Alexis Mac Allister Official

[Insidious]

Fair minded as ever Sid, regardless of where we are on the spectrum we all have stuff that grates (one of mine currently is blah blah Thiago, blah blah Corporal Jones, blah blah Elliott, Gomez, blah blah Status Quo).

I really can't see the love for Klopp (the notion of "tough love" is a nonsense and is sometimes used as an excuse for abuse, or self-abuse). So often as fans we don't see the full picture of what is going on or why a manager makes the decisions that he does.

And I can't see Klopp adopting Nineteen's ideas any time soon so it will continue to grate him for at least another season or two, or however long Klopp has left.

I get it - I found myself occasionally eye-rolling at seeing the words "press, counter-press, 19/20, come the fuck on get a goal here now" and so on - but he's just enthusiastic and that's his way. I'm sure some of my own willingness to address issues related to the owners, FFP and the UEFA co-efficient have done people's heads in in the past. It's not deliberate on my part and I'm sure it isn't deliberate on Nineteen's - I'm sure we would all enjoy a pint together if it came to it.

I too don't think Klopp will adopt Nineteen's ideas, but do thoroughly hope that there are continued tweaks next season that continue to make all of us, Nineteenx included of course, very happy. We're all just here to enjoy the Reds.

[CCTV]

It's easy to look at not signing a proper midfielder as the reason we didn't get Champion's League football. It also fits a narrative if folks are keen to bash the owners - which people are perfectly entitled to do, opinions and all that.

However, the elephant in the room for me is our first half of the season.

Anyone care to take a guess how many points we got in our last 18 games of the season? We accrued 39 points. Had we managed any reasonable sort of form in the first half of the season we'd probably have comfortably finished 3rd - Man United managed 75 points (3rd) and Newcastle 71 points (4th) - double our 39-point tally from those last 18 games and you have 78 points - and that is discounting the 2 games to spare.

Yet we finish on 67 - because we only got 28 points from our first 20 bloody games. The players we had on our books should absolutely have had it in them to do better than that - even 33 points from the available 60 would have seen us finish in 4th spot ahead of Newcastle.

Makes for good reading for someone like Gakpo who was heavily involved in the second half of the season I suppose (perhaps we should have bought him last Summer!) but my point is, as well as having an extra mid (I would have liked one!) we absolutely didn't perform to anything remotely close to our best for half a season as a squad.

It's easy, because it was obvious.

If only, if only, if only, we got 78 points we'd have finished 2 points above top 4 pace of 2 points per game. 2 points per game our minimum target for a season.

Instead of investing the money on a player like Jude to bolster our midfield, a player we would have for the coming seasons, we can now use the money to cover our serious financial losses from missing out on top4.

I don't bash the owners, but it is worth bearing in mind that the failure to add in midfield can have a toxic effect on morale.
Seems you're in favour of bashing the players.

[Nineteenx]

So, trying to use Thiago as a designated playmaker for over half a season, this seeing every other player see far less of the ball (i did the stats on this) this seeing Nunez, Mo, Diaz and Robbo starved of the actual effective playmaking of Trent and fromVirgil's medium to long balls, not to mention the catastrophic affect it had on our own press and how easy it made us to press and play through when we lost the ball would have all been magically remedied by us having signed another mid?

Would it fuck

We tried something that was catastrophic to how this team had always performed and its greatest strengths for over half a season THAT is why we missed out on top four

[Nineteenx]

Trying to instill a long since outdated designated playmaker into a side which had 2 or 3 others players who'd always been integral contributors to making the play and regularly involving more players in making the play through their part in it was absolutely stupid

Trying to use Fab as an actual DM, often alone in CM was an absolutely stupid oversight

Using Gomez at RCB or LCB was again absolutely stupid, especially in combination with trying to use Fab as an actual DM, when there's a history of fuck ups and meltdowns with those 2 in the same line up even when Fab had LCM or RCM acting as a controller alongside him

Using Elliott at RCM for over half a season makes all of the above even worse

[Insidious]

Instead of investing the money on a player like Jude to bolster our midfield, a player we would have for the coming seasons, we can now use the money to cover our serious financial losses from missing out on top4.

I don't bash the owners, but it is worth bearing in mind that the failure to add in midfield can have a toxic effect on morale.
Seems you're in favour of bashing the players.

Thing is we didn't even necessarily need Jude - we've never spent more than £75m on a transfer and unless I'm mistaken only Alisson and Núñez have cost over £60m outside of Van Dijk - and we have managed.

Had we even had an extra mid - even a £10m "project" player rather than the Arthur Melo loan (which cost us about £10m in fee and wages anyway) then we could have taken pressure off certain players / motivated certain players to perform with competition to help us eke out a few more points. We didn't need loads - 5 more points puts us above Newcastle, 9 more points puts us above Man United - the 5 would have done rightly. Indeed, had Gakpo arrived in the Summer rather than the January, that might have tipped it. Or better luck (if it is luck with our medical staff at present....) with injuries meaning certain lads were available.

But even aside from all that, yes - I feel we could have had a better first half to the season, with what we had. That for me isn't bashing the players at all - that is me calling a Spade a Spade. These players are absolutely good enough to perform to a higher level than what was offered up in the first half of the season and in all honesty I bet if you asked some of them if they could or should have done better in those opening 20 matches they would say the same.

That's not bashing. Bashing is "such and such is shite" or "you are so crap at your job" or whatever else. If I'm in that dressing room I'm saying "come on, there's 5% missing there, dig deep, you know you're better than this" and not "that was wank lads" - 28 points of an available 60 is below par for the players at our disposal, whether we had an extra midfielder or not - it just is.

The players share some responsibility. Just as the medical/rehab staff do, just as Klopp does, just as the analytics guys do, just as the owners do. Nothing wrong with saying that.

[jr81]

Thing is we didn't even necessarily need Jude - we've never spent more than £75m on a transfer and unless I'm mistaken only Alisson and Núñez have cost over £60m outside of Van Dijk - and we have managed.

Had we even had an extra mid - even a £10m "project" player rather than the Arthur Melo loan (which cost us about £10m in fee and wages anyway) then we could have taken pressure off certain players / motivated certain players to perform with competition to help us eke out a few more points. We didn't need loads - 5 more points puts us above Newcastle, 9 more points puts us above Man United - the 5 would have done rightly. Indeed, had Gakpo arrived in the Summer rather than the January, that might have tipped it. Or better luck (if it is luck with our medical staff at present....) with injuries meaning certain lads were available.

But even aside from all that, yes - I feel we could have had a better first half to the season, with what we had. That for me isn't bashing the players at all - that is me calling a Spade a Spade. These players are absolutely good enough to perform to a higher level than what was offered up in the first half of the season and in all honesty I bet if you asked some of them if they could or should have done better in those opening 20 matches they would say the same.

That's not bashing. Bashing is "such and such is shite" or "you are so crap at your job" or whatever else. If I'm in that dressing room I'm saying "come on, there's 5% missing there, dig deep, you know you're better than this" and not "that was wank lads" - 28 points of an available 60 is below par for the players at our disposal, whether we had an extra midfielder or not - it just is.

The players share some responsibility. Just as the medical/rehab staff do, just as Klopp does, just as the analytics guys do, just as the owners do. Nothing wrong with saying that.

A lot people (me included) credit the signings of alisson and virgil as the reason we pushed on to compete for the title and Europe. So it does payoff to pay that bit extra to get the top quality players when available.

Otherwise you are relying on a top notch scouting network. I'm not sure we have that.

The Arthur signing was a joke. The player has had a history of injury issues yet we get him in last minute. Where was the scouting on that?

[Steveo]

Totally agree on the signings of Virgil and Alisson. Changed everything. We had the attack and a workmanlike midfield..but a very porous soft rear guard. Buying 2 of the best on the planet in their respective positions was the key. Also the addition of Fabinho…

On the Arthur signing and general disaster of a summer last year…. We shouldn’t forget that the club was primed for being sold at that stage. This was before United gazumped us.

[CCTV]

Thing is we didn't even necessarily need Jude - we've never spent more than £75m on a transfer and unless I'm mistaken only Alisson and Núñez have cost over £60m outside of Van Dijk - and we have managed.

Had we even had an extra mid - even a £10m "project" player rather than the Arthur Melo loan (which cost us about £10m in fee and wages anyway) then we could have taken pressure off certain players / motivated certain players to perform with competition to help us eke out a few more points. We didn't need loads - 5 more points puts us above Newcastle, 9 more points puts us above Man United - the 5 would have done rightly. Indeed, had Gakpo arrived in the Summer rather than the January, that might have tipped it. Or better luck (if it is luck with our medical staff at present....) with injuries meaning certain lads were available.

But even aside from all that, yes - I feel we could have had a better first half to the season, with what we had. That for me isn't bashing the players at all - that is me calling a Spade a Spade. These players are absolutely good enough to perform to a higher level than what was offered up in the first half of the season and in all honesty I bet if you asked some of them if they could or should have done better in those opening 20 matches they would say the same.

That's not bashing. Bashing is "such and such is shite" or "you are so crap at your job" or whatever else. If I'm in that dressing room I'm saying "come on, there's 5% missing there, dig deep, you know you're better than this" and not "that was wank lads" - 28 points of an available 60 is below par for the players at our disposal, whether we had an extra midfielder or not - it just is.

The players share some responsibility. Just as the medical/rehab staff do, just as Klopp does, just as the analytics guys do, just as the owners do. Nothing wrong with saying that.

A little better may have got us top4. However, that is our minimum target for the season. Trying to hit our higher targets, we were miles off those goals.

The impact on morale of seeing Naby & Ox run out their contracts and contribute fuck all again, and then Melo join to do nothing bar play 13 minutes at the end of a heavy loss to Napoli replacing Elliott. Elliott playing twice as many minutes as these 3 combined over the season, sapped the living shit out of my morale. Can't imagine it being any different for our lads.
These things seem to be solely the responsibility of our players, Seems a little odd.

I'm not one whose overly arsed with net spend, and point to Madrid with their net profit on transfers over a decade. But I do point to the need to act at appropriate times.
Last summer the need to sort out midfield was abundantly clear, a strategy that revolves around playing Fab/Thiago/Hendo all the time as they age is not a sound one. One that failed to move on Ox and Keita for peanuts in terms of transfers. Recouping some revenue.

Poor management by Klopp as a football manager, and by Klopp/The-Club in terms of transfers, can demoralise those under their management.
Conceded 47 goals in the league, only in Klopps 1st season taking over from Rodgers did we do worse conceding 50.
Instead of Touchy or Jude, we added Melo, retained Ox and Keita and saw a young RWF play loads in Central midfield.
Think bashing the players is appropriate given the reality.

[CCTV]

So, trying to use Thiago as a designated playmaker for over half a season, this seeing every other player see far less of the ball (i did the stats on this) this seeing Nunez, Mo, Diaz and Robbo starved of the actual effective playmaking of Trent and fromVirgil's medium to long balls, not to mention the catastrophic affect it had on our own press and how easy it made us to press and play through when we lost the ball would have all been magically remedied by us having signed another mid?

Would it fuck

We tried something that was catastrophic to how this team had always performed and its greatest strengths for over half a season THAT is why we missed out on top four

Trying to instill a long since outdated designated playmaker into a side which had 2 or 3 others players who'd always been integral contributors to making the play and regularly involving more players in making the play through their part in it was absolutely stupid

Trying to use Fab as an actual DM, often alone in CM was an absolutely stupid oversight

Using Gomez at RCB or LCB was again absolutely stupid, especially in combination with trying to use Fab as an actual DM, when there's a history of fuck ups and meltdowns with those 2 in the same line up even when Fab had LCM or RCM acting as a controller alongside him

Using Elliott at RCM for over half a season makes all of the above even worse

You're moaning about Thiago and Fabinho whilst trying to argue against the addition of Touchy a viable Fab replacement/rotator/cover and Jude a viable Thiago/Hendo replacement/rotator/cover.

Either player also a likely candidate to start in midfield ahead of Elliott.

There is a lot to moan about over this last shitshow of a season. The idea adding better players in midfield where we've the least serious options for rotation wouldnt have helped just seems a little mental.

[CCTV]

A lot people (me included) credit the signings of alisson and virgil as the reason we pushed on to compete for the title and Europe. So it does payoff to pay that bit extra to get the top quality players when available.

Otherwise you are relying on a top notch scouting network. I'm not sure we have that.

The Arthur signing was a joke. The player has had a history of injury issues yet we get him in last minute. Where was the scouting on that?

Obviously adding Virgil and Ali bolstered our side in term of the quality of player at our disposal.
Alison however in terms of morale, would have been a massive boost. We'd seen our side get to a CL final and unfortunately for him, Karius has an absolute mare which we could revisit the role of Ramos.
We'd had Migs and Karius as two keepers we'd been chopping a little between. Then we added Ali and morale would have been lifted massively.

Last year for all our self promotion, for nearly winning a quadruple or a significant treble. As a fan base this time around the obvious need was midfield. We didn't add in that area and morale would not have been boosted by failing to address our most pressing need. We retained Ox and Keita.