04 Nov 2017 08:52:38
i think we need to accept both Can and Coutinho are leaving, but who are the likely incomings in January or summer? I'd expect us to look at Lemar, Meyer, Coric. Still an outside chance of Brandt as well, but more in summer.

Keita arrives in the summer so we already effectively have Can's replacement. Would love us to try and sign Sanchez as well.


1.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 09:25:10
Emre is a good midfielder but his consistency is just not there, yes he can be brilliant but he can be very frustrating too often. Emre leaving for nothing means we lose out on a decent transfer fee nothing else. Coutinho leaving should be for the right reasons - a big sum paid in full no down payments, future payments and what if's - luckily for us Real may be interested too which should help with the expected fee.


2.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 09:28:29
I think it'll end up being Meyer, although we could easily lose him to Spurs. Lemar looks Arsenal bound. Brandt will not move without guarantees we still can't give him, even if Coutinho leaves. Coric could go anywhere due to the massive amount of interest across Europe.

We could end up targeting someone completely new though. Hopefully things will become clearer in Ed002's next Shakopod.


3.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 09:52:27
Just to add, i wish we'd just give Woodburn or Arnold shot at replacing Coutinho. It's not like we even miss him after Salah signed. He plays mostly as a forward, and we have Mane, Salah, Chamberlain, Firmino and Sturridge all good enough to start week in week out. He has played for 3 years on the wing, and we signed 2 wingers in the summer.

In midfield, we'll be fine once Lallana is fit and Keita sign, but at the minute it does look a tad unbalanced. Coutinho looks disinterested though so we're effectively playing without him already.

Arnold or Woodburn can both play on the wing or in attacking midfield; the two positions Coutinho plays. Arnold also replaces his set piece abilities. Just wish that for once we'd not block the path way of our own youngsters, and just give them a chance. Why are Meyer or Brandt better than our academy products? Because they are German? If Coutinho was playing every single game and playing a massive part in us winning games, I'd say we needed a major replacement. He isn't though. His injuries and sulking have made him seem like nothing more than squad player this season. Are Woodburn or Arnold not capable of being squad players? Delle Alli got the nod at 18 years old and it made him into the player he is today.


4.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 09:57:34
Why do you say Lemar will join Arsenal? the guy already rejected them once, and all arsenal's efforts to get an early deal for Lemar has fallen on deaf ears both the team and the player!


5.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 10:26:41
I think you’re right MK especially on Coutinho. I said in the summer I don’t think we’ll miss him if he goes. He’s become a problem in that he’s not as good as Salah or Mane in the wide positions and he weakens the midfield defensively if he’s played deeper. Just get as much as we can for him and move on.


6.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 10:40:01
We could sign messi it wouldn't make a difference until we sort the goal keeper and 2 centre backs out.


7.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 10:48:32
Also i sort of agree about coutinho MK, we have Woodburn, Kent, Ojo and Wilson all of who deserve game time and a player like Max Meyer would make no sense. He would only take away what little game time these guys were to get. We have to be brave and play them, and its not like these guys would start often or anything like that considering the would still be behind (Lallana, Salah, Mane, Firmino, Sturridge, Chamberlain in the pecking order)


8.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 11:13:45
Meyer is not the answer to replace Cou. He simply is not good enough yet. Lemar wants to go to Arsenal unless something has changed. As for Woodie replacing Cou, he is simply not ready yet altho he can be an effective replacement in the long term even tho he is a different type of player to him.

I think Klopp wants to add more energy to our midfield which is why Keita is coming in to replace Can cos tho I love Can as a player, he at times, takes too many touches when switching defence to attack as soon as we win the ball off the press. Keita is way better than in in that regard as switching defence to attack in one movement is exactly who and what he does.

Can is a good player BUT he simply does not fit what Klopp wants to do long term and I may disagree with Klopp's thinking, I can understand his thinking as the facts bear this out.


9.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 11:19:00
Didn't even include Solanke and Brewster!


10.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 11:40:21
Kloppisakloon, i cannot remember which editor it was, but they said Lemar is more likely to go to Arsenal. I think our interest was more if a panic at the last minute than because we've actually scouted him. I expect Liverpool to move on to be honest.

Completely agree with you Ings and things. I'd happily accommodate Coutinho in midfield though if he wanted to be at the club. I think he'd add enough going forward to make up for his lack of defensive ability. He is pretty under rated defensively though. He gets stuck in when he is in the mood. Just a shame he's not in the mood this season.

Loris, i agree Woodburn isn't as good as Coutinho yet. He may never be to be fair, but Coutinho has played in less than half of our games this season and in half the games he's played he hasn't bothered to show up anyway! With Salah signing to replace him in the frontline, yes it would be ideal if he could play in midfield. If he leaves though, Salah has already replaced the Coutinho of the last 3 years, so it just means sadly we don't get an immediate upgrade on Lallana or Gini in midfield. I'd hardly say that was a priority anyway though. The midfield will be miles stronger when Keita signs, and we hipefully add a holding midfielder. Pluswith 12 points between us a City i think a title race is out of the question. So why not just give Arnold or Woodburn the 8 appearances in every 17 games that Coutinho has been making for the rest of this season? They might surprise us and save us a fortune! Mane and Lallana are back imminently anyway so for me Coutinho in his current form doesn't even make the starting XI after the international break. I'd rather have Woodburn or Arnold coming off the bench than the stroppy little Brazilian. At least they'd gain something from it and want to be at the club for the foreseeable future.


11.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 12:06:10
Lallana doesn’t need an ‘upgrade’, he’s a perfectly fine player as he is. He just needs to be on the pitch helping us win matches. We have missed his energy and skill.


12.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 13:50:42
Personally from what i have seen either brandt or lemar are musts for replacing coutinho.