06 Aug 2018 08:24:06
I think we need a number 10. Maybe not as a starter but an impact player off the bench when we play teams who park the bus. Adam can fill that role but we need another. Fekir is not the answer. There are better and cheaper options out there.

1.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 09:08:25
Are you going to give us these better and cheaper options or are we meant to guess?

2.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 09:54:04
I have no idea for an alternative (there are a couple of possibles even within the existing team), but I would agree with the OP that it would not be prudent to attack the season without a #10 in the squad. Klopp may have his own style of play but some conventional thinking will always hold water. Everybody said he didn't play with a DM, but he did with Lucas and we were more solid defensively. Now he's gotten Fabinho.

3.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 11:57:08
Whe lave loads of players who can play 10, we have firmino, Salah, mane and shaqiri who will rotate through as a front 3 (all can play 10) the depth is then sturridge, Solanke, lalana (can play 10) Keita looks like he could play any position on the park. I think an out and out 10 is a nice to have but I don’t see us starting too many games with 4 attacking players.

4.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 12:14:30
i don't go along with this notion of we need a no10 to break down the bus parking teams.

how many of these bus parking teams did we manage to beat with coutinho over the last 3-4 years?

5.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 12:35:08
In sides sitting deep against us, the no.10 becomes even more important to unlock sides defences, and is required to be able to work in tight spaces, see the creative passes and shoot from distance.

I don’t think we’re short at all in that department as besides Lallana, Shaqiri can perform that role in more of a 4-2-3-1 shape (and has a better strike too) . Likewise Keita can be very effective operating in that area just outside the box, and we even have the option to drop a Firmino deeper and play Sturridge or Solanke upfront like we did against Brighton.

With Fabinho, Hendo providing control from midfield, and VVD/ Allison behind them to sweep up I’m comfortable we can play 4-2-3-1 and an attacker at no.10 without worrying about getting hit on the break so easily.

{Ed025's Note - parking the bus is subjective SG, its a term applied to teams who you dont have the guile or talent to break down, some will call it defending from the front just like liverpool have done in the past where ian rush would be back in his own box defending when necessary, people will use the term for their own agenda but its a cop out if you ask me mate..

6.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 13:23:43
Spot on regarding Rushy Ed25.
He not only defended in his own box but also pressed from the front when the opposition had the ball in their own half.

Teams have always come to Anfield and sat back, since as long as I can remember. The back pass was perfect for drawing those teams out, it’s usually the ones that moan about it these days were the ones that came and parked the bus back in the 80’s!

{Ed025's Note - rushy was a pioneer of defending from the front drogie which made him a special player mate, i was a massive fan..

7.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 14:12:42
i save the "parking the bus" term for those few performances a year you get from teams that show up to play with absolutely no intent on atacking. they are pretty rare tbh. i used to consider burnley a bus parking team when they played us. but they actually have intent when they get the ball.

8.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 14:23:49
Agree Ed - I deliberately didn’t call it parking the bus as i agree it’s a legitimate strategy to sit deep and play on the counter and I have no problem with that. In fact it makes the league less one dimensional and part of its charm to have teams playing different styles, it’s a challenge we need to conquer to be able to win this league and I feel we’re getting better at it.

The exception is when someone with serious talent at their disposal like Man Utd doesn’t even bother to play on the counter and just plays out a boring draw (when they so clearly should be better than that) is when I would call it a bus park.

9.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 15:50:01
Personally loved Eddie Howe’s comments last year about playing Liverpool at their own game - then collapsing to us. It wasn’t the collapsing part I admired, but the fact that he was not willing to park the bus and tried going head to head with us.

10.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 16:28:04
Am I on my own here thinking that Coutinho actually made it more difficult to break teams down from the 10 position?
I loved Coutinho but when he played in midfield he dropped way too deep and slowed the play down allowing the opposition to get into position.
For me he was far better on the left playing much higher up, cutting in and bending one into the far corner. That was the only way he would consistently break teams down. This idea that he was some kind of genius at the tip of the midfield is pure fantasy.

11.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 16:48:33
What about a cheeky bid for Ross Barkley or Loftus Cheek. Maybe even Ramsey.

{Ed025's Note - you have to be kidding about ross fred, he left to get away from the city and all his hangers on, talented guy but the heart of a mouse and the brain of a frozen pea, ramsey would be good company for studge in the treatment room but loftus cheek would be a good addition i feel mate..

12.) 06 Aug 2018
06 Aug 2018 19:29:29
Cheeky bid?
Like "hey you ugly gits, sell us your player"?
That kind of cheeky?