23 Jul 2017 20:43:00
Hi ed,

Have you had any indication as to who the alternatives are to Keita that LFC may consider? Surely there's a contingency plan of some sorts.

Thanks.

{Ed002's Note - I gave a list of those that the club has been interested in the other day - but most have moved on. You need to think seriously about whether or not the club just buy for the sake of it (to appease the fans) or has a structured approach to regeneration - where they buy the players they need.}

1.) 23 Jul 2017
23 Jul 2017 23:10:42
Granted ed. Absolutely.

But

We haven't just identified keita. but a cm.

Similar to a pacey winger, mane wasn't first choice. Another winger. brandt, got salah. Wij. Robertson.

I'm hoping that it's the cm we have decided on, because in my opinion it's where games are won and lost and it is certainly not our stronger point.

Just don't want to go for someone completely below keita, hopefully it's someone similar.

2.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 00:43:26
Midfield is easily our strongest area of the pitch?

3.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 02:13:22
our midfield is deceptively (and arugably) our weakest link. they press well, link attack etc but they often leave the defense stranded and with the opposition flooding our box. Matip said it himself about the way we play not making it easy on our defenders. I think we have good pieces there, but I do believe our defense would benefit from out midfield being amore compact and connected unit. adding quality depth will help that and having guys who can come in and out with dropping the levels will help.

4.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 06:18:18
Opponents waltz through our midfield without a care in the world. I agree with Faithinworks.

{Ed001's Note - that's because of the way we play, it will always be like that unless we had 3 Kantes in there, who could press and get back.}

5.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 10:28:24
so we need 9 midfielders then ed001? haha.

{Ed001's Note - could be.}

6.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 11:30:38
Exactly eds. Brazil were always famous for saying "okay we concede 1 we score 3" we can't have everything. Top class defenders will help with leaking goals. World class keeper too. Karius looked unreal in training! Hope he gets the nod this season.

7.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 14:11:53
Agree with Ed - if you look at the tougher games we played last year with more balanced possession (e. g. Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham) our defense actually looked pretty good, largely because our midfield won the midfield battles and providing meaningful cover.

It's against the lower teams where we look shaky because our midfield and FBs both push up the pitch, leaving our CBS exposed on the break (not to mention set pieces) . so IMO our midfield isn't the problem, it's the way we play.

I do think Klopp has this figured out though - look at the way we were far more balanced in possession during the latter stages of last season. We scored less, but conceded far less, and put together a relatively consistent run.

I would not be surprised to see a more conservative/ balanced approach this year against the so-called weaker sides, and also to see a 4-2-3-1 come out from time to time.

8.) 24 Jul 2017
24 Jul 2017 22:55:32
Our defence only let in 8 goals in the last 12 games. Only Spurs matched that. We were showing signs of actually knowing how to defend. But also because Lovren and Matip both stayed fit. And Mignolet was absolutely brilliant.