30 Mar 2022 20:38:46
If Bobby is to be moved on (I hope not), the ideal player to replace him for me is Patrick Schick. Very similar to Bobby in terms of silky footballing technique. I've seen him play just a few times but he reminds me of Bobby every single time. Except Schick is a bit quicker and not as involved in pressing and defending from up front (something that the coaches can remedy with time) .

1.) 30 Mar 2022
30 Mar 2022 21:29:30
What are his teeth like though?

2.) 30 Mar 2022
30 Mar 2022 21:54:41
If Bobby is moved on then we no longer need to continue the false nine thing. Shouid go and sign a proper CF who bangs in goals. Salah might be off as well. Darwin Nunez or Nkunku Should be the priority. Proper ballers.

3.) 30 Mar 2022
30 Mar 2022 23:03:19
Good call, the false 9 thing just hasn’t worked has it? Apart from the PL and CL and Club World Champions thing. Sell one player and scrap the most successful system we’ve had in 30 years - good plan.

4.) 30 Mar 2022
30 Mar 2022 23:17:10
Horses for courses for me. City away, I’d still play Bobby. Jota off the bench. Maybe other games where we don’t need a false nine, but jota can play that role, or mane, but we need to be able to change things, and Bobby offers what others can’t.

5.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 03:57:32
WDW it works well because we have had wingers capable of scoring 20+ goals a season. If Salah goes, it will be hard to replace that. There's no issue with tweaking the system to fit the players we do have. We don't want square pegs in round holes and all that.

{Ed0666's Note - I agree we have a tried and tested system that yields magnificence don’t fix what isn’t broken. We need to replace players that fit the system. If Salah goes buy a left footer who player on the right. Maybe we lose goals and magic but at least the system doesn't suffer!

6.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 04:49:29
Saka would thrive in the Salah position.

7.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 07:12:27
If its not broken, don't fix it. Unless you're Harry Klopp, then you dismantle it to get a couple of "proper ballers" in 🤣🤣.

Its always been about Klopp and the system.

8.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 08:02:31
Schick boss just said he’s going nowhere just this morning. Next.

9.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 08:43:39
Not sure what Harry said that's wrong here. Teams evolve over time and systems change. That's a fact of football.

Klopp played Lewandowski up front in a 4-2-3-1 at Dortmund with a proper No.10 in Goetze behind him. So it's not like the 4-3-3 with a false 9 is the way Klopp's always played throughout his career.

I actually like Jota up front because he is lethal in the box but not that great in the build up. So i do quite like the idea of (for example) Diaz, Carvalho and Elliott behind Jota in a 4-2-3-1 in the future when the famed front 3 have all been put out to pasture.

I don't know why people are so hung up on needing 20 goal a season wingers and a creative striker. Football is fluid and players interchange positions anyway. So who cares if the main goalscorer is a striker a winger or a No.10. I sure don't. For once i think Harry is spot on.

10.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 10:07:32
Is it just me but every time that I’ve seen Elliott in midfield, he’s stood out and excelled.
Yet when I see him at wide right up top, he’s ok but nothing like as influential?

11.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 10:14:47
Agreed re. Jota, MK. He has scored goals for us for almost two seasons now at a better rate than many of the illustrious strikers we've had down the years. Ok, so he's not Firmino in terms of link up play, and he's not Salah (who is? ) but if you're looking for a striker who pounces on chances in the box and scores with both feet and head (check out his header for Portugal against Turkey by the way) .

Loose ball in the box - I think I want it falling to Jota more than any other play in the team.

12.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 10:27:14
Agree MK that systems do evolve however I still think there is a place for a false 9 with us. Jota does well against lesser teams but his hold up play is very weak and it shows at times. As Firmane said, a big game like city, I want firmino playing for that press. Can’t remember which game it was recently when firmino came on and changed the game completely with his pressing. Arsenal I think?

I also think mane could play that role so I don’t think we need to buy someone specific for the role. Ideally we just keep firmino.

13.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 10:55:24
Spoken to a few Portuguese lad about Darwin nunez and they seem to be frustrated with him, they think his goal scoring is unquestionable but they all seem to moan he’d score more if his intelligence in the pitch was better, guess that’s something that would come with experience. Never watched much of the lad myself to be fair.

14.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:10:53
There's no denying that Bobby in the false 9 has worked extremely well for us in the past but there's also no denying that we've played the majority of this season (and quite successfully) without a false 9.

It's great that the team have evolved and we can play a number of different systems now.

15.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:24:10
I agree Juicer. Elliott doesn't suit wide right in our current system in my opinion because he doesn't have the pace. Wide right in a 4231 is different though and even in that example you could have Elliott in the 10 and Carvalho out wide who does have pace. It was just a real rough example using current players and one looking very likely to sign. I put little thought into though as didn't want to speculate on who we could sign and risk my point being lost. Of course there's the chance we could sign one of the wide right players we're interested in such as Sarr or Bowen. My main point was Klopp has played different systems in the past and Jota and Diaz are both perhaps more suited to the system he played at Dortmund. Diaz played left midfield at Porto and Jota is not a false 9, despite being a great goalscorer.

I just have to agree with Harry and Babbity Rabbity though. Klopp built this system because it got the best out of Firmino, Mane and Salah. He's perfectly good enough as a manager to play a different way with different players and he showed that at Dortmund. The base tactics of a high line and high press don't need to change just because the attacking patterns/ movements are slightly different. It's almost an insult to Klopp to insinuate he's incapable of making us successful with a subtle change in style of play.

16.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:24:26
That is coz he isn't a winger Juicer. Elliot doesn't rely on pace and without pace, you simply cannot play up top on the flanks.

17.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:26:32
He is a very young Sailor and is very similar to Werner in the style of his play. he is strong and can hold onto the big boys with ease. He has an excellent technique and super good striking of the ball. He is a 10-year investment if you ask me.
He or Nkunku (another baller) should be our priority.

18.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:30:57
Reyrey, i'd definitely keep Firmino. I don't think his skillset is appreciated enough outside of Liverpool FC to get what he's worth if we sold him. I'm more talking about the future beyond Salah, Mane and Firmino being key players. Probably at least 2 or 3 seasons away from us having moved them all on though. I agree conpletely that in the meantime there are certain games Firmino can make a difference in. I just don't think we need to have tunnel vision with the future trying to play exactly the same with different players. Firmino is incredibly unique, and how many wingers in world football will score as many as Salah and Mane have? Near on 50-60 goals a season between them for half a decade. A good manager will play to the strengths of the players he and the DOF buys.

19.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 11:32:15
RR, Jota is a brilliant striker at what he does. Left foot, right foot, header. He's got every finish in his locker.

He's not Firmino but he doesn't need to be.

20.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 13:12:50
Can't disagree with that MK. Agree completely that we can't have tunnel vision and have to continue to evolve.

To be honest, I don't understand the clamor for replacements here. We have great players in their prime now and a couple (Jota, Diaz) who are coming into their prime. Right now we probably have one of the best, if not the best, attacks in the world. We should be focusing on keeping them.

And when they do need replacing, Klopp has earned the trust to do that right.

21.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 13:17:21
Good reply and explanation MKS.
I agree that Klopp, and more pertinently his staff, work together to pool ideas in a similar way to the boot room but with far more detail and science these days, and that they are most definitely capable of changing / adapting the system to suit the players and the opposition.

22.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 13:44:21
We can't afford Nunez or Nkunku even if Salah and Bobby are sold. Don't empty the tissuebox yet Harry. We can afford a Bowen or Sarr or Diaby to replace Salah. If we sign a trad no 9 it will be as cover to replace Origi's role.

23.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 14:12:28
Problem is you don’t win titles without scoring goals. Jota’s link up play might not be to the standards of Bobbys but if we don’t score we don’t win the game. You don’t get given 3 points for no look passes or space created.

24.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 15:21:33
Oh Rambo. Bowen would cost us twice the amount of Nunez. I agree Nkunku is expensive. Nkunku has a relatively small release clause.

25.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 16:38:21
I know in your dream land Bowen costs twice more and Kovacic won Balon D'or. In the real world teams missing out on Haaland will be after a no. 9 preferably a young one so plenty competition. His fee and wages would need to be high to get a work permit. Do the math. We have a clearer run for Bowen.

{Ed0666's Note - hasnt Patrick Shtick just suffered a serious injury that will keep him sidelined indefinitely?

26.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 19:52:35
JK, I don’t understand your logic. You act as if we don’t score goals when Bobbie plays which is not true. Bobbie has never been known for being prolific so not sure why you are shocked that he does not score goals or as many as a true no. 9 should. If Klopp was bent on a true no. 9 then Bobbie would have been sold and he he would have kept Benteke.

We literally won trophies without a true 9 so clearly it can be done. Bobbie may not be what he once was BUT he played at Utd and we scored 5. Played at Watford and we scored 5 (bagged a hatrick), came off the bench vs Inter and Arsenal and bagged so not sure what your beef always is with him.

The fact remains that it is Bobbie’s link up play alongside Killers like Mane and Salah and now, Jota that has helped us over the years. Jota is a natural finisher but his overall game is shocking. Even Mane had better linkup play and he’s not that great at it. The way we play is hinged on a linkup man up top, not a natural finisher. It is what it is.

Jota can get away with stinking up the joint for 80 mins and bagging vs the poorer teams. Vs City? Yeah, you might as well be playing with 10 men for that period. Bobbie all day in the big games when fit. I’d rather Jota off the bench cos yeah, he a goal threat.

27.) 31 Mar 2022
31 Mar 2022 20:48:09
Oli read my status again. I’ve not said once that Bobby doesn’t score goals. Everytime Bobby is mentioned it triggers you into an overreaction.

I clearly said that Jota’s build up play isn’t to the standard of Bobbys. But then bigged up Jota’s ability to score goals. Not once did I mention Bobby doesn’t score goals. Further up I even mentioned how successful we have been in the pay with Bobby as a false no 9.

I don’t understand your logic. You’ve leaped to the defence of Bobby but you’re more than happy to criticise Jota, Mane and further up Naby. Perhaps you should practice a little bit more of what you preach.

28.) 01 Apr 2022
01 Apr 2022 07:56:25
The last two years Bobby has been poor, not just in goals which we never really judged him on but his ability to bring in others to play and holding up the ball. but this season he seems to have refound his form and if it continues I can see him staying until he retires and I would have no issue with that. Salah and Manes effectiveness will inevitably diminish as does their pace and explosiveness but That isn’t really a factor with Bobby.