Midfield next season

[rurikbird]

Let's say the Thiago rumours don't materialize. We still have quite a logjam at midfield:

• Fabinho – first-choice DM
• Henderson – attacking RCM or DM, captain
• Keita – LCM/playmaker
• Wijnaldum – jack of all trades; if Keita takes his spot might play more often as a DM
• Milner – jack of all trades, "enforcer" in hockey terms
• Ox – attack-minded RCM, can also fill on the wing
• Jones – new Lallana

Don't see any possibility for someone like Grujic to break into this rotation. If Keita continues his progress and Jones keeps pushing for a bigger role, this seems about the right balance of fresh energy and continuity.

This season's numbers:
Wijnaldum: 3.554 minutes, 46 appearances, 6 goals, 0 assists, 0.15 GI/90*
Henderson: 3.167 minutes, 40 appearances, 4 goals, 5 assists, 0.26 GI/90
Fabinho: 2.925 minutes, 39 appearances, 2 goals, 4 assists, 0.18 GI/90
Ox (midfield only): 1.489 minutes, 23 appearances, 4 goals, 1 assist, 0.30 GI/90
Keita: 1.310 minutes, 26 appearances, 4 goals, 3 assists, 0.48 GI/90
Milner (midfield only): 944 minutes, 25 appearances, 2 goals (both pens), 3 assists, 0.28 GI/90
Jones: 582 minutes, 11 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist, 0.62 GI/90
––––––––
* Goal involvement (non-penalty goal or assist) per 90 minutes.

Now, an important point whenever we discuss Liverpool's midfield is that in Klopp's system it is NOT the main source of either goals or assists in the team. Robbo alone has produced more assists than the 4 most played midfielders combined. In search for more creativity and contribution from midfield you have to be very careful not upend the whole system, which has proven to be incredibly efficient at creating chances for the front 3 while protecting the defense. Hopefully with Keita and Jones being "like new signings," but actually having received a full couple of seasons of Klopp's education, they will add something useful to the mix without upsetting the title-winning balance.

 

[mwake]

Nice post! Its weird you would think we would around and try to grab either a hot young prospect or established star. My mind says that we should do that but my heart trusts Klopp and that's all that matters.

Do we 'do a Poch' and burn out or do we maintain? I think the difference between us and Poch is Klopp. Klopp is far better at keeping players' performances up. That was Poch's problem, despite the highs that Poch achieved he couldn't keep the players onside after disappointment. Why didn't that happen to Klopp when he had his first failures? I think the difference is that behind the scenes Klopp is a much better man manager. We lost the League Cup, UEFA Cup and CL but we came back stronger each time. So whilst I would love to get a Havearts admittedly I would rather make sure that the club keeps Klopp happy, because as long as Klopp is happy then the team should be good until age catches up with them.

PS: I'm loving Keita, he seems to be settling into the team nicely know, he seems stronger and more combative in the last few games so maybe he has stepped up on the gym work? If we can keep Keita at this level and more then we should be good, that fabeld mix of Kante and Coutinho might just come true...

 

[keniget]

I might be wrong, hope I am, but I think the title winning balance is getting a bit stale.

We have some great talent at the club but we are not a team that have won simply by being a cut above talent-wise than everyone else. It’s taken a incredible amount of hunger and effort.

That is not sustainable forever.

Its right that we tread carefully but for me it’s plain as day that we need to bring in some new blood.

 

[Modo]

It all depends on Keita and Ox. If Keita can stay fit and keep the playing at the level he's currently at, then yes it looks good.
But Ox also has to step up. Those two are supposed to be our attacking midfielders and they need to be able to carry a bigger load if we're going to be able to compete in all competitions.
The midfield isn't a priority. I wouldn't mind seeing Jones go out on loan and Grujic come in.

 

[rurikbird]

I might be wrong, hope I am, but I think the title winning balance is getting a bit stale.

We have some great talent at the club but we are not a team that have won simply by being a cut above talent-wise than everyone else. It’s taken a incredible amount of hunger and effort.

That is not sustainable forever.

Its right that we tread carefully but for me it’s plain as day that we need to bring in some new blood.

If Keita were to play 3000 minutes next season instead of 1300 at this season's average performance level, that would extrapolate to around 16 goal involvements, i.e. something like 9 goals and 7 assists in all competitions. If we only count his performances since the restart then he would be on pace for something like 12 goals and 13 assists, which is a serious contribution (and not altogether improbable given his numbers back in Germany). Conversely, if Gini had less playing time to express himself, I think we would more often see an "angry Gini," like the one in the 2nd half against Barca and less of the "ghost Gini" just making up the numbers, which would improve his efficiency as well. Just those 2 things alone should provide some new energy and attacking threat to help both the midfield and the front 3.

I'm also hopeful for Trent's continual development – last season he scored 1 and assisted 12, this season it's 4 and 13 respectively. That's a promising trend, no pun intended – his goalscoring output will keep rising as he is adding more muscle mass resulting in more effortless shooting power. Taken together those things might mean that we will be slightly less dependent on goals from the front 3 than we're now.

 

[keniget]

Even if we can rely on Keita for those kinda numbers - and that’s still a big if - I don’t think it’s enough.

 

[Brizzle]

There is a lot of faith going on Naby & Jones. Whilst the talent is there for Naby, and the potential is there for Jones, it is the consistency we need. An injury to either Jordan or Fabinho and the midfield could be seriously imbalanced.

However, i still believe it is a new blood at wide forward that we really need and that across Hendo, Fabinho, Gini, Naby, Ox, Jones, Milner that we can play the midfield system as required but we simply need a way to reduce the overall workload for Mane & Salah.

 

[Judge Jules]

Good summary, and IMO Grujic - IF he's ready - could cover a fair bit of it.

 

[Brizzle]

What I like about Jones is that already you can see he makes runs into the box, even for Ox's goal it was Jones who was on the penalty spot having made a run from deep. That is what we will need from our midfield more and more next season.

 

[FoxForceFive]

What I like about Jones is that already you can see he makes runs into the box, even for Ox's goal it was Jones who was on the penalty spot having made a run from deep. That is what we will need from our midfield more and more next season.

Yep. I can't see us playing the same tactics (I'm loathe to say formation as you can play 433 very differently depending on tactics) at all.

We've seen Fabinho dropping back between the two CB's a few times since the restart, & much less emphasis on the full backs to provide all the impetus, suggesting to me that they're looking at different ways to deal with the full/wing backs being doubled up on.

Klopp has continually spoken to the need to evolve the side, & if we can't do it by bringing in a few new players, making the current players learn some new tactics & positions may be good enough to sharpen our play.

He also spoken in glowing terms about the way Burnley seamlessly switched from 4 to 5 at the back every time possession changed very recently, which again suggests to me he's perhaps looking at that for us.

Then we have Leeds, which may seem unrelated, but the way they play is very much Liverpool-lite for me, meaning sides will almost have the benefit of using playing them as a training session for playing us (incidentally I can see Leeds easily avoiding relegation & maybe finishing almost top half of the table next season).

All of this impacts the midfield massively, as with the possible reduction of the impact of the full backs the emphasis returns to the midfield to create, something that doesn't happen as much now. Conversely, if you have midfielders creating problems for the opposition & space for us to play into, the full backs again find space cos they can't always be doubled up on...

 

[the count]

Yep. I can't see us playing the same tactics (I'm loathe to say formation as you can play 433 very differently depending on tactics) at all.

We've seen Fabinho dropping back between the two CB's a few times since the restart, & much less emphasis on the full backs to provide all the impetus, suggesting to me that they're looking at different ways to deal with the full/wing backs being doubled up on.

Klopp has continually spoken to the need to evolve the side, & if we can't do it by bringing in a few new players, making the current players learn some new tactics & positions may be good enough to sharpen our play.

He also spoken in glowing terms about the way Burnley seamlessly switched from 4 to 5 at the back every time possession changed very recently, which again suggests to me he's perhaps looking at that for us.

Then we have Leeds, which may seem unrelated, but the way they play is very much Liverpool-lite for me, meaning sides will almost have the benefit of using playing them as a training session for playing us (incidentally I can see Leeds easily avoiding relegation & maybe finishing almost top half of the table next season).

All of this impacts the midfield massively, as with the possible reduction of the impact of the full backs the emphasis returns to the midfield to create, something that doesn't happen as much now. Conversely, if you have midfielders creating problems for the opposition & space for us to play into, the full backs again find space cos they can't always be doubled up on...

I can definitely see a change in the manner in how we play next season.
It has been pretty much the same style and emphasis for the last two I think.
Different spaces will be attacked and a different emphasis on pressing.
I wouldn't be surprised if we try to attack through the middle a bit more as teams are overloading the wings in defence against us currently.

 

[RedStar]

Midfield is probably the area where we have most depth but the least quality.

For some reason Gini has fallen out of favour here recently but as the numbers show he is one of Klopps first names on the team sheet. I dont expect him to be dropped any time soon, there will probably be some rotation between him Keita and Henderson next year to avoid burnout. Keita has done enough in the last few games to show hes growing into the team and the way we play. Unfortunately I think the opposite is true for Ox, this season has shown his limitations and I think his role will be that of an impact sub or squad player going forward.

The two notable going midfielders on our books seem to be on different paths. Grujic seems set to leave if a decent offer arrives, hes done well on loan and at 24 needs to establish himself somewhere, unfortunately for him Fabinhos form probably means it will be away from Anfield. Jones seems to have won Klopp over, hes been getting plenty of minutes since the restart clearly with a view to him playing a larger role next season. I dont think he or Klopp knows quite what his best position is yet.

If we are to avoid burning out the likes of Henderson and Gini next year we need to spread the workload a bit better.

 

[Brizzle]

Yep. I can't see us playing the same tactics (I'm loathe to say formation as you can play 433 very differently depending on tactics) at all.

We've seen Fabinho dropping back between the two CB's a few times since the restart, & much less emphasis on the full backs to provide all the impetus, suggesting to me that they're looking at different ways to deal with the full/wing backs being doubled up on.

Klopp has continually spoken to the need to evolve the side, & if we can't do it by bringing in a few new players, making the current players learn some new tactics & positions may be good enough to sharpen our play.

He also spoken in glowing terms about the way Burnley seamlessly switched from 4 to 5 at the back every time possession changed very recently, which again suggests to me he's perhaps looking at that for us.

Then we have Leeds, which may seem unrelated, but the way they play is very much Liverpool-lite for me, meaning sides will almost have the benefit of using playing them as a training session for playing us (incidentally I can see Leeds easily avoiding relegation & maybe finishing almost top half of the table next season).

All of this impacts the midfield massively, as with the possible reduction of the impact of the full backs the emphasis returns to the midfield to create, something that doesn't happen as much now. Conversely, if you have midfielders creating problems for the opposition & space for us to play into, the full backs again find space cos they can't always be doubled up on...

This all leads to Naby scoring 15 PL goals next season.

NABY. LAD.

 

[Grjt2]

Midfield is probably the area where we have most depth but the least quality.

For some reason Gini has fallen out of favour here recently but as the numbers show he is one of Klopps first names on the team sheet. I dont expect him to be dropped any time soon, there will probably be some rotation between him Keita and Henderson next year to avoid burnout. Keita has done enough in the last few games to show hes growing into the team and the way we play. Unfortunately I think the opposite is true for Ox, this season has shown his limitations and I think his role will be that of an impact sub or squad player going forward.

The two notable going midfielders on our books seem to be on different paths. Grujic seems set to leave if a decent offer arrives, hes done well on loan and at 24 needs to establish himself somewhere, unfortunately for him Fabinhos form probably means it will be away from Anfield. Jones seems to have won Klopp over, hes been getting plenty of minutes since the restart clearly with a view to him playing a larger role next season. I dont think he or Klopp knows quite what his best position is yet.

If we are to avoid burning out the likes of Henderson and Gini next year we need to spread the workload a bit better.

Doesn’t this completely ignore the big issue, which is Ginis contract situation? If he doesn’t sign, there is a big big conundrum

 

[ibromurph]

I might be wrong, hope I am, but I think the title winning balance is getting a bit stale.

We have some great talent at the club but we are not a team that have won simply by being a cut above talent-wise than everyone else. It’s taken a incredible amount of hunger and effort.

That is not sustainable forever.

Its right that we tread carefully but for me it’s plain as day that we need to bring in some new blood.

100% agree.

As part of freshening it up. We need to make a decision on Keita. He brings something different to us.

I'd also like to see more of Minamino in the false 9 role. Against Arsenal, I saw some more dynamic movement and a good touch than Bobby has shown recently. I feel like bringing Minimino on, and narrowing Salah and Mane into more central forwards (than they are already are) is another shape change we should explore in games we are well on top and don't need Mo/Sadio chasing back. So almost like the old AC Milan 442 diamond. With Minamino in the 10/Kaka role.

I'd also like to see another option up top brought in. The Origi experiment was successful, but it's over. Same with Shaq. They both need to be moved on.

But going back to midfield specifically. I don't think we'll bring in Tiago, because of the form Keita has shown lately. But if he were to come in, he'd be clearly the most technically gifted player we had. Probably in the entire squad, which for me, is good reason to sign him.

 

[refugee]

What I like about Jones is that already you can see he makes runs into the box, even for Ox's goal it was Jones who was on the penalty spot having made a run from deep. That is what we will need from our midfield more and more next season.

Yep.

Jones was also the person to start the move, playing the ball out to Mane who was at left back position from the edge of his own box. Then ran the full length of the field to be the opposition box for the cross.

 

[gkmacca]

The great thing about Keita, if he keeps it up, is that we'll effectively have two waves of chaos caused by him and Bobby. Bobby along the forward line and Naby across midfield, they both move around so much that they create a huge amount of confusion in the opposition. The space that both of them can leave, therefore, could make so much freedom for the others, it's an exciting prospect if it develops like that.

 

[tombrown]

The wonderful thing about Keitas
Is Keitas are wonderful things!
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs!