliott, Bajcetic, Morton, Jones to a degree) but also being appealing to young transfers in the future - unless of course we change strategy.