|
|
Thank you Steveo. This is absolutely it.
There are definitely things I'd like to see improved. Football discussion is usually very binary with limited room for nuance - if we take "FSG out" as a stance for example then the implied opposite is "FSG in" and if we currently had zero owners at all and I wrote an exact list of what I wanted (in a naive and fictitious scenario where we can have literally everything we want) I'd likely be advocating for some sort of fan ownership model, not "what about some American billionaire lads?" - it would be handy if there was a visual sliding scale to represent where I am with the owners (others too) as we would probably all be at various areas of that spectrum.
Any of the FSG out lads I imagine could think of worse owners of football clubs and any of the "content enough" crowd like myself wouldn't slide the meter right to the far end of the positive side as there is room for improvement.
A critique I would have is we have tended to enter each season maybe one player short. It would have been nice to enter 20/21 with a better centre-back, it would have been nice to enter 22/23 with a better midfielder etc - for anyone who may be thinking that I find them flawless (I certainly don't) that would be a nice thing to address - perhaps funded by a (relatively small) increase in the debt for example. A little extra risk but nothing stupid and unsustainable.
To use that sliding scale analogy, if I had a choice between financially playing it ultra safe (we'll call that 0 on the scale) and highly questionable risk (10 on the scale) I'd maybe like to see us operate between 2-4 every couple of seasons to ensure the continued improvement of the squad - but that is about modifying our existing way of working. I'd welcome sensible tweaks, just not personally in a rush to kick them out.
If others want them out they're of course entitled to that view.
I still laugh when I see you guys arguing with a bot 😂
Gabriel Veiga a lad that anyone has watched this season? The 20-year old mid at Celta Vigo.
I agree mostly, just we can't go another season with no legs in the middle. we have all the attackers in the world.. You can't rely on Henderson/Fabinho and Thiago. fitness wise to begin with and their age is the wrong side of the 30.
Apart from Bajcetic we have no one else. And the reasons we have struggled this season is the midfield.they are shagged out. I would be very disappointed if we don't get two more solid midfielders.
In my opinion we need 4 more players. 2 centre midfielders an attacking midfielder and a defender. I would be happy with Mount . hes much better than Ox and Jones.
Cleaning up the Scots since the 13th century
Indeed.... 4 is pretty much the minimum in all honesty. That is the root of this angst at the owners. Clearly prioritising revenue and a club primed for sale rather than a club primed to compete. Now we have to break the bank somewhat and no guarantee we can attract the level we will need -IF - we fall out of the CL.
If we look at where we were the wake of the Coutinho sale, we are well behind with many key players ageing. It's a big job and will be seen as Klopp's greatest work imo, IF he can get us back to the top. Arsenal are flying, City are keeping their powder dry I suspect, Chelsea will come good eventually and Newcastle are going to put a few noses out of joint (oops).
Interesting that both yourself and justme see it as 4 - and indeed 4 as a minimum in your case.
Are your 4 desired lads the same as justme's (2 midfielders, centre-back, attacking mid) or do you see a different picture?
Klopp likes to work with up-and-coming talent and not throw up too many barriers to their progress. With that in mind (Elliott and Bajcetic likely given games, Jones coming to a crossroads) I foresee two mids being targeted and possibly a centre-back, though it wouldn't surprise me if the centre-back were to come the following Summer as Matip departs - my preference would be for them to arrive this Summer mind.
I guess I look at where we were at Christmas 2017.. Going into 2018 needing Virgil. That rock at the back that was enough to get us to a CL final. We were better placed in the league than now at that point.
Then we added 4 that summer Alisson and Fabinho the top level with Naby (signed the year before I know - but only started that summer) and the very skilled Shaqiri too. So that was 3/5 senior signings that summer on top of VVD..in all 3 zones of the pitch (Shaq attack). That is what took us up a couple of levels.
We need at least the same this summer or we will fall further behind imo
I think we need minimum 1 senior CB possibly 2. We need at least 2 first team players into that midfield, preferably players who can play more than one way...We also need a genuine alternative to Trent. A Tsimikas for the right.
Unfortunately, I think it is unlikely that we get those signings.
Last edited by Steveo; 8th March 2023 at 06:24 PM.
Bookmarks