Liverpool FC Forum

[Ghost of Shankly]

Our first team players or potential squad members need to have the ability of speed, sharpness, high tempo and intensity type of football that is Klopps style, and throwing a load of youngsters into the mix could backfire.

Our manager has already tried that with Solanke, Woodburn, thus far and Solanke is miles off the pace and Woodburn is too young.

TAA is an exception, but he is an outstanding talent.

We need established quality who can play high tempo, intensity football.

[parchpea]

As club appears unwilling to throw 70m at an elite goalkeeper then I would suggest going after cheaper options with experience, a 2/3 season deal. Handanovic or Subasic are examples. Better yet than wasting 35m+ on Butland or an untested Pope.

[woof woof !]

Been very impressed with Harry McGuire during the world cup.

Looks every inch a Klopp type player (i.e. unrelenting, aggressive, committed)

Think him and Virgil at the heart of our defence would be immense 

I'd sell off Loveren and Matip if it meant we could capture this fella .

[damjan193]

Been very impressed with Harry McGuire during the world cup.

Looks every inch a Klopp type player (i.e. unrelenting, aggressive, committed)

Think him and Virgil at the heart of our defence would be immense 

I'd sell off Loveren and Matip if it meant we could capture this fella .

Maguire has been amazing but I'm not sure if he's a Klopp player. One of the most physically strong players and one of the best in the air but he's not the fastes and is a bit sluggish, not the best for defending on the front foot. Not so great on the ball either. Good player and I wouldn't mind us signing him, but he would be far from ideal for us.

[UvS xR4GEx]

Maguire looks good in a back 3 but not in a back 2. He's made little errors in the world cup but Stones and Walker have been quick at covering these moments. I like him and he's a real threat in the air, not sure if he's quick enough though.

[woof woof !]

Maguire looks good in a back 3 but not in a back 2. He's made little errors in the world cup but Stones and Walker have been quick at covering these moments. I like him and he's a real threat in the air, not sure if he's quick enough though.

Looks good in a back three  but not in a back four ?

Mate, when did his title winning team Leicester play with a back three ?

Fair comment regarding his pace but Sammi Hypia (and a string of others) have proved that not every CB has to be a greyhound,   

[Ghost of Shankly]

Been very impressed with Harry McGuire during the world cup.

Looks every inch a Klopp type player (i.e. unrelenting, aggressive, committed)

Think him and Virgil at the heart of our defence would be immense 

I'd sell off Loveren and Matip if it meant we could capture this fella .

That's a very good shout matey, Against Columbia I thought he was solid as a rock, seems to be fearless.

But after the world cup, how much £££ are we talking!? 50m + maybe...

Interesting. Klopp gave Lovren a new five year deal, Matip is useful. Gomez can play there, and I thought Klavan was outstanding against Chester the other day. Ie: Solid and looking sharp.

Who will Jurgen offload. Klopp can mix it up and utilise our CB's any which way he needs to, depends whether he feels we need more at the back..

I think the keeper situation is more of a priority.

[redshade]

Added Shaqiri and also will add Allison when completed.

[Eagle]

I think we'll end up with something very close to the below. It may appear that we don't have quality depth in the front 3 but if there was a long term injury to one of Firmino, Salah or Mane, I think Fekir would move up there.

Something people don't mention is that we can only name 17 players who do not fulfil the "Home Grown Player" criteria in our Premier League squad. I've highlighted the non-HGP players in red.

2018/2019 squad:

                            Alisson
                            Karius
           Free transfer or academy player


Trent          Lovren          van Dijk     Robertson
Clyne           Matip            Klavan        Moreno
                   Gomez


                           Fabinho
                         Henderson
               Ketia                    Fekir (or alternative)
          Wijnaldum                Lallana                 
               Milner


Salah                                                Mane
Shaqiri                                           Woodburn
                             Firmino
                            Sturridge
                             Solanke
                            Brewster

On loan:
Adam Bogdan – Hibernian
Ovie Ejaria – Rangers
Harry Wilson – Derby
Randall - ?
Chirivella - ?
Allan - ?
Grujic - ?
Ojo - ?
Kent - ?
Awoniyi - ?

Sold:
Mignolet
Ward
Markovic
Origi
Ings

Injured for the season:
Oxlade-Chamberlain

[aCe']

I think we'll end up with something very close to the below. It may appear that we don't have quality depth in the front 3 but if there was a long term injury to one of Firmino, Salah or Mane, I think Fekir would move up there.

Something people don't mention is that we can only name 17 players who do not fulfil the "Home Grown Player" criteria in our Premier League squad. I've highlighted the non-HGP players in red.

2018/2019 squad:

                            Alisson
                            Karius
           Free transfer or academy player


Trent          Lovren          van Dijk     Robertson
Clyne           Matip            Klavan        Moreno
                   Gomez


                           Fabinho
                         Henderson
               Ketia                    Fekir (or alternative)
          Wijnaldum                Lallana                 
               Milner


Salah                                                Mane
Shaqiri                                           Woodburn
                             Firmino
                            Sturridge
                             Solanke
                            Brewster

On loan:
Adam Bogdan – Hibernian
Ovie Ejaria – Rangers
Harry Wilson – Derby
Randall - ?
Chirivella - ?
Allan - ?
Grujic - ?
Ojo - ?
Kent - ?
Awoniyi - ?

Sold:
Mignolet
Ward
Markovic
Origi
Ings

Injured for the season:
Oxlade-Chamberlain

Good post and good point about the home grown rule. Seems like we'll have 16 according to your calculations. Ideally, we should be keeping Origi as backup to Firmino (Sturridge as 3rd choice) so that would take us to 17. This also shows that we must sell Mignolet this window to make the numbers work.

[red till i die!!]

Good post Eagle.
Think we will look to shift a few to offset some sales and wages before the window closes. I'd be happy enough if we were left with the following.

Goalkeepers - Becker and Karius.

Fullbacks - Trent, Robbo, Clyne. Milner, Gomez and Fabinho can play FB at a stretch so sell Moreno.

CH - Virgil, Lovren, Matip, Klavan and Gomez.

Midfield - Keita, Fabinho, Gini, Henderson, Milner.

AM - Lallana, Mane, Salah, Shaq.

CF - Firmino, Ings, Solanke.

That is 22 players so my 3 others would be (as eagle said) a keeper from the Academy, Brewster and Grujic. Think we could definitely push Pep all the way with that and have a serious tilt at the CL again. Raise what we can from Moreno, Mingolet, Sturridge, Origi, Markovic and a few of the younger lads Klopp doesn't want. We will need it to lower wages. If its at all possible to bring in Fekir then we will be some outfit altogether. Sell Ings then to make room. Think we will still make the HG quota as well if we do all that.

That is the best squad with the most quality in it we have had for years so I expect the pressure to deliver something hitting overload. A squad like that though will certainly need a top 4 + Long run in the CL to maintain and that's where we will focus on most.

With Klopp and that squad I could definitely see us winning either of those 2. Don't think it will happen but I would like to see Buvac return alongside him.

[maguskwt]

Good post Eagle.
Think we will look to shift a few to offset some sales and wages before the window closes. I'd be happy enough if we were left with the following.

Goalkeepers - Becker and Karius.

Fullbacks - Trent, Robbo, Clyne. Milner, Gomez and Fabinho can play FB at a stretch so sell Moreno.

CH - Virgil, Lovren, Matip, Klavan and Gomez.

Midfield - Keita, Fabinho, Gini, Henderson, Milner.

AM - Lallana, Mane, Salah, Shaq.

CF - Firmino, Ings, Solanke.

That is 22 players so my 3 others would be (as eagle said) a keeper from the Academy, Brewster and Grujic. Think we could definitely push Pep all the way with that and have a serious tilt at the CL again. Raise what we can from Moreno, Mingolet, Sturridge, Origi, Markovic and a few of the younger lads Klopp doesn't want. We will need it to lower wages. If its at all possible to bring in Fekir then we will be some outfit altogether. Sell Ings then to make room. Think we will still make the HG quota as well if we do all that.

That is the best squad with the most quality in it we have had for years so I expect the pressure to deliver something hitting overload. A squad like that though will certainly need a top 4 + Long run in the CL to maintain and that's where we will focus on most.

With Klopp and that squad I could definitely see us winning either of those 2. Don't think it will happen but I would like to see Buvac return alongside him.

WTH... I thought for a moment there Shaquille O'Neal is playing football for us???

[maguskwt]

I believe we have smashed the record for transfer expenditure in a single window by quite a big margin.

Its about time though. We are having to spend this much due to the neglect in orevious years. I am still amazed at the change in strategy by FSG from BR's tenure and early Klopp years. We didnt seem to flinch when we smashed the records for a defender and a keeper by quite large margins. Wonder what triggered this change? Is it due to Klopp or is it due to coming to realization of the previous mobeyball strategy?

[damjan193]

I believe we have smashed the record for transfer expenditure in a single window by quite a big margin.

Its about time though. We are having to spend this much due to the neglect in orevious years. I am still amazed at the change in strategy by FSG from BR's tenure and early Klopp years. We didnt seem to flinch when we smashed the records for a defender and a keeper by quite large margins. Wonder what triggered this change? Is it due to Klopp or is it due to coming to realization of the previous mobeyball strategy?

Think it's a bit of both. I think they haven't entirely abandoned the moneyball strategy, we're far from being a Man City or a Chelsea for example, or even a Man United. We're still looking for value for money and resell value, but in a lot different way than our first years. A lot of this has to do with our sporting director Michael Edwards IMO.

Also, on the other hand, the owners now see a very capable manager in Klopp, a man that can use their investment in the right way. He did wonders with a minimal budget, the sale of his best player had little to no effect on his team and 90% of his signings have been a success. So the owners are thinking, if he can do this with a minimal budget, imagine what he can to if he had a big amount of money to spend. Think the owners realized thar this is the optimal moment to strike hard and spend big, so they finally did.

[Eagle]

I believe we have smashed the record for transfer expenditure in a single window by quite a big margin.

Its about time though. We are having to spend this much due to the neglect in orevious years. I am still amazed at the change in strategy by FSG from BR's tenure and early Klopp years. We didnt seem to flinch when we smashed the records for a defender and a keeper by quite large margins. Wonder what triggered this change? Is it due to Klopp or is it due to coming to realization of the previous mobeyball strategy?

We are still living within our means. The money being spent is being spent by LFC not by FSG. We make more money now than we did a couple of year ago in all areas. We sold Coutinho for nearly £150mil in Jan and made £70-80mil in Champions League prize money last year. The truth is that 2 years ago the likes of Keita, Fabinho and Alisson wouldn't have even spoken to us so we couldn't splash cash on players like that if we had the cash. FSG have been steadily improving the club's financial position to give us a better chance of competing but the big change has been JURGEN KLOPP. Not only has he improved the side and got us into the Champions League 2 season in a row for the first time in over 10 years, he also has the reputation to convince players to come here over other clubs. Klopp may not be signing 7-8 players a year like some of our other managers, but his success rate has been remarkably high, and this has helped us improve each summer played a big part in where we are today.