Having VVD and Gomez back will make the difference but...

[mwake]

Even with VVD and Gomez I still feel the one big weakness in Klopp's set-up is that guy who can run between the lines from midfield. Keita, Ox and Shaq and Mini are supposed to be those guys but are either injured all the time are aren't good enough.

I hate to say it but the last decent midfielder that gave us a ball running threat from midfield was Coutinho (and yes Lallana before injury reduced him). Since those guys we haven't had that midfield creative ball running threat.

Without a ball running threat from midfield like some other teams have like a Kevin De Bruyne or Grealsih it's way to easy to defend against out attacks. Our midfielders do the same rinse and repeat tactics...

1. Win the ball.
2. Look for front free
3. Pass it to them

Last season we ground teams down (with multiple 1-0 wins) until they broke and the lack of ball running midfielders didn't matter as much because VVD and Gomez allowed Trent and Robbo to be the default ball running midfielders but now... Trent and Robertson don't have that license to do that anymore and so we have no dynamic runners from the mid.

Sure we can wait until Gomez and VVD come back but even with them back in think we need to invest in a ball running mid.

PS. Such a shame with Keita, honestly if he wasn't injury prone we would definitely have that edge to our midfield.

 

[SummerOnions]

It's interesting we smashed palace and then struggled since. The change in a sense has been Thiago for Keita. Still think we've missed a trick not playing Jones in more games

 

[davud graham]

Thiago's lack of mobility is becoming a problem when we haven't got the ball. Too many free kicks given away or runners not tracked. The midfield won't work properly again until Fabinho is back at defensive midfield.

 

[Bradley]

Thiago's lack of mobility is becoming a problem when we haven't got the ball. Too many free kicks given away or runners not tracked. The midfield won't work properly again until Fabinho is back at defensive midfield.

Next season then......

 

[Dreambeliever]

It’s hard to have the same motivation after finally landing what the fans have wanted for 30 years. The fact we win big ears the year before and had 97 pts means it was always going to be a huge ask to have the same desire this season.

 

[juniormember]

It’s hard to have the same motivation after finally landing what the fans have wanted for 30 years. The fact we win big ears the year before and had 97 pts means it was always going to be a huge ask to have the same desire this season.

Our utterly shite final ball/shot has nothing to do with desire though. We just have to click again.
I have to say I have my hopes set on Jota working well with Thiago and Shaq when he returns.

 

[i_rushie]

I thought that in Thiago, we would have a progressive upgrade on Gini. Instead, we downgraded on Fabinho in that area in front of the defence.

 

[tombrown]

It’s hard to have the same motivation after finally landing what the fans have wanted for 30 years. The fact we win big ears the year before and had 97 pts means it was always going to be a huge ask to have the same desire this season.

Thought it was a dead rubber?

 

[Mojo]

Why are we playing Thiago as the holding midfielder and Gini further forward?
With Thiago's passing and shooting skills, to me it make more sense having him operate closer to the opposition's goal.

Also, Thiago seems to get caught out a bit when defending / breaking up opposition attacks and ends up going to ground and giving away free kicks.
Gini seems much stronger and better in those phases of play.

 

[Brizzle]

We signed Thiago when it was most likely he'd be lining up with Fabinho & Hendo. With neither of these starting in midfield he has to play a bit deeper. I think that dynamic needs to be acknowledged before completely writing him off.

 

[Hansern]

Writing off Thiago would be the dumbest thing ever.

 

[bluebell]

I thought that in Thiago, we would have a progressive upgrade on Gini. Instead, we downgraded on Fabinho in that area in front of the defence.

We need 2 decent CBs and Fabs and Thiago in MFand that will bring back balance. I hope to God they can at least get someone on loan

 

[King Binny]

 

[Holle]

Ooooh, quelle surprise, Monsieur Genius!

 

[King Binny]

[article]The Reds currently sit seven points behind leaders Manchester City, and Alcantara has explained why he believes his side have struggled in recent weeks.

He said: “We still have a chance in the Premier League and Champions League as well, we are very focused and have this hunger inside that want to win the first game right now and overcome this situation.

“If you look back at our last games, you say ‘how many of these last six games did we deserve to win?’ It’s not about playing better or worse, it’s about did we deserve to win? Most of them we deserved to win.

“But this is football. You can play awful and win. It’s about taking your chances in the right moment when you create the opportunity and to be clear with the idea of what’s going right and what’s going wrong.

“Liverpool’s transitions are so important because when you have fast players in front you have to take advantage of it and they’ve made a lot of goals in this transition. So it’s first touch and follow the game.

“But when you need to build up the game and you have this possession when the game gets a bit mad and you say ‘OK lets calm down and use the possession’ but at the end you need the speed as well.”

Before the two-time Champions League winner concluded: “To understand the transition, it means that with fast players you must give a good pass – in a nice moment and the right speed as well.

“It’s not, now I have the ball I look up – no, no. You have to do a sharp pass in the right moment to the right players.

“It’s happened a lot that we create the first chance in the first 20 or 30 minutes and against deeper teams, if you score this first goal then things get open and we have more time to transition.

“If you are 0-0 the other team feels confident and comfortable and say ‘OK, we can sit back because the game is 0-0 at Anfield ’.

“We don’t have time for that transition because they don’t come up to make the counter attack and move forward.

“So we try to be a little bit different, play in different positions against a deeper team. If we have the chance we have the players to make a quick transition.”
[/article]